By Brad Greer

Both the North Delta boys and girls varsity basketball teams advanced to the  North AA tournament starting tonight at Kirk Academy by finishing in third and Fourth place respectively in the District 1-AA tournament held over the weekend at North Delta.

After dropping a 70-40 verdict to West Memphis, Ark. in Friday’s semi-final round, the North Delta boys rebounded Saturday by taking a 59-48 victory over Kirk in the consolation game. The Green Wave will face District 3 winner Hillcrest tonight at 7:45 in the opening round of the North AA tournament.

Despite losing both games in the district tournament, the Lady Green Wave still managed to lock up the number four seed and will square off against District 3 runner-up Hillcrest tonight at 6:30. The winner of that game will take on Oak Hill Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.

North Delta (boys) – 59 Kirk – 48

Led by Jim Tom Copeland’s season-high 35 points, North Delta jumped out to a 31-19 halftime lead over the Raiders before holding on in the second half to take the victory.

The Green Wave raced to a 13-0 lead to start the game as Copeland scored his team’s first six points. Derrick Shawn then knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner. That was followed by a  pair of Copeland baskets giving the home team its largest lead of the first half

Sayle Roberts finally got Kirk on the board at the 2:41 mark of the first quarter with a three-pointer to make the score 13-3. Corbin Baker then knocked down a three-pointer of his own to give the Green Wave a 16-5 advantage after one period of play.

The Raiders cut into the North Delta lead at 23-15 early in the second quarter when Roberts hit a jumper with 5:23 left before intermission. The Wave answered as Copeland scored a basket from the low post followed by  Renic Greenlee’s three- pointer extending North Delta’s lead, 31-17.

In the third quarter, Baker gave the Green Wave its largest lead of the game at 47-30 with a trey from the top of the key. Baker, who ended the game with 11 points, drained another three-ball later and made the score 54-39 early in the fourth period as North Delta maintained its double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Shawn followed Copeland and Baker in scoring with six points while Greenlee added four. Bryan “B.” Nickle chipped in with two points while Matthew Barefoot finished with one point.

W. Memphis – 70; ND- 40

In Friday’s semi-final game, North Delta had no answer for West Memphis’ David Robilio as the sharpshooting guard poured in 29 points as the Black Knights jumped out to a 20-5 first quarter lead and never looked back.

West Memphis (18-7) led 37-22 at halftime then extended the lead to 54-33 after three quarters of play.

Nickle and Copeland,  both named to the All-tournament team, led North Delta, (15-8) with 14 and 10 points each. Barefoot and Baker followed with six points while Shawn added two points

W. Memphis (girls)- 37; North Delta-19

While most coaches will tell you there is no such thing as a ‘good’ loss, North Delta girls head coach Phil Douglas did not feel bad after his team fell  to the Black Knights Saturday afternoon.

The loss kept North Delta out of the top North AA bracket which includes top ranked and undefeated Leake Academy. A victory tonight over Hillcrest would pit the Lady Green Wave against Oak Hill in the second round, a team North Delta defeated earlier in the season.

West Memphis led 8-3 after one quarter of play and 12-8 at intermission as Sydney Moseley led all scorers with 14 points.

Freshmen Erin Snider paced North Delta (18-11) with six points while Laci DuBravec and Madison Greenlee added three each. Hanna Greenlee and Courntney DuBravec contributed with two each.

Kirk (girls)- 53; ND- 38

Kelsey Martes was a perfect six-for-six from field goal range and eight-of-eight from the free throw line for 20 points as the Kirk Lady Raiders advanced to the championship game Saturday night with a 53-38 victory over North Delta.

Bradi Beard, who was named to the all-district tournament team, led the Lady Wave with 23 points and eight rebounds. Madison Greenlee chipped in with five points and six boards.

Laci DuBravec and Hanna Greenlee both registered four points while Charla Shea Darby added three points.