Clinton started the week extending their win streak to eight-in-a-row, sending visiting Smith Cotton (2-11) home by way of a 20-point route—63-43 in favor of the hometown redbirds. The Lady Cards led the whole way against the Tigers, starting with the 1st period in which the Cards put up 15 points as a team, while holding Smith-Cotton to just 8. Sophomore Vyla Brown led all scorers for Clinton through one quarter of play, notching seven total points and going 1-for-2 from the line.
In the 2nd period the Cardinals extended their lead, topping the Tigers 14-10 in the period behind the emergence of Skyte Wilson, who made her presence felt with nine points, four of which came from the stripe on four-for-four free-throw shooting. Mercedez Brown and Ava Potter each added a basket to the effort, and Vyla Brown added another free-throw on four attempts. Heading into the half, the Lady Cards had extended their lead to eight over the Tigers, 29-21.
Coming out of locker room, the Cardinals remained hot, putting up 16 more points over the period, while holding Smith-Cotton to just 12. By the end of the 3rd period , the Lady Cards lead had stretched even further, leaving Smith-Cotton down twelve and with a lot of work to do to have a shot for the win 45-33. Inevitably, it would be too much to overcome for the Tigers.
In the 4th and final period, the Lady Cards put the finishing touches on their dominant performance, adding 18 in a complete team effort with six different Cardinals getting o the board. Vyla Brown accounted for four points in the period, while Allie Cardwell, Mercedez Brown, Katie Schaffer, and Skyte Wilson each added two points apiece. Briley Wishard led all Cardinals scorers in the 4th quarter with six points, two of which came at the line. The 18-point 4th quarter effort sealed the victory for the Cardinals, as they held the Tigers to 10 in the final period for the 63-43 win, improving to an impressive 12-2 on the season.
Lady Cards Scorers:
Skyte Wilson – 15 points
Vyla Brown – 14 points
Briley Wishard – 14 Points
Mercedez Brown – 12 Points
Ava Potter – 4 Points
Katie Schaffer – 2 Points
Allie Cardwell – 2 Points
While this past week may have started off as hot as ever for the Lady Cards as they dispatched struggling Smith-Cotton (2-11) 63-43 in the Bird’s Nest to extend their scorching seven-game win streak to an eruptive eight-straight, it ended in the wrong kind of flames this past Saturday against El Dorado. El Dorado (9-4), entered the Bird’s Nest this past weekend in hostile territory, catching the 12-2 hometown Cardinals amidst an eight-game winning streak. For the Lady Cards, who have been as hot as any team this January, the matchup would be a chance to extend their streak to nine-straight, further cementing their status as one of the top teams to watch come districts. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, all good things must come to an end, as El Dorado, unfazed on the road, dismantled the Cardinals. Catching Clinton and the hometown crowd off guard with a 69-37 statement victory.
For the Lady Cards part, the team started off strong in the first quarter, going shot for shot with the Bulldogs to give Clinton the slim lead heading into the 2nd period, 16-15. Unfortunately, the wheels began to come loose for Cardinals from there, as El Dorado picked apart Clinton’s defense to put up 27 points in just one quarter of play. The Cards offense meanwhile sputtered, and after putting up just 13 points of their own, El Dorado were in position for the upset with a sizeable lead at the break, topping the Cardinals 42-29 heading into the locker room.
For a team with as much momentum as Clinton carried into the matchup, being down 13-points with an entire half to play, there was sense the Cardinals could bounce back in this one—until there wasn’t. El Dorado, carrying momentum and confidence out of a dominant 2nd quarter performance, took little time to all but snuffed out any hope the Cards had left shortly after returning from the locker room, holding the Cards to just five points in the entire 3rd period while putting up 21 points of their own. By the end of 3rd the upset was all but official for the Bulldogs as they stifled the Cards at every turn for the 63-34 lead. This left the 4th period as little more than relief time, as the benches for each team saw heavy minutes to wrap up the match, with El Dorado adding 6 more to their tally and holding Clinton to just 3 points to seal the 69-37 victory and improve to 10-4 on the year.
For the Lady Cards, the blowout loss concludes an 8 game win-streak spanning almost an entire month dating back to late December, dropping Clinton from 12-2 to 12-3 on the year. The team will look to bounce back from the loss against Butler (3-10), when the Bears pay the Lady Cards a visit back here at the Bird’s Nest on January 17th.
Lady Cards Scorers:
Skyte Wilson – 12 points
Briley Wishard – 11 Points
Vyla Brown – 8 points
Ava Potter – 4 Points
Mercedez Brown – 2 Points
