Coach Jim Tucker and his NCOE Fighting Cardinal basketball team welcomed the Hardin County Cougars to town Friday evening in a Greater Egyptian Conference matchup. This contest got underway with the Fighting Cardinals struggling to connect on the offensive end and being a little sluggish on the defensive end. This slow start allowed the Cougars to outscore NCOE 18-12 in the first quarter. Second quarter action was much better for NCOE as they went on their own 16-15 run which enabled the Fighting Cardinals to reduce their deficit to five points as they headed into the locker room at halftime.
The second half would kick off with the Fighting Cardinals once again struggling to get into any offensive rhythm as they were only able to add 10 points to their total. On the plus side, the Fighting Cardinals were able to hang tough on the defensive end allowing the Cougars just 13 points which kept the game within reach at 46-38 heading into the final 8:00 of play. This fourth and final quarter would be all NCOE as they outscored Hardin County 16-12 to cut the Cougars lead to just four points. The difference in this contest which would find the Fighting Cardinals on the wrong side of a 58- 54 final score would be at the free throw line. Hardin County reached the charity stripe 16 times compared to just five for NCOE.
Leading the way for the Fighting Cardinals (3-5 overall, 2-2 GEC) was Jack Riggs with 16 points. Jaden Barton and Joe Melton followed with 11 points each while Brandon Skaggs added five, Colton O’Neal five, CJ Richardson four, and Trey Simmons two.
Coach Jordan Johnson and his Jayvee squad got off to a good start as they were able to jump out to the quick 11-8 lead following one quarter of play. The Fighting Cardinals would step their offense up even more in the second quarter of play as they managed to go on an 18-11 run to claim the 10-point halftime advantage, 29-19.
Second half action did not start out as favorable for NCOE as their offense slacked off while the Hardin County offense picked up. This momentum shift allowed the Cougars to top the Fighting Cardinals 15-10 which found Hardin County only trailing by five points heading into the final frame of action. This fourth and final quarter would find defense picking up on both ends of the court making scoring much more difficult. This played in the favor of NCOE as they managed to top the Cougars 9-3 to claim the 48-37 victory.
Joe Melton was the leading scorer for NCOE (4-1 overall, 3-0 GEC) with 14 points. Others scoring were Ty Money with 10 points, Eli Brown nine, Ty Lane nine, Brendan Frost two, Nathaniel Wilson two, and Jacob Richerson two.
