By Brad Greer
Having dropped its opening district game last Tuesday at Indianola, North Delta found themselves in a fourth quarter struggle against visiting Winona Christian Thursday night.
After seeing a 31-21 lead dwindle to four points with less than four minutes remaining in the contest, Ridge Simmerman caught fire down the stretch with nine of his game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter which included a key three- pointer and four-of-six free throws to help guide the Green Wave to a 48-40 triumph over the Stars.

With the victory, North Delta improved to 1-1 in District 1-AA play and 1-4 overall while Winona saw its record drop to 0-2 in district and 2-5 on the season.

“Ridge stepped up his game tonight just like you would want to one of your senior leaders to do. You can just about count on him to make a big offensive or defensive play every game and tonight was no different. He made a big shot with about three minutes to go that made it a three possession game and then sank some key shots at the line there at the end that turned out to be the difference,” said Green Wave first-year head Coach Harrison Nickle.

North Delta led the entire  contest before the Stars made things interesting midway through the final quarter when Blake Greene short jumper cut the Green Wave lead to 34-29. But what turned out to be the biggest possession of the game, Simmerman drilled his fourth trey of the night from the top of the key at the 3:28 mark to give North Delta a 37-29 advantage.

Luke Pittman kept the Stars hanging around with a basket that cut the deficit to 41-36 with under two minutes to play, but Simmerman and sophomore Will Kidder knocked down four free throws in the final minute to secure the victory. Pittman led all scorers with 19 points.

The Wave jumped out to a 15-7 lead after one quarter before extending its margin to 25-14 at halftime behind Will Hartzell’s eight points. The senior forward finished with ten points before fouling out with 1:45 left in the game. Kidder chipped in with eight points while Dennis King added seven. Bailey Sullivant and Hunter Baker rounded out scoring with three and two points each.

North Delta shot 15-of-49 from the field for 30 percent and 11-of-16 from the free throw line while turning the ball over only ten times.

North Delta (girls)-45 Winona-28
 Led by a season-high 23 points from Lauren Snyder, the Lady Green Wave overcame a sluggish first quarter to hold the Stars to eight second half points in route to its first district victory of the season.

North Delta (5-3; 1-1) fell behind 10-1 early in the second quarter before regaining its composure and took a 15-12 lead on the strength of Megan Bollinger’s eight second quarter points. Winona regrouped to take a 20-16 advantage at halftime.

Having trailed 24-23 after three quarters of play, the fourth quarter belonged  to North Delta as the Waves outscored Winona 22-4 in the period behind a 16-point outburst from Snyder.

The Kirk Academy transfer connected on five of six shots from the floor including a three-pointer to begin the fourth that gave North Delta a 26-24 lead.

Snyder ended the night shooting 8-of-16 from the floor with four rebounds, four steals and three assists. Bollinger followed with ten points and a team-high eight rebounds to go along with a pair of steals. Sarah Johnson contributed with five points, five boards and eight steals.

Sophomore Janie Brasell had a team-high nine steals and four points while Shelby Province registered three points and two steals. Senior guard Anna Lloyd did not figure into the scoring but had six rebounds, three assists and two  steals to her credit.

ND JH
North Delta completed the four-game sweep by taking both junior high games as the boys came away with a 42-27 win while the Lady Waves held on to a 27-21 victory.

Peyton Neal’s four three-pointers and 16 points led North Delta to the win. Luke Lewis followed with 13 points as the Wave hit eight treys in the game. Tyler Holland had five points while Carter Gee, Walt Miller and Matt Burchfield added three points each.

Mary Emily Morris paced the junior high Lady Wave with seven points with Emy Cay Donaldson providing five points. Ally Alford followed with four points and Erin Douglas had three. Payton Scott and Sale Stennett rounded out scoring with two points each.

North Delta returns to the court  Tuesday at North Sunflower with four games beginning and 4 p.m. The Green Wave’s next home game will be Dec. 9th  against Kirk Academy.