Cardinals rally to defeat Cavaliers

COLDWATER - First it was New Bremen that jumped out to a healthy lead. Then Coldwater took control and that lasted for most of the second half.

But the Cardinals came back to take the lead with 2 1/2 minutes left to play and then held on for a 42-37 win in the MAC girls basketball opener for both teams at the Palace in Coldwater.

"We talked at halftime, being down 20-19, to keep pushing the ball down the floor," Cardinals coach Chris Burden said. "(Coldwater) played Tuesday night and felt it in the fourth quarter. We were able to hit some shots and wore them down."

New Bremen jumped out to a 7-2 lead early in the first quarter on buckets from Madison Cordonnier and Kelly Naylor, but the Cavaliers began to battle back when they began to find Lauren Gilliland. Gilliland either made buckets or went the foul line to help the Cavaliers take their first lead at 20-19 with 57 seconds left in the half and had 12 of the Cavaliers' points in the first 16 minutes.

A 3-pointer by Courtney May helped the Cavaliers start to build on their lead in the second half. They were up 28-19 with 3:07 remaining in the quarter before the Cardinals managed to break the cold spell with a pair of Hanna Tenkman free throws. The free throws allowed the Cardinals to creep back to cut the deficit to 30-25 going to the fourth quarter.

The Cardinals briefly regained the lead on a Naylor basket with 4:31 left in regulation to make the score 33-32. Coldwater's Alli May countered with a trey seconds later to make it 35-33, but that would be all the Cavalier scoring for nearly four minutes as the Cardinals kept creeping. Naylor hit a bucket with 3:17 remaining to tie the game and after a Coldwater turnover, Tenkman knocked down a trey to put the Cardinals in the lead to stay with 2:31 to play. After the Cavaliers were unable to score on their possession, Cordonnier got a stickback to fall to raise the lead to 40-35.

"Wheels starting falling off a little bit," said Coldwater coach Keenan Leichty. "We need to execute a little better. That comes with our girls growing with each other."

After a Coldwater timeout, the Cavaliers were unable to score and the Cardinals began to whittle down the clock. Coldwater, with a foul to give before putting New Bremen in the bonus, waited until under a minute remained to finally foul twice. Naylor made 1-of-2 to make it a 41-35 game. Annelise Harlamert scored with 37 seconds remaining to cut it to four, but the Cavaliers were unable to take advantage of the Cardinals missing the front end of two one-and-bonuses before Tenkman hit 1-of-2 with eight seconds remaining to lock up the game.

"Credit to (New Bremen) with their ball pressure. They got after it," said Leichty. "I thought we rebounded a little bit better, but we have to take the lid off the basket sometimes."

Cordonnier, Naylor and Tenkman each had nine points to lead New Bremen. Thieman added seven.

"Credit them for thelr leadership on the floor, especially in the fourth quarter," said Burden of his veteran players. "They didn't take any wild and crazy shots. They ran the offense and made free throws."

Gilliland scored 17 to lead Coldwater.

New Bremen (3-1, 1-0 MAC), returns to action Monday at home with Lincolnview. Coldwater (2-1. 0-1 MAC) hosts Celina on Tuesday with the junior varsity playing two quarters starting at 6 p.m.