CARDINGTON – Looking at the scores over the last three years, it’s not hard to see just how far the Fredericktown girls basketball team has come against the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference’s elite.
76-14. 65-23. 94-34. 73-23. 71-23. 93-19.
The Freddies were within four points of said elite, Cardington-Lincoln, after a Grace Sipes 3-pointer with 38 seconds left in the KMAC contest on Wednesday, Jan. 6, in Cardington.
But the Pirates held off the Freddies for a 55-45 win to move to 11-0 overall and 8-0 in the league, a full two games ahead of second-place East Knox in the loss column and three games ahead of Fredericktown and Danville.
“We were there in the fourth quarter,” Fredericktown coach Tim Maceyko said. “Turnovers, again, came back to haunt us. A missed opportunity was there with the ball where we could have scored. It’s the little things that we’re still learning. We’ve gotten so much better, but there are still things we’re learning about how to finish out games. Once we get there, I think we’re gonna be pretty doggone tough.”
Yes, Cardington is in the familiar position of the driver’s seat once again.
Familiar for a program that is now a perfect 50-0 in league play since the KMAC began in 2017-18.
“They have such guards and handle the ball so well,” Maceyko said. “They all play AAU ball, so they’re knowledgeable; their basketball IQ is high. They’re gonna go far again this year, and all of those kids come back next year.”
“Our kids are gamers,” Cardington coach Jaime Edwards said. “They play all the time.”
The gap has closed for sure. Fredericktown has played Cardington tight both times, losing 42-34 at home on Nov. 24 to open the league slate.
Centerburg was as close as six with three minutes left before Cardington pulled away for a 51-37 win on Dec. 19.
It seemed the Pirates were going to be knocked off their perch by someone after losing twin towers Casey Bertke and Hannah Wickline to graduation after last season. That first loss still could come this season.
“I’m gonna do everything I can to keep that from happening,” Edwards said. “But there’s teams. East Knox is much improved; (and) Danville, we gotta go to their place. Looking at the schedule, we have winnable games. But that’s why you play the game … anything can happen.”
Mikayla Linkous made life difficult in the middle of Fredericktown’s zone. She scored 21 points and had six steals and three rebounds to lead the Pirates.
“Linkous was the player of the game,” Edwards said. “She went to the line and hit free throws … and she was a one-man press for us the entire game.”
Beth Hardwick had 13 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals to back Linkous.
Kambry Edwards had eight points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals; Karsyn Edwards chipped in seven points, five boards, a pair of assists and two steals; and Dana Bertke had six helpers, six boards and five steals to go with five points for Cardington, which had 19 steals as a team.
Jacklyn Nussbaum had 13 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two assists; and Gabby Daniels had 11 points, eight boards and two steals to lead the Freddies (8-4, 4-3), who had a seven-game winning streak snapped.
Grace Sipes and Audrey Bouton scored five points apiece for Fredericktown, with Sipes adding five rebounds and three steals and Bouton posting eight rebounds and two steals.
