Rivalry gameday was nothing short of exhilarating this past Friday at GRC Arena. A junior varsity quadruple overtime nail-biter. A back and forth, too-close-for-comfort varsity game. Everything you could possibly ask for from Friday night basketball right here in Clark County.
The Montgomery County Indians traveled to GRC Friday to face our Cardinals for a second time this season, with GRC now getting to play with the home court advantage.
The night got exciting with a JV game that was nothing short of must-watch basketball. With the game spanning not just one, but four overtime periods.
“They seemed sort of nervous going into [the first overtime], I just sort of said to them ‘how fun is this,’” says junior varsity head coach Taylor Howard. “I told them just keep fighting.”
The JV team put together a quick run at the end of the fourth overtime period to seal the deal, and after over an hour of exciting basketball the varsity group finally took the floor.
“It was a great environment to be a part of,” says coach Josh Cook. “The student section was phenomenal, our crowd, and our community really showed up. It was just a great game to be a part of.”
In the Cardinals last outing against the Indians they secured a comfortable win.
“It’s always a good feeling to beat them,” says senior Reshaun Hampton. “The team played well together, we were playing hard, we knew what the game meant.”
The Cardinals won in good fashion, the final score of the game being 72-48.
Now knowing what to expect from the Indians, the Cardinals prepared to face them again.
“The game plan was the same, stop them from hitting the three and find their best players,” says Hampton.
The varsity game got off to a good start, with the Cardinals up 19-9 after the first quarter. A slight change in pace occurred when senior JP Gaines briefly subbed out after colliding knees with another player.
“I was trying to get back in as quickly as possible, because it was the last time we would play MoCo at home during the regular season,” says Gaines.
JP powered through it and was back in by the second quarter where the Cardinals continued to scrap.
WinCity went to the locker room up 32-28. The Indians were putting up a fight.
Coach Cook rallied the team for a second half push.
“Sometimes we try too hard to make a play,” says Cook “It was really about getting back to guarding in the second half.”
The Cardinals came out ready to play the third quarter. But Montgomery County wasn’t going down without a fight.
In classic rivalry fashion the two teams went at each other’s throats all quarter. Not many baskets went unanswered, but Montgomery County went on a run, and took the 45-44 lead going into the 4th.
“I think there was a lot of emotion involved,” says Cook.
The gym was completely electric for the entire fourth quarter. The student section was packed and rowdy as ever.
“We needed to lock in,” says Freshman Montez Gay. “We had to be the team that we knew we were.”
The team switched to a press early in the fourth quarter and started to run away with the game.
“I think the defense in the fourth was definitely the difference in the game,” says Cook. “We were able to be aggressive defensively and get everyone on the same page.”
Malachi Ashford and JP Gaines played amazing defense and quickly gave the Cardinals a 10-point lead.
“Our mindset was just to speed them up and force turnovers,” says Gaines. “We did just that, and pulled away with a good enough lead to win the game.”
The Cardinals put together an impressive 29-11 run to end the game. All thanks to the defensive commitment and communication of the squad as a whole.
WinCity successfully sent the Indians home at the end of the night, with the 73-56 win marking the fifth district win in five games this season. As district play starts in about a month the Cardinals are in great shape to compete for another district title.
Joe Mama • Feb 27, 2024 at 10:03 pm
The band was going to play for just the next game, but we ended up playing for the overtime instead. It was indeed tense.