Cardinal boys upend future SCC foe

ELDON — Monday night gave Cardinal basketball fans a game that could mean an awful lot in the years to come.

Cardinal hosted Davis County in what will be a future South Central Conference rivalry. In their last non-conference regular season game against each other, it was the Comets who stood tall, earning a 74-67 comeback victory.

Things certainly didn’t look good or the Cardinal offense early. Davis County raced out to a double-digit lead, and held on to a 19-10 advantage after the first quarter.

Then, in the second period, Cardinal suffered a big loss when senior guard Griffin Greiner went down with an ankle injury, causing him to leave the game for good. That put extra pressure on the rest of the back court, but they answered the call in a big way.

Senior sharpshooter Blaine Bryant caught fire in the second quarter. He sank four 3-pointers to score 12 in the period. The Comets as a team scored 23, and Cardinal led 33-26 at the half.

“Once I got my rhythm up top, everything seemed to fall for me,” Bryant said. “It ended up being a good game.”

The Mustangs cut the lead to two possessions, as Cardinal led 51-47 after the third, and the Comet advantage was down to one point in the fourth, but Bryant’s roll never slowed. He finished the night with 26 points, 15 of which came on five 3-pointers.

“He didn’t miss very many,” said Cardinal head coach Michael Strasko. “When he’s knocking down shots, he’s absolutely deadly.”

The Comets also had a reat output from Reese Pedersen, another senior guard who had a hot hand. He scored 13 points, seven of which came in the second half.

“He was incredible tonight,” Strasko said. “He’s been working a ton, and that’s so good to see him continue to blossom.”

Dawson Lewis scored nine points. Ian Liles finished with eight. Josh Courtney had six. Greiner and Landon Becker had five apiece.

Cardinal is now 4-2 on the year. They’ll host No. 1 (1A) Grand View Christian on Thursday night.