Preview: Delphi Community Oracles vs. Sheridan Blackhawks
Delphi Community and Sheridan are an even 3-3 against one another since January of 2015, but not for long. The Delphi Community Oracles will head out on the road to challenge the Sheridan Blackhawks at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Delphi Community is coming into the match hot, having won their last three games.
Delphi Community posted their biggest victory yet this season on Saturday. They breezed by Eastern at home to the tune of 54-19.
Delphi Community's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Jenna Roth, who scored 12 points along with seven steals. Roth has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Maddy Brown, who scored ten points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Sheridan suffered their closest defeat yet this season on Tuesday. They fell just short of Guerin Catholic by a score of 40-37. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as Sheridan came into the game with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 110th, while Guerin Catholic is ranked 222nd).
Kenzie Garner put forth a good effort for the losing side as she dropped a double-double on 19 points and 11 rebounds. That was a full 51.4% of Sheridan's points, marking the 12th time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Sadie Timme, who scored four points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Delphi Community is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 13-7 record this season. As for Sheridan, their loss ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 14-4.
Friday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Delphi Community have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 30.8 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Sheridan, though, as they've been averaging only 29.1 rebounds per game. Given Delphi Community's sizeable advantage in that area, Sheridan will need to find a way to close that gap.
Delphi Community suffered a grim 72-52 defeat to Sheridan when the teams last played back in January of 2023. The match was all but decided by halftime, at which point Delphi Community was down 37-17.
