The Lady Cardinals were victorious 65-59 while the Cardinals defeated the Wildcats 71-67 in the night’s finale.
It would take a career night for senior Lady Cardinals Anna Dawson who scored 28 points on the night - 13 in the fourth to hand the Lady Wildcats its second loss of the season. The game had a total of 8 ties and 7 lead changes.
The Lady Cardinals jumped on El Dorado early taking a 6-0 lead to start the game. El Dorado fought back to tie the game at 8 with 2:56 left in the first. After falling down 14-10 the Cardinals ended the quarter on a 5-0 scoring that was highlighted by an NBA-range three by Jayla Jackson with 2 seconds left before the quarter ended giving C.F. the 15-14 lead.
The game would go back and forth again in the second quarter before C.F. got the upper hand - this time ending the half on a 9-2 run and taking a 30-23 lead.
As expected, C.F. alumnus and current El Dorado Lady Wildcat’s head coach Destiny Rogers got her team motivated at the half as the visiting team tied the game at 30 in just over two minutes. Nonetheless, the Lady Cardinal were able to hold on to a slim lead entering the fourth with Takari Glover lading a floater to give C.F. the 43-38 lead.
Things got tense in the fourth as El Dorado was able to build to a 5 point lead with 3:50 left in the ball game. The Lady Cardinals had to make it happen on the defensive end. Dawson flashed for a steal with the Lady Cardinals down 56-52 with 1:45 left in the game. Dawson and was able to score a layup and get to the foul line the next couple of trips down the floor and give the home team a 58-57 lead with 30 seconds left. The desperate Lady Wildcats were unable to score on the Lady Cardinals’ stout defense and the Cardinal Nation crowd also made its presence felt in the last moments of the game. Dawson was sent to the line for two more free throws and El Dorado called a timeout that it didn’t have, prompting a technical foul and two more free throws that were shot by Jayla Jackson. Raven Porchia also hit two critical free throws to help ice the game.
Tai’sheka Porchia added 12 points and two blocks followed by Jayla Jackson who finished with 9 points. Jiyah Jefferson reeled in 6 rebounds to go along with five points and Alexis Askew had two blocks in critical moments in the fourth.
Team on four game winning streak
“Today was one of those days where the seniors decided they were going to win this game,” C.F. Head Girls Coach Johnny Jackson said. “They came out to play, fought through adversity, got down some points, but we did enough to win the game. I’m just proud of them, finding a way to win. In the past these were the type of games we would find a way to lose.”
The Lady Cardinals were able to avenge a 6-point loss to El Dorado during a stretch where the Lady Cardinals had played 5 road games in 6 nights. He touted his defense for coming up with necessary stops late in the game.
“I think us running the ball down the floor kinda got to them,” Jackson shared. “Right there at the end of the game, I knew Lex (Askew) was our best defender. We went to our old diamond press and it gave them some problems. You gotta have those tricks in the bag in order to win games later on in the season.”
Jackson said Dawson’s performance was special but not a surprise to him because he knows the type of player she is: “big time.”
“Well I put on the board one of my favorite sayings, ‘big time players make big time plays in big time games’ and she stepped up,” Jackson said. (Anna is one of those girls that don’t look like she can get by you, but she can get by you. I told her, if they are going to face guard Jayla, go to the basket. Attack the basket. In El Dorado (last week), we weren’t aggressive. I told them we want to be the aggressor. We want to be violent with the ball and attack. She took that and she really played some ball. She stepped up and she did what a senior is supposed to do.”
Jackson talked about how he trusts his team so much that he never got on to them about a mistake because he knew they would make up for it.
Cardinals boys down Wildcats
The Cardinals exploded to an 18-7 lead over the Wildcats before the visiting team was able to make it a one point game before the end of the quarter. El Dorado went into the half with a 38-37 lead after scoring on a late lay up.
El Dorado looked to take control of the game in the third but Camden Fairview was able to stay within two possessions to start the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals took its first lead since the second quarter when Isaiah Hughes nailed a jumper at the 7:45 mark of the fourth quarter. The teams would exchange the lead before Chris Strahan scored two consecutive buckets and came up with a block to put C.F. ahead. The Cardinals put together an impressive defensive performance in the fourth when it was able to turn the Wildcats over in five consecutive possessions.
Jalen Moore was consistent throughout the night and led the team in scoring with 24 points. Qwaishuan Thompson and Strahan scored 14 points each and combined for 7 assists. Dashaire Ford-Burton added 8 points.
The game was just the first home varsity game of the season for the boys team but C.F. Head Coach Josh Nix said his team did a great job of welcoming the challenge. The Cardinals loss by 17 to El Dorado last week.
“We had a good week of practice and it led up to a good game for us,” Nix said. “I thought it was more of a team effort for sure (compared to last week’s game against El Dorado). “We got a lot of people involved. I thought getting another game under Tyree (Holliman) was big for us. He played good. Got in some foul trouble early but having someone with a big body in the middle that could finish underneath for us is really good for our team. Everyone did some good things. Jaylen (Moore) stepped up and had a big game. Qway (Thompson), Mookie (Strahan)... it was just a total team effort...I think we came in with the right mindset. With it being El Dorado and being at home. I told the seniors that this was their last chance to get El Dorado and I thought they responded well. They were up for the challenge.”
The Cardinals and Lady Cardinals will be back in action this Wednesday when it plays in the Minden tournam... Click here to read full article
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