The KMAC leading Cardington-Lincoln girls’ basketball team (10-6, 7-2) had a busy week with three conference matchups. While they beat Northmor (6-11, 2-8) and Danville (11-6, 6-4), the Pirates couldn’t get past Centerburg (10-3, 6-2), who is now within striking distance of the conference lead.
Cardington 52, Danville 46
Cardington-Lincoln took over sole possession of first place in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference with a key win over Danville on Jan. 16 to start to the week.
“It was a very hard fought game,” said Cardington-Lincoln Coach Kevin Fitzpatrick. “I thought we did a really nice job handling the physicality of the game. Both teams were playing hard and getting after it. We did a nice job down the stretch handling the moment. We were in serious foul trouble and the bench had to play a key role in the win. I thought the kids that came in gave us great minutes and played their role in the win.”
Cardington-Lincoln took a 16-8 first quarter lead, led by Jill Bertke and Abbi Hardwick’s four points each. Grace Gronberg had seven points for the Blue Devils in the quarter. Danville won the second quarter 13-11, with Ella Proper putting up seven points, but it was a 27-19 halftime lead for the Pirates.
Danville cut the Pirate lead to 42-36 with a 17-15 third quarter advantage, led by Proper’s eight points. Madison Caulkins had six points for the Pirates. The Pirates finished with a 10-8 advantage in the fourth quarter with Hardwick scoring six points to lead the charge in the 52-46 win.
Hardwick led the Pirates with 14 points on the night. She also had four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“Abbi has really stepped up her game,” Fitzpatrick said said. “She’s been making some big plays for us. Whether it be a big shot, the foul line, or finding a teammate for any easy one. I’m proud of how she has taken on that role. She’s really elevated her game and the rest of the team is following right along.”
Caulkins put up a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards, and also tallied four assists and three steals.
Bertke narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points nine rebounds, and also had a block.
Lydia Hess had seven points and three rebounds. Genevieve Longsdorf had four points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists. Magi Hallabrin and Kinstin Henthorn had three points and Morgan Powell scored a point. Hallabrin also had two boards, two assists and a steal.
Proper had 15 points for the Blue Devils, while Gronberg and Addison Mickley each had seven points. Kylee Hess scored six points, Brooklyn Staats had four points, Kendal Lepley had four points, and Jaylyn Smith scored three points.
Fitzpatrick was happy about being able to take the win over a tough Danville squad. After losing the first three games of the season, the Pirates have been on fire.
“We’ve won nine of our last 11,” said Fitzpatrick. “Couldn’t prouder of my team.”
Cardington-Lincoln 44, Northmor 37
It was the fourth win in a row for the Pirates, with Bertke leading both the offense and defense over another KMAC foe in the Golden Knights on Jan. 19.
Cardington-Lincoln opened the game with a 13-7 first quarter, led by Hess with five points. They sputtered in the second quarter with Northmor outscoring the Pirates 10-5 to cut the Cardington-Lincoln lead to one at halftime.
Northmor had a 27-26 lead after three quarters, but the Pirates finished the game strong with an 18-10 fourth quarter led by Bertke’s six points.
“I think the biggest reason for us getting back into the game was our pressure,” said Coach Fitzpatrick. “We started to attack and be aggressive on defense and it caused us to get some easy shots. Northmor was doing a great job against our defense early in the game and we weren’t forcing any turnovers. I give them all of the credit for that. We decided to change a few things and then we were able to get them to make some mistakes. The kids off the bench came in and brought some great energy and forced Northmor into some mistakes. I was extremely proud of the entire team. It was definitely a team effort.”
Bertke flirted with a double-double again, tallying 17 points and nine boards. She also had five steals in the win.
“Jill has really stepped up lately,” Coach Fitzpatrick said. “For being only a freshman, she makes plays that a senior would make. She is still learning but she has a very bright future and will be important as we enter the stretch run.”
Hess scored seven points, and also had three boards, two assists and a steal. Henthorn also had seven points to go with two rebounds and two steals.
Hallabrin had four points, six boards and four steals in a solid all-around effort. Hardwick scored two points but found other ways to make a mark, grabbing six boards, dishing out three assists and recording five steals.
Madison Simpson was the only player in double figures for Northmor with 10 points.
Centerburg 52, Cardington-Lincoln 44
This was a marquee matchup between two of the best teams in the conference, but Kayla Larimore proved to be too much on the offensive end, leading the Trojans past the Pirates 52-44 on Jan. 20.
"It was a hard fought game," Fitzpatrick said. "We faced a very athletic and aggressive team that were well schooled in the 1-3-1 defense. We had some good early looks but we weren’t able to capitalize on them. We played a solid first quarter, but we had a rough second quarter. We made too many mistakes and it cost us. We went into halftime down 11."
The Trojans had a 32-17 lead at one point, but Cardington-Lincoln clawed their way back into the game.
"We started the third quarter with a couple of turnovers and we got behind 15 points," Fitzpatrick said. "We did a great job recovering and played a great rest of the quarter to cut the lead to five going into the fourth. It was back and forth from there but we could never get closer than four. We definitely had our chances so I was pleased with that. We learned some things that I hope the kids will take into the rest of the season."
Centerburg was able to outscore the Pirates 16-13 down the stretch to fend off the Pirates.
After two straight games narrowly missing, Bertke got a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. She also had two assists, a steal and a block. Hardwick had 15 points for the Pirates, and also had five boards, an assist and a steal. Caulkins had five points, four boards, three assists and a block. Genevieve Longsdorf had four points, one board, one assist and one block. Henthorn tallied three points, two rebounds and an assist, while Magi Hallabrin put up two points, four boards, two assists and two steals.
It was a tough loss in a pivotal matchup between the two KMAC rivals. Cardington-Lincoln still sits in first at 7-2 in conference play, but Centerburg is knocking on the door at 6-2.
"Our chance at a league title is still right there and we’ll use that as motivation for our remaining league games," said Fitzpatrick.
