The night was filled with love as seniors Kamiah Davis and Hannah Neuman walked the court for senior night. Everything looked in their favor when the Lady Cards strode on to the court, until it wasn’t .

On Thursday, Jan. 16, the Lady Cards and Whiteland Warriors battled to the end. But the tables turned quickly when team captain, junior Lorelei Bennett, went down in the third quarter and didn’t return due to an injury. 

With Bennett down, the Lady Cards fell into a slump. The game came to an end with a score of 57-49, marking an unfortunate loss for the Cards.

As the intensity rose from both sides of the court, the Lady Cards started off with power.

  In the first quarter, they went shot for shot and made three consecutive three-pointers.

Junior Macy Cloe got ahead of the game by using a great deal of her strength to help her teammates strive through the competition. She was on a roll when she hit back-to-back shots, putting up seven points in the late first quarter.  

Continuing the game, Cloe kept fighting through some rocky moments. The communication began to die off, and the Warriors pushed through the barrier to catch back up. 

“I think we need to just come together at times like that, then expand from there,” Cloe said.

Cloe led the first quarter and finished the night with 15 points and six rebounds. With Cloe leading the way, the Lady Cards finished the first half 18-11

While Cloe was a big supporter of the team, she wasn’t the only one.

In the distance, far away from the bench, the crowd was just as supportive as they watched the Cards through the ups and downs.

“I wanna say it (cheering) gave our team energy and got everyone hype,” sophomore Karisma Hamilton said. “She (Cloe) was sending back-to-back shots, and it really gave us (hope) like, ‘wow we have a chance to win.’”

Dominance continued, and the Lady Cards were ahead 44-24 at half-time.

Even though the Lady Cards began the game with strong momentum, the team’s performance went south during the second half. 

The Warriors started to fight back and shifted the game towards their side. 

On the sideline, head coach Larry Williams had a difficult time putting the team back together after Bennett left the game early in the third. 

As the minutes on the clock dwindled down, the crowd slowly grew quieter, and eventually the teams began to line up on the line. 

Without Bennett’s guidance, the Lady Cards couldn’t keep up the pace. They only scored five points in the second half ending the game 57-49.

“The fact that we didn’t finish it was tough for us because we were making some great progress,” Williams said. 

As the Lady Cards progress through the next couple of days, they will have the chance to improve their performance. 

On Thursday Jan. 22, the Lady Cards’ season will slowly come to an end as they play against Beech Grove.