Delta defense vital as Bobcats advance with gritty FSCB semifinal victory

With their eyes set on a bid in the championship game, the top-seeded Delta Bobcats fought through some early adversity from No. 4 St. Vincent to take a 64-32 win at the Show Me Center and advance to the First State Community Bank Holiday Classic title game.

Falling short in pool play last December, the new-look Holiday Classic saw the Bobcats take the top overall seed ahead of the tournament.

The Bobcats answered with two undeniable performances on Sunday and Monday to grab the rights to a championship game appearance for the first time since 2021.

“St. Vincent, they're so well-coached,” Bobcats coach David Heeb said. “They came out with a great plan and slowed us down, and their defense was really good in the first quarter. We missed some free throws and easy shots, but then the biggest thing I took away from tonight was just a total team win.”

St. Vincent broke out of Delta’s press early, and thanks to drilling its shots while the Bobcats couldn’t hit their early 3-pointers, jumped out to a five-point lead in the first quarter.

After a big Delta response to take a 12-9 lead, St. Vincent drained two triples, the second rattling around the cylinder and falling just before the horn, to finish the first period with a 17-14 lead.

Jade Berry made a quick response to her club’s first-quarter deficit, starting the second with back-to-back 3-pointers to reclaim a 20-17 edge and take the wind out of St. Vincent’s sails.

The Bobcats started the second quarter on a 16-0 run to steal the lead away from St. Vincent and slowly, but surely, run away with the ballgame.

By the end of the intensely one-sided frame, Delta had mounted a 31-21 lead to crack the game wide open for the favored ‘Cats after trailing for the majority of the first quarter.

The defensive scheme for Delta didn’t initially click — and that’s when Heeb made some critical adjustments to change the flow of the game. After the first quarter, Delta allowed just 15 points compared to its 17 allowed in the first.

“It's a good game for our kids, because you're gonna have to do that in the playoffs,” Heeb said. “You know, ‘This ain't working, let's go to Plan B, C, D,’

“When our Plan A works, we’re really good, you know, and tonight it didn’t. That's just a mark of a good team — when you can adjust.”

St. Vincent got three early 3-pointers from Cailyn Prost to start the third quarter, but the suffocating defense of Delta and its two consecutive 3-point blocks late in the period helped the Bobcats to hold onto a 43-32 lead at the end of the third.

Just when the Indians started to breathe new life into the game, Delta’s turnover game came in clutch to ensure that the Bobcats’ edge maintained.

With a frenzied fourth quarter, holding the Indians scoreless to close out the match, Delta shoveled its early shooting woes behind to return to the First State Community Bank Holiday Classic final in a 64-32 win.

Maya Gillespie finished with a game-high 17 points in the win for Delta, followed closely by Presley Holweg’s 14, Trena Crowden’s 12 and Jade Berry’s 10.

The sharp-shooting Cailyn Prost finished tied with Gillespie with a game-high 17 points, draining five 3-pointers in the loss for St. Vincent. No other Indian scored more than five points in the loss.

Now 8-0 on the season, Delta makes its long-awaited return to the championship game after missing out last year. With a chance to secure a Holiday Classic title, Heeb is making sure to help his squad manage expectations ahead of a huge championship matchup.

“The reason that we've had so much success is the way we practice,” Heeb said. “We practice so hard. The next two days, we've got to get our work done and come out ready Thursday night.”