Cardinal limited visiting Fairport Harding to just seven second-half points in a 52-26 Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division win on Friday.
“We played pretty well defensively,” Cardinal coach Jon Cummins said. “We went zone against them and that seemed to work a lot. They only scored six points in the first quarter and we held them to seven in the second half. The kids really stepped up and played really well. That was nice to see. A lot of kids got to play so it was a fun game for the kids.”
On the other end, Robbie Bruncak led the way with 20 points.
“At first, my shots weren’t falling but my teammates and coaches kept telling me to keep shooting and play hard on defense,” Bruncak said “After halftime, we were all pumped up and ready to go and play hard on defense and everybody was playing well. Our defense in the third was a big motivator that got us really going and kept pushing our momentum to get a big lead.”
Bruncak closed out the game with four 3-pointers and also was a shutdown defender with a team-high four steals.
“He definitely has stepped up for us,” Cummins said. “He’s playing well and not just on offense. We played against Southington and he had 12 steals, so he’s doing it defensively too and he’s a leader by example. He’s been working hard in practice and that translates to the games.”
The Huskies, who improved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Valley Division, finished the game with 40 rebounds and 15 steals.
Brice Hogue led the way with nine rebounds from his guard position while Matt Carney and Casey Horner both finished with three steals.
“We were real aggressive and extended our defense and got into the passing lanes,” Cummins said. “We made them make some decisions and run some offense in the half court. A lot of kids played really well.”
Carney contributed eight points on offense while Hogue and Horner both finished with six.
Robbie Granny finished with just two points and five rebounds but he was a force in the paint.
“He really stepped up in that zone,” Cummins said of Granny. “(Fairport) likes to get penetration and he stepped up with his big body and did a nice job in there.”
Justice Bartley led the Skippers with nine points and Jorden Cogswell contributed with eight.
Cardinal travels to Kirtland on Tuesday while Fairport (2-5, 0-3) heads to Wickliffe.
Cardinal 52, Fairport 26
Cardinal: Bruncak 20, Carney 8, Hogue 6, Horner 6, Rogers 5, Granny 2, Hammitt 2, Sinclair 1, D Heredos 2
Fairport: Cogswell 8, Severin0 2, Alston 4, Kopp 1, Bartley 9, Matyja 2
Free throws: Cardinal 8 of 22, Visitor 6 of 11, 3-pointers: Home 6 (Bruncak 4, Hogue, Rogers) Fairport 2 (Cogswell, Bartley);
Fairport 6 13 4 3 – 26
Cardinal 14 11 19 8 – 52
