Johnie Logue
Sports Reporter
Coming off probably their best game of the season, defeating Sacred Heart to win the Class 2 District 8 championship, the previously undefeated Lincoln Cardinals struggled and lost to Salisbury, 52-45 on Monday night at Captial City in the sectional round of the 2023 MSHSAA Class 2 State Basketball Tournament.
The Cardinals were out of sorts at times, struggling to score and finding good looks at the basket "
Coach Burke commented, "We just struggled a little bit on both ends against a really good team. I thought they played really well. We gave up a few more points than we wanted to. It was going to be hard to win that game giving up 52. I thought both teams matched up athletically. They had more size than us at a couple positions. Two very athletic teams. We didn't shoot threes in the first half, we had trouble creating great looks from the three point line and it wasn't until we realized we had to take some average shots and make them that Kyle started getting going in the second half. "
It was 18-14 after one and 29-23 at the half with Lincoln trailing. Salisbury kept Lincoln at arm's length at 39-30 after three. Kaleb Mundy injured his knee in fourth and sat on the bench with a bag of ice watching his team try to make a run but falling short.
Coach Tyler Burke said, "I told the players after the game how proud I was to be a part of their team and all of their success. I told them how much I was going to miss getting to watch them play."
Certainly all of the Cardinal fans feel the same way.
How good was Salisbury?
Coach Burke replied, "Salisbury was definitely the best team we have played, just in terms of the depth of talent on their team. They for sure played really well on that night. They were the only team to beat us, so I think that's fair to say. They have won 3 straight district titles. "
Looking back, Coach Burke said, "My thoughts on the season are just that each of this team's individual achievements: (conference champions, conference tournament champions, undefeated regular season, 4 tournament championships, district champions), they are all rare, so for these guys to get them all in one year is just really special. They can always look back and be proud of what they accomplished. These seniors won 65 games in 3 years,
including 3 district championship appearances, 2 district titles, 2 conference tournament championships, and an undefeated conference championship. "
The Cardinals season ended at 28-1 while Salisbury moved to 26-3.
LINCOLN (45): Lynde 7, Mundy 2, Eckhoff 23, Hesse 11, Johnson 2.
SALISBURY (52): Cooper 20, Hamilton 5, Woodridge 12, Stapleton 15.
