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Cardinals upset Atkins; Lady Cards fall
After losing a heartbreaking game at home to Mayflower last week by one point, the Cardinals ousted the Atkins Red Devils 60-59 on Friday to get an important conference win that evens their record at 2-2. Harmony Grove led 15-12 after the first quarter, then upped that to a 32-23 hafltime lead. Atkins came back to cut into the Cardinals advantage by outscoring them 15-13 in the third quarter and 21-15 in the fourth period. Brandon Estell hit the goahead basket for Harmony Grove with under a minute to play. Atkins inbounded the ball and drove down court to call a timeout. After ensuing time was called, Michael Long stepped up to make a steal from Terrance Bobo and sealed the game in the final seconds. "We did a good job on turnovers until the fourth quarter and their pressure tightened on us and forced us into some unnecessary turnovers," said Harmony Grove head coach Jeremy Rook. "Atkins didn't pressure us until the second half, but the game could have gone either way. This was a big win for us. We had talked about their pressure and putting pressure on them. We stuck to our game plan."
Long finished the game with five points to assist the Harmony Grove scorers. "We've been getting mentally prepared in practice by going into it like we're 0-1 in the conference," Rook said. "We've got to get those conference games at home and our mindset has been there to win them. We have been in a lot of games that we weren't in last year and that's due to the fact we play faster. We still have too many turnovers and we've got to get that under control if we want to be successful for the remainder of the year. We're still right there in the middle of the pack and we have to take care of the ball. We're getting better."
The Harmony Grove Lady Cardinals had to wait a week after beating Mayflower before playing Atkins. After scouting the Lady Red Devils against Bauxite, Harmony Grove head coach Ricky Mooney knew his young Lady Cardinals would be in for a tough match. Atkins prevailed in Friday's game 53-37 after pulling away in the fourth period with a 16-0 run. "It was a good win for us against Mayflower, but Atkins looked pretty physical," Mooney said. "I still don't know how much Mallory Cabe is going to play and Gabbi [Ferguson] is limited. She's still hobbled by that ankle. I just hope we don't get anyone else hurt. Gabbi played the whole game against Mayflower." The Lady Cardinals got 17 points from Ferguson against Atkins and Jessica Kelloms hit for nine. Lauren McNeely came on for six points, while Brittany Raper added four points and Brooke Baxley had one. "I didn't want to risk getting anyone else hurt for that game," Mooney said. "We've got Bismarck and Conway St. Joseph's this week, and then we go to Poyen to finish out the season before Christmas." The Lady Red Devils crunched down on the inside game for the Lady Cardinals and forced outside shots from Ferguson and Kelloms. "I think we should have two wins in the conference, but we shot bad against Magnet Cove and Pottsville," Mooney said. "That's part of it. We haven't shot the ball well, and for us to be effective, we have to make our shots. We're not physically strong as the teams we play and if we don't shoot well, it limits us in the things we can do." |
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