The Norris City-Omaha Enfield Junior Cardinals stepped out of conference play Thursday evening and welcomed the Grayville Junior Bison to town.
The Junior Cards wasted little time in jumping out to the early 16-7 lead following one quarter of action but they would find the wind coming out of their sail early in the second quarter when teammate, Preston Long, went down with an ankle sprain. The Junior Bison used this to their advantage as they cut into the Junior Cardinal lead. This, however, was short lived as NCOE regrouped and pulled together as a team and went on to top their opponent 21-12 in the second quarter to claim the 37-19 lead at halftime.
Following intermission, both teams would step up their defense and the third and fourth quarter would find both teams scoring 19 points each but the early offensive explosion was all the Junior Cardinals needed as they cruised to the 56-38 victory.
Erik Healy topped the Jr. Cards (2-1) with 20 points followed by Joel Hortin with 15 points, Cord Tucker eight, Austin Surratt six, Colby Prather three, Preston Long two, and Tate Riggs two. Hortin and Tucker led the assist category with four each while Healy added two, and C.Prather one.
Joel Hortin led the way with eight rebounds while Erik Healy grabbed six, Austin Surratt two, and one a piece for Cord Tucker, Preston Long, Colby Prather, Jaden Simmos, and Tate Riggs. Hortin also topped the steal column with five followed by Tucker with two, Healy two, Long one, and C.Prather one.
Jayvee action would find NCOE falling behind early as they witnessed the Junior Bison post a monstrous 14 points in the first quarter to only four by the Junior Cardinals. This early lead quickly dwindled as NCOE returned the favor in the second frame as they outscored Grayville 12-2 to knot the score at 26 all heading into the locker room at halftime.
Second half action would find both teams playing even in the third quarter as each posted 10 points to leave the game tied heading into the final quarter of action. At this point, the Junior Cardinal defense came alive to hold the Junior Bison to nary a point while they erupted for 12 points of their own to put the game out of reach and claim their first victory of the season at 38-26.
Spencer Shipp and Tate Riggs each poured in 11 points to lead the way for NCOE (1-1). Nolan Prather followed with six points while Lane Connaway scored four points and Hayden Mathis, Bryer Sauls, and Zeke Baumgart added two points a piece. Those being credited with one assist in the contest were N.Prather, Shipp, Connaway, Baumgart, Sauls, Chris Williams.
Spencer Shipp collected 20 boards for the Jayvee squad to lead the way followed by Bryer Sauls with four, Tate Riggs three, Nolan Prather three, Dayton Tharp two, Hayden Mathis two, Lane Connaway two, Dylan McPherson one, and Zeke Baumgart one. Riggs was credited with eight steals to top NCOE while Prather, Shipp, Baumgart, and McPherson each had one.
