Golden Eagles face two tough teams to begin season

By RICHIE HALL

sports@readthereporter.com

NOBLESVILLE –

Guerin Catholic played two tough teams last week.

First, the Golden Eagles dropped an away game at Yorktown 64-53 last Tuesday.

The Tigers got out to a fast start, outscoring the GC 19-8 in the first quarter. Yorktown put up another 20 points in the second period for a 39-20 lead. The Tigers maintained that margin in the second half.

Guerin Catholic did outscore the Tigers in the second half, cutting Yorktown’s lead to 47-31 at the end of three quarters. Senior Ava Bills scored eight points. The Golden Eagles poured in 22 points in the fourth; senior Annie Murphy and junior Dana Dues both added eight points, with Dues draining two 3-pointers.

Bills finished the game with 15 points, Murphy added 14 and freshman Caroline Ford came off the bench to score 10 points.

Guerin Catholic returned home to the Eagles Nest last Saturday to play Greenfield-Central, falling to the Cougars 59-37.

Greenfield got off to a 6-1 start before a three-point play by Ford cut the lead to 6-4 with a three-point play. Later, Murphy answered a basket by the Cougars’ Madison Sonsini by nailing a 3-pointer, keeping the Golden Eagles within 8-7.

But Greenfield-Central took control, going on a 14-2 run that bridged the first and second quarters. The Cougars led 13-7 at the end of the first; senior Madi Cain began the second period with a basket, after which Greenfield scored nine unanswered points.

“I think we played hard the whole game,” said Golden Eagles coach Danielle Cardinal. “I think that’s one thing these girls do really, really well is play hard. I think overall, we just didn’t take care of the ball. And when you have that many turnovers, it’s really tough to stay in a ball game, because you’re just giving them opportunity after opportunity. But they’re a great team. They’re very well-coached. They have awesome players and they play at a level that’s really, really hard to compete with.”

The Cougars went into halftime leading 28-16. Ava Bills hit a 3 during the second quarter and Ford added four points. The Golden Eagles stayed with Greenfield-Central for most of the third period, with Murphy scoring five points, including a triple to keep GC within 35-23.

Murphy, Cain, Reagan Haines and Bills are the four seniors on this year’s Golden Eagles team.

“They’re excellent leaders,” said Cardinal. “They do a really good job communicating with the kids. They do a good job of keeping things in the locker room the way they need to be, on the floor the way they need to be. I’m very, very lucky. They’re very good leaders.”

The Cougars finished the third quarter on a 9-0 run to lead 44-23, then put in four more points to start the fourth period, giving them a 48-23 lead. Greenfield kept its lead above 20 points for the remainder of the game, although Guerin Catholic did have some bright spots: Ford hit another 3 and sophomore Chika Ohale scored four points in that quarter.

Cardinal had good things to say about both of those young players. She compared Ford to “an Energizer Bunny. She can run for hours and never get tired, so she just adds a level of energy and effort.”

As for Ohale, Cardinal said she “is really good. Chika is sneaky good. She’s super quick and just always is in the right place at the right time. She’s been a big surprise for us this year. She’s had a really good start to the season.”

Murphy and Ford both finished the game with 11 points. Bills scored seven points, followed by Ohale’s four points. Cain and Addy Horvath both scored two points.

Guerin Catholic is 1-1 and plays its Circle City Conference opener Saturday at Heritage Christian.