Delta girls’ run at gold ends in semis as Cairo breaks down defense

It just wasn’t meant to be for Delta girls basketball on Wednesday night.

Going into Mizzou Arena for a do-or-die duel with Northeast High School out of Cairo, Missouri, a slow start to both halves doomed Delta in a 64-55 loss.

Ending Delta’s conquest for its first-ever gold medal, the emotions ran high in the postgame presser as one of Delta’s most talented classes ever saw its window come to a close.

“I hate it for my kids, because these two have had just an awesome career,” Bobcats coach David Heeb said, pointing to Addison Nichols and Presley Holweg.

“There's a third-place game, but for all intents and purposes, tonight was their last game, and I hate that for them. But it doesn't take away from these two being some of the best players that have ever come out of Delta High School.

“What they've done here will go alongside all the other great players that we've had come to Delta, and I'm just so proud of both of them and all their teammates.”

For the Ladycats, the game largely hinged on whether or not the points were falling; for the majority of the game, they weren’t.

The squad finished with a 2-of-15 clip from range, hitting none of its 10 3-pointers entering the fourth quarter and sitting in a massive hole late because of it.

It’s hard to put too much stock into shots not falling. It’s been psychoanalyzed time after time. It’s just something that happens.

Heeb knows this, but it doesn’t make the loss any less hard for the ‘Cats as they reset their sights on Thursday’s third-place game.

“I don't have an answer for why,” Heeb said. “It just happens sometimes, and you pray to God it happens to you like in December.

“Not a game like tonight.”

The Ladycats slammed the brakes and dug deep into the rotation early as all three of its senior starters got into foul trouble.

Just like in the Walnut Grove game, Delta’s biggest problem and deepest runs against occurred when it got into foul trouble and had to take its starters off the floor.

With how Cairo attacked downhill and forced the ball inside, it almost seemed to be part of the Bearcats’ plan to get Delta uncomfortably deep in the rotation.

To coach Brian Winkler’s credit, Cairo outclassed Delta all over – and it resulted in the Ladycats going out of sorts and falling well short of the victory.

“Give credit to Cairo,” Heeb said. “They're on one of those magical runs.

“To go into Meadville and knock off the best team in the state, lose arguably their best player, and still come up here and jump 10 points on us in the first two minutes?

“Sometimes a team gets on a roll like this at the end of the year, so just tip our hat to them. Today, they outplayed us.”

Delta’s start really couldn’t have gone much worse, falling into a 12-4 hole to start the game as Cairo simply dominated on the interior.

Olivia Cross and Mallori Hankins combined for 13 points in the first quarter as the Bearcats climbed out to a 15-12 lead after one.

Addison Nichols knocked down a buzzer-beating floater to cut it to a possession game at the end of the first, and knocked down a couple more big buckets to kickstart a huge Delta rally.

That big Ladycat comeback led to them taking the lead at 22-21 midway through the second quarter, but an ensuing 9-0 run from Cairo stomped out that momentum and eventually gave way to a 32-26 lead for the Bearcats at the half.

Sophomore big Grace Ancell finished her first half with 10 points, six boards and a buzzer-beating lay-in to cut the deficit to six at the half.

Ancell, in tandem with Nichols, was the main reason Delta kept its hat in the ring early.

Entering the third, the Ladycats and Bearcats looked to be on nearly an even playing field.

But with both Presley Holweg and Mya Gillespie in serious foul trouble, Delta came out flat and Cairo crushed the Ladycats because of it.

When Delta couldn’t hit a shot, Cairo couldn’t miss inside and kept extending and extending its lead, going into the fourth with a ridiculous 49-35 lead after dominating the third period.

With two quick Bearcat buckets to start the fourth, and the girls seemingly in serious turmoil, Heeb needed a timeout with 7:23 left in the game down 18 points.

Heeb’s girls pulled out all the stops to make a rally, and even got the Ladycat fan section buzzing once again, but cutting it to just single digits wasn’t going to bring Delta back out of its deep hole.

The final buzzer sounding, after many free throws, saw Cairo emerge with a 64-55 victory as a long, brutal slugfest came to an end.

“I don't think they ever gave up,” Heeb said.

“That's what I'm proud of.”

Grace Ancell led the Ladycats with 15 points in the loss, reeling in eight boards to nearly reach the double-double mark.

Addison Nichols and Mya Gillespie joined her in double digits with 14 and 13 points respectively.

For Cairo, Olivia Cross (19) and Avery Brumley (18) combined for a whopping 37 points as the duo helped rally the Bearcats out of danger and easily into victory.

__CAIRO 64, DELTA 55__

Cairo 15 17 17 15 — 64

Delta 12 14 9 20 — 55

Cairo (64) — Olivia Cross 19, Avery Brumley 18, Mallori Hankins 10, Kennedy Kearnes 6, Avery Martin 6, Chloe Brumley 3, Jaycee David 2. FG: 24. (3-pointers: C. Brumley 1, A. Brumley 1, Cross 1)

Delta (55) — Grace Ancell 15, Addison Nichols 14, Mya Gillespie 13, Jade Berry 5, Lillian Boitnott 4, Presley Holweg 2, Jolie Scherer 2. FG: 21. (3-pointers: Nichols 2)