Delta falls to Platte Valley in Class 1 state championship

Delta's Kendall Holweg (30) and Presley Holweg react following the Bobcats' loss to Platte Valley in the Class 1 state championship on Saturday at JQH Arena in Springfield, Mo.

J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semoball.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Delta Bobcats dug themselves a hole early, trailing Platte Valley by 10 at halftime of the Class 1 state championship game.

Then, the Bobcats stormed back, forcing eight turnovers in the third quarter and knotting the game up at 37.

Momentum seemed to be on the Bobcats' side after taking a four-point lead in the fourth, but Delta seemingly ran out of gas late in the game. Platte Valley rolled the rest of the way to a 63-50 victory on Saturday at JQH Arena to win its second straight state championship.

"In the first half, they were able to dictate the tempo and our pressure was probably about a notch below where it needed to be," Delta coach David Heeb said. "In the third quarter we were able to ratchet it up, make some shots and we had them on ropes. But you've got to give credit. ... They were a little better than we were today, but we had an outstanding season."

Platte Valley had a clear size advantage on the Bobcats, something Heeb said gave them trouble.

Delta's Jade Berry drives past a Platte Valley defender during the Class 1 state championship on Saturday at JQH Arena in Springfield, Mo.

J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semoball.com

"They were able to just look over the top of you," Heeb said. "She's 6-foot or 6-1 and we're 5-6. I thought we were sitting back waiting on them to dribble and they weren't going to dribble. They were going to sit there and just pick us apart."

The Longhorns benefitted from solid 3-point shooting, going 9-for-14 from beyond the arc. Brylie Angle went 5-for-6 from 3-point range and scored 18 points. Senior Jaclyn Pappert led Platte Valley with 21 points and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line late to ice the game.

Heeb felt it took his team too long to get comfortable on defense.

"You've got to look for advantages in a game like this," Heeb said. "Bobby Knight says, 'To take one thing away, you got to give something else up.' We knew that we were giving up a lot inside, so we've got to take it away from them back here and it just took us too long to do that."

Delta's Jade Berry drives past a Platte Valley defender during the Class 1 state championship on Saturday at JQH Arena in Springfield, Mo.

J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semoball.com

Freshman Jade Berry led the Bobcats offensively, scoring 15 points and going 4-for-5 from the free throw line. She also recorded three steals and dished two assists.

Sophomores Presley Holweg and Addie Nichols rounded out double-digit scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Delta's lone senior Kendall Holweg struggled offensively in the final game of her career, but her legacy will be remembered for years to come.

"I'm proud of Kendall," Nichols said. "She went from having to basically do everything to having to learn how to share the ball and depend on her teammates. It took a lot to do that. I was not from Delta, so whenever I moved over there, she had to learn how to depend on me. It really shows the personality Kendall has to be able to depend on other people and to be able to open other people up and basically just play as a team."

Heeb had a ton of praise from his only remaining senior from Delta's return to girls basketball four years ago.

"You're talking about a kid that's going to finish with 1,600-1,700 points. I don't know what where it's at, but it's a lot of points," Heeb said. "Our starters might play between 15 and 20 minutes a night because we don't leave our kids in to run the score up. We sub these kids in and then they can also play. That's built our program up because we do sub everybody in.

"With Kendall, if we'd done it a different way she would have had 2,000-3,000 points. She would have racked up some unbelievable totals, but she's all about winning. The thing that I love about her the most is that her work ethic is off the charts. I've been doing this for 22 years and she's one of the hardest workers I've ever been around. She's set an amazing example for every young kid that's coming up, including our elementary kids."

Heeb believes the future is bright for the Bobcats — who finished the season with a 28-2 record — and just like with South Iron, he hopes to have an opportunity to meet the Longhorns again.

"It makes you wonder what's next for Delta basketball because we've got everybody in here coming back except for (Kendall)," Heeb said. "I think we can be right back up here again, and the way the bracket rotates we would get them in the first game next year. We're looking forward to that rematch. We'd play them again in an hour if they wanted to play, but they've got a great team and we're hoping to get back up here and be playing again next year."

PLATTE VALLEY (63) — Jaclyn Pappert 21, Brylie Angle 18, Maggie Collins 13, Sarah Langford 5, Kayley Hauber 4, Stephanie Turbin 2. FG 22-33, FT 10-15, F 17. (3-pointers: Angle 5, Pappert 3, Langford. Fouled out: Turbin).

DELTA (50) — Jade Berry 15, Presley Holweg 13, Addie Nichols 11, Kendall Holweg 5, Lacey Blattel 3, Teriana Crowden 3. FG 16-41, FT 12-17, F 18. (3-pointers: Nichols 3, P. Holweg, Berry, Crowden. Fouled out: None).