Delta girls’ bittersweet bronze puts final winning bow on historic season

With one last opportunity to take the floor on Thursday afternoon, Delta made the most of it with an intense 61-57 victory against Liberal to claim third place in the 2024 MSHSAA Class 1 tournament.

Opening the game up with a huge lead but quickly relinquishing, the Ladycats fought through a game of runs to claim the bronze despite some uneasiness down the stretch.

With both teams looking to bounce back from subpar performances on Wednesday, it felt as if both sides got the best of the other at different points.

For Delta, however, it had enough gas in the tank to outlast the competition and end the winningest season in program history in the win column.

“I was talking with their coach before the game,” Bobcats coach David Heeb began.

“We didn't play very well yesterday, and she said the same thing about her group. They didn't play up to their standard, so you kind of expect they're going to play better today, and they did.”

Getting the best of Liberal early, Delta took its foot off the gas in the first half after building a sizeable lead and immediately felt the door swing back open on it.

The Bulldogs, led by an 18-point night from Taylor Swarnes, gave the Ladycats every bit of a game down the stretch as their frenzied comeback almost led to a third-place trophy.

Fighting off that Bulldog comeback like their lives depended on it, the Ladycats were certainly tested in a tight fourth quarter, but they did just enough to bring the bronze home.

“Such a choppy game,” Heeb said. “It's just hard to play when it gets like that.

“I’m proud of our girls for persevering at such a high degree of difficulty.”

Presley Holweg put her finishing touches on a masterful career at Delta by icing out the game with free throws, where she finished at an 8-of-8 clip in the win.

A legacy Ladycat, she scored 20 points to push the girls to victory alongside another 18 from longtime running mate Addison Nichols.

For the two, it was the perfect ending to a storied career in the Bobcat Blue.

“I wish I would have been better yesterday than today,” Holweg said, fighting back her emotions.

“But since it was my last game out there, I decided I might as well go out on a win.”

Delta’s day started by falling into a 5-0 hole, but the Ladycats quickly responded with an unanswered scoring run of 15, and even led by as much late in the first.

But the fouls started pouring on, and again Delta faced personnel issues on top of some sloppy play early.

What began as a 23-14 lead after the first was quickly turned on its head as the Bulldogs rallied to swipe the lead away from Delta.

In the period’s final 10 seconds, Liberal grabbed a 1-point lead but Jade Berry turned around and got a transition and-1 bucket to give the Ladycats the lead at the half.

With both crowds at maximum volume after a rowdy first two periods, the Ladycats’ 15-point lead early shrunk to an edge of 38-36 entering the locker room.

While Liberal was riding high after a phenomenal ending to the first half, Delta looked completely uncomfortable after folding with a lead of such high volume early.

Both Presley Holweg (12) and Addison Nichols (11) had double-digit first halves but it still wasn’t enough to put away Liberal early as the Bulldogs just poured in the points.

With a quick start to the second half, it appeared as if Delta was going to finally start gathering some momentum of its own.

That was until David Heeb received a technical foul following a series of shots Presley Holweg took under the rim, warranting a shooting foul and, as Heeb proclaimed, an over-the-back call.

After this, the Delta team decided to start playing stall ball. Not to over-exempt itself, it stopped playing aggressively so as to be able to control the game.

The Ladycats got the brunt end of a few calls in the third and fourth quarters, so Heeb decided to call off the dogs and try to dribble out the clock.

It worked, to an extent, as Delta maintained the lead the whole way home – but it wasn’t pretty.

Both teams got plenty of free throws down the stretch, but Delta emerged victorious with the Ladycats grabbing a 61-57 victory to finish the season third in Class 1.

Presley Holweg and Addison Nichols’ 38 combined points put a beautiful bow on their enemies-turned-friends relationship on the hardwood.

In addition to this, junior Jade Berry added another 14 points on 1-of-1 shooting from range, combining with the two prior for 52 of 61 Delta points on Thursday afternoon.

In addition to her 20 points, Holweg grabbed 10 boards to complete a double-double in her final game with the program, tied for the game-high mark with sophomore teammate Grace Ancell.

Taylor Swarnes led the Bulldogs with 18 points in the loss, going hitless in seven attempts from 3-point range but still racking up the points.

Teammates Ellaina LaNear (14) and Bailey Couch (13) made big follow-up additions for Liberal, but the ‘Dawgs just couldn’t get it done down the stretch on Thursday.

Instead, the Ladycats got the sweet satisfaction of going home on a high note.