It says a lot about Delhi’s quality as a team where they can win a league title game by 30 points and you can say that it wasn’t their cleanest performance.
But they don’t ask how, they ask how many and the Bulldog boys had more than enough Saturday as they took down Sidney 68-38 in the Midstate Athletic Conference final at Unadilla Valley.
Angelo Krzyston was dominant in the paint for Delhi, scoring a game-high 21 points in the win while Charlie Haight 11.
Jalen Reardon and Connor van der Sommen each scored 12 points to lead the Sabers offense.
The shooting display in the first quarter was not one for the teaching tape as both sides struggled to find their shooting stroke.
“We were definitely caught off guard with how strong Sidney came out defensively,” Delhi coach Warren Kelly said. “They definitely forced some turnovers on us that I wasn’t really pleased with.”
Delhi ended the first quarter with a 9-6 lead and for much of the first half found success on offense only through the strong play of Krzyston, who opened the second with back-to-back baskets to up the lead to 13-8.
“He’s been great for us all year,” Kelly said of Krzyston. “He’s our only senior and he’s shown a lot of leadership, a lot of toughness. I can’t remember a game that he didn’t show up to play at a high level and today was no exception. He played at a very high level.”
The pace began to pick up in the second quarter as the Bulldogs settled in offensively. A floater by Haight made it 25-14 with 55 seconds left, though Sidney closed the halftime deficit to 25-19 thanks to five points in the last 15 seconds by van der Sommen.
Each team seemed to settle in in the second half, with much crisper passes making their way around the court. Reardon closed the gap for Sidney midway through the third on a layup to make the score 32-27.
That was as close as things would get, however, as the Bulldogs responded with a 12-1 run.
“I think it was being a little more patient on offense where the first shot wasn’t the one they took,” Kelly said. “They passed the ball a little more to find the better shot and I think that’s what turned it around.”
A pair of free throws by Reardon to end the quarter made the score 44-30 Delhi entering the fourth. But five quick Delhi points to start the fourth upped the lead to 49-30 and the Sabers never got within striking distance again.
Delhi’s size proved to be too much on the offensive end while Sidney’s own offense went ice-cold down the stretch.
“In the second half I think we settled down a little bit,” Kelly said. “Our halfcourt defense got a little sturdier. I think it bothered them going to the 2-3 zone when we didn’t do a lot of it in the first half.”
Delhi (16-4) will host Union Springs in the Section IV Class C Quarterfinals next Saturday while Sidney (11-8) visits Chenango Forks in the Class B First Round on Wednesday.
While happy with Saturday night’s result, Kelly said he knows his team will need to be sharper if they’re to achieve the bigger goals they have in mind.
“I hope we play a little cleaner in sectionals than we did in the first half tonight,” Kelly said. “But we’ve got Union Springs coming to our gym. That’s a big advantage that they have to travel over two hours to get to us. But there are a lot of talented teams out there, especially the high seeds. I think we can compete with them and play with them but we can’t play sloppy if we’re going to do it.”
Delhi 68, Sidney 38
DA … 9 16 19 24 — 68
Sid … 6 13 11 8 — 38
DA: Teddy Kelsh 1 1-1 4, Lucas Nealis 2 2-2 6, Charlie Haight 5 1-4 11, Will Kulaski 0 0-0 0, Ivan Richardson 2 2-2 7, Tommy Nagy 2 0-0 6, Angelo Krzyston 9 3-4 21, Seamus deMauro 2 2-2 6, Rocco Schnabel 3 1-4 7. Totals: 26 12-19 68
S: Jalen Reardon 3 4-5 12, Grady Loeffler 0 0-0 0, Dylan Easton 2 3-5 8, Connor van der Sommen 5 1-2 12, Deon Taylor 0 0-0 0, Jesse Newell 2 2-2 6, Jack Langstaff 0 0-0 0, Ayden O’Connor 0 0-0 0, Kaleb Monroe 0 0-0 0, Gabe Cirigliano 0 0-0 0, Anthony Conroy 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 10-14 38
Three-point baskets: DA 4 (Kelsh, Richardson, Nagy 2); S 4 (Reardon 2, Easton, van der Sommen)