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The Columbus Lady Cardinals traveled to Weimar High School to participate in the tournament that the Weimar Ladycats were hosting on Wednesday, Dec. 27, and Thursday, Dec. 28.
The Lady Cards took down Giddings, La Grange, Seguin and Edna posting a 4-0 on their way to the championship victory at the tournament.
Vs. Giddings, W, 44-30
he Lady Cardinals set the tone in a big way in their first game of the tournament taking down the Giddings Lady Buffaloes.
The Cardinals were tested early but the style of play and system head coach Mike Albers has them running was the story in this game. The Lady Cardinals came into the first game with a plan on how to attack Giddings offense and executed it perfectly.
They knew Giddings had a lot of offensive talent and they were going to score a few baskets, but they never slipped and continued to execute. Their game plan worked out perfectly and the Lady Cards found themselves 1-0 after the game because of it.
Vs. La Grange, W, 47-40
Squaring off with one 4A the Lady Cards did not get a chance to relax with their next game being against a team that lost only two district games last season.
The La Grange Lady Leopards have a ton of talent up and down their lineup to exploit defenses in multiple ways. They have plenty of players capable of bringing the ball up the floor then once on the offensive side they have several players who can shoot very well and a very strong paint presence.
The Lady Cards had a tough task in front of them with the Lady Leopards, but they were up for a challenge. The game went back and forth with each team having and losing the lead several times.
The Lady Leopards fans began to play a factor in the game and lived up to their reputation of being some of the loudest fans in the area. The Cardinals leaned heavily on their leadership and were able to pull away late before suffocating the Lady Leopards’ offense to end the game.
Vs. Seguin, W, 32-26
In perhaps their toughest matchup of the tournament, the Lady Cards took on Seguin, who was heavily favored by fans.
Once again, the Lady Cards did not care who the opponent was and just played basketball. Defense was a big factor for the Lady Cards in this game as the offense struggled to find a rhythm.
The Lady Cards kept the Seguin offense in check the entire game and were finally able to establish themselves on offense in the second half to build their lead. Once the lead was built, they continued to play well on the defensive end of the floor to punch their ticket to the championship game.
Vs. Edna, W, 57-43
After running through many tough teams, the Lady Cards were ready to show they deserved to win the tournament.
Not only did they win the championship game but also scored the most points in a game in the tournament in the championship game. Fatigue was a non-factor because the Lady Cards were so determined to win the game.
As time ticked down the Lady Cards were able to lift tournament gold and cap off 2023 by adding another trophy to their trophy case.
