Cardinals Claim First District Title In Over A Decade

Last Thursday night inside Soda Springs high school a game took place that was every bit as thrilling and entertaining as any high school sports movie that has ever come out of Hollywood.  You could not have scripted a better conclusion to an incredible district tournament for the Soda Springs Cardinals and their fans.  After knocking off the number two seeded West Side Pirates the week before the Cardinals fully expected to be traveling to Wendell to face the number one seeded Trojans but that did not happen.  Just as Soda Springs had pulled off the upset against West Side, Declo upset Wendell, setting up a district championship between the Cardinals and Hornets.  And the cherry on top was the fact that the Cardinals would host the championship in front of their home crowd.  The last time that the Cardinals had won a district title was back in 2015 and the last time that Soda Springs qualified for state in back to back seasons was 2015 and 2016. 

The atmosphere in last week's title game is what fans and players dream about.  The gym was packed.  Declo had brought a large contingency of fans.  Not to be outdone the Soda Springs fans along with the Cardinal Crazies were in full throat.  All game long both fan bases cheered and jeered as the student sections chanted back and forth.  As entertaining as the fans were, the game was even better.  The two teams battled right down to the end and wound up needing extra time to determine a champion.

The last time these two teams met in Soda Springs the Hornets flat out bullied the Cardinals and had their way with them.  This time around the normally offensive geared Cardinals would end up relying on aggressive defense to stay in the game.  The aggressive play was featured by both teams with several players making their way to the foul line.  In the first quarter the Cardinals shot eleven foul shots but were only able to connect on five of those shots.  The Hornets meanwhile made four of six shots from the line.  Despite the struggles from the foul line the Cardinals quick hands and speed down the floor resulted in Soda Springs earning a two point lead.  In the second quarter of play the Cardinals were able to briefly get some breathing room taking the lead out to six points on a couple of occasions.  Unfortunately the slim lead would not last as the Hornets battled back and tied the game up.  A late put back by Hansen once again gave the Cardinals a two point lead going into the halftime break.  The third quarter saw the Cardinals offense sputter.  Shots would not fall for anyone except Thompson.  Cooper would wind up being the only Cardinal to score in the quarter.  Meanwhile the Hornets were able to put enough shots in to take over the lead.  As the quarter ended the Hornets now held a three point lead over the Cardinals.  So it seemed as though it would all come down to this final quarter of the game.  The whole fourth quarter was a dog fight.  The physical play continued by each team and each team saw a starter foul out.  In that final quarter the Cardinals would have to lean on their big three for their scoring.  Thompson, Hansen and McWilliams combined for nine points in the quarter.  With just two and a half minutes remaining in the game the Hornets took a two point lead.  Over the last two minutes the only score would come from a put back by McWilliams and as the final buzzer sounded the score was all tied up.  The game would go to overtime.  After struggling for much of the game at the charity stripe the Cardinals would need to knock down some freebies to get the win.  The Cardinals would not score a single field goal in the overtime period but would go to the foul line for sixteen shots.  The Cardinals ended up making eleven of those shots which was enough to outscore the Hornets by four.  As the final buzzer sounded a decade of frustration evaporated as the Cardinals were finally once again able to hoist the district championship trophy.  As the trophy was handed over to the players the student body rushed the floor as the whole school celebrated in unison.

After the loss Declo was forced to go play in Wendell in a loser out game where the Hornets did lose and were eliminated from making it to state.  As for the Cardinals despite a solid season and a district title they will enter the state tournament as the seventh seeded team and will face the aforementioned Wendell Trojans in the first round.  Wendell is the two seed in the tournament and defeated the Cardinals in their only match up this season.  Soda Springs has the tools to pull off the upset but will have to play clean and precise.  That game will take place on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Meridian High School.

Cardinals 13 11 8 12 11 55

Hornets 11 11 13 9 7 51

M. Browning 4, C. Thompson 20, G. Hansen 8, K. McWilliams 7, J. Horsley 9, L. Martinsen 5, P. Ozburn 2