Lady Oracles lose two
By Todd Swank Contributing sportswriter

Delphi's Emily Kayser puts up a shot late in the third quarter against Seeger. Bill Stauffer photo

Delphi, after a 2-0 start, struggled against a couple of 0-2 teams in losses to Seeger (56-35) and North White (49- 40) last week to even their season record at 2-2. Seeger exploded out of the gate and Delphi couldn't catch up. Against North White the Vikings got it done at crunch time to win going away.

Whitney Arion hit a three to open scoring for Delphi against Seeger, but by this time Seeger had already gone ahead 6-0. A short time later the lead had grown to 11-3. The Oracle's aggressive defensive style was used against them time-after-time with back door cuts for easy buckets. Amanda Schultz's basket and a free throw by Kayla Yates were the only other scores for the Oracles in the opening period. Seeger had a 17-point lead at 23-6.

Delphi finally started to play some good basketball in the second quarter. Arion stole the ball, assisted on a score by Hannah Strasser. Three more baskets, two by Strasser and one by Arion, and the lead was down to 26- 14. That was where the rally ended. Seeger managed to score the final six points of the half and take a 34-14 lead into the locker room.

In the third quarter, Delphi managed to outscore Seeger 10-9 with Erika Hawn scoring half of that total. Any hope of a comeback was put to rest when the Oracles started the final period by turning the ball over on five of their first six possessions. Even though the outcome was decided at this point, they did manage to have their most productive quarter of the game, point wise. Yates, Bria Jones, Arion, Kari Lake and Kylee German put 11 points up.

The JV score was Seeger 37, Delphi 28.

The Lady Oracle's game at North White started out much like the Seeger game. Strasser had the only score for the Oracles while the Vikings were running off ten quick points. Schultz hit a basket and free throw to chop the lead to five at 10-5 with less than three minutes to play in the opener. Two more points by Strasser brought Delphi to within seven at 14- 7 at the quarter break.

Delphi could only get a single point on a free throw through the first three minutes of the second period while missing six shots from the field. Several of those shots could be considered lay-ups because they were so close to the basket. The Vikings led 18-8 before the Oracles would finally settle down and play some ball. Seven points by Arion sparked a Delphi rally. The score at the half was 27-21 in favor of the Vikings.

The Oracles didn't cool down at the half. They scored the first nine points in the second half and finally took the lead at 30-27. Hawn's defense on Brittney Kesler, who had scored six first half points and was the leader of the Vikings, played a large factor in the streak. With no time left on the clock in the third quarter, the Oracles missed the first of a one-andone free throw situation that could have extended a 32-31 lead.

The importance of those missed free throws would be evident later in the game. Delphi missed two more free throws to start the final period. What could have been a 36-31 lead still stood at one at 32-31. North White scored seven in a row to take a 38- 35 advantage before the Oracles tied it at 40. The Vikings took the lead for good with a pair of free throws after getting three consecutive offensive rebounds before the Oracles fouled them. Trailing 44-40 with 1:59 left, the Oracles had pair of free throws and missed them both.

The Oracles were forced to foul the rest of the game to try to get possession. The Lady Vikings would finish the game by scoring their last nine points at the charity line.

The JV game score was Delphi 21, North White 19.