By TOM GREENE, Staff Reporter.
Before the third match-up with Mott, the Delta men’s basketball team had done what only one Delta team had done before- beat Mott Twice in the same season. Now, it was time to do what no Delta team had done- beat Mott Three times in the same year.
The game was back-and-forth until five minutes to go in the first half. Delta went on an 11-7 run to take a 28-20 lead. The game was fast-paced and low scoring, as Delta took a 38-31 lead into the locker room.
“The key to starting out fast was intensity, our team had to break down Mott’s defense early. Mott, as our team knew, had a great defense and our offense had to counter for that. It was a matter of starting tough and finishing tough, all around.” Coach Kyle Blackbourn explained after the game.
The Pioneers held serve until near the end. For most of the game, the lead was at five to seven points. But Mott brought it to a one point game with 25.4 left, 55-54. But some key free throws from Julian Henderson sealed the deal for Delta, who for the first time in their history defeated Mott for the third time, 59-56.
Coach Blackbourn added, “Both teams knew they had to fight for the entire 40 minutes. Our team knows that Mott is a world-class program, winning district, regional and national championships. In the end, our defense guarded hard without fouling. The refs knew it was a playoff game, and let both teams play, lots of no-calls. In the end, our team knew what they had to do and did it. Our team gets 40 more minutes.”
Leading the scoring for Delta was Markell Bradshaw and Julian Henderson with 14 points apiece, followed by Jaylen Randle with 9, Davian Phillips with 8 and Ben Batts with 7.
For Mott, Malik Young lead the way with 13 points, followed by Austin Daniels with 11, Darryl LeVert with 9 and Matt Place and Tommie Johnson with 8.
Delta moves on to play on Friday at Delta in the regional semifinals.