Delta College’s men’s basketball finished league play sharing first place with Santa Rosa to clinch the Big 8 Conference championship.
Head Coach Richard Ressa is pleased with the way his team finished Big 8 play.
“We’re very proud of our guys, of what they’ve done. We play for each other, ” said Ressa.
Delta has battled tremendously to put itself in a position to win the title during the past month.
At the beginning of February, the Mustangs were sitting in third place with a 6-3 conference record.
Earning a spot in the playoffs was the main focus as the conference championship was seemingly out of reach.
Folsom Lake and Santa Rosa were the two teams competing for first, and the Mustangs’ motivation increased when these two began to suffer losses.
“When we see some teams lose, we knew we had a chance to make a run for it, and when the opportunity came we tried our best to finish it out,” guard Dayton Magana said.
The combination of results and a 6-game winning streak paved the way for the Mustangs to climb to first and battle for the conference championship.
Even as the results were starting to add up in Delta’s favor, guard Kendrick Currey said the team remained focused on what it needed to do on the court itself.
“We just made sure we keep our blinders on, didn’t focus on the future, didn’t focus on the past. Just took it one game at a time as long as we focused on the game plan,” Currey said.
Improved shooting has been a factor for the Mustangs to climb to the top of the standings.
Scoring average has increased nearly one full point, going from 77.7 points per game in February to 78.4.
Magana leads the team in scoring, averaging 16 points per game and carrying a significant load of Delta’s offense.
Apart from netting the ball, he is also seen by his teammates as a leader on and off the court.
“He’s a really good player. Never gets down on himself or his teammates, always has a good mindset. It’s fun to play with him,” said Currey.
Not everything went well for the Mustangs, however.
A week after Delta won the conference title, the team saw its postseason short-lived after falling to Columbia College in the first round of the NorCal playoffs.
With this the team puts an end to its 2021-2022 season.