CARDINGTON – Mason White didn’t know how the ball went in the basket, but it did.
The 6-foot senior grabbed a rebound off the side of the backboard and flung it in one underhanded motion to lift the Cardington-Lincoln boys basketball team to a 59-57 double-overtime win over visiting East Knox in Knox Morrow Athletic play on Friday, Dec. 18, in Cardington.
“I don’t know how much time was left on the clock,” White said. “I just threw it up and it went in.
How did it go in?
“I don’t know — I haven’t hit a layup in about three weeks,” he joked. “But that’s the one I needed to hit.”
What ensued was a mob of White by the Pirates (6-1, 4-1) in the wake of their best start since the 2009-10 season when they ran off six wins to open the season before suffering their first loss. Cardington started that year 14-1.
Cardington is seeking its first winning season since 2016-17, when it finished 18-7 and tied for a league championship in its last season of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
“Defensively, we put a lot of pressure on the basketball,” Cardington coach Mark DeLaney said. “Even though we only play six guys, I feel like if you’re a high school athlete, you can still be really well-conditioned. I think we’re very well-conditioned. The kids are disciplined, and we’re really trying to play to our strengths.”
Senior Gabe McConnell became the seventh man off the bench and got the initial rebound of fellow senior Avery Harper’s missed 3-point attempt.
“He sat for 39 minutes and comes in … that was big,” White said. “That was a big rebound. He doesn’t care if he plays one minute or 40. He just plays his butt off whenever he gets the chance.”
The Pirates are without two players who would have contributed in senior Zach Lester (broken nose) and junior Connor McIe (ankle). Both are expected back sometime after the new year.
Trey Brininger finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and two assists to lead the Pirates before fouling out late in the second overtime. Harper had 15 points; White added 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals; and Nate Hickman pulled down 11 rebounds and had three steals for Cardington; which outrebounded East Knox 39-30.
Shane Knepp and Weston Melick led the Bulldogs (1-4, 1-3) with 15 points apiece. Knepp had six assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals while Melick went for 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
“We came up one play short at the end,” East Knox coach Ryan Powell said. “We got caught staring at the ball. I thought our defense on that last possession was great. We got them to take a ridiculously bad shot. But, unfortunately, the clock just wouldn’t run out.”
Terry Jacobs had 12 points, five boards and three steals; and Lester added 11 points, six rebounds and a pair of helpers for East Knox; which overcame a seven-point deficit with 1:34 remaining after Powell was called for a technical foul.
“We were dead in the water,” Powell said. “It was on me. I asked them to bail me out and they did.
“I told our guys, ‘Don’t let our record fool anybody. We’re 1-4, but I don’t think we’re a 1-4 basketball team.’ I told them that they need to be upset at the loss, but that they gotta look at how we’ve been playing and not our record, because our record isn’t indicative of where we are right now.”
The Pirates also notched a 62-49 win over Tree of Life in non-league play on Saturday, Dec. 19.
