The Cardinal Huskies fell to 2-3 after a heartbreaking 45-50 loss to the Garfield G-Men last Tuesday.
The Huskies led 7-5 early in the first quarter after junior Craig Kaser hit a 3-pointer. But the G-Men would score 10 of the final 13 points in the period to take a 15-10 lead after the first frame. Five different Huskies found the scoring column in the first eight minutes.
The Huskies’ first quarter hangover continued in the second period when Garfield went on a 15-6 run in the first five minutes to take a commanding 30-16 lead. Cardinal was down but certainly not out as the Huskies rallied in the final three minutes to account for the final nine points of the frame, closing the gap to just a 25-30 deficit at intermission.
Junior Jake Francis scored eight of the team’s 15 second-quarter points to pace the Huskies.
Cardinal came out of the locker room with the same intensity it finished with in the first half, starting with a Kaser 3-pointer. With a basket by senior Jerry Tamburro with 3:47 remaining in the third quarter, the Huskies took a 33-32 lead. And after a Garfield miss, a pair of turnovers and a Kenny Petersen basket, the Huskies had their largest lead of the game at three 35-32.
The G-Men would take a brief 36-35 lead with 52 seconds remaining, but Tamburro would answer with 38 ticks left to take a 37-36 lead headed into the final frame.
The Huskies outscored the G-Men 12-6 in the third period, paced by Tamburro with four and three each by Kaser and senior Cody Hunt.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Huskies found themselves up five after two free throws by Francis.
Then everything went south.
Following a Cardinal turnover, the G-Men had to in-bound under their own basket. The ball went to the corner, and as a Cardinal player was fighting through what appeared to be a moving screen, the whistle was blown. Just after the whistle, the Garfield player shot the ball.
The next five minutes were the referees deliberating, and the conclusion was the 3-pointer counted and the foul put Garfield at the line for a one-and-one situation. So within minutes, none of which came off the game clock, the Huskies’ five-point lead was a 41-41 ball game with 5:23 remaining.
Head coach Jon Cummins said following the game, “When you come across adversity, how you react to it is how you overcome it. If you react to it negatively then you’ll have a negative outcome.”
The Huskies never really recovered from that possession, as missed opportunities slipped through their hands continuously. Missed free throws and missed put-backs lead to the G-Men scoring the next six points on their way to their second victory over a Geauga county team.
Cardinal struggled all night from the free throw line, connecting on just six of its 21 chances.
“We need to look internally,” Cummins also added. “We were under 50 percent from the free throw line, so I don’t think the refs or any external circumstances prevented us from winning tonight.”
Jake Francis led the Huskies with 14 points and went four of five from the charity stripe.
Said Cummins in parting, “Anytime you play in a tight game that every possession matters, it helps develop players. We just need to make better decisions. It is never good to lose, but it’s something we hope to learn from.”
The Huskies host the next four games, starting with Newbury on Dec. 30, Chagrin Falls on Jan. 5, Wickliffe on Jan. 8 and Cuyahoga Hts. on Jan. 10.
CARDINAL BOYS BASKETBALL PHOTOS, vs. Ledgemont: http://smu.gs/1DnsqKz; vs. Berkshire: http://smu.gs/1BTOCKv