On the team’s senior night, Cardington put on a clinic against Danville in Friday night KMAC boys’ basketball.
The Pirates exploded for 24 points in the first quarter to take a dominating lead over the Blue Devils and never looked back in winning by a 77-33 margin. Four members of the team finished in double figures, with Josh Shook leading the way with 24 points, including three three-pointers.
“I’m really proud of that kid,” said head coach Nick Withrow of Shook. “He’d had a rough couple of weeks, but came in every day and worked hard. He played the game of his life tonight.”
Shook opened the game’s scoring with a three-pointer and Danny Vaught added a pair of baskets to give the Pirates a 7-0 lead. Danville would score once from the field, but five points by Shook, as well as a three-pointer by Mason White and two-point shot from Trey Brininger caused that advantage to explode to a 17-2 margin. Another three-pointer by White and two buckets by Nate Hickman made it 24-3 after eight minutes.
“We’ve been waiting for that for a while,” said Withrow of his team’s offensive success. “We had been in a slump. If we shoot like that, we’ll be hard to beat no matter who we play.”
The Pirates didn’t let up offensively, as they added to their lead throughout the next two quarters. In the second period, Shook maintained his hot hand with eight more points, while Vaught added four. Leading 42-13 going into the third period, the team put up 23 points over those eight minutes, with Avery Harper scoring seven and both Brininger and Shook picking up six.
“I liked our intensity through the game,” said Withrow. “Sometimes when we get up a lot, we lose intensity. We’ve got to keep playing hard. For the first time in a while, the 50/50 balls went our way.”
With four points by Vaught to open the fourth quarter, as well as baskets by both Brininger and Harper, the Pirate lead would grow to as much as a 73-21 score before their opponents finished the game on a 12-4 run.
Along with Shook’s huge night, Cardington got 14 from Vaught, 12 by Brininger, 11 from Harper and eight by Hickman.
Withrow noted that his team had a successful week, as they picked up two league wins in as many outings — something that pleased him, as the team didn’t experience much KMAC success over the past two seasons.
“We had back-to-back league wins this week, which is huge,” he said. “The team had three total the last two years and we have five now. We played really well tonight and got one.”
