Johnie Logue
Sports Reporter
The dream season continued for the Lincoln Cardinals as they defeated Northwest, 54-44 on the road last Friday.
The third ranked team in Class 2 Cardinals led by as many as 13 points but couldn't put Northwest away. The Mustangs, the eighth ranked team in Class 1, hung around by making some tough, well-defended shots and controlling the offensive boards.
Cardinals coach Tyler Burke commented, "We couldn’t pull away from them because they made a lot of tough shots and they rarely turned the ball over. We felt like we had the game under control. Our kids have been in that spot."
Northwest played a triangle-and-two as well as man-to-man as they switched throughout the game at various times and situations.
Coach Burke countered, "I don’t think it (their zone) bothered us at all. It slowed the game down. Kaleb (Mundy) and Kyle (Eckhoff) had most of their points as a result of the triangle-and-two. It allowed Mack (Hesse) to get great positioning."
Speaking of Mundy, he hit five threes, four in a row in a shooting exhibition that electrified the Lincoln fans.
Hesse, in the meantime, attacked the basket and all Northwest seemingly could do was to put him on the line. The senior made 10-11 at the charity stripe in his 22 point night.
Northwest grabbed nine offensive rebounds just in the first quarter giving them several more opportunities to score. It was 14-8 after one and 27-19 at halftime with the Cardinals on top.
Coach Burke said, "Their offensive rebounds came a little bit from the tight flex offense they were running. All five defenders were buried under the basket. The rest was just effort. They are a good rebounding team."
Senior Night seems to bring out the best in some teams.
Coach Burke commented, "We played well in all the right spots. Not easy to beat a good team like that on their home court for Senior Night. Proud of our kids. Kaleb (Mundy) and Mack (Hesse) had big games. Kyle (Eckhoff) hit big shots in big spots. Great team win."
The victory extended their record to 24-0 which is, unofficially, a school record to start a season. The girls had a previous high of 23-0. The Cardinals have two more games remaining on their schedule for the regular season.
Lincoln is the number one seed in the upcoming district tournament to be played at Lincoln. Lincoln drew a bye in the first round and will play the winner of Concordia and Green Ridge. If victorious, they will move on to face probably either two seed Tipton or three seed Sacred Heart. They have beaten both twice and the old adage about the difficulty of beating a good team three times could come into play.
Asked about hosting the tournament, Coach Burke commented, "We put in to host the tournament before the season started. Hosting the tournament is a lot of work but we are glad to have it here."
