By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – With a big Circle City Conference rivalry game on the horizon, the Guerin Catholic girls basketball team got exactly what it wanted out of its Wednesday game with Park Tudor.
The Golden Eagles got off to a fantastic start, which carried them through to a 52-27 win over the Panthers at the Eagles Nest. Guerin Catholic allowed Park Tudor only two points in the opening quarter.
The Golden Eagles scored the first 19 points of the game. Emery Cardinal was dominant, pouring in 12 for the first 15 points. Annie Murphy, Reagan Haines and Kori Dues all scored baskets in that opening run as well.
“I think they came out with great energy and played really, really hard,” said GC coach Danielle Cardinal. “Our positive is being able to start like that, with the energy and the press and everything continues for us. So that was a huge positive for us. It was great to see, especially missing two major players.”
Lilly Harris got the Panthers on the board with a basket at the 1:46 mark. Guerin Catholic responded with a 3-pointer from Dues and a basket by Caroline Ford. As a result, the Golden Eagles led 24-2 after one.
Murphy and Dana Dues both drained 3s during the second quarter, which finished with the Golden Eagles leading 34-8 at halftime. To their credit, Park Tudor continued to battle through the second half, but Guerin Catholic maintained at least a 20-point lead until the buzzer. The Golden Eagles got hot from long range again in the fourth quarter, with Murphy, Kori Dues and Lainey Rott all hitting 3s.
Nine different players scored at least one point for Guerin Catholic. Cardinal finished with 16 points, while Kori Dues had 14.
“That’s a good day for us,” said Danielle Cardinal.
The Golden Eagles are 7-9 for the season and travel to Chatard on Friday. It will be the first game of a girls-boys doubleheader, with the girls tipping off at 6 p.m.
“Chatard is a very tough team,” said Danielle Cardinal. “They will press us the whole game. It’ll be a different dynamic than what this is.” The coach said her team will “have to keep our composure and keep it together and worry about what we do, not necessarily what they do.”
GUERIN CATHOLIC 52, PARK TUDOR 27
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Annie Murphy 3 0-2 8 1
Reagan Haines 2 0-0 4 4
Emery Cardinal 7 2-6 16 4
Kori Dues 6 0-0 14 1
Lillian Behrle 0 1-2 1 5
Caroline Ford 1 0-0 2 0
Dana Dues 1 0-0 3 2
Madi Cain 0 0-0 0 0
Lainey Rott 1 0-0 3 0
Evie Worman 0 1-2 1 0
Mia Bair 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 21 4-12 52 17
Score by Quarters
Park Tudor 2 6 10 9 – 27
Guerin Catholic 24 10 6 12 – 52
Guerin Catholic 3-pointers (6) Murphy 2, K. Dues 2, D. Dues, Rott.