Cardington-Lincoln barely keeps streaks alive with 56-53 win at Northmor
The Cardington-Lincoln Lady Pirates entered play Wednesday night at Northmor, with a 10-0 season record, 48 straight regular season wins, 62 KMAC wins in a row and a No. 3 ranking in the current AP Division III poll. The dream season almost came crashing down, as a tough Northmor team kept plugging away before C-L prevailed, 56-53, to keep its streaks alive.
It was business as usual in the first quarter as Cardington-Lincoln went up 16-13. Beth Hardwick came out firing for the Lady Pirates with nine points in the frame, and Kambry Edwards sank five for C-L in the period. Hailey Dille set the tone of tough Northmor defense as she stole the ball twice early on for the Golden Knights, and Paige Caudill put Northmor ahead 5-4 two minutes in on one of her two first-quarter threes. Brooklyn Dennison sank a long three for Northmor to tie it at 13-13 with a minute left in the period.
In the second, with balanced scoring from four players, C-L took a 28-24 lead into the locker room at the half. Northmor got three 3-pointers in the second, one each from Reagan Swihart, Caudill and Emily Zeger.
In the third, Kambry Edwards rainbowed in two threes and Dana Bertke sank three twos for Cardington-Lincoln, but Dennison high-arced another three for Northmor to tie it at 33-33 midway through the quarter, but C-L went on an 11-2 run to end the quarter ahead 44-35. Swihart and Caudill also drained a three each in the quarter.
In the fourth, Northmor wouldn’t go away and gave C-L the fight of its season. With Mac Linkous and Karsyn Edwards in foul trouble for Cardington, Northmor went for the upset. Swihart brought Northmor within one, at 48-47, after sinking a long three. The Golden Knights kept fighting and Swihart, who scored 11 points in the fourth, swished another three late in the quarter to tie the game at 51-51, as the excitement of upset filled the Northmor arena. Hardwick’s five points and Emalee Artz’s four, kept the streak alive for C-L, who came away with the 3-point victory.
Northmor did a better job protecting the ball, with 14 turnovers, to 18 for C-L, and the Knights only had three in the fourth quarter, to six for Cardington.
The win increased Cardington-Lincoln’s 2021-2022 record to 11-0, 7-0 in KMAC, having outscored opponents 669-385. Northmor is now 7-5 on the season and 4-3 in KMAC.
C-L coach Jamie Edwards went with a six-girl rotation, and all six girls scored, but only two were in double figures, led by Hardwick with 20 and Kambry Edwards with 11. Swihart hit four threes and went 7-of-8 at the line to lead Northmor with a game-high 21 points. Caudill also hit four from 3-point range and finished with 14 points for Northmor, which also went with six players in the game, with five of them scoring.
Fredericktown starts 2022 with 44-27 win over Delaware Christian
Fredericktown’s girls basketball team went into its first game of calendar 2022 on Jan. 3 against a tough Delaware Christian team that had only one loss coming in. A devastating second quarter propelled the Freddies to a 44-27 victory over the Eagles, improving Fredericktown’s record to 8-4, 4-2 KMAC and dropping Delaware Christian to 6-2, 3-0 Mid-Ohio.
After a 10-9 first quarter that saw the Freddies take the lead on five points on a two and a three from Cally Carpenter, Fredericktown shut down the Eagles in the second. Forcing turnovers and restricting Delaware to a lone deuce in the second, the Freddies countered with 11 points, led by a trio of two-pointers by Krissie Gaines. Coming out for the third up 21-11, the Freddies lost only a point of their lead as Carpenter (five points) and Audrey Bouton (four points) continued to pressure the Eagles. Fredericktown took control in the fourth with a 14-6 run to close out the game. Annie Maglott sank two threes, and Gabby Daniels popped in a couple of deuces in the fourth.
Fredericktown forced many of the 26 Eagles turnovers, while surrendering the ball only 15 times themselves.
The Freddies received scoring from six players. Cally Carpenter was the only Freddie to score in double figures, with 13, but Fredericktown saw eight points from Audrey Bouton, seven from Gabby Daniels, six each from Kassie Gaines and Annie Maglott and four points from Jill Bouton in the game.
In their next game on Jan. 5, the Freddies lost to Danville, 64-58.
Blue Devils use red-hot first and third to down Freddies 64-58
Danville was on fire with 26 points in the first and never looked back as it defeated Fredericktown, 64-58. The Blue Devils (8-4, 5-2 KMAC) erupted for 22 in the third, and the Freddies (8-5, 4-3 KMAC) controlled the second and fourth quarters – 18 in the second and 21 in the fourth) in the games within the game.
In the first, Camie Newbold netted four field goals, Alenah Boeshart sank two from three-point range, and Kayla Hess scored five, as six Blue Devils put points on the board to propel Danville to a 26-8 lead.
Fredericktown cut the lead to eight with an 18-8 second quarter jump-started by Daniels’ 11 points.
In the third, the Danville scoring machine struck again, with 22 points from five girls, led by Brooklynn Hess with nine points and Newbold with five. The quarter ended with Danville up 56-37.
In the fourth, the Freddies mounted a comeback, cutting the deficit to six on scoring from four girls. Jill Bouton hit two threes and a deuce, and Audrey Bouton chipped in with three twos for Fredericktown in the quarter. Ella Proper sank Danville’s only field goal and had four points – Hess hit four free throws in the quarter, but it was enough for the Blue Devils to secure the six-point win.
Danville received scoring contributions from six players, led by Hess with 17, Newbold with 16, Boeshart with 11 and Proper with 10. Fredericktown was paced by Daniels with 17, Audrey Bouton with 13 and Jill Bouton with 12. During the game, Danville was 15-for-22 at the foul line and Fredericktown hit 5-of-11 at the stripe.
East Knox holds off determined Centerburg for 53-46 win in OT
Centerburg made a valiant effort to end its winless KMAC season but came up short in overtime, falling to East Knox, 53-46, Jan. 5. The Lady Trojans (1-9, 0-7 KMAC) started slowly, with only four first-quarter points, but challenged the Lady Bulldogs (5-6, 3-4 KMAC), and tied the game at 42-42 at the end of regulation.
Alexandria Magers kicked things off for East Knox with nine first-quarter points, and EK jumped out to a 15-4 lead.
Laura Keith and Shanda Melick each scored four for EK in the second, but the Lady Trojans outscored the Bulldogs 15-10, led by Clara Johnson’s seven points, to trail at the half, 25-19.
Centerburg kept the pressure on in the third and cut the lead to 34-32 after three, with scoring from five players in the quarter.
Keith hit a clutch three in the fourth for EK, but Centerburg kept charging and tied it at 42-42 after four.
In overtime, Chloe Goulter hit two from the field for Centerburg’s only four points, EK scored 11, with Keith connecting on two from beyond the arc and Magers hitting five free throws.
East Knox was led by Magers and Keith with 16 points each and Melick with 11. Centerburg was paced by Goulter with 15, Kayla Larimore with 14 and Johnson with 11.
