The Delphi Oracles (5-15, 1-5 Hoosier Conference) boys’ basketball team played their final two regular season games last week. Tuesday’s home affair against the Clinton Central Bulldogs (7-13) was close early, but a 16-0 run gave the visitors a large enough cushion to thwart any Oracle rally enroute to their 86-74 victory.

The finale before sectional play, also a loss for the Oracles, was at the hands of the Rensselaer Bombers (1-5, 1010). In nearly a copy of the previous game, the home Bombers used a 15-2 run to gain control and cruised to the 64-54 Hoosier Conference win.

Tuesday’s game against the Bulldogs was Senior Night for the Oracles. Six Delphi roundballers made their final appearance in their home gym: Justin Jargstorf, Brock Zarse, Ian Johnson, Joe Stoner, Kendal Ross and Josh Mullin.

Stoner, with a pair of early hoops, along with one each from Johnson and Jargstorf, gave the Oracles a quick 8-5 lead. But 5 turnovers in a span of less than 3 minutes enabled the Bulldogs to take command. At the 2:39 mark in the first quarter, Shane Heidt added 2 free throws to give Clinton Central a 21-8 lead.

From there, the Oracles scrapped back to close within just a single point, 27-26, after Jargstorf hit 1 of his 4 treys on the game. But the Bulldogs were up to the challenge and pulled away for good from there.

Clinton Central led at the half, 43-36 and after 3 quarters, 66-55. Heidt showed the way and led all scorers with 28, while fellow Bulldogs Jordan Tucker and Mitchell Crenshaw both had 18.

Jargstorf’s 20 led the Oracles. Joining him in double figures was Stoner with 13 and Dustin Oliver with 10. Michael Myers had 9 points and Zarse and Ross helped with 8 and 5, respectively. Mullin, playing limited minutes in his first game back from his second knee injury, scored 4 for the Oracles.

At Rensselaer, Senior Night for the Bombers, Delphi led after the first quarter, 12-11 and was still tied at 18 each with 6 minutes to go in the second. But the Bombers took advantage of some missed Oracle shots and 4 turnovers and turned the game around by the half to lead 33-23.

In similar fashion to the game against the Bulldogs, Delphi mounted a comeback and was able to close to within a bucket after Mullin hit a trey to make it 39-37. But as before, the Bombers were up to the challenge and slowly pulled away from there, leading by 8 by the end of the third on the way to their 64-54 win.

Jacob Kiger led all with 28 Bomber points. Mullin (11) and Oliver (10) were the only Oracles in double figures. Oracle JV ends with 2 losses

Coach Bart Hunsicker saw his JV Oracles (8-12) fall short in their final 2 games. The Bulldogs eked out a 45-43 win in a game that was close throughout. Tyler Beaudoin (13) and Erik Jones (12) led the Oracles.

It took double overtime for the Bombers, but they pulled out a 52-45 win after being tied 42-42 at both the end of regulation and after the first extra stanza. Kory Banes (13), Beaudoin (12) and Matt Lewis (11) were all in double figures for the Oracles. Sectional began Tuesday

As of press time, Delphi was to play its first game of Sectional 36 in a rematch against the Sheridan Blackhawks (4-16) last Tuesday at Fountain Central. The Oracles hope to advance by beating the Blackhawks as they did earlier in the season.