The new year has so far been a good one for the Boone Central Cardinals.
Since the calendar flipped to 2022, Boone Central has won 8-of-10 games, improving their season record to 15-7 and building momementum for upcoming postseason play.
This is the time of year for teams to peak, and the Cardinals seem to be doing just that.
Boone traveled west Tuesday, Feb. 8, and defeated host Centura 72-49 after a sluggish start.
With Centura 3-pointers raining, the Cardinals fell in an early 14-2 hole, then regrouped to close to within 18-15 at the end of the first quarter. An 18-12 push put Boone up 33-31 at halftime, and the Cards outscored Centura (13-9) by 15 in the final two periods.
“We weathered the barrage of threes, then our pressure really bothered them and led to some easy baskets,” stated Boone Coach Justin Harris. “We need to continue to improve our free throw shooting, but we did dominate points in the paint, 48-26.
“We have done a great job pushing the ball in transition and getting the ball inside. We only had four turnovers, so that was impressive against good quality competition.”
Boone Central concluded its home season Thursday with a strong second half performance and a 63-46 victory over Northwest (7-15).
Holding just a two-point edge at halftime, the Cardinals used a 15-6 burst in the third quarter to gain breathing room and finished with some solid free throw shooting and a 20-point fourth period.
“Our offense seemed to stagnate without good ball movement in the first half. Our pressure bothered them, but not enough to force turnovers,” Harris noted. “We rebounded much better in the second half, which led to some putbacks. We shot free throws well down the stretch.
“It was a great win on senior night, and this week is something we can continue to build momentum on.”
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