Taylor Smith, Delta girls basketball

The Delta girls basketball team's third trip to the state's final four this decade resulted in its best finish in that span and hope for a bright future.

Sophomore point guard Taylor Smith led the Bobcats in scoring in the two games at the final four, scoring 14 points in each game and finishing the week 14-for-15 from the free throw line.

That's no surprise, since Smith was a perfect 6-for-6 the previous week in leading Delta past Exeter in the Class 1 quarterfinal. She scored a team-high 18 points in that game.

"Taylor does a lot of good things for us, and I think a lot of times those seniors, they help her out," Delta coach Randy White said. "They take some of the pressure off her when it comes to handling the ball. Taylor does a good job for us handling the ball. But in a lot of instances, we may have Sarah Keys come take the ball and Amanda Drew. So it's not a case where you've got a young kid who has got to shoulder all the responsibility."

But in pressure situations, Smith doesn't mind responsibility. She scored five of Delta's 12 points in the final period and nine of Delta's last 18 in the game to finish off previously unbeaten Meadville in last Thursday's semifinal, scoring on a three-point play and two more free throws.

She was the only Delta player in double figures in the title game loss to Cairo Northeast.