By Ethan Moore, Sports Reporter.
The Lady Pioneers, looking to improve to 4-2, faced a 2-3 Kellogg Community College team looking to pull off the upset. Delta stumbled out of the gate, but was able to play steady enough to hold a 41-38 lead at halftime. Right out of the half though, the Kellogg Bruins came out hungry and got out to a lead as high as nine points, but Delta didn’t get discouraged and was able to make up the deficit to force overtime.
“I was so proud of the team when we were down by almost ten points with only a couple of minutes left and we were able to come back and tie the game up in order to go into overtime,” says center Jayde Abenth, “That says a lot for us having such a young team.”
Throughout the game the team faced adversity in the form of multiple travelling calls and officiating that appeared to irritate the coaching staff and the players.
“When the calls aren’t going the way we want, I try to remind the girls that there is nothing we can do about the way they call the game, we just need to play our game and continue to work hard,” says Abenth.
Neither team was able to pull away as the game remained tied after the first overtime. Both teams looked exhausted heading into double overtime, but the Lady Pioneers didn’t let it show when play resumed.
“The girls have been training since July on their conditioning and strength building. They have put in a lot of hard work during the off season and it really prepared them for the extra minutes of play during this game,” explains Coach Kelly Miller, “We were able to still press full court and hit our free throws at the end of the game.”
Delta controlled the second overtime and won the game 103-94. Nyashia Williams played extremely well, as she finished with 31 points and provided clutch free throws near the end that sealed the game. Jenna Szostak, Brooke Schutte and Jayde Abenth, had 21, 19 and 18 points respectively in a game where the starters really carried the load for the team.
After the game, Miller had nothing but praise for the Lady Pioneers and the effort they put forth.
“I am most proud of my team for the fact that they always believed they could win. They stayed positive and never gave up. All 10 of my players contributed to the huge win, it was a real team effort.”
