The Cardington-Lincoln boys’ basketball team has proven to be heavy hitters right from the start, knocking off East Knox (0-3, 0-1) and Elgin in blowout fashion to start the season 2-0, and 1-0 in KMAC play.
The Pirates traveled to East Knox for the season opener and walked away with a lopsided 70-29 win where Cardington-Lincoln dominated the second half.
The game started with East Knox going up 15-13 with sophomore Kyson Miller draining a couple of threes for the Bulldogs. However, the Pirates woke up in the second quarter, outscoring East Knox 21-3 to go up 34-18 at the half. AJ Brehm had 11 points in the second quarter and 13 at the half. Merek McClure had seven points at the break.
The scoring onslaught continued in the third quarter with the Pirates going up 59-21, thanks to nine points by Warren Garrison. The Pirates cruised in the fourth quarter with a 11-9 advantage and took a big win.
Brehm led all scorers with 19 points and Garrison had 14 points, with the damage being done in the first three quarters.
Miller had a pair of threes for East Knox, and Hayden Merritt also scored six points for the Bulldogs.
On Dec. 9 the Elgin Comets (1-3, 1-0) hosted the Pirates in non-conference action and Cardington-Lincoln dominated again with a 71-31 win.
The Pirates went up 7-0 early in the first on a Journey Williamson three, and they were up 26-7 at the end of one quarter. Williamson had five points and Brayden Lackey scored eight points to lead the charge.
In the second quarter Elgin made things a little more interesting scoring 14 points, but the Pirates outscored them with 18 points of their own to go up 44-21 at halftime. Lackey had 13 points at the half and Brehm had eight points.
The Pirates had a scoring advantage of 14-6 in the third quarter, led by Brehm’s six points, and in the fourth they had a 13-4 advantage to close out the 40 point win.
Lackey led all scorers with 22 points and Brehm had 14 points for the Pirates. Williamson also got into double figures with 12 points.
“Brayden played very well for us on Saturday,” said Cardington-Lincoln Coach Jason Rice. “He has put so much time in the weight room and on the court with us this offseason. I was proud of him for Saturday’s performance and we are hoping it is a sign of some big things happening for him the rest of the season.”
Rice said the team still has several things to work on as the season is young, and they are working everyday in practice to continue to improve their team. Overall, he was pleased with the performance of the Pirates.
“I thought our defense was very good and was proud of our team for locking in defensively and limiting second chance points,” Rice said. “I thought we got a lot of deflections and did a nice job converting the turnovers into offensive transition layups.”
The Pirates had a tough season last winter going 8-15 with a 3-8 KMAC record, so this hot start is a wave of hope for the Cardington-Lincoln squad. It was the first year for Rice coaching at the varsity level. However, he does have national titles as an AAU coach, and has coached at other levels in Ashland, Shelby, Lexington and Cardington.
They bring back seven returners including seniors AJ Hall and McClure, and juniors Brehm, Briggs, Garrison, Lackey and Williamson. Newcomers are senior Isaiah Ward and juniors Denton Garrison, Samuel Jones and Zay Nippert.
“The one thing I see from this squad that is different from last year is that we are a year older on varsity and they have all gained experience from playing varsity last year and are more confident in themselves and each other,” Rice said. “One of our team’s strengths is that we are a very fast, athletic team. Another strength of our team is that most of our players have at least one year of varsity experience which will help them in executing our offensive and defensive plays.”
A concern of the team going into the season was being offensively efficient, as Rice said they tended to have offensive lapses leading to digging themselves into a hole. This was not the case in the first two games for the Pirates. Rebounding is also a concern, as Rice’s squad is smaller and cannot rely on one big man to rebound.
The team tends to use a pressure man on defense, but Rice plans to switch strategies up and try and neutralize strengths of his opponent.
“It’s about making adjustments to be most effective on any given night,” Rice said.
This week the Pirates have their work cut out for them with two big matchups: Dec. 12 at Bucyrus and Dec. 15 against Fredericktown at home for KMAC action. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.
