By Logan Miller, staff reporter.
Delta College’s basketball teams, both men’s and women’s, played Kalamazoo Valley Community College on Saturday, Nov. 5. The two Delta teams were outmatched, both of them losing their games in double digits. Deltas women’s team lost 68-91 and Deltas men’s team lost 72-85.
First to play was Delta’s women’s basketball team, playing against 12th ranked team, KVCC. The Delta players started with a flurry, putting up points fairly easily.
With 3:18 left in the 1st quarter, Shallon Graywey, fell to the floor, seemed to be suffering from a leg injury. Delta’s training staff rushed to tend to her. She walked off with the help of the trainers after a few minutes.
In the 2nd quarter of the game, KVCC went on a run to put them squarely in the lead, 33-24. They kept pouring it on, their momentum gaining every trip up the floor.
Several KVCC players made solid off-ball cuts to create space and open themselves up for easy layups. They’re tall and athletic, able to maneuver themselves below the basket. Delta tried to crowd the paint. But Kalamazoo flipped the script and started sinking shots from beyond the arc.
The Pioneers struggled to grab defensive rebounds against an aggressive team with active hands. The bench and coaching staff shouted, “box out!” as KVCC players continued to squeeze through and leap by to pull down extra possessions, all while not being called for what could have possibly been over-the-back fouls.
Delta moved the ball around the perimeter looking for open shots. Harmany Williams, a freshman point guard for Delta, slashed to the basket with great speed. Williams finished with an impressive 14 points.
Down by 24 points, the Pioneers switched to full court press defense, sliding their feet alongside Kalamazoo’s guards.
Kelly Miller, Delta College’s Head Coach, had some thoughts following the loss on how the team can improve.
“We need to do a better job at boxing out and limiting second chance points. We’ve got to give 40 minutes of pure, constant effort,” said Miller.
Miller commented on the scouting she did on Kalamazoo prior to the matchup.
“They’re strength is in the paint, so we allowed them to take three-point shots if they wanted to,” said Miller.
KVCC typically grabbed rebounds and chucked them out to the half-court line, igniting fast breaks. Alexis Holmes, a Delta forward, felt that the Pioneers will have to make a few adjustments before next game.
“We need to do more talking on defense and get back to contest the other team’s shots,” said Holmes.
Delta’s women’s basketball team is just beginning its season and learning how to play with new players. After a promising start, the team seemed to lose a bit of its energy. Hopefully they’ll regain it in time for their next showcase on the road versus Rock Valley College in Kirtland, Ohio.
In part two of Saturday’s basketball doubleheader, Delta’s men’s basketball team played against Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s men’s team.
The men’s Pioneers started at a breakneck pace, flying up and down the floor. They began to slow it down a bit offensively but seemed focused on running tight defensive sets. With 13:44 left in the first half, Delta had a great defensive possession against Kalamazoo, causing a shot clock violation.
With seconds remaining before the end of the half, Gabe Stokes, a KVCC guard, heaved the ball from past half court and drained it, banking it off the glass. The last-second shot piled onto an already frustrating half as Delta players headed towards the locker room. Kalamazoo was comfortably in the lead, 42-26.
In the second half, DeMarquis Simington, a freshman Delta guard, got going early, but one man couldn’t carry the team and they struggled to keep the momentum going.
Delta rotated the ball around the perimeter, passing to try and find an open man. They played unselfishly, but they were also pretty stagnant at times, a mostly stand still offense in the 2nd half, not many players cutting off-ball to curl out and scatter the defense.
Trey Newsham, a Delta freshman, attracted a foul on a drive, adding another and-one opportunity to help slim down the margin, inching them closer to a comeback. They closed the gap to within 10 points in the fourth quarter, hustling on defense and moving with urgency and tempo on offense.
Delta’s Head Coach, Carlos McMath, called for the players to press full-court and double team KVCC’s ball handler in their backcourt. One of these presses caused an offensive charging foul to be called on a Kalamazoo player.
The final score of the game was Delta 72, Kalamazoo 85.
Jovon Thomason, a Delta sophomore, thinks that his team can improve in some areas.
“We’ve got to play team defense and just take care of business,” said Thomason.
Thomason was a freshman on the Pioneers last year. The team started out cold his first year, beginning with a long losing streak but yet finishing with a winning conference record. Thomason sees a light at the end of the tunnel, though, complimenting his teammates on their effort.
“We did a good job at fighting back in the end. It was a close game in the fourth quarter; we never gave up,” said Thomason.
Thomason and other returning sophomores understand how important it is to start the season out strong. They want to turn things around and get a win in their next outing, an away game against Pitt Titus in Kirtland, Ohio.
