Ohio basketball team of the week: Time to shine for Cincinnati Country Day girls

Shelby Dermer
Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Country Day girls team poses for a group picture at the Windermere Prep Rock Holiday Classic in Orlando, Florida.

Cincinnati Enquirer readers voted Cincinnati Country Day girls basketball as the Ohio Team of the Week, based on votes tallied Dec. 21. Our basketball teams receive a feature that runs the following week. 

The Cincinnati Country Day girls basketball team is currently in Orlando, Florida, participating in the Windermere Prep Rock Holiday Classic. 

For veteran head coach John Snell, now in his 14th season at CCD, it felt like the right time for a Christmas break trip to the Sunshine State. 

"We haven't been here before. The boys typically travel to the tournament," Snell said. "The AD just said, 'with our team, we probably need to start amping up our schedule a little bit,' so I took him up on it."

Cincinnati Country Day, although always among the tops in the Miami Valley Conference, appears primed for a breakout season in 2019. Prior to arriving in Florida, the Indians sprinted to a 7-1 start, with all seven victories coming against MVC foes. The lone loss was against Roger Bacon, the No. 2 Division II team in the Enquirer's latest poll. 

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A telling sign of why this season is different than year's past came on Dec. 1. The Indians snapped Summit Country Day's 45-game regular-season winning streak with a 42-31 home victory. It was Cincinnati Country Day's first victory over Summit since February 2012, snapping a 12-game losing streak that featured nine losses decided by 20-plus points. 

"The Summit game was a huge victory for us. They're always a tough team in our conference. Winning that game was a good bounce," Snell said. "For right now, I'm pretty happy with the way things have gone."

Guard Sabrina DelBello added: "Although we have competed with Summit in the past, it was a very big step for our team to get that win. It was great to show that even though we are young, we can still prove ourselves as being strong against competitive teams."

Just a sophomore, DelBello has emerged as one of the leaders for Cincinnati Country Day. She averaged 12.3 points per game as a freshman last season and has worked her way back on the court after suffering a torn meniscus last spring. She's played sparingly in seven games so far, averaging 9.4 points per game. She had nine points and six assists against Summit, then scored a season-high 15 with four 3-pointers in a crucial early-season road win over Norwood Dec. 8. 

Sabrina Delbello of Cincinnati Country day is on the All-Enquirer Preseason Basketball Team.

"Since our captain, Izzy Hensley, graduated last year, it’s important that more of us sophomores step up and act as leaders on our young team," DelBello said. "It has been hard to get back to playing and leading the team after not being able to play the first couple of games, but I am working hard to get back to full strength."

Balance has helped Cincinnati Country Day become a more legitimate threat this season. The Indians do not have any stat-stuffers with four girls averaging at least six points per game. All four are underclassmen with sophomores DelBello, Kamryn Jordan (the team's leading scorer and rebounder) and Marley Mox, who nailed three triples in the win over Summit.

Finally, there's freshman Sarah Zimmerman, who is making a first-year impact just like DelBello did a season ago. 

"There is a bit of a difference between varsity basketball and the games I played last year, but I have grown up playing basketball," Zimmerman said. "Some of my best friends are amazing basketball players and my mom played college basketball, so I have been around high-level basketball my whole life, which made the transition to varsity much easier."

Snell added: "Sarah Zimmerman, I took over for her mom (Mary Zimmerman) when she was pregnant. So Sarah is a freshman now and she's 14. Her as a freshman coming in has helped us tremendously and it's really great to have her." 

Cincinnati Country Day started the Holiday Classic with a 56-31 loss to Lincoln County, which was tabbed as Kentucky's No. 6-ranked team in the Lexington Herald-Leader's preseason rankings

The lopsided defeat is not alarming for Snell and company. The reason for this trip was to beef up the schedule in preparation for what's down the road. Sturdy opponents the Indians face down south will offer a learning experience that will make them a tougher out when push comes to shove in tournament time. 

"It's about seeing where our real weaknesses are," Snell said. "I think when we play some teams, it gives you false hope that you're good. But playing good teams like this or Summit, they show your true weaknesses and that gives me something to work on when we go back. That way, we're prepared against tougher opponents in our conference or if we get a chance to go deep in the tournament." 

Despite winning 61.5 percent of its games (88-55) over the last six seasons, Cincinnati Country Day has not reached the apex of the MVC Scarlet, finishing as the division's runner-up four times. 

A league title started out as the team's central focus this season. Now with the upper hand over Summit for the first time since winning the Scarlet in 2012, the Indians have their collective sights set on a deeper run in March.

Last season was a tough tournament draw with CHL co-champions Mariemont (33-26 win) and Madeira (45-41 loss) in the postseason. This spring is about taking the next step until new heights are reached. 

"I think for these girls, and even for me, it's like 'okay, let's win a district and let's go farther than any CCD team has before.' We've got to go further. It's time to go to the next level," Snell said.