WESTERVILLE – Even in the best of circumstances, the task in front of the Delaware Christian boys basketball team was daunting.
And Monday night’s 97-42 non-league loss at Worthington Christian was not played under the best of circumstances for the visiting Eagles.
Worthington Christian is one of the top teams in the Division III Central District and featured one of the top freshmen, DJ Moore.
Even at full strength, it was a tall task … literally. DCS has just three players on its roster that stand 6-feet or taller and one of them was out with an injury.
Compare that to a WC roster that has seven out of 10 players over that threshold.
“We were out-manned at every position,” Landrum said. “But we didn’t quit. We can’t rebound when they’re bigger than us at every position.”
The Eagles were without one of their leading scorers, Pryce Johnson, who suffered a leg injury in Friday’s game. Another, Jon Walter, was playing through illness.
“(Johnson) is our best rebounder,” Landrum said. “He’s the strongest kid on our team. We gave up a lot of size, obviously. Curtis (Bean) did what he could out there – he’s the only one over 6-foot.”
The Warriors took advantage of their size to the tune of a 46-13 edge in rebounds.
Post Nakimba Mullins scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the first half and much of it came on the offensive boards. He had six offensive rebounds and finished with 11 overall to lead the Warriors.
“We had a size advantage – especially around the rim,” WC coach Kevin Weakley said. “So, we tried to take advantage of that.”
Mullins had six points to help the Warriors, who never trailed, open 9-2.
Bean knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing with 3:13 left in the opening period to get the Eagles within 13-11.
But that’s as close as it would get. The Warriors used a 37-11 run to balloon the lead and never looked back.
“The first quarter – we were a little lethargic,” Weakley said. “(DCS) played pretty good. I thought we played our game in quarters two through four. We really sped the game up a little bit and got what we wanted.”
Moore finished with 17 points and 10 assists for his third double-double in just four games. Derrick Hardin also had 17 points, Tyler Kindberg added 15 and Charles Collins chipped in 10 to lead the Warriors (3-1).
Bean had 13 points and Nathan Stewart added 11 for the Eagles (0-4), who have played above their Division IV level in two of their four games.
“We’ll see if there is anything positive we can take out of this,” Landrum said. “I think there was – we swarmed to the ball defensively. We have kids that struggle with confidence right now. Everybody’s gotta keep their heads up at all times. We were down 50 and everybody kept playing. So, that’s good.”
Next up, DCS heads to Sugar Grove Saturday to take on Berne Union in a non-league contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Delaware Christian pulled to within striking distance with three minutes to play, but a series of costly turnovers snuffed out any hope of a comeback in Monday’s 48-37 non-league loss to host East Knox.
The Eagles, who managed just 25 points through the first three quarters, were outscored in all three. They won the fourth 12-9 to smooth out the scoring summary.
Lyssi Snouffer led DCS with 22 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks. Abbi Maurer added nine points and four assists and Katie Neuhart had four points and seven rebounds in the setback.
The Eagles return to action Saturday against host Madison Christian. Tip is set for 8 p.m.
