Girls Basketball
In the distance, the word, ‘defense’ echoed from the student section, and the bleachers began to fill up. The Lady Cards stormed the court, ready to go head-to-head against their rival, the Perry Meridian Lady Falcons.
In the end, however, it was the Lady Falcons who ruled the day. The final score was Perry Meridian 57, Southport 44.
Out the gate, both Lady Cards and Lady Falcons were hot from three. Even though the Lady Cards fought to keep up, they ended the first quarter losing 16-11.
For the Lady Cards, the Falcons’ power in the second quarter didn’t stop, and the girls had no answer.
Despite the rough start, freshman Angie Martinez tried to keep the team alive, doing everything she could on both sides of the ball.
Heading into half time, the Lady Cards had some work cut out for them, being down 34-15.
“By the end of the season, we’ll get that bond again because we haven’t played together,” Martinez said.
As the third and fourth quarter rolled along, they were unlucky in catching up. Although the Lady Cards knew they were not going to catch the win, they still left everything out on the table.
With an unfortunate loss of 57-44, the Lady Cards have a 0-10 record and are looking for their first win.
Although the game didn’t go how head coach Larry Williams or the team intended, they still managed to battle. Williams saw the girls giving it their all, but he is looking to move forward with the season.
“I’m very proud of how hard they fight,” Williams said. “They never give up.”
With the season just beginning, the Lady Cards plan to take this loss and improve on it. Junior Macy Cloe is very proud of her team and wants to prepare for the next battle.
“I’m proud of the team’s fight, they stayed together,” Cloe said.
The Lady Cards next game will be at Greenwood High School on Dec. 2, ready to build the momentum from this performance.
Boys Basketball
A rivalry was renewed on the eve of Thanksgiving break. On Tuesday night, the Cards went into John R. Wooden Gymnasium to take on the rival Perry Meridian Falcons in “The Battle of the Birds,” and the game did not disappoint.
The Cards ultimately secured their sixth consecutive win over their township rival, 68-50.
As fans of both sides buzzed with enthusiasm and energy, the Cards began the season by winning the tip-off and starting with possession of the ball.
The scoring was started by an unlikely source, sophomore Cordell Graham, who had not started in a varsity game until that evening. He made the team’s first point through a free throw. Graham believes this game helped grow his confidence and ability to thrive in his first varsity appearance.
“I feel like I did good. (The) whole team played good, and we all contributed as a team,” Graham said.
Junior Jonathan Fulce assisted Graham in scoring, and a slam dunk from senior Sam Lloyd gave the Cards a 12-7 lead after the first 12 minutes of play.
Though the Falcons came within one point of the lead a few times in the second quarter, key free throws by the Cards and layups by senior James Kalala stopped any chance of the boys in red giving up their lead.
After a close half of hard, tough basketball, the Cards had a five point lead, 27-22, going into halftime.
As for the third quarter, many huge defensive possessions, led by Fulce, helped lead to a monstrous dunk by Lloyd, which sent the sea of red into a frenzy as the fans of the boys in blue looked stunned.
These plays helped the Cards tack on 23 points in the quarter and hold the Falcons to only 12, giving them a commanding 50-34 advantage.
“That (dunk) put us up by 15, and we just started turning the corner from there. (It) turned the whole entire game around for us,” Lloyd said.
With much of the home crowd knowing the result of the contest would not be going in their favor, they could only stand and watch as Kalala grabbed key rebounds resulting in fouls against the Falcons.
One foul in the fourth quarter ultimately sent senior Robert Ludlow to the free throw line with the chance to give the Cards their 67th point of the night.
Ludlow did just that by sinking the shot, giving his team a 67-48 lead.
The crowd was ecstatic, yelling the viral words “six, seven!”
The game both started with a free throw and ended with a free throw for the Cards, gifting them their first win of the new season.
Head boys’ basketball coach Ben Rhoades believes the energy and effort helped his team to play hard and beat the rival Falcons.
“Obviously, you want to win every game, and the first game here is against your township’s rivals,” Rhoades said. “So it’s always a good feeling to get out and get a win under your belt.”
The team was led in points by Lloyd with 20 and in rebounds by Kalala with 13, who both finished the night with a double-double.
The Cards will look to start a winning streak in their home opener on Saturday, Nov. 29 as they will be pitted up against Mooresville at the historic Southport Fieldhouse.
