The Cardington-Lincoln girls’ basketball team started off the season 0-3, but the season is young and Coach Kevin Fitzpatrick hopes the Pirates can iron things out to get into the winning column.
The season started off on the road with a non-conference matchup with North Union (1-1, 0-0) on Nov. 22, but the Wildcats took it to the Pirates early and never looked back in a 60-40 win.
North Union went up 18-3 in the first quarter, but the Pirates woke up in the second quarter with a 15-12 advantage, and it was a 30-18 Wildcat lead at halftime. North Union outscored Cardington-Lincoln 16-10 and 14-12 in the final two frames to take the 20 point win.
Abigail Hardwick was 5-for-8 from the floor with 15 points and went 2-for-2 from downtown. She also had six assists, give boards, a steal and a block. Lydia Hess also hit double figures with 10 points to go with four steals and two boards. Kinstin Henthorn had eight points, one rebound, two assists and three steals.
On Nov. 28 the Pirates suffered a 61-26 loss to Pleasant (4-0, 1-0) at home. The Pirates stumbled out of the gate again, being outscored 13-4 in the first. It was even worse in the second quarter as they were outscored 24-4, making it a 37-8 Pleasant lead at the half. Cardington-Lincoln was outscored 14-13 in the third quarter and were never able to recover as they scored only five points in the final quarter while Pleasant scored 10 points.
Madison Caulkins had seven points, five boards and a block. Henthorn had six points, two steals and an assist. Jill Bertke was solid on the glass with five boards.
On Nov. 30 the Pirates fell 43-27 to Jonathan Alder (1-2, 0-0). They were down 8-1 after one quarter, putting them in an early hole. Both teams scored 11 points in the second quarter and it was a 19-12 game at the half. The Pirates were outscored 16-10 in the third and Jonathan Alder cruised to a win. Hardwick and Henthorn each scored five points.
“We have stretches where we play really well but then we have a few bad turnovers in a row and we can’t recover from that,” said Fitzpatrick. “We struggle to score points and that’s what is really hurting us right now. We’re playing really hard on defense but offensively it’s just not coming together yet. We had a really tough beginning playing 3 really good teams. I see progress and I know that we’ll figure it out. It’s tough starting out 0-3 but we’ll keep grinding in practice to get better.”
Next up is a home game against Highland (1-2, 0-1) on Dec. 5 at 7:15 p.m.
