It was a fun night for hoops if you’re a Del City fan as the Eagles and Lady Eagles staged nice comeback victories against 6A Westmoore.
The Lady Eagles took the floor first against the Lady Jaguars, ranked 17th among 6A schools.
Del City started off well enough against a much bigger squad and had a tied ball game at 9 deep into the first quarter. Then, rebounding became an issue.
The Lady Jaguars hit the offensive boards hard and held an 11-2 advantage on the glass after the first quarter. Their board work helped them take a 15-9 lead by quarter’s end.
Del City Head Coach Karri Sears moved her team to a couple of different looks in the second quarter to help stem the tide.
One was a 2-3 zone. The other was a quick double team in the post. Neither option proved to be a quick fix.
The team did slow down the rebounding advantage in the quarter but still saw a huge deficit at halftime with Westmoore up 30-19.
Del City couldn’t find the mark on jumpers either. Senior guard Alaisha Castleberry was 2-10 at halftime while the whole team shot 6-22 from the floor.
The second half would be a different ball game for the Lady Eagles. The adjustments took hold for Coach Sears, and the advantages in the paint that Westmoore enjoyed all night disappeared.
The Lady Eagles went on a 13-4 run to start the half led by the usual suspects, Castleberry with 5 points and 1 assist, and her running mate senior guard Piper Kalthoff with 4 points. However, help from a new face emerged.
Sophomore Breail Goodlow, who has been battling injury, was huge in the comeback effort with 4 points and 2 steals.
By the end of the third, Del City had finished off their comeback effort taking a 39-37 lead into the fourth quarter. Del City actually out-rebounded Westmoore in the third 6-2 while holding the Lady Jaguars to 2-6 shooting.
The fourth quarter found the Lady Eagles trying to hold onto their slim lead. Del City continued to scrap on the boards as they built the lead up to 48-43.
However, back-to-back Castleberry turnovers lead to Westmoore scores to narrow it down to 48-47 Del City with just over a minute.
Westmoore would get two more possessions to get the win, but the staunch zone defense, as it had all night, forced Westmoore into long shot attempts that missed the mark. Kalthoff secured the final rebound that gave Del City a gritty 48-47 victory over Westmoore.
Kalthoff had 17 points and 5 rebounds on 6-10 shooting from the field and 1-4 shooting on 3-point attempts. Castleberry also helped out with 15 points.
Boys Keep Rolling
It was the boys turn to see if they could keep the momentum they had gained with back-to-back victories in the Conoco Phillips/Arvest Invitational after losing senior leader Brett Cannon.
Cannon was thought to be out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain. Indefinitely turned out to be Tuesday as he came in half way through the first quarter.
Their leader had returned but Del City was still down 11-6 to Westmoore. Forward Tripp Fuller was damaging Del City in the post with 9 points in the first quarter as Westmoore took a 20-11 lead into the second quarter.
The boys must have caught inspiration from the Lady Eagles as they staged a comeback of their own in the second.
Starting off on a 9-0 run, they cut the Westmoore lead down to 22-20. The turnaround was due in large part to making shots.
Del City used a full court zone press to frustrate Westmoore to start the game. Unfortunately, they hadn’t made enough baskets to setup the press. The second quarter was a different story.
They went 7-9 from the field in the second and used their press to force 5 Westmoore turnovers while holding the Jaguars to 3-10 shooting themselves.
Finally, a 3-ball from senior forward Xavier Hunter gave Del City its first lead since starting the game 4-0. They took the 29-27 lead into halftime.
Neither team found much of an edge in the third. Fuller went back to work scoring 9 more points in the third quarter, but Del City still maintained 42-38 advantage.
The dam finally broke for Westmoore in the fourth. They turned the ball over 7 more times leading to Del City getting going on the fast break. Hunter was a big part of the final Del City push scoring 10 of his game high 30 points in the quarter.
Del City pushed the lead to double digits and never looked back scoring a solid victory over a 6A opponent with a 67-57 win.
Hunter finished with 30 points and one assist. Del City junior guard Breiman Alexander didn’t score much on the night until he hit 8 fourth quarter freethrows, but Alexander was crucial to the effort dishing out 7 assists. He finished with 10 points, 7 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steal.
Del City plays again Friday, Jan. 17 against Edmond Memorial on the road. Edmond Memorial boys’ basketball is ranked fifth in 6A at the moment and should be yet another tough test for the Eagles. The Lady Eagles will also face a ranked 6A opponent as Edmond Memorial is 12th in girls’ basketball as well.
