Girls basketball team ends streak of losing seasons

The Eagles rallied to defeat Gahanna Christian 48-42 on Feb. 23 in a makeup MOCAL game to finish 11-9 overall. Although it would likely have been sweeter to beat Gahanna Christian in their matchup in the first round of the Division IV district tournament on Feb. 18, at least the Eagles finished with a victory.

"It was a fun game to end on for us," coach Jackie Boggs said. "We had very low turnovers for us and the girls put everything together. We couldn't have asked for a better ending."

In the tournament game at Granville, the Eagles fell behind 35-20 after three quarters before a rally fell just short in a 40-37 loss. It was a similar story in the first MOCAL game on Jan. 8, as the Eagles trailed 30-18 entering the fourth quarter before losing 33-32.

That's why Delaware Christian didn't panic after falling behind Gahanna Christian 20-2 after the first quarter of the makeup game.

"I knew two minutes into the second quarter that we were going to come back and make a run at them again," said Boggs, whose team trailed 22-15 at halftime and tied the game at 30 entering the fourth quarter. "We had come back against them twice before, and we didn't panic. We controlled the rest of the game and it was a great way to finish the season."

The game was also for third place in the MOCAL. The Eagles finished 5-4 in league play behind Fairfield Christian (9-0) and Tree of Life (8-2) and ahead of Gahanna Christian (5-5), Grove City Christian (2-8) and Madison Christian (0-10).

"Even if we made up the game against Fairfield and lost, we'd be tied for third place," Boggs said. "If we had lost to Gahanna, we would've finished fourth."

Delaware Christian expects to return all nine players. Sophomore Haley Kirby averaged 14.8 points per game, followed by sophomore Sarah Harp (10.4) and freshman Brenna McCullough (9.6). McCullough averaged 10.1 rebounds and Harp averaged 5.6 steals.

Earning all-league honors were Kirby (first team), Harp (second team), McCullough (honorable mention) and Haley Huston (honorable mention). Reaping all-district honors were Kirby (third team), Harp (honorable mention) and McCullough (honorable mention). Others expected back are sophomore Callie Miller and freshmen Holly Bach, Lenora Boyer, Emily Kirkham and Erin Morgan.

"We should've actually won three more games," Boggs said. "The girls need to get stronger and faster and jump higher. Most importantly, we need to play pickup games in the offseason and learn basic skills so that we don't have to take time teaching that during practices and games."

•The boys basketball team lost to Tree of Life 64-34 in the first round of the Division IV district tournament on Feb. 27 at Delaware Hayes to finish 5-15.

The Eagles trailed 10-7 after one quarter and a late run by the Trojans in the second quarter propelled them to a 29-19 halftime lead. Delaware Christian was dominated in the second half.

Hughie Kerins, Brandon Carroll and Jeremy Glick all scored five points. Bryan Redic led Tree of Life with 26 points.

It was a disappointment for Delaware Christian, which lost MOCAL games to the Trojans 64-57 on Dec. 18 and 76-46 on Feb. 2. The Eagles finished last at 0-10 in the MOCAL, as Tree of Life won at 10-0.

Fairfield Christian (7-3) was second, followed by Grove City Christian (6-4), Gahanna Christian (4-6), Madison Christian (3-7) and Delaware Christian.

"It's very disappointing to not win a league game," coach Kevin Quist said. "We had three very good chances, but couldn't pull them out. We were tied with Gahanna Christian with less than two minutes left, trailed Fairfield Christian by two and had the ball with 20 seconds left and we trailed Madison Christian by two with two minutes left. We led Tree of Life after three quarter in our first meeting with them."

In the aforementioned games, the Eagles lost to Gahanna Christian 89-84 on Feb. 23, to Fairfield Christian 54-50 on Feb. 12 and to Madison Christian 63-60 on Dec. 8.

"Most of the problem is mental I think," Quist said. "In pressure situations, we didn't make the wisest of decisions. We have to learn how to finish. I think if we put in the work and get that breakthrough win, it'll lead to more good things."

Victories were against Wayside Christian (57-50 on Dec. 10), Gilead Christian (59-55 on Jan. 5), Veritas Academy (71-44 on Jan. 29), Village Academy (82-72 on Jan. 30) and Northside Christian (81-38 on Feb. 18).

Glick led the Eagles in scoring at 14.1, followed by Hughie Kerins (11.0) and Pete Kerins (9.6). Tyler Moll led the team in rebounding at 6.0 per game.

Hughie Kerins was third-team all-district and first-team all-MOCAL. Glick was honorable mention all-district and second-team all-league. Pete Kerins and Moll were honorable mention all-league.

The Eagles will lose seniors Moll and Tim Scott. Expected to return are juniors Aric French, Carroll and Hughie Kerins, sophomores Brandon Cooper, Jeff Copley, Michael Sullivan and Glick and freshman Pete Kerins and Jackson Quist.

"We need to really improve on defense. We weren't applying the type of pressure we needed and we got beat way too often," coach Quist said. "We need to improve our lateral quickness and speed, plus we've got to improve our shooting consistency.

"Overall, this season was a steppingstone. We need to accomplish more next season."

•Jeff Copley rolled a 621 series as an individual competing in the district bowling tournament Feb. 27 at HP Lanes.

Copley did not advance to the state tournament last Friday at Shawnee Lanes in Chillicothe. The top three individuals not on a qualifying team advanced. They were Linden-McKinley's Christopher Polk (792), Lancaster's Austin DeCarlo (749) and Westerville South's Tyler Chaney (702).