Green Wave boys remain undefeated with district win over Clarksdale Lee

By Will Dickins
North Delta opened the district season with a varsity boys 51-36 win over Lee Academy to remain undefeated on the season. The Jr. High Wave dropped its contest 35-28 Tuesday night.
North Delta 51, Lee Academy 36
Lee Academy would not have much time for celebration as the varsity Green Wave boys’ team used a consistent offense to go along with a great defensive fourth quarter to pull away from the Colts late into the game.
A balanced offensive effort in the first quarter was lead by Avery Rowland who had two three pointers.  Joseph Cox and Alex Greenlee each added three points to go along with two points from Ely Bryant.  The game was a tight one with both teams sitting back in 2-3 zones to make the opposing offenses rely on teamwork to score easy baskets.
Luke Lewis and Nelson Howell came off the bench in the second quarter to start things off with five points. The offense slowed down after that, but they continued to play good defense to hold the Colts as well. As usual, the Green Wave was stuck in a defensive duel.
North Delta outlasted the Colts as each team ground out each possession hoping for an easy basket.
The half came to a close with Lee Academy hitting two free throws to cut the lead, 26-20. It was a good defensive half for each team. Again, all North Delta had to do was continue their consistency on offense to win the game.
That looked to stay true in the third quarter as the Green Wave built its lead to eight points. Chris Burchfield helped his team with five third quarter points before Cole Devazier and Lewis each had baskets in the closing minute of the game to bring their lead to eight at 38-30.
The third half came to a close. It continued to go with the script of playing good defense and using a patient but consistent offense to build the lead.
North Delta outscored Lee Academy in each quarter to eventually finish them with a 13-6 fourth quarter advantage on the scoreboard.
The Green Wave switched to an uncharacteristic man-to-man defense that caught the Colts off guard. They could not find much room to score.
Lee Academy tried to do the same thing, but North Delta was prepared with a more motion offense to create lanes for easy layups as the Colts could not keep up.
Devazier led the way in the fourth by getting a few put back attempts on offensive rebounds to earn five fourth quarter points. That effort finally buried the Colts for North Delta’s first district win.
The real dagger came in the later minutes of the game when Brunson Wolfe hit a three and Miles Garner hit a layup off the bench to put the finishing touches on Lee Academy.
Scoring was very balanced led by Rowland with nine points, four rebounds, and two steals.
Other scorers include Devazier, seven points, six rebounds, two steals, five assists; Cox, seven points, seven rebounds, one steal, one block; Lewis, seven points, three rebounds, three steals, one assist; Bryant, four points, three rebounds, one steal, one assist; Burchfield, five points, one assist; Greenlee, five points, six rebounds, two steals, one assist; Howell, two points, three rebounds; Wolfe, three points, one rebound; and Garner, two points, one rebound.
Lee JH boys 35, ND 28
The Junior High Green Wave boys failed to close things out in the fourth quarter for their first loss of the season.
Five different players scored in the first quarter for the Green Wave to open things with nine points compared to Lee Academy’s seven.
The game looked to be a drag-it-out slugfest defensive contest and ended up staying that way for the majority of the game. Each team struggled in the second quarter, but North Delta continued to build its lead to go ahead by four, 15-11.
Drake Barton started the second half with five points of his own to go with a three-pointer by Walt Miller to go ahead 25-22 at the end of the third quarter.
North Delta need to continue to play good defense and have a steady offense to win the game, but failed at both. Lee Academy came out with a 13-3 run in the fourth quarter to comeback and sting the Green Wave.
Collin Hartman’s three-pointer was all the offense North Delta could muster in the fourth.
Lee Academy escaped with the seven-point win.
The Green Wave hosted St. Joe in district action last night and will play at Kirk next Saturday, December 17 in final games before the Christmas holiday break starting at noon.