Poor shooting muffles Oracle Senior Night
By Todd Swank Contributing sportswriter

On Senior Night the Lady Oracles looked like they might end their five-game losing streak, but poor shooting from the field and from the free throw line put a damper on an otherwise festive night when Rossville came visiting and went home with a 50-40 win. Back on the road again at Sheridan, the Oracles came out on the short end of a 43-31 score.

Against Rossville, Delphi fell behind 2-0 after only 15 seconds had run off the clock. The Lady Oracles didn't hit a first shot until their sixth possession. Despite the slow start offensively, trailing 5-2 halfway through the first quarter, their defense kept them in the game. Connecting on four of 18 first quarter shots, the Oracles had managed to come back and take the lead 12-10 because three of those made shots were of the three-point variety - one each by Whitney Arion, Erika Hawn and Kristina Barnard.

The second period was tight all the way through with neither team able to get a lead of more than two points. The score was tied at 12, 14, 18 and 20 before Hawn hit another three to put the Oracles ahead 23-20 a minute before half. Rossville hit two quick baskets to regain the lead at 24-23.

The game also remained close in the third stanza. Every time that Rossville would hit a basket to go up by three the Oracles would answer with a bucket of their own to cut the lead back to a single point. The shootout ended when, with just over a minute left in the third, the Hornets hit consecutive buckets to go up seven at 36-29. Emily Kayser made a long shot and Hawn hit one of two free throws to end the period.

Trailing entering the fourth, 39-33, the Oracles still had a chance to pull out a win if they could hit their shots, but their shooting remained as cold as it had been all night. Delphi took 15 shots but would connect on only two, a putback by Hannah Strasser and a shot by Carli Rouhier with 20 seconds remaining. Overall, the Oracles hit on 13 of 57 shots for 22%.

The Oracle JV were defeated 31-17.

At Sheridan

The Oracles were tied 6-6 with 2:19 to go in the opening period and playing well when they allowed the Sheridan Blackhawks to end the quarter on a run and take the lead 12-8.

Back-to-back buckets by Strasser and a free throw by Arion to open the second put the Oracles ahead 13-12. It took Sheridan 11 seconds to regain the lead for good on a pair of free throws following a foul by Arion. Sheridan would lead 21- 13 when Rouhier finally stopped the run with a second chance basket.

Behind 24-17, the Oracles' Kayla Yates scored to open the second half and pull the team to within five points. Hawn hit a short time later and Delphi was back in the game, 24-21 A oneminute stretch during the third period saw the Blackhawks extend a three-point lead into a ten-point lead. Arion's shot just before the end of the period pulled the Oracles to within nine at 34-25.

Once more the Oracles scored first to start a period but they could not put together a run of any sort. They never got any closer than eight points.

No JV score to report as Sheridan has no JV team. Vs. Northwestern and Clinton Central

The Delphi Lady Oracles recently lost 59-20 at home to a (14-0) Northwestern squad and then went on the road and were defeated by Clinton Central 49- 20.

Against the Lady Tigers the Oracles fell behind early 12-2. Erika Hawn, the team's leading scorer, scored her only points of the game to give Delphi its lone bucket in the first four minutes. Kristina Barnard and Kayla Yates also scored in the first period that ended with the Oracles trailing 18-6. The Tigers scored the second period's first 15 points to run their scoring streak to 21 in a row. Hannah Strasser finally stopped the streak with a basket off an outof bounds play. Amanda Schultz made a trey right before the half. At the break, the Tigers were up 37-11.

Schultz opened the second half by hitting one of two free throws, before the highly ranked Tigers scored nine in a row. Kylee German scored an old-fashioned three-point play for the Oracles' only other points in the third quarter. Carli Rouhier, Kari Lake and German scored during the last period for the Oracles.

The JV team lost in overtime 34-32.

Against Clinton Central the game started with neither team able to break through for much scoring. The teams were tied 4- 4 after seven minutes of play. The Lady Bulldogs scored a pair of baskets in the last minute and led 8-4 entering the second quarter. It took Clinton Central 35 seconds to score four more quick points and triple up the Oracle score at 12- 4. Delphi finally scored with four minutes left in the half on a bucket by Kayla Yates. Yates scored another two points a short time later, but by this time the Bulldogs had built a 16-8 lead. The score was 24-11 with Emily Kayser scoring three points right before the half ended.

It took the struggling Delphi offense five minutes to score its first points of the second half on a basket by Whitney Arion. The third period score stood at 31- 14. Arion, Yates and Kayser each put points on the board for Delphi in the final period.

In the JV game, the Bulldogs broke a 21-21 tie with two minutes remaining on their way to a 27-25 victory.