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The Columbus Lady Cardinals traveled to San Antonio on Thursday, Feb. 29, and found themselves in the same position they were in last season being one game away from the State Championship game.
The Lady Cards unfortunately fell short in the Semi-Finals for the second year in a row, losing to Huntington 47-33.
The Lady Cards kryptonite in Thursday’s game was the second quarter. In the second quarter the Lady Cards struggled at both ends of the floor and it cost them.
Defensively, the Lady Cards struggled to slow down Huntington’s talented center, and Huntington established a large lead because of it. The Lady Cards also had a hard time getting shots to fall in the second and only found three points before heading into the break, down 19-12.
“I think we just had a terrible second quarter, that whole half I think we made four out of 28 field goal attempts,” Lady Cards head coach Mike Albers said in his postgame statement. “When you shoot like that, you’re probably going to dig yourself a hole and we did.”
The Lady Cards came out in the third quarter will a sense of urgency as they searched for a way to break through the Huntington defense. The third quarter offered no answers for the Lady Cards as Huntington again outscored them 11-5 in the third.
But the Lady Cards started the fourth with a sense of urgency and determination, something that has been a part of this team’s identity since game one. With only eight minutes left in the game and their season, the Lady Cards made one final push.
Leaving it all out on the court, the sweat, blood and tears were all present and prominent for the late rally. The Lady Cards completely emptied their tank and had Huntington on the ropes.
The Lady Cards came into the fourth quarter down 13 points on the scoreboard. But shortly after the fourth began the Lady Cards cut that down to seven.
As time ticked down Huntington continued to dominate on inside the paint on the offensive end, but the Lady Cards found their rhythm offensively and were hot on Huntington’s trail.
Like the rounds before this one Karlee Mathis and Anaya Gardner were carrying the offensive load for the Lady Cards. The duo combined for 25 points, most of which came in the fourth quarter.
Albers loved the fight from his team late in the game but always knew the second quarter was the deciding factor. He said while they were fighting to get back the hole that was dug in the second was just too deep.
Unfortunately, time was not on the side of the Lady Cards and soon enough the final buzzer sounded, and their season was over.
The Lady Cards walk away from this season adding a bronze medal to their trophy case where they will use it as motivation to try and capture gold next season.
