Oracles improving, looking for first win
By Michael Denton

After weekend losses to the Tipton Blue Devils (2-1, 1-0 Hoosier Conference) and the Frontier Falcons (1-2), the Delphi Oracles (0-3, 0-1) are still searching for the right stuff to earn their first victory of the season.

Noticeable improvement on the offensive end of the floor kept the home Oracles close in both games. But in the waning minutes, the Devils pulled away on Friday, 44-35, as did the Falcons on the following night, 66-56.

Junior Kory Banes quickly put an exclamation mark on Oracle Coach Brian Tonsoni's decision to insert him into the starting lineup. Against Tipton, Banes drilled his first 2 shots... both treys... and then assisted Matt Lewis for 2 to have a huge part in Delphi's good start.

It was then Andrew Cebulla's turn as he got all 4 of his game points by scoring the next 2 Oracle buckets. These came within a half a minute of each other at the end of the first quarter, knotting the 2 conference foes at 12.

In the second quarter, it was Oracle Michael Myers who then stepped up with a pair of treys. Dustin Oliver mimicked that in the third. Those 12 points were the bulk of the Oracle scoring over those 2 periods and was enough to keep it all tied up, 30- 30, going into the final 8 minutes.

But as Coach Tonsoni noted afterwards, "We didn't value the basketball and we got in a hurry." The sloppy fourth quarter by the Oracles was the difference in this one.

A pretty 14-footer by Banes with about 6 minutes to go was all the Oracles could muster until just 1:26 showed on the clock. But too many turnovers (8 in the quarter) and enough Tipton points from the line (8) spelled doom for the hosts.

Myers led the way for Delphi with 10 points. Banes (8) and Oliver (6) helped.

Tipton had 3 in double figures with Derek Elston having game high honors with 15. Shawn Friend and Matt Hodges added 11 and 10 respectively.

Against the Falcons, the Oracles enjoyed a fast start fueled by the sharp-shooting of Myers. The 6-foot junior scored 11 of his 15 game points to open the game and propel the Oracles out to a 17-9 advantage. Kyle Bender, who scored but 2 the night before, played a strong game throughout this one and accounted for 6 first quarter points.

But as Frontier teams have done in the past, this squad did

too, as they came charging back to gain a 25-21 advantage at the 5:22 mark of the second quarter. Senior Corey Haynes carried the load for the Falcons both during this span and for the game as he led all scorers with 23 points.

By halftime, the visitors had upped their lead to 35-29. That margin was enough to counter any rally the Oracles had the rest of the way. Three times in the second half Delphi closed to within 4. But each time, the Falcons answered and finally pulled away to win by 10.

Bender's 17 led the Oracles. Oliver (13) and Myers both had 3 treys. Jake Sullivan (17) was the other Falcon in double figures to join Haynes.

Coach Tonsoni said that the Oracle defense let them down in this one. "The team played hard... they certainly didn't dog it. But it was not a concentrated team effort. We had a tendency to lose poise."

But Coach Tonsoni remains optimistic noting, "We're a family."

Delphi travels to Benton Central for a single game this weekend. The Bison, who won their first two, but have lost three straight, hosts the Saturday night affair that starts with a 6 p.m. JV tip-off.

Oracle JV also winless

Coach Rob Roth's JV Oracles (0-3) struggled mightily against the Titans, losing 49-17. Eric Jones had 4 to lead 7 other Oracles who scored.

On Saturday, Falcon Matt Lopp (18 points) hit a trey with 12 seconds left to give Frontier the 34- 32 win. Justin Snider (9) had a good look 3-pointer just miss at the buzzer. Jones (9) and Quinton Pearson (8) also helped in the Oracle scoring column.