By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
PENDLETON – They say the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores. The folks at Pendleton Heights aren’t likely to argue that wisdom right about now. They might, however, add a second piece of their own.
Nothing goes better with sophomores than a classy, versatile senior who has been through the wars. The Arabians’ talented sophomores and senior leader Nathan Hendershot combined Nov. 28 to blast Class 3A No. 18 visiting Delta, 58-35, in a Hoosier Heritage Conference clash.
The victory moved Pendleton Heights to 2-0 on the campaign. It was the opener for the Eagles. That fact goes a long way in describing this contest.
For most of the night, the Arabians looked like a team that had a much better idea of what it wanted to accomplish than did Delta.
Pendleton began the game is a solid man-to-man defense that made it difficult for Delta to get clean looks at the basket. The Eagles compounded the problem by not shooting well, and by the end of the first period the Arabians had bolted to a 15-4 cushion. That lead grew to 27-12 at intermission.
The guard tandem of sophomore Kendall Waters and Hendershot did most of the offensive damage. That stayed consistent through the entire evening as Waters finished with a game-high 17 points with eight rebounds and five assists and Hendershot added 13 points.
It is never going to be easy, though, when you play a Paul Keller-coached basketball team, and the veteran Delta mentor wove his magic at halftime. Delta opened the third quarter far more aggressively on defense and starting driving the ball more on offense. The strategies worked, and the Eagles dominated play in the period.
But they could not shake the bugaboo of cold shooting, and the change in momentum went mostly for naught. Despite holding Pendleton Heights to just five points in the first six minutes of the quarter, Delta could close no closer than 32-21.
When Hendershot closed the stanza with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, the Arabians had withstood the charge and led 40-24.
The fourth quarter was time to experiment with lineups on both sides as the verdict never came into doubt. Pendleton Heights coach Brian Hahn wanted to see improvement defensively after not being impressed with his team’s effort on that end in the opener. He spoke with Hoosier Authority after the game and acknowledged the Arabians turned it up a notch.
Meanwhile, Keller took the defeat in stride. He said the Eagles will be a work in progress as they rebuild after heavy graduation losses.
Next up for Pendleton Heights, which also got 12 points from Kellen Dunham and 11 from Ryan Albers, is a Dec. 1 home game at 7:30 p.m. ET against upstart Westfield. The Arabians then will travel Dec. 5 for another 7:30 contest at Hamilton Southeastern.
Delta will travel to Cowan Dec. 4 for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff, then return home Saturday to tackle Muncie South at 7:45 p.m.
The box score:
Delta 4 8 12 11 – 35
Pendleton Heights 15 12 13 18 – 58
Delta: Whelage 9, Bryan 7, Capstick 6, Young 6, Zgunda 3, Fowler 2, Smedley 2, Dishman 0, Grove 0, Meeks 0. Totals: 11-36 10-17 35. 3-pointers: Whelage 2, Capstick
Pendleton Heights: Waters 17, Hendershot 13, Dunham 12, Albers 11, Aul 2, Swartz 2, Wehner 1, Broadwater 0, Burke 0, Obras 0, Phillips 0, Robinson 0. Totals: 22-37 8-12 58. 3-pointers: Dunham 2, Hendershot 2, Waters 2
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