BIG START ENDS UP THE DIFFERENCE FOR GARFIELD
CANFIELD OH- In the first All-YSN matchup of the day at The South Range Holiday Tournament, The Cardinal Mooney Cardinals, acted as the home team, squaring off with The Garresville-Garfield G-Men. Both squads rode into Wednesday evening with a ton of momentum, with The Cardinals coming away with the victory against the red hot Youngstown East Golden Bears. For Garfield, despite a scare from Champion, The Lady G-Men were a perfect 7-0 going into Wednesday.
Wasting little time, Garfield jumped out of the box immediately, creating turnovers that were then converted to points, The G-Men jumped ahead 7-2 within the first minutes of gametime. Highlighted by great passing, Garrettsville was able to open up the floor offensively in the first quarter, putting up 24 points throughout the first eight minutes. However, despite trailing by almost 20 points to start, Mooney was able to battle back before the half! Flipping the script, The Cardinals held the previously potent Garfield offense to just five points in the second quarter, thus allowing them to trim their deficit. Going into the half, The Lady G-Men held a 29-18 lead.
Out of the half, Garfield looked to establish themselves in the passing game to create open looks. Initially finding success, Mooney quickly responded by clogging those passing lanes to force turnovers. Sophia Diorio was acting as a spark plug for The Cardinals offense in the second half and Maria Fire always ignited the flame of the defense to get them fired up. On the other side, Madeline Shirkey, Laura McCoy and Mandy Cardinal acted as a three-headed dragon on both sides of the ball, with a good blend of height and athleticism.
Mooney continued to have success on the defensive end, allowing just 26 points in the following three quarters after the first. However, Garfield showed the difference between good teams and great teams, as The G-Men did enough defensively to maintain the lead through rough waters. Emerging victorious for their eighth time this season, The Lady G-Men are now a perfect 8-0 on the campaign. Mandy Cardinal was The Player of The Game, with her 16 points of offense to complement her ball handling and rebounding skills, she was an all-around all star in a winning performance! Both teams will be back in South Range on Thursday, December 29th for their second consecutive day of The South Range Holiday Tournament!
*Contributed By YSN’s Ty Bartell
