Boys basketball: New Warrior finds his touch

By BRYAN BURNS, Times Staff Writer
Published January 5, 2008

LARGO - Calvary Christian's Emmanuel Delgado averaged just eight points a game entering the Indian Rocks Christian Holiday Tournament, but according to Warriors coach Dave Bintz, the senior transfer from Horeb Christian in Miami is playing his best basketball of the season right now.

Delgado's progress was especially evident in Calvary Christian's 68-45 win over Tarpon Springs in Friday's semis. Delgado shot 8-for-14 from the floor, including 10 second-quarter points, to lead the Warriors with 17 points.

"He started slow because he's a new guy that just transferred in as a senior," Bintz said. "He's just starting to learn the system. He's not thinking so much now but just playing."

Delgado often gets overshadowed by leading scorer Christian Bibi Ndongo, who recorded a double double with 15 points and 16 rebounds against Tarpon Springs (4-9), but the fleet-footed guard has increased his scoring presence in the first two games of the tournament.

"I feel comfortable with my role on the team now," Delgado said. "We hang out a lot outside of basketball, and, right now we're enjoying each other."

Calvary Christian (11-3) led 31-20 at halftime before opening the second half on a 15-5 run to break out to a 46-25 lead. The Warriors led by as many as 31 points in the fourth.

"We were playing man-to-man defense the whole first half, so we decided to switch to a 2-3 zone to see if they could shoot," Bintz said. "They were shooting 3s, we were getting the long rebound and starting the fast break. It worked in our favor."

In the other semifinal, Hollywood Christian advanced to the final with a 62-48 win over Seminole. Hollywood Christian (10-2) jumped to an 8-0 lead, and Seminole was forced to play catch up the rest of the way. The Warhawks (6-10) cut the lead to two on a 3-pointer from Chris Whiting (12 points) with just under two minutes remaining in the first half but could get no closer. Hollywood Christian took a 30-23 lead into halftime and outscored Seminole 15-8 in the third quarter.

"We're 6-10, and we demonstrated tonight why we have that record," coach Bill Barnett said. "We don't have the ability to score points. We're averaging just 46.5 points a game. We execute and get good shots, but we have just one player on the team shooting better than 40 percent from the field."

[Last modified January 5, 2008, 00:24:52]