Oracles lose regular season finale
By John J. Dunn Contributing sportswriter

Sometimes, words simply cannot due a game justice.

This is usually the case when trying to recapture in printform the excitement and enthusiasm from a closely-played, nail-biter where the good guys nip the opponent at the buzzer!

Those games are fun to cover - even if you can't quite evoke the exhilaration that transpired in the contest.

However, the reverse is also true, albeit not as fun to cover, watch or participate in.

Such was the case last Tuesday night in Delphi's regular season finale against visiting Clinton Central.

On a night where the Oracles honored their seniors prior to tip-off for what would be their final home game, it was the Bulldogs who came away with a surprising 58-44 victory.

Clinton Central (now 8-12) beat Delphi by 14 points on the Oracles' home court on senior night.

Coming off of a spirited effort in a double-overtime loss at South Newton, Delphi gave an equally uninspiring effort in this one.

Usually in a regular season finale at home, let alone senior night, emotions are high and the energy overflowing for the opportunity to perform one last time in the friendly confines in front of family and friends who are able to attend - it is a moment in time that participants will never have back.

Rarely does a team give as lackluster of an effort as the Oracles put forth against Clinton Central. Almost from the onset the Oracles seemed lethargic, lacking both energy and emotion.

And this was against Clinton Central, not one of the most talented teams on Delphi's schedule this season.

If you consider that both of the Bulldogs' wins over Clinton Prairie this season came after the Gophers lost perhaps their best player - the one whose three-pointer at the final buzzer beat the Oracles earlier this year - and take CP's record since his departure as a better reference, Clinton Central's wins coming into this contest came against teams with a combined record of 19-98.

In addition to Clinton Prairie, they had only beaten Bethesda Christian (5-14), Sheridan (1-18), Eastern (3-16) and Tri-Central (2-17) twice before adding Delphi to their resume.

After a back-and-forth first quarter which saw the Bulldogs in front 14-12 at the break, the Oracles were actually in the game up until the 2:28 mark in the second quarter when two Kyle Bender free throws gave Delphi its final lead of the game at 25-24.

However, over the next four minutes Clinton Central scored 13 straight points - the final six of the first half and the first seven to start the second half to take a commanding 12 point lead with 6:40 left in the third quarter.

Delphi finally came back with a bucket from Dustin Oliver and a trey from Matt Lewis to pull within seven at 37-30 with 6:00 remaining, but could not get any closer, trailing 47-37 at the end of the third. Michael Myers was the lone Oracle in double-figures with 12 points, followed by Lewis with nine, Bender and Oliver with six apiece, Kory Banes and Austin Hawn with four apiece and Justin Snider with three.

Delphi, now 6-14 and loser in 7-of-its-last-8 games, now must regroup before squaring off against county-rival Carroll (8-12) in Friday night's Class 2A Sectional at Fountain Central (6 p.m. tip-off).

The game will be a rematch of the one played Feb. 1 at Carroll, which saw the Oracles sneak out of town with a 67-65 victory in a game that went down to the final buzzer.

JV wins, finishes 14-6

The Delphi JV team capped off an excellent season with a 38-23 victory over Clinton Central. After trailing 8-7 at the end of the first quarter, the Oracles took control of the contest in the second quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 8-1 to take a 15-9 lead at halftime.

Delphi put it on cruise control the rest-of-the-way, extending its lead to 23-15 by the end of the third quarter and outscoring CC 15-8 in the final period for the relatively easy 15-point victory.

The Oracle JV finishes with a 14-6 overall record on the season and won 9-of-its-last-11 games. Kris Bender led Delphi with 12 points and five assists, while Paul Zink added 11 points. Dustin Salyer finished with six, Tanner Cripe four, Seferino Cervantes three and Jo Britt had two.