The Cardinals boys basketball team escaped with a 58-56 win over Hayden Friday night.
With 10 seconds left and a 2-point lead, the defense stepped up and forced a turnover as the clock expired. Immediately, the gym erupted and the Cardinals’ bench swarmed the court to celebrate.
It was the team’s first home game since January after spending the last five on the road. The home atmosphere was key to helping the Cardinals come out on top.
“The fans, they were going crazy,” junior Caden Stedry said. “I just love playing at home here.”
Both Stedry and junior Connor Watson credited the bench for helping bring energy and keep the team positive. With the band not playing due to the state music conference this weekend, head coach Kyle Deterding said the team knew it would have to be ready to create its own momentum.
During the fourth quarter, senior basketball manager Will Gabel went to the student section and hyped them up, banging on a table to help keep the crowd engaged as the Cardinals tried to close out the win.
“I think with the crowd and our student section and the whole bench, energy was just great,” Watson said. “I think that helped us enough to get the shots we needed.”
The game was physical from the start, with both teams struggling to make shots early. During a critical third-quarter stretch, Stedry made a collection of tough buckets underneath the hoop, with multiple coming from offensive rebounds.
Watson said coming off a loss, the physicality was important to get the Cardinals ready to play. Stedry said the team’s mentality was “do or die.”
The whole team chipped in for that mentality. Watson credited junior Errol Siemon with keeping the team together when they struggled.
“I think tonight we proved that if we play as a team, we’re really good,” Watson said.
The team will compete in the substate tournament next week. The Cardinals are the No. 8 seed and will take on No. 9 Parsons at home at 6 p.m. Wednesday. If they win, they will play either No. 1 seed Atchison or No. 16 seed El Dorado.
On the girls side, the No. 7 seed Cardinals will take on No. 10 Parsons at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m. If they win, they will take on either No. 2 Bishop Miege or No. 15 St. George-Rock Creek for a trip to the state tournament.
Deterding said the Cardinals will need to bring the same energy they had Friday if they want to punch their ticket to state.
“If we’re playing with that energy, we’re gonna have a chance,” Deterding said. “We’re going to have to make shots, too. But if we play with that energy and make some shots, we could have fun next week.”
Stedry said he was looking forward to substate and was ready to earn a trip to the state championship.
“I love playing for this team,” he said. “I’d die for this team.”
Reach reporter Cuyler Dunn at [email protected]
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