On Saturday morning, the NCOE 5th/6th grade Cardinal basketball teams welcomed the Carmi Bullpups to town. Although the two teams had played each other just two weeks earlier, it was amazing to see how much improvement had taken place in the NCOE squad in this two week span.
Once again, the morning would begin with a fifth grade game. Two weeks ago, this young group was unable to score a single point, but today’s matchup was quite a different story as the NCOE squad would put nine points on the board. Along with this offensive improvement, the defensive showing may have been even more impressive as they held the Bullpups to twenty-five less points than the earlier game. In the end, the young Cardinals would fall by the final score of 24-9, but this group showed how hard they have been working to get better. Aydan Allen led the scoring column and topped all Cardinals with six points followed by two from Caleb Cox and one from Braden Mendoza.
The next game of the morning would be the second fifth grade contest. This game began much of the same way it did when NCOE went to Carmi as the young Cardinals struggled on the offensive end early, but as the first quarter was coming to a close, Cord Tucker knocked down a buzzer beating three pointer to get NCOE on the board. This last second shot shifted the momentum NCOE’s way as Preston Long would put four more points on the board early in the second quarter to bring the Cardinal total to seven. Unfortunately, the Cardinals would only be able to muster one more point (an Erik Healy free throw) this quarter and found themselves trailing 17-8 to the Bullpups at halftime. Following halftime, the Bullpups shut the Cardinal offense down to only two points, courtesy of an Austin Surrat layup while the Bullpups erupted for thirteen points to leave NCOE with a twenty point deficit with only one quarter remaining. This fourth quarter found the Cardinals putting forth their best defensive effort in holding the Bullpups to only six points. However, Cord Tucker’s six points would be all NCOE could muster in this final frame, as they fell by the final score of 31-16. Cord Tucker led the way for NCOE with nine points followed by four from Preston Long, two from Austin Surrat, and one from Erik Healy.
The final game of the morning would find the sixth graders in action. They too fell to the Bullpups in their first meeting, but were hoping to make adjustments which would help them fair better this time around. The first half started out extremely slow for the Cardinals when they were only able to place two points on the board against a much taller Bullpup team. Trailing by sixteen points starting out the second half, NCOE knew they had their work cut out for them in order to make a comeback, but the Cardinals were determined to give it their best effort. This is exactly what NCOE did when they stepped it up on both the offensive and defensive ends. This gallant effort was too little, too late, but just like both fifth grade teams, they showed major signs of improvement in this matchup. The sixth grade team fell by the final score of 26-17, but they never once did anything but give their best effort. In fact, sixth grade Coach Andy Sutter stated, “Way too many turnovers in the first half, but played by far our best half so far.”
The 5th/6th grade teams will be back in action Saturday, February 13, when they host the Gallatin County Hawks.
