DELTA – Tinora first year varsity head coach Kris Lymanstall installed a new up-tempo offense this off- season, tonight in Delta, coach Lymanstall and the boys went back to what Hall of Fame coach Paul Wayne used to preach to the current Rams roster, defense, defense, defense.
After the first 5 minutes of the first quarter, the Tinora faithful must have thought, “here we go again.” After seeing Miller City senior Austin Ruhe torch them for 35 points on Tuesday, a Miller City 64-49 win, Delta big man James Ruple looked to be on the same track as Ruhe.
Ruple dropped in eight first quarter points, leading the Panthers to an 8-3 lead after one.
The second quarter saw the Rams offense get back on track. Ram junior Luke Harris coming off a career high 24 Tuesday was slowly heating up. Methodically chipping away at the Delta lead, Tinora went into the half at The Jungle at Delta High School trailing the Panthers, 18-14. The Delta D held Rams senior leader to just two points in the first half.
The new staff at Tinora isn’t shy about in game adjustments. After seeing the early explosion by Ruple, the Tinora D put the clamps on James Ruple, although finishing with a team high 14 points, the Rams limited Ruple to six points after his eight point outburst over the first five minutes of the contest.
The third quarter saw the Rams outscore Delta, 7-2, to grab a 21-20 lead as the teams headed to the fourth quarter.
The final quarter saw senior leaders Eric Bohn and Nolan Schafer step to the front, as well as the hot hand of junior sharpshooter Luke Harris. Again, senior postman Eric Bohn gave 110% battling the Panthers on the low block. Not only did Bohn battle Delta, he also battled a bloody lip midway through the quarter.
Nursing a 25-22 lead with 90 seconds remaining, Tinora’s Luke Harris took a Gavin Eckert pass and nailed a left wing three pointer, increasing the Rams lead to 28-22.
As we saw in Saturday night’s win vs Bryan, the next 40 seconds would show a lot of character, senior Nolan Schafer would again prove to be a sure bet at the free throw line. Schafer stepped up and nailed five straight free throws, giving the Tinora Rams a huge come from behind win at Delta, 33-26.
With the win, Tinora moves to 2-1. The Rams will host county neighbor Napoleon Saturday night.
With the loss, Delta falls to 1-1, the Panther will travel to Montpelier Saturday night.
The Higbea Embroidery Player of the Game went to Luke Harris, Harris finished with 17 points.
Tinora 3 11 7 12 — 33
Delta 8 10 2 6 — 26
Tinora Scoring
Luke Harris 17
Nolan Schafer 10
Eric Bohn 3
Cole Anders 3
Delta Scoring
James Ruple 14
Nolan Risner 5
Josh Tresnan-Reighard – 4
DJ Davis 2
Justin Ruple 1
JC contest was won by Delta, 28-27. A Reeve Verdin free throw with 0.0 seconds remaining gave the Panthers the win.
