CARDINALS EMBRACE A ROAD TRIP TO GIRARD
By Matt Maher
GIRARD, OH – Cardinal Mooney made their way out to Girard to take on one of the top teams in the Northeast 8 on Monday night. Girard showed their skill level early on in this one but showing up so early is what allowed Mooney to figure out a game plan that would allow them to find some impressive buckets and even better defense in a 55-44 victory on the road.
The Indians scored the first 4 points of the game before Mooney hit 1-of-2 free throws from Samantha Rotunno to break the silence. Girard would continue to stay consistently on top of Mooney with 5 points from Makenzee White and 3 from Mia Malito but Mooney stayed close with 4 points from Sophia Rotunno and 2 more from Samanthantha Rotunno.
With the stage set, Mooney decided to tear it all down and came back with an even better look, a look that would net them 21 points and hold Girard to only 11. Sam Rotunno led the charge with 10 points in the quarter alone which was the most by far on her team. Caylee Wilkes and White would both score 4 points to help the Indians in their quest to keep up with the cardinals. With Rotunno catching fire and much better man-to-man defense, Cardinal Mooney set themselves up nicely for the rest of the night.
The scoring slowed down for Mooney out of the break but the good news for them was their defense reigned supreme, only allowing Girard 4 points in the quarter. Gianna Schubert found 2 points in the paint while Malito hit 2-of-2 free throws. Mooney saw Rotunno add 5 more points with two made 2’s and 1-of-2 made free throws. Sophia Diorio would also make a dent by hitting the games first and only 3 pointer.
Girard would not back down in the 4th with a 21 point performance that helped them get close to Mooney at times but the Cardinals found more buckets as well and netted 17 more p;pints which would be enough for them to keep Girard at arms length. Samantha Rotunno added 5 more points which allowed her to finish with 23 points while Diorio added 7 points including 5-of 6 made free throws.
While Girard found their second wind in the 4th it came too late as Cardinal Mooney had done enough to top the Indians and send them to Thursday with another loss. Cardinal Mooney (6-8) are back home on January 24th when they take on the red hot Boardman Spartans at 7:00PM while Girard (8-8) will stay at home for another big conference game when they host Struthers on January 25th at 6:15PM.
