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SAN ANTONIO — The Lady Cardinals’ varsity basketball team moved on to round three of the UIL State Tournament after one of their closest battles of the season against a tough Crystal City team in the Area Championship round. The Lady Cards had a strong start to the game, outscoring their opponent in each period of the first half. Columbus had to battle through some adversity near the end as their opponents battled back into the game. After a tense final period, the Lady Cards stood victorious and moved on with the 51-50 victory.
The Lady Cards battled through a tight game throughout the entirety of their round two competition. They had slight advantages in each of the first two quarters, taking a 12-11 advantage in the first and 12-10 in the second. They lost their lead in the third quarter after Crystal City’s offense made a strong push to cut into the lead. They outscored Columbus 1814 to take a one-point lead heading into the final period. The Lady Cards got seven points in the frame from Ally Tribe, and six combined points from Karlee Mathis and Bailey Gustus to take the lead and hold on for the win in the closing moments.
Mathis finished as the leading scorer for the Lady Cards. She scored 19 points and did most of her damage in the middle periods with six points in each of the second and third quarters. Tribe provided the other double-digit scoring effort for the Lady Cards, finishing with 16 points punctuated by the scoring flurry in the fourth quarter. Sage Thomas, Treasure Upson and Madyson Carter scored 14 points combined as Columbus battled through one of their toughest games of the season.
The Lady Cards played their round three playoff game against Poth on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The results to that game were not available by the press deadline.
