MIDDLEFIELD—Cardinal’s young basketball team took another step forward with a 37-23 win over visiting Bristol in a Division VII sectional final on Saturday.
The Huskies, who are just two years removed from being without a girls’ basketball team, have now won postseason games in back-to-back seasons and clinched their 12th win of the year.
“I have to give credit to all of the girls because they come in here every day and work so hard,” said Cardinal head coach Kim Domen. “They’ve worked tremendously hard for this program, and they knew as eighth graders that there wasn’t a program, and they’d have to build it back up. They knew that and for them to come in and continue to work hard is a testament to what they’re doing and their hard work I hope it continues, and they were stoked about tonight.”
Cardinal’s offense got off to a sluggish start but trailing 6-3 midway through the first, Ivy Kaminski drained back-to-back 3-pointers and scored two more points to send Cardinal into the second period leading, 10-7.
Nova Young kept the Huskies afloat in the second quarter by scoring all five points, including a 3-pointer for a 15-9 halftime lead.
Emily Pleva got on the board with a third-quarter runner, Young knocked down a two-point jumper, and Kaminski cleaned up the offensive glass for Cardinal, putting the Huskies up 21-11 heading into the fourth.
Pleva totaled five fourth-quarter points, as did Natalie Soltis, and Kaminski capped off a 14-point performance with four more in the final frame for Cardinal’s second-consecutive sectional title.
Once the Huskies took the lead in the first quarter they never trailed, but also never led by more than eight before taking a 10-point lead into the fourth and closed the deal with a 16-12 advantage in the final stanza.
Trailing early to a 14-point win marks another stepping stone in the resurgence of a Cardinal program led by sophomores.
“It goes back to having that experience from their freshmen year,” Domen said. “Everyone kind of mowed over us. Coming in this year, they’ve started learning from the game knowing that if we’re winning, we don’t need to push the ball up the floor. They can relax and move the ball around. For them to have that experience in their freshmen year and all of this year they’ve grown a lot and will continue to grow.”
Last winter, the Huskies defeated Vienna Mathews, 48-30, on the road. This season, with 11 wins, the Huskies earned the seventh seed and a chance to host a first-round game.
“The girls from last year to this year had the opportunity to turn some heads, and I think we did that,” Domen said. “They all like being the underdog because they like to prove everyone wrong. In terms of turning heads, being the underdog, and then hosting a playoff game is a testament again of their great defense and doing whatever it takes to get the win.”
That Huskies’ defense was a cornerstone in the win, limiting a 12-win, experienced Bristol team to just 23 points and nine at halftime.
“I learned from a good coach, Dennis Lory, that defense creates offense,” Domen said of the team’s defensive principles. “For them to be able to rotate and do what they did defensively helps us out. I like to pride ourselves on defense and they really got after it in the third and fourth quarter.”
Kaminski posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double in the win, while Soltis, Pleva, and Young each pitched in with seven.
Soltis racked up four steals, Pleva had three, and Young pulled down four boards. Olivia Krebs and Adelyn Grant did the dirty work for Cardinal with a combined 13 rebounds and five steals.
The Huskies advanced to the district semifinal round and will host Lowellville on Feb. 18.
