Chadwick learned there was no denying Delta, even with the Lady Bobcats bussing 240 miles from the Bootheel to meet the Lady Cardinals in the teams’ Class 1 Sectional on Monday.
Chadwick has worn out the majority of its opponents while reeling off five straight seasons of 20 wins or more. But Delta was strong to the finish while handing the Lady Cardinals a 60-55 defeat.
After falling behind 27-22 in the second quarter, the Lady Bobcats outscored Chadwick by 10 points the rest of the way.
“They’re a running team. They don't get tired,” Lady Cards guard Rae Little said. “We knew that coming in. They’re used to a go-, go-, go-mentality. As soon as they get a rebound, they want to go, go, go.”
Most impressive, Delta didn’t get tired of playing defense. The Lady Bobcats were relentless while cutting off lanes to the bucket. They constantly had a defender in front of Little and backcourt mate Kerrigan Guerin.
Little and Guerin had minimal gimme buckets. Guerin was 5-of-15 shooting from the field while scoring 15 points and Little was 6-of-13 while scoring 14.
Guerin’s flour second-half points came on free throws.
“We knew their defense was good,” Guerin said. “I feel like I got the shots I wanted. It was nothing crazy that they did. But in the second half I came out not shooting well. So, I knew I had to do better in different aspects. I had more assists, rebounds and steals.”
“Our shots weren't falling at the end,” Little said. “We knew they had a really good defense. They have a tight zone and a tight man.”
Delta turned the game around in the final two minutes of the second quarter and the start of the third quarter. After trailing 27-22, the Lady Bobcats went on a 15-5 run to take a 37-32 lead.
Prior to Delta breaking away late in the third quarter, it appeared the teams were on their way to another nailbiter. Last year in a Quarterfinal, Chadwick beat the Lady Bobcats 56-54.
“(The games) were about the same, two good teams going at each other back and forth,” Little said. “But we didn't let them go on as many runs (last year) as they did tonight after halftime. We couldn't stop them.”
Delta made 8-of-18 3-point attempts. The Lady Bobcats’ biggest lead was 11, 55-44.
With 2:49 remaining, Delta was in the bonus and in position to eqsily clinch the outcome. Although the Lady Bobcats shot 3-pointers well, their free-throw shooting was subpar. They made a modest 9-of-18 free throws in the fourth quarter, giving Chadwick some hope.
Emily Landry scored five straight points to pull the Lady Cards within five, 56-51, with :31 to play. But that’s as close as it got.
Ella Herd added eight points and Lexi Loveland six for Chadwick (20-7).
Delta (28-1) hosts Walnut Grove (26-3) in a Quarterfinal on Friday.
“They deserve it,” Guerin said. “They’re one of the best teams (in Class 1),. They'll go far.”
