Cardinals Sweep The Bears

In the only local game of the week last week the Soda Springs Cardinals boys basketball team hosted the Bears from Bear Lake.  In their second meeting of the season the Cardinals were able to defeat the Bears completing the season sweep.  Last week’s game was considerably closer than the first game between these two teams.  In their first meeting the Cardinals were red hot shooting from the outside and walked away with a twenty-two point victory.  This time around the Cardinals were without the strong post presence of McWilliams.  McWilliams being out played into the Bears strengths whose underneath play is where they get a lot of their scoring.  Missing one of their best rebounders and scorers the Cardinals would rely heavily on the play of their other leading scorers Thompson and Hansen.  Cooper Thompson got things started for the Cardinals as he was able to knock down a pair of three pointers on his way to eleven first quarter points.  The Bears did their best to keep the game close in the first as they trailed by just six points as the quarter came to a close.  The Cardinals were able to create some space in the second period of play by holding the Bears to six total points.  Meanwhile the two headed monster of Hansen and Thompson combined for nine of the team’s twelve second quarter points.  The Cardinals were able to take a comfortable twelve point lead into the locker room at halftime.  The third period was the most balanced stretch of the game for both teams.  Between the two squads eleven total players would score in the quarter.  Bear Lake made a little run but the Cardinals were able to respond.  The third quarter ended with the teams matching each other in scoring during the quarter with the Cardinals holding on to their twelve point lead.  Despite the earlier blowout loss and trailing by double digits the Bears did not back down.  The Cardinals were not able to relax and had to continue to battle down the stretch.  For the first time in the game the Bears were able to outscore the Cardinals in a single quarter but it was not enough to overcome the Soda Springs lead.  The Cardinals were able to add a win to their season with the nine point victory.  Thompson and Hansen led the way for Soda Springs but a pleasant surprise was the play of Jaxson Horsley who finished with nine points and played some solid defense down the stretch.  

Gavin Hansen soars to the rim as he lays in a contested shot in last weeks home win over the Bears.

With the win the Cardinals move to 3-2 on the season.  Saturday Soda Springs will travel to Salmon where they will try to collect another win.

Cardinals 15 12 16 12 55

Bears 9 6 16 15 46

M. Browning 2, C. Thompson 20, G. Hansen 18, K. Harrison 2, L. Mellor 2, J. Horsley 9, P. Ozburn 2