The Carrier Mills Wildcats came to town Thursday evening to take on the Norris City-Omaha-Enfield Fighting Cardinal basketball team in a Greater Egyptian Conference battle.
NCOE got off to the hot start on both ends of the court as they jumped out to a 17-9 lead following the first quarter of action. The Fighting Cardinals kept pace in the second quarter as they once again managed to top their opponent, 15-7, to waltz into the locker room at intermission with the 32-15 advantage.
Second half action proved to be a much more balanced game than that of the first half but when all was said and done, NCOE would better Carrier Mills 27-25 in the final two quarters of play to claim the 59-40 victory.
Seniors, Evan Healy and Jeb Baumgart, would lead the scoring with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Others getting in on the scoring action were Brandon Skaggs and Jack Riggs with nine points each, CJ Richardson five, Will Travelstead two, and Jaden Barton one.
This victory moves NCOE to 6-13 on the season overall and 2-4 in Greater Egyptian Conference play.
The Junior Varsity squad kept their winning ways alive as they found themselves on the victorious end of a 34-23 score. Both teams started out slow on the offensive end but NCOE did manage to cling to a 7-4 lead following one quarter of play. The Fighting Cardinals used a strong 15-point second quarter to extend their lead to 12 points (22-10) at intermission.
Second half action started out just as successful as the first half finished for NCOE as they outscored the Wildcats 12-5 to stretch their lead to 19 points heading into the final quarter of action. This quarter found the offense coming to a close for the Fighting Cardinals as they scored nary a point but luckily their lead was enough as NCOE held on for the win.
Joe Melton led the scoring with eight points followed by Ty Lane with six points, Jacob Richerson five points, Houston Money five points, Nathaniel Wilson three points, Devon Robinson two points, Prestyn Karns two points, Eli Brown two points, and Bryce Jolley one point.
Following the game, Coach Jim Tucker stated, “Again another fine team effort for the victory. We were sluggish on the offense at the beginning but came around to score some easy baskets. The 4th quarter was more of a slow methodical way of playing but just couldn’t convert on the few shots we did take.”
