Lady Cardinals Win Sportsmanship Award At State

The Soda Springs Lady Cardinals played in the state tournament last weekend.  They got their spot at state by way of a play-in victory over West Jefferson after falling to Bear Lake in the district title game.  In their first match up at the tournament, the Cardinals faced the Cole Valley Chargers.  Cole Valley entered as the three seed, while Soda was seeded sixth.  The Chargers got the quick start in this one, and they pushed to a 10-2 lead by the midway point of the quarter.  Soda struggled offensively until they would get an and-one opportunity with just under three minutes left to play.  After another and-one the Cardinals hit a three at the buzzer and dug themselves out of an early hole heading into the second, down just a single point at 12-11.  

Things slowed down early in the second as each team only put one basket in during the first four minutes.  Soda then grabbed their first lead after a three point bucket with the score at 16-15.  Soda would keep up the good defense and would move the ball well offensively, but struggled to get open looks.  As the teams headed to the locker room the Cardinals led 18-15 holding the Chargers to a single three in the quarter.  

The Cardinal defense would stay strong and at the 3:30 mark of the third Cole Valley had their first basket from the floor in well over eight minutes of game time.  Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Chargers were just getting started as they put up nine more points in the closing minutes of the third.  The Cardinal lead was cut to two points entering the fourth at 30-28.  The teams traded baskets early in the fourth, then the Chargers tied things up at around the 4:30 mark.  Just a short time late,r Cole Valley would take the lead back for the first time since early in the second.  Soda tied things back up briefly, but free throws and allowing Cole Valley to get offensive boards hurt the Cardinals the rest of the way.  Soda dropped their first round game in  a close battle 47-38.  The game was much closer than the score indicates.  Goodin-14, Garbett-12, Moldenhauer-7, Davis-5.

With the loss the Cardinals would be sent to the consolation bracket.  There they faced Declo in an elimination game.  As this game kicked off, the Cardinals looked a little sluggish while the Hornets came out looking like the aggressors.  Soda snapped out of it and turn things on as they would jump out to an early 7-0 lead.  The girls turned up their great ball pressure defense and before the quarter ended Declo, had used two timeouts and the Cardinals were in control leading 18-4.  

Into the second, the defense looked strong once again.  Meanwhile, the offense sputtered and Soda started settling for ill-advised shots.  Soda used a timeout to try to spark some offense, but the quarter ended with the Cardinals outscoring Declo 7-6 for a halftime score of 25-10.  

Coming out of the locker room, the Cardinals looked as if they shook off the slump from the second quarter.  Soda took off on a 9-2 run in the first half of the third, extending their lead.  Once again however, the Cards would go cold from the floor and Declo would score the only points in the last four minutes of the quarter.  

At the start of the fourth Soda led 34-16.  Declo would come out playing like they had nothing to lose.  The Hornets would outplay the Cardinals in the first couple of minutes, forcing a Soda timeout at the six minute mark now leading 37-21.  Over the next couple of minutes both teams struggled to score and Soda held a substantial lead.  Declo would do their best to try to make things interesting and forced a couple of Soda timeouts, but in the end the Lady Cardinals hung on with a 46-33 victory.  Superior defense helped Soda Springs in this one as their offense seemed to go up and down.  Garbett-16, Goodin-15, Kempe-6, Ozburn-3, Davis-2, Moldenhauer-2, Gronning-2.

The win over Declo sent the Cardinals to the consolation championship to take on Melba in a rematch of the state championship game from a year ago.  The Mustangs won that game and Soda looked to change that this year.  Before this one could get underway, the IHSAA would need to announce the winners of the Sportsmanship Award.  This award is given to one school from each classification that displays good sportsmanship in all areas from players, coaches, student body, pep band, and fans.  It was a spectacular sight to see a well-deserved Soda Springs win the award for the 2A classification.  This is an award that the whole community can share in earning.  

As for the game, it was as hotly contested as everyone expected.  The start of the game had each team turning the ball over on their first possession.  From there, the scoring would also go back and forth, and at just over three minutes the first timeout was taken by Melba with the game tied at 9.  Each team had a pair of threes, and Soda added one more at the buzzer to take a 17-12 lead to end the quarter.  Soda added to its lead early in the second and pushed the score to 22-12.  Soda was using good defense once again early and had active hands getting in the passing lanes making things difficult on the Mustangs.  

After a timeout Melba made a run, fighting all the way back and tying the game at 24 with thirty seconds left.  Tied at 24 is where the score remained going into halftime.   To start off the third the teams would once again trade baskets as they went from tied to Soda having a two point lead several times.  After the midway point of the quarter Soda built a small 7 point lead, but the Mustangs came back with an and-one and cut the lead to four.  After some more fast action and a few foul shots and threes, the lead would be just two points for Soda entering the fourth 39-37.  

The Cardinals clung to a slim lead through much of the final period as the teams battled back and forth.  At the 1:41 mark, Soda would call a timeout after Melba tied the game at 45.  After the timeout, Soda had an empty possession and Melba would answer with a big three taking the lead with just about a minute left in the game.  After another empty possession, Soda would foul the Mustangs and make both free throws extending the lead to 50-45.  Soda would have a chance to cut the lead down as they went to the foul line to shoot three shots.  The Cardinals missed all three and the clock ran down to eleven seconds when Soda threw a deep desperation three that fell short and went out of bounds.  Melba inbounded the ball and the Cardinals allowed them to run out the clock.  The Lady Cardinals fell short of the consolation championship, 50-45.  It was a hard fought battle between two very good teams.  Although the Lady Cardinal seniors end their careers with a loss they can be proud of their time spent in a Cardinal uniform.  Goodin-15, Simmons-10, Garbett-9, Moldenhauer-8, Gronning-2, Kempe-1.