Bearcats show more than just Roberts

COLUMBIA -- The Delta girls basketball team knew Northeast 6-foot senior Brandie Roberts was a strong shooter.

The Bobcats said all they had to do was look at their scouting reports, which revealed that Roberts was the only scorer on the Cats who averaged double digits in points (20.1 points per game).

Plus Delta players and coaches sat in the stands at Mizzou Arena and watched Roberts net 41 of her team's 68 points in a semifinal victory over Macks Creek on Thursday.

Delta was not as aware of the shooting ability of Cairo Northeast's other starters.

Northeast featured a more balanced offense in the championship game. The result was a 54-32 victory to capture the Class 1 title at Mizzou Arena on Friday.

Roberts netted a game-high 18 points.

Still, a number of her teammates had strong offensive performances, including Darlene King (12 points), Shelby Gittemeier (11 points) and Daris King (10 points).

"We focused on their big girl inside, and we didn't expect their guards to shoot like they did, the way they've been playing all year," Delta senior Amanda Drew said.

Gittemeier's 11 points included three 3-pointers. She was averaging 3.8 points per game entering the final four, and had converted just nine treys.

"Their point guard [Gittemeier], the scouting reports that we had on her was that she didn't look to shoot the ball, and she comes down and knocks down three 3s," Delta coach Randy White said. "[Daris King] played well also. And of course the big kid [Roberts], she's a handful."

Northeast coach Bob Roberts said he hoped his offense would spread out its shots.

"Other people stepped up today, and that's what a good team does," Brandie Roberts said. "Other people step up. I credit my teammates because they all did a fantastic job today."

Drew said Northeast's versatile offensive effort required some adjustments by Delta.

"We weren't prepared a lot for their guards," Drew said. "[Daris King] and [Sonya Westhues], they were looking to shoot the ball. [Gittemeier] was looking to shoot it a lot. And from what we heard, they just focused on their inside game, and yesterday that's all they did. So that's what we prepared for. It was hard to adjust at first in the first quarter, and I think we adjusted better in the second and third quarter, but we were just struggling offensively."