Cardington girls edge Mount Gilead

The Cardington girls were able to battle back in the final minutes to upend host Mount Gilead on Saturday night by a 40-39 score.

In a tightly-contested game, the Indians opened the fourth quarter with a steal and score by Faith White that gave them a 36-31 lead. The Pirates would respond with five straight points to tie the game, but a three-point run by MG gave them a 39-36 advantage with 2:49 to go.

Cardington would make the big plays down the stretch, though. Jill Bertke drew a foul and hit both of her free throws to make it a one-point game with 2:12 to go. Then, in the final minute, the Pirates would regain possession after forcing a jump ball. Morgan Powell would connect on a lay-up with 26 seconds left to give her team a one-point lead that they would maintain the rest of the way.

With there being a tight race at the top of the KMAC between Cardington, Mount Gilead, Danville and Centerburg, Pirate coach Kevin Fitzpatrick looked at this as a big win for his team.

“I was kind of disappointed at the beginning because we didn’t take advantage of their foul trouble and couldn’t put the ball in the basket, but yeah, that’s a good win for us,” he said. “I think it puts us a half game behind Danville and we’ve got them coming up again. I think this league is up for grabs. There’s a bunch of good teams. Anyone can can anyone on a given day; you never know.”

Mount Gilead coach Nick Vukovich said that Cardington simply made one more play.

“They made a shot when it counted, so kudos to them,” he said. “Our girls played hard and when we got that lead going, I thought we did some positive things, but at the end of the day, their shot fell and ours didn’t, so it is what it is.”

Vukovich had no issue with the effort of his players, noting that foul trouble put them in a rough situation.

“We had multiple kids with fouls, so we’re juggling line-ups and putting kids in situations they haven’t been in all year,” he said. “We’re asking a lot of them in a rivalry game because in a rivalry game, throw away the Xs and Os. It doesn’t matter at that point in time, you’re just trying to play to the best of your ability. My girls played hard. I can’t be mad at them for it. They played hard.”

Mount Gilead jumped out to 4-0 lead early in the first quarter behind a free throw from Aubrey Thomas and a three-pointer by White. However, they would go over eight minutes without scoring.

Cardington took advantage of that drought to take a 12-4 lead behind five points by Abigail Hardwick. However, they would not be able to maintain that momentum throughout the second quarter. Four points by Olivia Long and three each by Danielle Pohlkotte, Kendall Neal and White allowed the Indians to battle back and take a 17-16 lead. However, back-to-back shots by Bertke and Magi Hallibrin to end the half allowed the Pirates to hold a 20-17 lead at the intermission.

Mount Gilead would dominate the first four minutes of the third quarter, getting six points from White in surging in front by a 27-20 margin, but the Pirates were able to fight back to within 34-31 score by the end of the period.

Fitzpatrick noted that his team had to buckle down on defense to counter what the Indians were doing.

‘We played great defense, though, and then they got hot,” he said. “Faith hit a couple jump shots and then Pohlkotte hit a jump shot and then they brought Greer (Simpson) back in and she made a difference, too. We just persevered. I thought our defense picked it up.”

The Pirates were able to then keep battling through the fourth quarter to edge Mount Gilead by one. Bertke led Cardington with 15 points, while Hardwick finished with nine. Mount Gilead got 14 from White. Pohlkotte added eight.

After the game, both coaches could agree on one thing: There is still a lot of KMAC basketball to be played.

“It reminds me of last year — the same situation,” said Fitzpatrick. “We were right in it the whole year and we had a rough stretch at the end. I don’t know who’s going to win the league. Everybody can beat everybody any given time. It’s who’s making shots and who’s playing the best defense. We’re always going to defend; it’s just if we can make shots or not.”

Vukovich added: “In all honesty, I feel whoever wins the conference this year is going to have a minimum of two losses. I think it’s that competitive at the top. We’re not out of it. All we need to do right now is come back Monday with a focus, have a good practice and get ready for Danville on Tuesday. Our schedule doesn’t get any easier. We’ve got to show up and play another top team.”

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS