CARDINGTON – In a matchup for tops in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference, the Cardington-Lincoln girls basketball team used a stout defense to build a double-digit lead by halftime and cruised to a 58-44 win over Danville on Monday, Dec. 21, in Cardington.
The Pirates had 11 steals in the first half on their way to a 39-26 lead at the break and cruised in the second half thanks to some stall-ball.
Danville, which had designs on handing Cardington its first-ever KMAC loss, matched the Pirates blow for blow in the early going with Ella Proper- and Alenah Boeshart 3-pointers, staking the Blue Devils to an 8-7 lead with 4:54 remaining in the first quarter.
“I was really looking forward to this one,” Danville coach Matt Proper said. “It’s kind of like your mid-term exam. As an educator, a mid-term exam isn’t an ‘I gotcha’; it’s a ‘Where are we at?’ We’ll go back and work on what we need to do. It’s a learning curve.”
Cardington, which upped its record to 48-0 since the league formed in 2017, used long outlet passes to beat the Devils down the floor. A Dana Bertke rebound followed by a long outlet to Beth Hardwick gave the Pirates the lead at 9-8 with 2:48 left in the first. As it turned out, they never trailed again.
Kambry Edwards rebounded and found Mikayla Linkous down the floor for another basket. A Bertke steal turned into a Kambry Edwards basket as the Pirates closed the quarter with a 21-13 edge.
“Dana’s so strong, she can see that backside — or Emalee Artz,” Cardington coach Jaime Edwards said. “They’re such strong kids, they’re able to make long skips and in girls basketball that can be one of the toughest passes. But the strength those girls got, it’s tough to stop.”
The Pirates (7-0, 6-0) pushed the lead to 13 at the break and as high as 16 late in the fourth quarter.
Hardwick finished with 19 points (17 in the first half) and eight rebounds; and Bertke added 13 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals and a couple of blocks to lead Cardington.
Proper kept Danville close in the first half with 13 of her 15 points, taking advantage of a mid-range jumper.
“(Danville has) young guards that can play,” Edwards said. “(Ella Proper has) a pretty good little jump shot. It’s tough to block when she throws it up. It looks like it’s a bad shot, but it goes in every time.”
“My dad built (our court at home) back in the 80s,” Coach Proper said, grinning. “That’s all it is, is mid-range. So that’s the only thing you develop.”
Brooklyn Hess was solid all around with 12 points, 11 rebounds, six steals, three assists and three blocks for the Devils (7-1, 4-1).
