Delta girls look for spot in semis

The Delta girls basketball team has had so much success in recent years, members of the team should be household names. In Delta, at least.

But when point guard Taylor Smith scored her team's first points in the Class 1 sectional against Tuscumbia on Tuesday night, the announcer's call of her name brought an interesting reaction out of a young fan from another school.

He turned to the person next to him and said excitedly, "Taylor Swift?!"

"Oh, gosh. People always say they think they hear my name on the radio," Smith said. "I have to tell them, 'No, it's not me.' I wish. I'd like to have her money."

While Swift is a national singing sensation, Smith is doing just fine as the point guard of the Bobcats.

They take a 21-5 record into the state quarterfinal game with Bakersfield (19-8). The contest is set for 2:45 p.m. today at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff.

Delta, which has won nine straight district championships, will be bidding for its fourth final four in that span. The Bobcats never have won a state title, finishing third in 2005 and second last year.

But this is not quite the same Delta team.

Smith returned along with 5-foot-11 senior center Jodi Menz. But Delta has had to work in three new starters -- and a new coach in Mark Verticchio -- while carrying the burden of the past.

"Around the community, girls basketball is our thing and we're expected to do good," Delta junior Courtney Burton said. "When things like this happen, we do our community proud.

"We don't want to disappoint anybody. We haven't lost in forever [early in the playoffs], and people say we're not going to beat anybody because we only have two starters back. I feel like the further we advance, if we do, I think Jodi and Taylor will be proud of us."

Verticchio, who coached the boys last year at Oak Ridge before succeeding Randy White, already is proud.

He called this year's group the "forgotten team," with so few starters back and a lot of youth to build around for 2009-10 and beyond.

"I don't think anyone thought they'd be 21-5 and win the conference," Verticchio said. "That was big, winning our conference. And now coming all the way to the quarterfinals by beating a good ballteam."

Delta on Tuesday posted a 43-40 win against a Tuscumbia team that featured four seniors.

"They were the experienced team," Verticchio said. "We only had two girls the whole year who played varsity, and we kind of got away with one because our two best players -- Jodi and Taylor -- did not have good nights. But they carried us all year, so I told them, 'Michael Jordan had bad games and Tiger Woods had bad rounds. It happens. You just gotta let it go and be happy you're playing again.'"

Like Tuscumbia, Delta's next foe also was not ranked in the final state poll.

Bakersfield rallied to beat No. 8 Naylor 47-44 on Tuesday.

Delta, which was in and out of the rankings all year, was No. 7 in the final poll. The Bobcats, who have not lost to a Class 1 school all season, have won 13 of their last 14 games.

Three more wins and Smith and her teammates will be famous themselves. In Delta, at least.