2nd-half surge propels Delta to sectional semifinal; ECI Round 1 results
NEW CASTLE, Ind. — Delta tipped off the IHSAA Class 3A New Castle sectional on Tuesday with a 63-41 opening-round victory over Centerville.
The New Castle Fieldhouse scoreboard flashed a lopsided score in Delta’s favor at the end of regulation, but the Eagles (15-9) did not arrive at their 22-point win without a fight from their opponent.
The Eagles’ winning effort was led by junior Jackson Wors as he posted a career-high 27 points. Scoring almost exclusively in the paint, the 6-foot-3-inch forward provided efficient offensive production all evening.
“I told him, ‘that was a man’s effort’,” head coach Mark Detweiler said. “Everything he got, he just got through hard work.”
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Making Wors’ performance even more impressive is an underlying injury that he has dealt with for nearly the entire campaign. In the Eagles’ third game of the season in early December, Wors suffered a dislocated shoulder on his shooting arm. The injury has forced him to play in constant pain and wear a bulky brace.
“(It has been) a gutsy effort to get through the season until he can have (the injury) repaired,” Detweiler said in an email to The Star Press.
D’Amare Hood was the second-highest scorer for the Eagles with 12 points. Known for his pedigree from beyond the arc, the junior guard canned two triples in the second half, which provided boosts of momentum for his team.
The contest opened with the physical Centerville (8-14) squad providing firm resistance on both ends of the floor.
The Bulldogs’ active 2-3 zone stymied Delta’s ball movement, which led to a turnover-plagued start for Delta. The first few minutes also saw Centerville’s strong interior penetration offensively, a strategic focus for the Bulldogs all game.
Delta eventually overcame its initial struggles to find its way to a 13-10 advantage after a closely-contested first quarter, though Detweiler felt that it was far from the squad’s finest stretch of play this season.
“There’s always nerves, and we had a lot of that,” Detweiler said. “I thought we overplayed and over-pressured.”
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After the sluggish start, the Eagles appeared to have made a breakthrough in the second frame as they manufactured a 21-13 lead early in the quarter. However, woes on the defensive end brought their run to a halt.
Delta continued to struggle with guarding and boxing out Centerville’s physical post threats, which allowed the Bulldogs to close out the first half in dominating fashion. The Eagles’ lead and momentum quickly withered away as a result and Detweiler’s team trailed 27-26 at halftime.
“They got everything in the paint (in) the first half,” Detweiler said. “Our whole focus was to just keep your body in front of theirs. That was the game plan going in, but we didn’t in the first half.”
Delta’s coaching staff looked to rectify its issues with defending the paint by reminding its squad at halftime that “if your gold jersey stays in front of theirs, then good things are going to happen for you.”
The Eagles took Detweiler’s direction to heart as they made immediate adjustments on the defensive end, which paid dividends in the second half.
Staying in front of their men and playing with active hands on defense, the blue and gold made each Centerville second-half offensive possession a chore.
The improved focus on defense allowed the Eagles to outscore the Bulldogs by eight points in the third quarter, which resulted in a 47-40 Delta lead with eight minutes left to play.
The Eagles picked up where they left off and played their most dominant quarter of the game in the fourth frame.
Delta was firing on all cylinders in the final period, outscoring Centerville 16-1 and preventing its opponent from making a single field goal.
One of its top single-half performances of the season, the second half saw the Eagles rout the Bulldogs 37-14 en route to the victory.
Detweiler commended his squad’s second-half defensive adjustments and felt that they were a key to Delta’s triumph.
“We played better position defense, and deflections went up,” Detweiler said. “They want to get the deflection on the ball, but we told them at halftime that it’s not the guy on the ball, but it’s the guy who’s one pass away who gets it. And, I thought (in) the second half, the guy that was one pass away got a lot of deflections and got us going.”
The Eagles’ win avenges their heart-breaking loss to their rival Yorktown in the 2022 sectional quarterfinal. Despite the program’s improvement from last season’s sectional result, Detweiler is not focused on the past as he considers last year to be “really irrelevant.”
Instead, he has narrowed his sights on the remainder of postseason play and feels that “just to get settled in the tournament is a big deal.”
Delta will square off against Hamilton Heights (8-14) in the semifinal round of Sectional 24 at 6 p.m. Friday, March 3. The Huskies are a familiar foe for Detweiler’s crew as the Eagles defeated them 51-42 in a mid-December outing.
Detweiler expects his team to play with “discipline” and to have the “willingness to grind out possessions” as his Eagles look to make a deep tournament run.
Other sectional results
In the first round of Class 2A Sectional 40 at Monroe Central, Muncie Burris (9-14) defeated Winchester (13-11) 61-42. The Owls will play Wes-Del (9-12) in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday, March 3.
In the first round of Class 2A Sectional 39 at Taylor, Blackford (8-16) lost to Taylor 67-38.
In the first round of Class 2A Sectional 41 at Shenandoah, the hosting Raiders (9-14) lost to Northeastern 47-41.
In the first round of Class 1A Sectional 56 at Tri, Blue River (18-6) beat Tri 59-52. The Vikings will play Union (4-16) in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday, March 3.
Follow Adam Altobella on Twitter @AltobellaAdam
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: IHSAA boys basketball sectionals: Delta semifinal, ECI rd. 1 results
