Cardinal wins second straight

NEW LONDON ? A big fourth-quarter run for Cardinal coupled with New London?s struggles at the hoop gave the Comets a win, 42-30, in last night?s SEISC south matchup.

The game was tied at 27 going into the final quarter, but while the Cardinal starting heating up, New London went ice cold on the floor, and the Comets went on a 15-3 run in the last eight minutes of the game.

?We need someone to step up and put the ball through the hole,? said New London coach, Duane Blint. ?We?re young ? extremely young ? so what can you do? We have to keep working on the little things.?

The Cardinal team, meanwhile, is beginning to put it all together.

?We played together as a team,? said Comet coach Jenny Cronbaugh, who had taken over head coaching duties for the night because Jeff Miller couldn?t be at the game. ?We ran a strong offense, too, and have been more confident with our shooting, but we played as a team and have been seeing that more and more.?

Senior and co-captain Laci Moore agreed with her coach. ?The key to tonight?s game was teamwork,? she said.

But they still have things to work on.

As a team, Cardinal shot 21 percent from the floor (15-for-69) and 57 percent from the line (11-for-19). But they grabbed 39 rebounds and had 27 steals in the contest.

Lindsay Moore led the team in scoring with 18 points. Laci Moore added seven, while Liz Nichols and Brooke Courtney each chipped in six.

Nichols was the top rebounder for the Comets, grabbing 20 boards.

Abby Rupe had Cardinal?s only block.

Lindsay Moore had a team-high eight steals, and Nichols contributed seven thefts.

Cardinal is now 2-3 overall and will play again at Pekin Thursday.