By Brad Greer

Trailing 35-25 with  four minutes   remaining in the game Saturday afternoon against Marshall, the North Delta girls looked like a beaten basketball team.

For three-and-a-half quarters the visiting Lady Patriots outplayed and out hustled North Delta while holding leading scorers Bradi Beard and Laci DuBravec to a combined six points.

But in the blink of an eye Marshall quickly found out why there are four quarters to be played.

Aided by a smothering full court press, the Lady Wave outscored Marshall 26-6 over the final four minutes to take a 51-40 district victory.

Hanna Greenlee ignited the Green Wave rally with a three point play followed by Charla Shea Darby’s three-pointer that cut Marshall’s lead to 35-31 at the 3:43 mark.

After a Beard basket and two free throws by Greenlee, DuBravec nailed a three-pointer from the left corner to give North Delta their lead for good at 38-37.

Following a Patriot turnover, Darby canned her second trey in a row to extend the Wave lead to 41-37. Katelyn Still and Greenlee connected on consecutive baskets on the next two possessions to extend North Delta’s lead to 45-37 with under two minutes left.

Beard and DuBravec put the finishing touches on the comeback victory with a pair of field goals for a 49-37 lead. Marshall’s Emma Elgin sank a three-pointer from half court at the buzzer to account for the final points.

The Patriots jumped out to a 7-1 lead early in the first quarter before North Delta rallied to tie the game at seven. Wesley Ann Ray then drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Marshall a 10-7 lead.

Both teams scored seven points each in the second quarter as the Patriots took at 17-14 lead at halftime. North Delta, which trailed 27-19 after three quarters, outscored Marshall 32-13 in the fourth quarter.

Darby led the Wave with 12 points followed by Greenlee’s 11 points and six rebounds. DuBravec chipped in with 10 points, five rebounds and four steals while Still added nine points to go along with three assists and five steals.

Beard and Hastings Neal rounded out the scoring with seven and two points each.

ND varsity boys

The varsity boys contest was not nearly as exciting to say the least as the No. 2 ranked Marshall raced out to a 29-7 lead after one quarter before easing to a 73-31 win over North Delta.

Tyler Beard led the Green Wave with eight points followed by six points from Sam Copeland. Zach Inman added five while Renic Greenlee chipped in with three. Jonathan Mackey, Colby Pirtle and J. J. Kilpatrick had two points and Hunt Howell provided one point.

In junior high action, the North Delta girls fell 28-13 while the boys slipped past Marshall 34-15.

Megan Bollinger and Shelby Province led the Lave Wave with four points. Anna Lloyd and Ginger Stevens followed with two each while Janie Brasell added one point.

Ridge Simmerman led the North Delta boys with 13 points while Bailey Sullivant provided 10 points in the winning effort.

Will Hartzell followed with four points while Will Kidder added three. Hunter Baker and Russ Lewis contributed with two points.

Lady Wave vs. Carroll

In Tuesday night’s district play at Carroll, the No. 4 ranked North Delta girls rallied from a 26-24 halftime deficit to take a 57-43 victory.

Hanna Greenlee led the way with 14 points and five steals. Laci DuBravec added 12 points on four three-pointers while Bradi Beard registered 13 points, four steals and three assists.

Charla Darby and Callie Blake Masterson finished with eight and four points each with Hannah Waldrip adding one point.

With the victory, North Delta remained in a first place tie with Kirk at 6-1 in the district and 20-6 overall.

The varsity boys meanwhile fell 80-54 to Carroll despite a season high 20 points from Luke Williams. Other scorers included Greelee with 13, Copeland and Tylor Lee with six and four points while Howell and Mackey provided two each.

North Delta played Delta Academy of Marks in non-conference last night and wraps up district play Tuesday night at home against Indianola starting at 3 p.m.