Cards advance to Elite 8 after Sweet 16 victory over Colonels

Smoke Signals photos

Your George Rogers Clark Cardinals are still dancing after a 54-47 win over the Oldham County Colonels.

GRC opened up to a quick 10-2 run, forcing Oldham County to burn an early timeout.

Jared Wellman and Aden Slone came out taking fire early, knocking down the three ball.

Slone at the end of the first quarter had eight of the Cardinals’ 13 points.

GRC’s defense held the Colonels to only seven points after one quarter of play.

Jerone Morton caught fire in the second half, knocking down a couple of threes to push the Cardinal lead to double digits.

Oldham had cut the lead to seven and was gaining momentum going into the half, but a Trent Edwards steal and look ahead to Morton led to a slam at the buzzer to quickly swing momentum back to GRC going into the half.

The Cards forced nine first half turnovers to give them a 31-22 lead at the half. 

Coming out of the half the GRC defense continued to shine, forcing more turnovers.

The Cards had trouble scoring in the third only putting up 10 points, but the defense was so good they still were able to extend their lead.

Stanley Smothers’ tough layup at the horn gave GRC a 41-28 lead going into the final quarter of play.

Oldham wasn’t going to go away, knocking down shots to make the Cards a little uncomfortable.

The Colonels had opportunities to cut the GRC lead to one or two possessions, but they just couldn’t hit the shots when they needed to.

With just over two minutes to go, Coach Josh Cook’s defense came through, getting a huge stop that led to two Morton free throws to give GRC a nine-point lead at the two-minute mark.

Oldham cut it down to four, but the rally was too late.

A Jerone Morton free throw and a Wellman layup sealed the game for the Cards, giving them a seven-point victory over the Colonels.

Morton led the team with 19 points and Slone followed with 12. Wellman had 10, and contributed with seven rebounds, and three blocks.

The Cardinal defensive held Oldham County to only 37% from the field, while shooting a solid 50%.

WinCity now takes on Elizabethtown at 11 a.m. Friday, in hopes to pull off the major upset to advance to the Final Four.