Delta girls slip past Scott Central

Wednesday, March 9, 2005
Scott Central's Janet Penrod dribbles the ball.

SIKESTON -- The Delta Lady Bobcats advance to the Class 1 quarterfinals with a 40-39 win over the Scott County Central Bravettes on Tuesday at the Sikeston Field House.

Delta's win avenged a sectional loss to the Bravettes last season.

Scott Central (15-7), forced a whopping 27 turnovers in the game, but cold shooting from the field, negated any possession advantage.

The Bravettes got off 54 field-goal attempts, nearly doubling Delta's 28, but hit only 16 for a mediocre 29.6 percent field-goal percentage, 2-of-9 3-

pointers (22.2 percent). The Bobcats hit 13 for a 46.4 percent clip overall, 4-

of-6 (67 percent) from 3-point range.

"If Brittney (Peet) and Janet (Penrod) aren't hitting their shots, we're going to come up short," said Scott Central coach Semona Penrod, of her two scoring leaders. "You can't win many games with 39 points on the board."

Penrod led the Bravettes with 10 points while Peet, Breanna Johnson and Trice Johnson added eight apiece.

Delta sophomore Shea Smith led all scorers with 18, including all four of the Bobcats' 3-pointers. Kaci Menz had nine.

A disparity of 24 to six in free-throw attempts, in Delta's favor, also figured large in the tight ballgame. Delta made 10, Scott Central five.

Scott Central coach Penrod would only say that she would have liked to have seen her team get more opportunities at the line.

After a slow start by both teams, Scott Central finally lit the scoreboard at the 4:10 mark of the first quarter.

Smith's two treys kept Delta close as the Bravettes held a slim 8-7 edge as the period expired.

A 9-0 Delta run in the second quarter overcame a 14-9 deficit and propelled the Bobcats to a 21-17 halftime advantage.

Scott Central opened the second half with an effective fullcourt press which bothered the young Bobcats to the tune of 15 second-half turnovers.

Delta, however, with only one senior in the lineup, held its composure and its lead at 31-28 after three quarters.

"Scott County Central did an excellent job with their press and, at times, it gave us problems," said Delta coach Randy White. "But, at times, I was very proud of how our kids handled it."

Scott Central, on a Peet bucket and Penrod's two free throws, pulled into a tie at 32 early in the fourth quarter. But, a free throw by Delta freshman Ashley Deprow followed by Kayla Seabaugh's timely field goal allowed the Bobcats to retake the lead at 35-32.

Scott Central's Breanna Johnson sank a 2-pointer, following a great save by Brittney Peet to retain possession, which narrowed the gap to 35-34 but Deprow answered with a stickback.

With 2:30 remaining and the score at 37-34, Scott Central missed yet another opportunity to convert a steal.

Smith missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:30 to go, but atoned by knocking down two double-bonus free throws with 1:11 remaining for a 39

-34 cushion.

Scott Central's Trice Johnson sliced the lead to 39-36 with 58 seconds left, but Smith hit 1-of-2 from the line to increase the lead to four at 40-36, making a last-second Scott Central 3-pointer harmless.

Delta (21-5) meets Chadwick (24-4), a 47-38 winner over Couch, in a quarterfinal matchup at the West Plains Civic Center on Saturday at 1 p.m.

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