Kelly girls earn revenge in third meeting with Delta

~ The Hawks rode Hall and Backfisch to the 48-40 victory Thursday.

BENTON -- The third time was a charm for Kelly.

Kelly and Delta played twice this season before Thursday night, with the Bobcats coming away with victories both times -- one in the championship game of the Chaffee Invitational and the other in the Scott Mississippi Conference title game.

But the Hawks got their revenge Thursday in the regular-season matchup between the two schools, earning a 48-40 win.

"It means a lot," Kelly junior Debra Hall said. "It's a big win, a big relief. But the games that really mean the most are the district ones, and that's what we're focused on the most. It does [pump us up for districts]. Whenever you go on a winning streak like this and go into districts, then it keeps your momentum and your adrenaline up and keeps you wanting to keep playing."

Hall led her team with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Kelly's Kayla Cissell chipped in nine points and six rebounds. Londyn Backfisch scored 10 points, including netting 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch.

Kelly jumped ahead early, going on an 8-0 run in the first 2 minutes, 23 seconds of the contest.

"This time we just stayed patient and we moved the ball around and we just played basketball," Backfisch said. "We didn't get tense or up tight.

"I was just really proud of my team tonight," added Backfisch, whose Hawks have practiced once this week because of the weather. "They came back with a lot of intensity and energy."

The Hawks led 12-6 after the first quarter.

Kristen Powell added six points in the second period to help Kelly enter halftime with a 24-20 lead.

"We were very disappointed, especially with our first half of play," Delta coach Randy White said. "The first quarter and a half we didn't execute and we didn't do things we're very capable of doing. That really came back to haunt us. We took some bad shots. We took some shots along the perimeter, one pass after crossing half court instead of passing the basketball. We tried to penetrate when we didn't have an advantage."

Delta also had limited practice time this week because of the weather, working out together only one time since last Friday.

Kelly went on a 5-0 run to the start the third quarter with a three-point play from Backfisch and two successful free throws from Hall to make it 29-20.

"The last couple times [against Delta], we came out on offense and weren't patient," Hall said. "We came out this time and we were patient and we passed the ball. We didn't have a certain offense and look at just one person.

"First couple times we didn't shoot outside. Now, we smartened up and we shot outside more, and we made the ball easier to get inside."

After getting down by nine points, the Bobcats did not surrender. They went on an 8-0 run over the final 2:38 on the period to make it a one-point game at 33-32. During the stretch, Taylor Smith had a three-point play and the Bobcats scored their other five points from the free-throw line.

Kelly finally pulled away in the fourth quarter with the help of Hall and Backfisch.

Hall scored three field goals and Backfisch was 5-of-6 from the free-throw line, including a 4-for-4 performance in the final 46 seconds.

"I've been working on my free throws lately," Backfisch said. "I just knew I needed to put them in to help my team."

The Hawks also played a strong man-to-man defense while Delta did not shoot well.

The Bobcats were 0-for-13 from 3-point range and converted 10-of-46 field goals (22 percent).

Delta 6 14 12 8 -- 40

Kelly 12 12 9 13 -- 48

Delta (40) -- Sara Blattel 8, Alison Burger 2, Rebecca Cox 1, Brittni Deprow 2, Sarah Keys 2, Jessica Kidd 2, Jodi Menz 8, Taylor Smith 15. FG 10, FT 20-29, F 19 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

Kelly (48) -- Kayla Cissell 9, Debra Hall 14, Tara Johnson 7, Londyn Backfisch 10, Kristen Powell 8. FG 13, FT 20-26, F 21 (3-pointers: Johnson 2. Fouled out: none)