Back on top: Delta GBB gets past Oak Ridge to capture 6th-straight district title

SIKESTON – Delta girls basketball's reign as Class 1 district champions has lasted 1,829 days.

And counting.

The Ladycats won their sixth-straight district tournament title and 25th overall Saturday afternoon, topping Oak Ridge 79-60 in the Class 1 District 1 final at Scott County Central High School.

“It's just a credit to the kids,” seventh-year head coach David Heeb said. “They worked so hard. I told them before the game that if we do everything perfect, we only have five more games. So now if we do everything perfect, we only have four more games. I just tell them before every game that no matter what happens when we walk out here, I just want you to know how much I love coaching this team, because they work so, so hard every day.”

The leader of the mob was star senior Jade Berry, who, as expected, had a spectacular showing behind a game-high 20 points en route to scoring her 2,000th-career point in the victory.

“Every day since Day 1, all of us have been putting in hard work and trying to get better, and not just trying to live up to last year’s team with Mya (Gillespie), Presley (Holweg), and Addie (Nichols), but just be better,” Berry said. “We’ve just been working hard. Our goal is still to win state and everything, so our hard work really showed today.”

Berry was one of four Ladycats in double figures — Grace Ancell had 13 points, while Lilli Boitnott and Trena Crowden each scored 12 to help ignite the explosive performance. Freshman Raelin Nanney also chipped in with eight.

On a day that saw Oak Ridge (14-11) put up more than a fight, the Ladycats (22-6) showed resilience after an entertaining back-and-forth first 24 minutes. That’s until a dominant fourth quarter made the game look every bit as lopsided as most of the program’s six district titles since 2020.

Boitnott said it’s the “behind the scenes” that serves as a testament to the championship.

“Coach Heeb told us from the beginning that ‘practicing hard makes an amazing team,’” Boitnott said. “It truly does. When we have bad days in practice and then we play bad, it shows. So, when we're all going through it in practice and we're all playing well, we just play so much better as a team collectively. It's amazing just to watch it. And that's what people don't see about basketball. They don't see where we have to run lines and do the hard drills. You just see us come out on the court and play. But without practice, we would be terrible. And without Coach Heeb, we'd be awful.”

Oak Ridge took advantage of Delta’s slow start, racing out to a 17-10 lead at the end of the first quarter behind terrific rebounding and six points apiece from seniors Reagan Howe and Madyson Ruehling.

After shooting a poor 20% from beyond the arc in the opening frame, the Ladycats drained 4-of-6 3s in the second, including back-to-back corner 3s from Crowden to close out the half and tie things at 25-25.

“Jade obviously had a big game, but I thought the key to the game was Trena Crowden keeping us afloat early,” Heeb said. “Without Trena, we would have been buried alive. She gave Raelin, Lillie, and Grace time to wake up.”

Which is exactly what Delta did in the second half.

After senior Jolie Scherer’s free throw gave the Ladycats the lead with 3:32 to go in the third quarter, Delta would not trail the rest of the afternoon.

The highlight came at the 6:48 mark in the fourth quarter on Nanney’s nifty fade-away 3-pointer from the top of the key while being knocked over by a charging Oak Ridge defender.

Just like that, the Ladycats were up 54-44 and cruising. The Blue Jays never recovered.

Nanney knocked down another 3-pointer on the ensuing possession before Berry sealed things with a beautiful “And One” reverse layup with 4:13 remaining to cap a 10-0 run.

Delta led by 10 with 6:48 left, by 15 with 5:49 left and by 19 as the final buzzer and a roaring applause from the Ladycat crowd sounded.

“Coach Heeb talked to us at halftime and we realized we didn't want this to be the end for us,” Berry said. “I mean, we're too good for us to stop here when our goal is to go to state and win state, and we know that we can do it. So, we all just got more fired up. It was like, ‘let's go ahead and bring this home.’”

While head coach Julie Ward’s squad was more than competitive, Oak Ridge reached its second-straight district final and notched back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in program history. Howe posted a team-high 20 points, while Ruehling added 18.

“Just the fight in them says it all,” Ward said. “Always showing up for practice, always showing up for games, wanting to do better, and basically wanting to get a winning season. The program's not that old. It's our second time we've seen Delta in the finals, so each year we've gotten better and better. Last year, they kind of blew us out of the water, but to show the fight that we had tonight and being tied at halftime, it was pretty exciting. I'm super proud of these girls. They set the precedent for all of our younger girls coming up.”

After shooting 2-for-10 from 3-point territory in the first quarter, Delta drained 10 of 14 3s – six of which belonged to Boitnott and Crowden – to close out the contest. The Ladycats also forced 29 turnovers on the defensive end.

The victory marked Heeb’s sixth district championship at Delta – one year after his team blew past Oak Ridge 97-27 in the 2024 district final. Perhaps more importantly, the win vaults the Ladycats into the Class 1 state tournament with a full head of steam.

“It's the old cliché: ‘survive and advance,’” Heeb said. “That's what we talked about at halftime. I said, ‘We can sit here and be mad that we're not winning by a lot, but in their locker room, they're happy. You know that because they're in the game. You’ve just gotta keep that perspective.’ Just every time you get put in one of these situations and you come out ahead, it's a blessing, because now you've had to endure it once, so the next time maybe won't be a shock.”

When asked about what a third district title meant to her, the junior Boitnott kept it short and sweet.

“Next up we have to beat Chadwick,” she said. “That's what's going through my mind.”

Delta’s path to a state title continues on Tuesday, Mar. 4, when the Ladycats take on District 2 champion Chadwick (24-4) at a time and location TBD.