Youthful Delta girls eliminate Bravettes 40-39

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Delta girls basketball team survived a stifling Scott County Central press Tuesday night to slip by the Bravettes 40-39 in the sectional round of the Class 1 state playoffs at Sikeston High School.

Despite turning the ball over on numerous occasions, the Bobcats (21-5) were able to use a strong defensive effort of their own to exact some revenge on Scott County. Scott County defeated Delta in the sectionals last year at Sikeston.

The win puts Delta in Saturday's quarterfinal round at the West Plains Civic Center. Delta will face Chadwick (24-4) at 1 p.m.

"I'm going to be very honest, Scott County Central did an excellent job with the press," Delta coach Randy White said. "At times it gave us problems, but at times I was very proud how the kids handled it."

Neither offense had much success Tuesday. The game was scoreless for nearly the first 5 minutes of the game, and after the first quarter Scott County led 8-7.

Delta was able to grab the lead with the help of some strong outside shooting from sophomore Shea Smith. Smith hit three 3-pointers in the opening half and led all scorers with 12 points at halftime. Delta led 21-17 at the half with 19 points split between Smith and fellow sophomore Kaci Menz.

"They did a real good job of matching up and switching," White said of Scott County. "Our kids got the floor spread and got more movement on the inside it opened things up for the outside."

It looked like Delta had solved Scott County's press early in the second half, building a 28-19 lead with 4:25 left in the third. But Scott County created some turnovers and narrowed the gap to 31-28 by the end of the third quarter.

The Bravettes continued to charge early in the fourth, cutting the lead to 35-34 with about 3 minutes remaining. But the Bobcats were did a better job taking care of the ball down the stretch, and Scott County failed to make its shots.

"We stole the ball, stole it and stole it," Scott County coach Semona Penrod said. "We just couldn't capitalize offensively."

Smith hit three free throws in the final minute to ice the game. Scott County hit a meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the final lead to 40-39.

"I thought our kids did a good job blocking out," White said of the final minute. "I was pleased how our guards came to the ball. We're young at the guards, but late in the game our guards came to the ball and showed some composure."

Smith finished with a game-high 18 points. Menz added six points and freshman Ashley Deprow had six.

Janet Penrod led the Bravettes with 10 points. Brittney Peet finished with six points, but was held scoreless in the opening half.

"If those girls aren't hitting their shots we're going to come up short," Semona Penrod said. "You can't win many game with 39 points on the board."

DELTA 40, SCOTT COUNTY CENTRAL 39

Delta 7 14 10 9 -- 40

Scott County 8 9 11 11 -- 39

DELTA (40) -- Shea Smith 18, Kaci Menz 7, Ashley Deprow 6, Kayla Seabaugh 5, Sarah Cook 2. FG 13, FT 10-23, F 8. (3-pointers: Smith 4, Fouled out: none)

SCOTT COUNTY (39) -- Janet Penrod 10, Brittney Peet 6, Breanna Johnson 8, Nyketia Johnson 6, Brittany Godwin 5, Jessica McCray 3. FG 16, FT 5-6, F 21. (3-pointers: Godwin 1, McCray 1, Fouled out: none)