Delphi rallied from a 19- point second quarter deficit Saturday night to do the near impossible defeat Frontier 65- 63 in the championship game of the White County Tournament in Monon.

The Oracles also defeated previously only once-beaten Tri-County 49-35 in the first round on the way to capturing their first White County Tournament championship since the 2004-05 season.

The championship game provided the biggest storyline of the tournament, with Delphi facing the defending champion Falcons, a veteran team who had a 6-game winning streak over the Oracles since the ‘04- ‘05 season. They entered the tilt with only one loss on their ledger; the game looked to be a blowout disaster from the start.

Delphi (5-3) got only two shots up at the offensive end of the floor in the first three minutes, suddenly trailing 19-6 at the end of the first period, with only two Austin Hawn threepointers in the scorebook.

The second quarter did not start much better as the Falcons took their largest lead of the game at 25-6 with 6:32 left. Two Hawn free throws finally ended the run at the 5:59 mark.

Jordan Wagner then converted one of his game-high six steals into a layup before the fireworks began.

After Matt Brown was whistled for a foul while blocking out for a rebound at the 4:45 mark, a technical foul was called on Frontier’s Austin Edington for what the official called “a punch in the back” of Brown.

Falcon head coach Rush McColley claimed to the officials that his team was getting “elbowed,” to which Delphi coach Brian Tonsoni took exception and drew a technical for defending his players. From that point, the Oracles played some of the most inspired basketball of the season, despite mounting foul trouble that saw three starters with three fouls apiece during a first half that had 27 total fouls whistled.

Delphi capped off a 17-3 run with a Hawn jumper to pull within five points with :45 seconds to play in the half, before settling for a 32-27 deficit at halftime.

After Frontier struck first in the second half, the Oracles used an old-fashioned threepoint play and a bucket from Brown, and a three-pointer from Hawn to take their first lead at 35-34 with 5:20 left in the third period.

That quarter would see five lead changes with Hawn nailing two more threes, including a four-point play, and a layup around a Cole Murray trey to help Delphi take the lead for good at 47-46 at quarter end.

Hawn then opened the final period with a three, followed by a Brown layup to extend the lead to six with 7:10 remaining. Tanner Cripe added a hoop and a free throw, Hawn another trey and Kris Bender a jumper to take a game-high lead of nine at 60-51 with 2:45 left.

The Oracles connected on just 5-of-12 free throws down the stretch, but it was just enough. They were aided by another Falcon technical on Jon-Marc Ream who fouled out with 1:23 to play, then failed to leave the court in what the official thought was a timely manner, even as Dylan Sterrett nailed a trey at the horn to cut it to two.

“Our defensive intensity and awareness was excellent,” Tonsoni said. “Wagner had a great defensive weekend that sparked our team and Dustin Salyer also played outstanding defense.”

“Hawn hit some huge shots in the championship game,” he added. “To be able to come back from a 25-6 deficit shows the character of this team.”

Every Delphi player contributed, with Hawn leading the way in scoring with 33 points, including 7-of-10 from beyond the arc, Wagner and Bender added 8 points apiece, Brown 7 points and a teamhigh 5 boards, Cripe 6 points and a team-high 5 assists, and Murray a trey in the pivotal third period.

Sterrett led Frontier with 18 points, followed by Grant Ream with 13 and twin brother Jon-Marc with 10.

First-round victory

The Oracles overcame Tri- County’s deliberate offensive style and gimmick defense to defeat the Cavaliers 49-35 Friday night avenging a 63-54 loss at home Dec. 19.

Tri-County started with its familiar slow-down offense and with defensive ace David Lehman faceguarding Hawn, providing another opportunity for teammates to step up and benefit at the offensive end.

Once again the Oracles responded with Brown getting off to a fast start, scoring seven points in a first quarter that saw five lead changes and ending with Delphi up 12-9.

The Oracles used a series of effective screens to get Hawn some touches and extended the lead to 21-14 at the half end, before the Cavaliers went on a 12-4 run to take the final lead at 26-25 with 3:37 left in the third.

Bender then sparked a rally with a hoop, followed by a three-pointer and a pair of buckets by Hawn to ignite a 24-9 run that included six fourth quarter points from Brown to close the game with a comfortable 14-point margin.

Delphi found a cure for one of its recent ails, hitting 7-of-8 foul shots (.875 percent) in the final three minutes and 12-of- 13 for the game (.923 percent).

The typically undersized Oracles were out rebounded in both games, but only by a narrow margin of three against the Cavs and by just five against Frontier.

“Our leadership is improving and that played a huge role in our success,” Tonsoni added. “Hawn, Cripe and Salyer did a lot of talking and leading the whole weekend.”

“I have told them a playerled team is better than a coachled team, and they are starting to get it,” he said. “They played with an intensity and concentration that is needed to win big games.”

Brown led all scorer with 15 points, with Hawn adding 12, Salyer 9, Wagner 5 and Cripe and Bender 4 apiece. Cripe had a team-high 6 rebounds, while Wagner had game-highs in both assists and steals with 6 of each.

Delphi will be at home for the first time since Dec. 19 this weekend, facing Sheridan Friday night with the JV contest starting at 6:30 p.m. and Cass on Saturday with the JV tip-off at 6.

Junior Varsity plays in WCT

The Delphi JV played in its version of the White County Tournament Monday and Tuesday nights at Frontier, with coverage to be included in next week’s Comet.