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The Columbus Cardinals traveled to Cameron Yoe High School to compete in their varsity basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 7, to Saturday, Dec. 9, and walked away with a 2-2 record.
The Cardinals faced off against Mumford and Milano on Thursday then played host Cameron Yoe on Friday and capped things off on Saturday with a game against Hempstead.
Vs. Mumford, L, 54-40 The Cardinals got off to a rough start at the tournament with a 14-point loss to Mumford.
The Cardinals started the game off slow on the offensive end scoring only nine points in the first quarter. Mumford took full advantage of the struggling Cardinals offense and scored 19 points of their own in the first quarter.
The Cardinals’ defense had a better showing in the second quarter limiting Mumford to only 11 points in the second quarter. Offensively the Cardinals posted 10 points to make the score 30-19 heading into halftime.
The second half was similar to the second quarter and in the fourth quarter the Cardinals made their push to try to complete the comeback. Unfortunately, the early Mumford lead was too much to overcome, and the Cardinals started the tournament 0-1.
Vs. Milano, W, 49-20
The Cardinals strong late play in game one carried over into game two of the tournament and they were able to find their first win of the tournament because of it.
The Cardinals were led by Camdon Pitchford on the scoresheet as he scored 12 points for the Cardinals in game two. He was aided by teammates Trace Braden and Cedric Fitzgerald who contributed six and nine points respectively.
The Cardinals were all over Milano from the start of the game and just kept their foot on the gas they knew in order to in in this tournament they would need a great start to the game and they did just that to make their record 1-1.
Vs. Cameron Yoe, L, 52-51
The Cardinals took their second loss of the tournament to the hosting team.
The Cardinals again got off to a slow start in the game being outscored 8-2 in the first quarter. They got things back on track in the second quarter but still trailed 24-16 at halftime.
The Cardinals returned to form in the third quarter outscoring Cameron Yoe 22-11 to take a 38-35 heading into the fourth quarter. Pitchford again was at the heart of the Cardinals’ offense racking up 26 points while Fitzgerald contributed another 12.
Cameron Yoe came out in the fourth quarter and did just enough to retake the lead and then hold off the Cardinals. Cameron Yoe scored 15 to the Cardinals 13 in the fourth quarter to win the game by one point.
Vs. Hempstead, W, 52-36 The Cardinals capped off the tournament with a big win to build some momentum before getting back to their regular schedule.
The Cardinals used their loss to Cameron Yoe on Friday as fuel in their game against Hempstead and ended up picking up a huge win.
With the tournament behind them the Cardinals now look ahead to their next game against the Yoakum Bulldogs on Friday, Dec. 15, on their home court.
