Cardington-Lincoln 38, Centerburg 33 (OT)
Cardington-Lincoln (7-2, 5-0) won their fifth in a row, and were led by a pair of Lady Pirates who hit double figures in a 38-33 win in overtime over KMAC rival Centerburg (3-4, 1-3) on Dec. 21. Centerburg had the early lead with a 10-9 advantage in the first quarter, and the Pirates scored seven the rest of the way and held the Lady Trojans to five points to take a 16-15 lead going into halftime.
Centerburg and Cardington-Lincoln battled in the third quarter with the Trojans scoring 11 points and Cardington-Lincoln putting nine on the board. In the fourth quarter, the Pirates outscored Centerburg 7-6 including a shot at the buzzer to take the game into overtime, where Cardington-Lincoln had a 6-1 advantage and sealed the win.
In overtime, Cardington-Lincoln capitalized off a pair of breakaway layups on deflections and steals that led to the win. They also drained timely free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
“Another crazy hard-fought game,” said Cardington-Lincoln Coach Kevin Fitzpatrick. “Both teams played very hard and didn’t give an inch. Each team made some big plays when they needed to make them. My coaches made the biggest and best decision when we decided to switch to zone in the fourth quarter and it paid off. We’re mostly a man-to-man team, but we decided to try something different and it worked pretty well. We had some deflections and caused some turnovers. It allowed us to make Centerburg run some clock and to shorten the game. It also stopped their penetration to the basket and forced more outside shots. We did pretty well getting the rebound if they missed.”
The Lady Pirates were led by Abigail Hardwick’s 12 points. She also had four boards, two assists and four steals. C-L also got 10 points from Samantha Spires, to go along with four rebounds and five steals. Madison Caulkins had six points, 14 rebounds, three steals and two assists.
The top Lady Trojan scorer was Kayla Larimore with 13 points, including a three. Evie Stowe and Kenlee Fairall scored seven points with a three each, and Clara Johnson scored six points.
Utica 36, Highland 25
The Utica girls basketball (2-5, 0-4) team came away with a 36-25 win over Highland (1-8, 1-3) last week, thanks to a great defensive showing for the Redskins, who tallied 18 steals and two blocks in the game. Utica led 7-2 out of the gate and continued that momentum in the second quarter with a 13-5 advantage to make it a 20-7 game at the half. In the third quarter, Utica scored nine points and held Highland to seven. Highland fought back in the fourth quarter, putting up 11 points and holding Utica to seven, but the Redskins were able to hold on for the 11-point victory.
Highland had a 35-27 rebounding advantage, but Utica had the advantage in assists 9-7 and steals 18-5. Utica also had three blocks.
Highland’s top scorers were seniors Abby Jordan and Shelby Conley with six points each. Sophomore Aubree Bellamy had five points. Kate Clements scored three points, Bryleigh Young and Guinevere Jackson had two points and Kameron Stover added one point.
Northmor 46, Fredericktown 45
In a back-and-forth battle between Northmor (5-3, 4-2) and Fredericktown (2-6, 0-5) last week, Lauren Johnson led the charge in a game in which the Golden Knights held off the Freddies in a tight 46-45 win, Dec. 22.
Northmor took a 7-6 lead after one quarter but the Freddies' offense kicked into gear in the second quarter with a 15-10 advantage to make it a 21-17 Fredericktown lead at the half. Johnson had all 10 Northmor points in the second quarter, including a pair of threes.
Northmor scored 17 points in the third and held Fredericktown to 11, with Johnson once again leading the way with seven points. In the fourth quarter, the Freddies outscored Northmor, but the Golden Knights held on for a one-point win.
Northmor had a 41-33 rebound advantage, which helped make up for their poor shooting night. Fredericktown shot 38% and Northmor hit 27% of their shots. Northmor tallied 11 steals and Fredericktown had eight in the game. The Freddies had a 13-5 assist advantage and a 4-1 advantage in blocks.
Johnson scored 19 points and had three makes from downtown for Northmor. Madison Simpson had eight points while Riley Johnson and Ryana Brinkman each had six points in the game.
Fredericktown was led by Cally Carpenter’s 20 points, seven boards, six steals, three assists and a block. Ella Bouton scored eight points to go along with two rebounds, two starts, three blocks and four assists. Jill Bouton put up seven points, nine rebounds, two assists and four blocks.
Mount Gilead 64, East Knox 39
Mount Gilead took on East Knox last week and came away with a lopsided 64-39 victory thanks to an efficient shooting night along with some top-notch defense. In the first quarter, Faith White had a slick fast break steal and layup, followed by another steal to set the tone for the Indians. Candace Millisor drained a pair of threes in the first quarter and Ava Baker hit a three of her own in the second quarter for Mount Gilead. White also hit a three for Mount Gilead in the quarter.
In the third quarter, Lydia Stalnaker drained a shot from downtown to make it a 38-18 game, and later Madilyn Elson went coast to coast on a fast break play.
The Indians owned a 16-6 steal advantage and gathered 26 boards.
