Oracles lose another heartbreaker in 2 OTs
By John J. Dunn Contributing sportswriter

For the second time in its last three outings, Delphi took its opponent to double-overtime on the road, this time coming up short Friday night at South Newton, 66-58.

Just when you think the Oracles are about to turn the corner and put some of these closely-played games into the win column, some kind of extraordinary effort from the opposition gets in the way.

This was the case - although the Rebels are Class 1A's #9- ranked team and entered the game with nine consecutive wins and an impressive 14-2 record. It was another game that you thought Delphi played well enough to put itself in a position to come home with a much-needed victory.

But just as Lucy would tease Charlie Brown while trying to kick the football, it just wasn't to be - again.

The monumental stat to overcome came from the foul line where South Newton hit an astonishing 28-of-33 (.848 percent) free throws, a stat-line that any professional or college team would be proud of.

Not to be outdone, Delphi shot a season-second-best .792 percent (19-of-24) itself from the charity-stripe in a game that saw five player disqualifications (including three Oracles) and 43 personal fouls called (26 against Delphi) from whistle-blowers that some Oracle faithful felt for certain hailed from southern Newton County.

But in the end, South Newton would use its accuracy from the line at crunch-time, nailing 22-of-25 foul shots (.880 percent) in the game's final two minutes of regulation and during both overtime periods, to win its tenth-in-a-row and improve to 15-2 on the season.

Good teams find a way to win, and the Rebels proved that they were the better team on this night, despite another valiant and desperate Oracle comeback in the game's second half.

After falling behind 11-4 at the end of the first quarter and 20-12 at halftime, Delphi opened the third quarter with nine unanswered points in the first 2:30 to take a 21-20 lead and would close the third quarter down just 30-28.

South Newton then opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run to take a 35-28 lead with 6:00 remaining in the game before the Oracles began methodically chipping away at the margin. They finally tied it at 44 on a clutch Dustin Oliver three-point field goal with 2.4 seconds remaining to send the game into the first overtime period.

With the momentum now seemingly shifted toward Delphi in part due to the departure of the Rebels high-scoring senior guard Ben Welsh, who fouled out with 17.2 seconds left with 24 points, Oliver then drained two more treys in the first 1:50 of the OT. Delphi had its largest leads of the game at 47-44 and again at 50-47, but each time South Newton would find an answer to keep the game within a possession.

Oliver would then convert the second free throw of a double bonus situation for his tenth straight point to put the Oracles in front 51-49 with 1:25 remaining. A quick bucket at the other end tied it back at 51.

Kyle Bender then nailed a 12-foot jumper to put Delphi back on top 53-51 with 50 seconds remaining, but the Rebels would quickly respond to tie it at 53 with 40 seconds left.

The Oracles could not find any last-second heroics this time as the game headed for the second overtime period.

The second OT started with a bang, literally, as South Newton head coach Chris Enyeart slammed his partially-full water bottle into the bleachers in protest of the tip-off, making a loud enough boom that the officials couldn't ignore and drew a technical foul, sending Delphi to the free throw line for two freebies.

Michael Myers converted the second of the two, and then hit a 14-foot jumper from the wing on the ensuing possession for Delphi's last 3-point lead of the game, 56-53 with 3:25 remaining. This would prove to be the last Oracle basket as the final OT period would find Oliver, Myers and Matt Lewis on the bench after fouling out and 11 straight Rebel free throws en route to the eightpoint victory.

Delphi's final points came on two Oliver free throws to close to within four at 62-58 with 25.8 seconds left.

Ironically, the Rebels made only three baskets the remainder of the game after taking a 37-30 lead with 4:00 to go in regulation, scoring 23 of their last 29 points in the fourth quarter and both OT periods from the free throw line.

The Oracles (6-13) have lost 6 of their last 7 games and three straight dating to the 2004-05 campaign to South Newton, which also needed an overtime period on Saturday night to defeat Benton Central 63-59.

A closer look shows that eight of Delphi's losses have been by nine points or less in a season that has been filled with its fair share of "what-ifs" and tantalizingly-close games.

Oliver led all scorers with a season-high 26 points, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc, while Myers posted a doubledouble with 11 points and a season-high 12 rebounds. Kory Banes finished with nine points, followed by Austin Hawn with five, Bender with four and Justin Snider with three.

JV also forces OT

The Delphi JV team also dropped a heartbreaker in overtime Friday night, losing to South Newton 51-47.

The Oracles led most of the way, including 11-6 at the end of the first quarter and 24-20 at the half.

Delphi extended its lead to 35-27 by the end of the third quarter before being outscored 16-8 in the final period to force overtime, where the Rebels took control hitting .889 percent (8-of-9) of their own foul shots in the contest.

The Oracle JV falls to 13-6 on the season, but has won 8 of its last 10 games.

Dustin Salyer led Delphi with 14 points, including 4-of- 5 from 3-point range, with Paul Zink adding 13. Tanner Cripe finished with 7, A.J. Erskin 5 and Kris Bender and Seferino Cervantes had 4 apiece.

Delphi closed the regular season Tuesday night (too late for print) hosting Clinton Central (7-11), with a complete game report to appear in next week's Comet edition.