Boone Central captured its fourth win of the season following the holiday break, but was also clipped by a pair of outstate Nebraska’s better girls basketball teams.
Adams Central 49, Cards 35
The Cardinals opened the Boone Central Holiday Tournament against Class B Adams Central (8-1) and dropped a 49-35 decision to the Patriots. The Cardinals struggled throughout the first half and trailed AC 30-14 at intermission.
“We had some early foul trouble, so we switched to zone defense and didn’t get out on their shooters. They hit five 3-pointers in the first half. We had good looks, but shot 5-of-22 from the field,” Boone Central Coach Andy Imus commented. “Credit to the girls, as they kept competing and getting stops defensively, cutting the lead to 38-29 early in the fourth quarter. However, Adams Central shot 7-of-11 from the free throw line in the fourth to keep its lead.”
Cardinals 43, Alliance 33
Boone scrapped back Wednesday and defeated feisty Alliance 43-33 in the tournament consolation game.
Ashtyn Hedlund paced a good start with a pair of 3-pointers as the Cardinals took a 16-11 lead. Hedlund then hit another trey in the second period and Boone held on to a slim 24-22 halftime edge. The Cards scored only seven points in the third period, but held Alliance (2-7) to just four and used a 12-7 finish to secure the win.
“We played a little better defensively and had good ball movement,” Imus noted. “We need to continue to work on post feeds so we can get Macy (Rankin) established down low – she had eight points in the first half and finished with just 10. Getting her going offensively will open up more options for us, so that has to be a priority.”
St. Paul 40, Cardinals 20
Class C1 #3 St. Paul (8-1) traveled to Albion Friday, where the tough, talented and disciplined Wildcats scored a 40-20 victory over Boone Central. Using unconvential defense, St. Paul limited Boone offensively the entire game. The Cardinals scored just 3, 5 and 1 points in the first three quarters as they fell in a 31-9 hole.
“They ran a box-and-one defense and it really gave us fits. We struggled to set correct screens, hit open shots or get Macy going down low,” Imus rued. “It’s a must to set our screens, it’s a must to hit your shots when open, it’s a must to take care of the basketball, it’s a must to make teams pay if they want to run junk defense, and we didn’t do much of that.”
More details and statistics in Print & Online editions of Albion News/Boone County Tribune
