Following a double digit victory in the first round of IHSA Class 1A Regional Tournament action against the Galatia Bearcats, the Norris City-Omaha-Enfield Fighting Cardinal basketball team was hoping to keep their adrenaline riding high as they matched up with the tourney’s top seed, Christopher Bearcats in their second round of play.
It appeared NCOE was off to a good start when they posted 17 first quarter points. However, their opponent managed to top them with 20 points of their own but the Fighting Cardinals were not disgruntled only trailing by three points heading into the second quarter of play. Unfortunately for NCOE, the hot shooting quickly cooled off as the Bearcats increased their defensive pressure allowing the Fighting Cardinals a mere three points in the second quarter. Although NCOE did not score as much as they are accustomed to they did manage to pick up their defense and limit their opponent to just 10 points. This enabled the Fighting Cardinals to head to the locker room facing only a 10-point deficit.
Following halftime, the shooting woes continued for NCOE unlike Christopher. The third quarter would witness the Bearcats going on a 20-8 run to stretch their lead to 22 heading into the final stanza of play. This fourth and final quarter would once again find the Bearcat defense stymieing the Fighting Cardinals for they were only able to net four more points. This offensive meltdown proved disastrous and NCOE fell by the final score of 58-32.
Brandon Skaggs and Jeb Baumgart led the Fighting Cardinals with nine points a piece. Others scoring were Colton O’Neal four, CJ Richardson three, Brandon Skaggs three, Evan Healy three, and Jack Riggs one.
NCOE closes the season with a 9-17 overall record.
