By RICHIE HALL
SHERIDAN – After two weeks off, the Sheridan girls basketball team was back on the court Friday night.
The Blackhawks were playing their first game of the new year, and celebrated with a 40-34 victory over Rossville at Hobbs Memorial Gym, the first part of a girls-boys Hoosier Heartland Conference doubleheader. It was the first conference win of the season for the Sheridan girls.
“It’s definitely nice to get the breakthrough,” said Blackhawks coach Jaidlin Delph. “We really challenged the girls. We had two weeks off over Christmas Break. Tonight was the first time we played in two weeks. We really challenged them to come out at the beginning of the year as a different team.”
Sheridan finished the first quarter with a 12-8 lead; Allie Delph had six points in that period. The ‘Hawks then extended their lead to 16-8 in the second quarter, then led 18-10 with 3:36 left after Kaylie Kantz made two free throws. But the Hornets were in charge after that, finishing the first half on a 9-0 run to take a 19-18 lead into halftime.
The third quarter was tight for the entire eight minutes and featured several lead changes. A putback from Kantz put the Blackhawks ahead 22-19, but Rossville’s Madison Miller tied it up with a 3-pointer. Sheridan’s Taylor Bates scored on a layin, then Miller hit another 3, putting the Hornets up 25-24.
The teams traded the lead four more times in the quarter, with Rossville ahead 29-28 at the end of the period. But the ‘Hawks took control in the fourth, opening the quarter on a 10-0 run.
Bates put Sheridan in front for good on a three-point play, then converted another and-1 to get the ‘Hawks up 34-29. Delph made a free throw and Lillie Dickerson nailed a 3, and Sheridan was now in front 38-29. The Blackhawks held on to the lead from there
“We just told them that they needed to play their defense and make the adjustments themselves,” said Jaidlin Delph. “They knew what they were doing wrong and they just took it upon themselves in that stretch to do the little things that they needed to do right.”
“There was that one point that I told them, ‘Quit turning the ball over and play better defense,’” said Delph. “And that’s pretty much all you have to say to this group, and they take it personally and they hold themselves accountable to do the little things right.”
Bates led Sheridan with 14 points, while Allie Delph scored 11 points and also made four steals. Kantz collected eight rebounds, with Bates pulling seven. Dickerson added seven points, Kantz had six, and Berkley Williams had two points to round out the Blackhawks’ scoring.
“I feel like tonight we did a much better job of having the score be balanced than we have in the past,” said Jaidlin Delph. “I feel like they played really well. They played together, they played as a team and they knocked down shots when they needed to, so that’s pretty much all we can ask for.”
The ‘Hawks are 1-4 in conference play and 6-8 overall. Sheridan’s next game is Tuesday at Crawfordsville. It will be the start of a busy week for the Blackhawks, as they play four games in five days. Sheridan hosts Tipton on Thursday and Tri-Central on Friday (Jan. 10), then travels to Herron next Saturday, Jan. 11.
SHERIDAN 40, ROSSVILLE 34
Sheridan FG FT TP PF
Katy Crail 0-2 0-0 0 3
Allie Delph 3-7 5-8 11 1
Kaylie Kantz 2-5 2-3 6 2
Lillie Dickerson 3-12 0-0 7 2
Taylor Bates 6-9 2-2 14 2
Berkley Williams 1-3 0-2 2 1
Emma Went 0-0 0-0 0 2
Sierra Duke 0-0 0-0 0 0
Riley Reed 0-1 0-2 0 2
Totals 15-39 9-17 40 15
Score by Quarters
Rossville 8 11 10 5 – 34
Sheridan 12 6 10 12 – 40
Sheridan 3-point shooting (1-11) Dickerson 1-5, Delph 0-2, Crail 0-1, Kantz 0-1, Reed 0-1, Bates 0-1.
Sheridan rebounds (28) Kantz 8, Bates 7, Delph 3, Reed 3, Dickerson 3, Williams 2, Duke 1, Went 1.
Taylor Bates scored 14 points for Sheridan in its 40-34 win over Rossville on Friday. It was the first Hoosier Heartland Conference win of the season for the Blackhawks. (Kirk Green)