Lady Cardinals Soar On Senior Night

The Soda Springs Lady Cardinals basketball team had just one game last week and boy was it a fun one.  For four of the Lady Cardinals it was senior night and their last chance to play on their home floor before districts begin.  The four seniors that were highlighted prior to and in this game are Courtnee Gronning, Rosie Harris, Maddie Kempe, and Ellie Wood.  All four girls took center stage as they all got the start and contributed to the scoreboard.

Their opponent in this game was the Declo Lady Hornets.  Way back in early December the two teams met in Declo where the Lady Cardinals escaped with a seven point victory.  In last week’s game with emotions running high and the team wanting to perform at its best on senior night this game was almost over before it began.  

Rosie Harris drives to the hoop in last weeks senior night game against Declo.

 A very enthusiastic Lady Cardinals team relentlessly attacked the Lady Hornets on both ends of the court.  Offensively the Lady Cardinals rained down buckets on the Lady Hornets scoring an impressive seventeen first quarter points followed by eighteen second quarter points.  Meanwhile the Soda Springs defense swarmed the ball creating several turnovers and limiting the Lady Hornets attempts.  At the halftime break the Lady Cardinals had a staggering twenty-nine point lead.  In the third quarter the Lady Hornets were finally able to get some traction as they tallied fourteen points but they were still bested by Soda Springs who added fifteen.  The one point increase to the lead meant that the fourth quarter would start in the mercy rule with a running clock.  With the clock running and time winding down fast the Soda Springs coaching staff took the opportunity to sub each senior out of the game one at a time giving each girl the spotlight and a standing ovation from the crowd.  The Lady Cardinals ran away with this game winning by twenty-nine points.  Of course with the completion of the game there were some tears that were quickly followed by smiles and laughter as players and fans congratulated the seniors on outstanding careers.

Maddie Kempe shoots a foul shot during the Lady Cardinals big win on senior night.

 The Lady Cardinals have just two games remaining on their regular season schedule.  Soda Springs will travel to Malad on Wednesday then go to Aberdeen on Saturday.  Right now the Lady Cardinals are sitting in second place in the district just barely ahead of Aberdeen making Saturday’s game a crucial one for district tournament seeding.

Cardinals 17 18 15 5 55

Hornets 3 3 14 6 26

J. Parker 5, C. Gronning 21, R. Harris 3, M. Kempe 2, A. Davis 11, E. Wood 9, D. Frandsen 4