Boone Central has posted some good victories in January, and the Cardinals were looking to add momentum to a three-game winning streak Friday.
Host Battle Creek (10-7) had different ideas, however, using a big second quarter to spark a 73-66 Mid-State Conference victory prior to this week’s annual league tournament.
Boone Central came out firing in the contest, Ryan Kramer’s six first-quarter points keying a 20-17 Cardinal lead. Battle Creek turned that around with a 25-point second period, took a 42-37 lead to halftime, then staved off Boone Central challenges in the second half.
“I thought we came out and attacked really well, but we gave up too many easy points in our press and defensive transition in the first half,” noted Boone Central Coach Justin Harris. “We also had some guys get in foul trouble early. We had a balanced scoring attack, but just needed more defensive stops.”
Despite the loss, Harris had praise for several Cardinals.
“Ryan had some great attacks, including a couple dunks. He played almost the entire game, and we needed him out there with the foul trouble we were in,” Harris commented. “ Alex (Christo) did a great job of attacking and was able to find Garrett (Rasmussen) for some easy layups, as well.”
Boone Central was solid shooting from 2-point range (24-of-47) and sank 12-of-18 free throws, but hit only 2-of-15 3-point tries. The Cards forced 22 turnovers and made 13 steals in the contest.
Further details in Print & Online editions of Albion News and Boone County Tribune
