Delta tops New Castle for boys basketball sectional title; ECI championship results
NEW CASTLE, Ind. — With a couple minutes remaining and the win already clinched, Mark Detweiler subbed out Jackson Wors and met him near the scorer's table.
The Delta boys basketball head coach and junior forward shared a big hug, the first of many among the Eagles following their 50-37 sectional championship victory over host New Castle on Saturday.
That initial embrace, though, was fitting as the first. Wors notched his third 20-plus-point performance in as many postseason games en route to Delta's first sectional title since 2020, playing the best ball of his career in the biggest contests despite continuing to nurse a shoulder injury.
"He's playing with a lot of confidence," Detweiler said of Wors. "What he goes through every week, rehab and wrapping that thing up and keeping it together — he's such a tremendous teammate."
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Wors dislocated his right (shooting) shoulder in the third game of the season, suffering a labral tear as a result. Detweiler said Wors' shoulder still pops out about once a week.
Yet the junior chose to delay surgically repairing the ailment until after the season, instead utilizing extra exercises and a bulky brace as a temporary solution. He was still effective, but his numbers dipped slightly, averaging two less rebounds per game, shooting 12% worse on free throws and attempting less 3-pointers than his already low previous rate.
It wasn't an easy decision to make.
"I had conversations with my parents, but if I did that, I'd have to sit, obviously," Wors said. "It was worth it that I didn't get the surgery."
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Wors' willingness to push through inspired his teammates throughout the season. Knowing what he was willing to sacrifice for the group made it easier for everyone to collectively buy in.
The results were obvious in this week of sectional play. Delta, on both ends, played connected and inspired basketball, leading to three double-digit victories.
"They understand what he's given to them. He could have shut it down and opted for surgery three months ago. But he's a great teammate and he wanted to get here," Detweiler said. "He was the first guy in gym this morning. He's always one of those guys. He's a leader. He just leads by example, and when you've got guys like that, it makes my job easy."
"It's really motivating because he's like 80% all year," senior Blake Jones said. "He's just that guy."
While Delta (17-9), led by Wors (20 points) and Jones (nine points), dominated the paint offensively, it was the Eagles' defense that truly separated them from the Trojans (14-12). New Castle scored just 16 points through the first three quarters and was held almost exclusively to contested pull-up jump shots against Delta's stifling zone scheme.
It's the team's development on that end of the floor that Detweiler is most proud of this season. There were ups and downs throughout the year, yet following a 2-5 stretch from Jan. 6 to Feb. 2 when the Eagles allowed 55.9 points per game to their opponents, Delta clamped down defensively and has allowed zero 50-plus-point outings since, leading to a 7-1 stretch.
"They've gotten in their own way at times, and just piecing them all together and getting them invested, collectively, to play together," Detweiler said. "We challenged this group in a lot of ways. Verbally, there's some things that we've said that hurt their feelings. It's been one of those where we've had to really kind of get into their heads a little bit and just to try to get them to the point where they understood how good they can be, how special they can be.
"You could sense in the last month that they figured some stuff out ... how to share and when to take advantage of matchups ... What I'm most proud of is they figured out how to impact winning without putting the ball in the basket. That's a hard thing, and when the guys figured that out, that's why we're here."
New Castle, too, enjoyed a late-season turnaround. The Trojans were middling for much of the year before finishing 5-2 since Feb. 14, highlighted by wins over formidable foes like Eastern Hancock (19-7) and later Yorktown (14-9) in Wednesday's opening round of sectionals.
Although head coach Daniel Cox was saddened to see his five seniors, including top scorers Gavin Welch and Ethan Hinton, end their careers on a night when the team had "no rhythm," he doesn't want one performance to taint the team's remarkable run.
"(I told them to) keep their heads up. We had a moment in our season where we were sitting there 9-10 and things weren't going our way. We lost back-to-back overtime games in the month of January ... and a lot of questions swirled, and we had a lot of just uneasy times," Cox said. "Our season was gonna go one way or the other, and at that moment, I didn't know ... where it was gonna go. But our senior leadership shined through in those moments ... Tonight wasn't our night. It's frustrating. But at the end of the day, it doesn't take away what these guys have been able to accomplish."
Both squads enjoyed bounce-back campaigns following subpar first-round exits in 2022. Between the Eagles graduating their No. 1 scorer (Neil Marshall) after last season and having Wors limited this year, it makes their championship, the 13th in program history, all the more impressive.
That season-ending defeat provided motivation for Delta, and the team will continue trying to prove themselves in its regional championship match against Peru (17-7) at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 11, at the New Castle Fieldhouse.
The Eagles have just three regional titles, the last of which came in 2009. In the IHSAA's new one-game regional format, they have a prime opportunity to break that drought.
They're confident they can.
"Last year, I don't think we played well together. We never really clicked," Jones said. "But we're clicking now and this year, that's special. That's really special."
Other ECI sectional championship results
In Class 1A Sectional 56 at Tri, Blue River (20-6) topped Seton Catholic 74-65 to win the program's second straight sectional title. The Vikings will play Southwood (12-12) in the regional championship at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 11, at Frankfort High School.
In Class 1A Sectional 55 at Tri-Central, Daleville (11-12) fell to Liberty Christian 69-51. The Broncos graduate seniors Dylan Scott, Carson Buck, Dylan Romine, Zion Bricker and Joel Reyes.
Gus Martin is a sports reporter at The Star Press. Follow him on Twitter @GusMartin_SP, and contact him at gmartin@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: IHSAA boys basketball sectionals: Delta wins New Castle ECI results
