What's in a name? Delta hopes it's 'State Champ'

DELTA, Mo. -- Flip through a phone book for a full variety of last names.

And when first names are randomly coupled with last names, the list of possibilities is endless.

It provides an even greater appreciation for the conciseness of the starting lineup for the state-bound Delta girls basketball team. Long on talent, the Bobcats are precariously short on names.

It presented one of the hurdles for coach Randy White, who took over the Delta program last year after a 23-year run at Scott City.

His starting lineup, which hasn't changed in two years, has consisted of three Cooks -- two named Sarah. The third, Rebecca, shares the same first name of a fourth starter, Rebecca Below.

"The first half of the season it was a pain in the butt," White said. "You'd yell, 'Rebecca' and you'd get two people looking at you. You'd yell, 'Hey Cook,' and three people stop and look at you. If you just said Sarah, you had two of them turning around again."

While individuals are tough to keep straight, it's crystal clear what Delta is doing as a team -- winning.

The Bobcats (26-2) will play in the Class 1 semifinals today in Columbia for the first time since 1980. They take a 26-2 record and 13-game winning streak into a 7:55 p.m. game with Chilhowee (27-2).

For the record, senior Rebecca Cook and sophomore Sarah M. Cook are sisters. Sarah Jo Cook, a senior, is not related to the two but is the niece of Jackson coach Ron Cook.

Now in his second season, White isn't adhering to the old saying about too many Cooks.

"There's not enough Cooks," he said. "I wish I had more of 'em."

Before taking over the Delta program last season, White was in the business of beating the Bobcats for years.

In his last two years at Scott City, he coached against three of his current players -- Below, Rebecca Cook and Sarah Jo Cook, all seniors who have started since their freshman seasons.

"They were young, and I had some good kids over there too," White said.

Delta's current group of seniors took their lumps as freshmen, but turned in a 15-10 record as sophomores and won their district. That's when they began to see a clearer picture of their future.

"We were all playing against seniors pretty much, and we didn't do a terrible job," Below said. "I think we really realized then if we worked hard enough we can make it all the way to state. Before that it was kind of like a dream."

White was then unexpectedly fired at Scott City after a 19-8 season. He left the school and joined his former Scott-Mississippi Conference rival.

Delta players were familiar with White but still had their concerns going into last season. Questions abounded in the mind of Katrina Flores, now a junior guard.

"How would he treat us? Will he treat us differently than his other team?," she said. "He had a good team in Scott City, too. Were we good enough to play for him? How's he going to react if maybe we don't know things we should know?"

White was on the other side of the questions.

"That works both ways," White said. "They didn't know how I'd be, and I didn't know how they'd react."

It didn't take long to lay all the questions to rest.

"He made us real comfortable real fast," Flores said. "He made us feel like we were a basketball team and that we could play with any other team."

Added White, "I really felt the kids had a good opportunity to go somewhere."

The Bobcats, playing with four juniors and a freshman last season, quickly began to establish themselves as one of the premier teams in the area.

They haven't disappointed this season, winning the Scott Mississippi Conference title and suffering their only two losses to Class 3 Kelly and Class 4 Dexter.

Below led the area in scoring at 24.6 points a game and averages 11.4 rebounds a game. She provides a good balance to the outside game of Rebecca Cook, who hit 41 3-pointers. Flores is a capable outside shooter, while Sarah M. Cook -- referred to by teammates as "Little Sarah" despite being 5-foot-8 -- can score inside and outside.

On Saturday they avenged two straight regional losses to Couch by winning 53-40 in the quarterfinals.

With two more wins they cap a dream season and make life a little easier for everyone else.

Then they can all go by the same name: state champions.

jbreer@semissourian.com

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