For the second time this season, the Cards boys basketball team took on the Perry Meridian Falcons. But this time, it was on the Falcon’s home court, and much was on the line. 

The Cards played the Falcons for the first round of the Marion County Tournament. The only way to move forward in the tournament is to win each game they play, so the Cards had to beat the Falcons for a second time in order to continue playing in the tournament. 

“It’s different when you play a team with higher stakes,” senior Keyon Miller said. “We had already beat Perry, but this one counts for a lot more.”

The Cards beat the Falcons at their first game of the season, 55-34. That game helped their season start off with a roaring start. Senior A.J. Dancler ended that game with 21 of the 55 points in the game. 

Now at the county game on Jan. 10, the Cards beat the Falcons again, 58-38 — another 20 point win. Dancler again led the team with 17 points.

“It felt good,” Dancler said. “We just had the energy going tonight.”

The Cards played one of their strongest games of the season. Not only did they hold a 20 point lead for the majority of the game, the boys significantly lowered their number of fouls. None of them fouled out.

Towards the end of the fourth quarter, head coach Eric Brand even felt comfortable enough to put in the JV starters that he brought to the bench for the game. It gave the varsity starters a rest after gaining the lead, and it also gave the JV players the chance to play in an important varsity game. 

“I was proud of the guys tonight,” Brand said. “We’ve had our ups and downs this season, but they really pull together when it comes to these types of games.”