Congratulations to Delta girls on great season

Anyone who follows high school girls basketball in this part of Missouri knows Delta has one of the premier programs around.

The high-scoring Bobcats put up a lot of points and racked up lots of wins.

This year, they took third place in the state, led by the duo of Presley Holweg and Addison Nichols. They bested Liberal 61-57 in the consolation game.

Congratulations on a great season and fantastic careers for the graduating seniors.

Delta’s story reminds of a big-screen basketball tale, “Hoosiers” — a small group of talented players overcoming odds and battling their way to the big stage.

Just as in the movie, Delta’s girls basketball program isn’t merely a story about X’s and O’s, offense and defense.

It’s about an entire community rallying around a team, supporting the young people each step along the way.

Just as the competition stiffens as the stakes get higher, off-the-court hurdles become more challenging as well.

As coach David Heeb explained to Semoball’s Cole Lee, logistics of traveling several hours each way to play a game, footing the bill for meals and lodging and even scrambling to secure practice facilities takes time and energy — and money. That’s true for the school district as well as family and friends who want to be there to support the team.

This year, the state tournament was at the University of Missouri in Columbia. It’s about as centrally located as possible, but as anyone who has traveled from Southeast Missouri to other parts of the state knows, there is no easy way to get from here to there.

The venue also dictated the tournament’s schedule, forcing many games to be played midweek. Those gamedays and the distance made it difficult for some fans to attend.

To avoid such scheduling, the state association responsible for putting on the tournament, the Missouri High School Activities Association, would have to look for a facility in a similarly central location with more availability on weekends and then, perhaps, spread the tournament over a couple weekends, rather than compacted into a few days. Even that plan might not make it easier for players and fans in the long run.

Also, there was an issue with not being able to practice on the game floor. MSHAA, surely aware of that situation, should have arranged with local high schools or other organizations to have practice facilities available for the teams.

We encourage MSHAA to look for ways to help players prepare for their games and make attending the tournament easier for all involved. There may be no perfect answers to these issues, but these special events for our young people deserve our best efforts.

Again, congratulations Delta. We look forward to next year’s state basketball tournaments and cheering on our local teams.