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The Columbus Cardinals closed out 2023 by winning the Schulenburg Tournament only to come back on Tuesday, Jan. 2, and picked up their first win in 2024.
The Cards welcomed Industrial to their home gym for their second district game of the season and with one district loss on the board for the Cardinals they knew they needed to win this one.
The Cardinals started the game a little slow offensively in the first quarter mustering up only 10 points to start the game. Industrial was hot on their heels too posting eight points of their own to keep things interesting.
The Cardinals’ offense returned to form in the second quarter getting a little boost from their defense. The defense held Industrial to only nine points in the second quarter, which allowed the offense to steal the show.
The Cardinals scored 19 points in the second quarter to carry a 29-17 lead into halftime.
Feeling comfortable with their lead the Cardinals knew that Industrial was going to come out swinging to start the second half. In an attempt to cut into the 12-point Cardinal lead Industrial threw everything at the Cardinals defense.
The Cardinals’ defense slipped slightly before quickly refocusing on the task at hand. Industrial scored 11 points in the third quarter to the Cardinals’ 14 to try to make things close before starting the fourth quarter.
Still holding onto a now 43-28 point lead the Cardinals threw the game in neutral and controlled the pace of play for the rest of the game. With the Cardinals slowing the game down this allowed some of the underclassmen to log some minutes as the game winded down.
The Cardinals stayed the course of defense, leading to offense, and scored another 14 points in the fourth to close out the game. The final score was 57-37 and rewarded the Cardinals with their first district win of the season and their first win of the new year.
The Cardinals now set their sights on their next game, which is on the road against Palacios on Friday, Jan. 12, looking to string together back-to-back district wins.
