The Norris City-Omaha-Enfield Junior Cardinal basketball team ventured to Albion Thursday evening to take part in the Class M SIJHSAA Regional Tournament. NCOE was set to take on the Fairfield Colts following the opening game between the Eldorado Junior Eagles and the host Albion Lions.
Following the opening round upset where the #4 seed Albion Lions knocked off the #1 seed Eldorado Eagles, the #3 seed Junior Cardinals were hoping to follow suit and knock off the #2 seed Fairfield Colts. However, the contest began with NCOE facing the worst shooting woes they had faced all year as they collected nary a point following one quarter of play. This drought found the Jr. Cards quickly trailing by twelve points following the first seven minutes of the ballgame. Second quarter action would witness NCOE starting to come alive on the offensive end as they managed to outscore the Colts 15-6 to climb back into the game and only trail by three points as they headed to the locker room for halftime.
At the end of intermission, the Junior Cardinals continued to ride their earlier momentum as they once again managed to outscore their opponent in impressive fashion, 14-7, to claim a four point lead heading into the final stanza of the game. This fourth and final quarter would start out in favor of NCOE as they managed to maintain their lead and even stretch it out farther but as the quarter reached the midway point, the momentum began to shift. A few careless turnovers allowed the Colts to climb their way back into the game and tie the contest at 35-all with less than a minute remaining in the contest. At this time, the Colts gained possession of the ball and were very content in working the clock. It was as if they were perfectly fine if they did not get the shot they wanted that game went into overtime because it was apparent they were not planning on the Junior Cardinals getting the ball back with much if any time left on the clock. At this time, the Colts found their most lethal shooter in the corner and delivered the ball to him, when it appeared he would launch the three pointer almost every player on the NCOE team collapsed on the shooter. This, unfortunately, left a lone Colt all alone under the basket and the ball was passed to him for the easy lay in to give Fairfield the two point advantage, 37-35 with just three seconds remaining as the clock was not stopped when the NCOE timeout was granted. Now, with even more of a hurdle to climb than anticipated, NCOE had to go the length of the court with just :03 remaining instead of :06 as should have been. This obstacle proved too much for the Junior Cardinals as the Colts intercepted the inbound play to strike again and hand NCOE the hard fought, heartbreaking 39-35 loss.
Preston Long led the scoring with 13 points followed by Cole Roberson with eight points, Colter Rister four, Joel Hortin four, Cord Tucker two, Will Thompson two, and Aryon Jolley two. Hortin led the team with three assists followed by Thompson, Long, and Roberson with two each, and Tucker and Jolley one a piece.
Rebounding was topped by Preston Long as he collected a team high six boards. Others with rebounds were Colter Rister three, Will Thompson three, Joel Hortin two, Cole Roberson two, Cord Tucker two, and Aryon Jolley one. Rister and Tucker led the team with two steals followed by one a piece from Thompson, and Jolley.
NCOE closes the season with a 13-11 overall record.
