Oracles split weekend
JV wins White County Tourney
By John J. Dunn Contributing sportswriter

JV is tourney champion Delphi's JV won the White County Tourney on Jan. 17 after defeating Frontier 38-18 in the championship game. They defeated Tri County 34-24 in the first round of the tourney they defeated Tri County 34-24. Pictured are: Front: Matt Dent, Cheerleaders Ashley Dirbas, Krysta Reef, Kim Lambirth, Torie Sosbe, Lisa Northrup, Misty Hunt, Abby Diebolt. Middle: Nadia Cediel, Liz Britt, Tyler Smith, Seferino Cervantes, Clay Maxfield, Miriam Castillo. Back: Coach Shawn Means, Tanner Cripe, Zach Condon, A.J. Erskin, Paul Zink, Kris Bender, Joe Britt, Dustin Salyer, Jordan Wagner. Photo provided

Playing at home for the second straight weekend, Coach Brian Tonsoni's Delphi team took care of business early during its 58-44 victory over Sheridan Friday, before stumbling to a tough Cass team on Saturday 46-33.

In a better-played game than in its last outing, Delphi seemed a bit sharper and more in step against Sheridan in terms of ball movement, shot selection and team play while showing tremendous balance at the offensive end. Four players finished in doublefigures.

The Oracles shot fairly-well from the field at .432 percent (19- of-44), including .400 percent (2- of-5) from behind the three-point arc, and finished with 12 assists against only 12 turnovers.

While not the desired 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, it was a significant improvement from last weekend.

Delphi is now 5-1 this season in games when it shoots at least 43 percent and dishes out at least eight assists.

But without getting too excited about its second win-in-a-row and fifth-in-seven contests through Friday, the opponent was another 1-9 team whose only victory this season was a one-point squeaker at Fountain Central.

It was again a game that Delphi was expected to win, and the good news is that it did just that, taking control of the game early in the first quarter and cruising most of the way to the 14-point margin of victory.

The Oracles took the lead for good at 7-6 with 5:50 remaining in the quarter on a Kyle Bender lay-up that started a 13-0 run that found Delphi in front 18-6 with 2:51 left in the period.

Two Michael Myers' free throws put the Oracles up by 15 points at 22-7 to close the first quarter.

Delphi's biggest lead of the game came early in the second quarter on consecutive baskets from Kory Banes and Matt Lewis, extending the Oracle lead to 19 at 26-7 with 7:27 left, before settling for a 36-22 lead at the half.

The Blackhawks would close to within 10 points at 46-36 at the end of the third quarter, and would actually get as close as eight at 47-39 with 6:31 remaining but would pose no further significant threat. Delphi again converted 4-of 5 free throws in the final two minutes to help put the game away.

Lewis led the balanced attack with 11 points, followed by Myers, Dustin Oliver and Austin Hawn with 10 apiece. Bender added 7 points and 7 rebounds, while Snider had six points and Banes had another strong allaround game leading the Oracles with 8 rebounds and 4 steals, to go along with four points.

The victory was Delphi's ninth-in-the-last-12 games played against Sheridan since the Blackhawks joined the Hoosier Conference prior to the 2000-01 season. They avenged last season's 56-49 loss at Sheridan.

Vs. Cass

Lewis Cass brought a much stronger resume Saturday, entering the contest with a bit deceiving record of 7-4.

Cass's four losses have come to teams with a combined record of 38-7, including losses to Class 3A's #1-ranked Northwestern (11-0) and to Class 2A's #14- ranked Taylor (8-3), as well as to a very strong Class 2A North Miami (9-2) and a close twopoint defeat at the hands of Class 3A Rochester (10-2).

In contrast to Friday night, this time it was the Kings' turn to take control of the game early, longknown for their ball control and low-scoring affairs. Cass scored on its first possession and held the lead for the entire game, including by 13-5 at the end of the first quarter and by 14 points at 26-12 at the end of the half.

Two quick buckets from Myers and Bender to open the second half would pull the Oracles to within 10 with 6:26 remaining in the third quarter, but that would be as close as they would get.

A 6-0 King run to close the third gave Cass its largest lead of the game - 19 at 36-17, which it would match in the fourth period at 38-19 before settling for the 13-point win.

Delphi (5-8) has now lost 11- in-a-row and 14-of-its-last-16 to Cass, with its last win coming at home on Jan. 24, 1998.

Veteran head coach Basil Mawbey, who has a 141-38 record in his 8th year at Cass and is 653-242 in his 38th season overall, led the traditionallytough Kings to a 19-6 record and a regional championship game last year.

Myers was the lone Oracle in double-figures with 13 points, followed by Oliver's 8. Bender added 5 points and a team-high 5 rebounds, while Hawn had 5 points and Snider 2.

JV improves to 8-5

In addition to the Delphi JV's White County Tournament (WCT) championship last Tuesday, the Oracle JV also defeated Sheridan 43-32 Friday night before falling to Cass 34-24 on Saturday.

The Delphi JV opened the WCT with a 34-24 win over host Tri-County on Monday night, before beating Frontier 38-18 in the championship contest.

Kris Bender and A.J. Erskin led a balanced Oracle attack against TC with 8 points apiece, with Erskin snaring a team-high 6 rebounds. Dustin Salyer added 7 points, Tanner Cripe 5, Paul Zink 4 and Seferino Cervantes 2.

In the championship game, Cripe busted loose with 15 points, followed by Salyer's 9, Zink's 6, and Bender and Erskin with 4 apiece. Bender led Delphi with 6 rebounds.

Against Sheridan, Zink had a game-high 23 points and 8 boards, followed by Cripe with 7 points, Salyer with 6, Erskin with 3 and Bender and Jo Britt with 2 apiece.

In the loss to the Kings, Erskin led with 6 points and Cripe added 5 and a team-high 5 rebounds. Salyer also had 5 points, while Zink and Bender finished with 4 apiece. Zink added a game-high 5 steals.

Delphi will next host conference foe West Lafayette on Friday night with the JV contest starting at 6:30 p.m., before playing host to Maconaquah on Saturday with the JV game scheduled for tip-off at 6 p.m.