The Norris City-Omaha-Enfield 5th and 6th grade basketball teams were back in action Saturday morning when they welcomed the Gallatin County Hawks to town. Still searching for their first victory on the season, it appeared the young Cardinals were focused and ready for action.
Just like every other game, the first contest would consist of one of the two groups of fifth graders. In this game, Gallatin County would jump out to the early 10-4 lead and continue to knock down shots as they pulled out the 22-7 victory against NCOE.
Stone Windell hit a three pointer to claim scoring honors with three points for the Cardinals. Braden Mendoza and Charlie Winfrey added two points a piece.
The second game of the morning would also be a group of fifth graders. This game started out with the young Cardinals applying excellent defense as well as attacking offensively. These two things in turn would lead to NCOE claiming a 14-0 advantage after one quarter of play. Second quarter action would slow down offensively for the Cardinals, but their defense maintained as they once again held the Hawks scoreless and extended their halftime lead to 20-0. Following halftime, NCOE picked it back up on the offensive end to explode for fifteen third quarter points while allowing only two to Gallatin County. The fourth and final quarter would be much of the same from NCOE as the third, which enabled them to cruise to the 47-4 victory.
Cord Tucker topped all Cardinal players as he put 20 points on the board. Tucker was followed closely by Preston Long as he added 18 points of his own. Others scoring for NCOE (1-3) were Erik Healy with five points, Joel Hortin two points, and Colby Prather two points.
To round out the morning, the final matchup would be made up of sixth graders. This game, just like the previous one, would find NCOE holding Gallatin County scoreless in the first quarter as they jumped out to the early 8-0 lead. Second quarter action would slow down just a bit for the Cardinals as they were only able to post four more points to their total while the Hawks scored five of their own to narrow the Cardinal lead to 12-5 at the halftime break. Coming out of the locker room for third quarter action, both teams struggled to get anything going offensively with each scoring only three points. However, NCOE did pick up the intensity once again in the fourth quarter to outscore the Hawks by eight points and march on to their first victory of the season by the final score of 27-12.
Cole Roberson’s 10 points topped all Cardinal scorers followed by Meagan Healy with eight, Colter Rister six, Aryon Jolley two, and Will Thompson one.
The fifth and sixth grade squads will be back in action Thursday, February 18, when they host the Carrier Mills Wildcats.
