The Cardington-Lincoln girls’ basketball team (5-4, 3-1) to their second straight win, knocking off KMAC rival East Knox (3-6, 1-3) 61-31 on Dec. 20 thanks to some dominant work on defense.
“We have been playing pretty well lately,” said Coach Kevin Fitzpatrick. “Our keys to success has been our aggressive defense and ability to execute on offense. We’ve put a big emphasis on ball movement and getting the best shots we can. We’ve been getting some really good looks and the ball has been going in for us. We’re trying to get out and run the court. We had some nice transition baskets and that’s made a big difference.”
It was all Pirates from the get go, starting with Magi Hallabrin stealing the ball and going coast to coast to go up 2-0. Up 4-2, Abigail Hardwick showed off her defensive skills near the hoop with a blocked shot. East Knox had a 7-5 lead, but Hardwick was able to drill a shot from beyond the arc to go up by one. This was the start of a 12-0 run and the Pirates took a 17-7 lead to start the game. Kinstin Henthorn also nailed a three in the opening quarter.
Cardington-Lincoln had a 15-7 second quarter scoring advantage and went up 32-14 at the half. Hardwick and Lydia Hess scored seven points in the first half to lead the charge. Henthorn had five points.
In the third quarter East Knox woke up and outscored the Pirates 14-12, led by Molly Totten with seven points. Isabelle Bostic had six points for the Bulldogs, as well. Cardington-Lincoln finished the game off strong with a 17-3 quarter to secure the big 30 point win. Henthorn had seven points in the quarter.
The Pirates shot 47% and 29% from three, and held the Bulldogs to 17% and 26% from deep. Cardington-Lincoln led 39-33 in boards, 16-5 in assists, 17-7 in steals and 1-0 in blocks.
Henthorn had a game high 15 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Hess scored 11 points and four eight boards. She also had six steals and an assist. Jill Bertke dominated the glass with nine boards in 12 minutes. She also had five points and three blocks. Hardwick scored nine points and had six rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. Celia Hall had six points, three assists and a pair of steals.
East Knox was led by Totten with nine points, while Bostic had eight points.
Coach Fitzpatrick was pleased with the team’s defensive effort in the win.
“I’m really proud of the way we’re defending and that’s been huge in our success,” said Fitzpatrick. “We’ve been switching defenses more this season and our kids have really bought in to that. We sometimes switch on the fly and they’ve been able to do that. It’s really a combination of our play on both ends of the court. We are improving every time we step onto the court.”
