Heading into the fourth quarter only down two, the Cardinals had the game right where they wanted it. 

But as Independence started the final frame with four quick points, panic set in and the issue that has plagued the Cardinals all year showed its face.  

“Our Achilles heel for the year is turning the ball over,” head coach Brandon Parker said. “We talked about in the locker room, our big goal was to obviously minimize turnovers and we’d feel pretty good about what the outcome could be. But that just didn’t happen tonight and that kind of winds up being the difference.” 

Despite their season-ending 37-29 sub-state loss to Independence Wednesday night, senior Sawyer Schreiner said she thinks there is nothing for the Cardinals to hang their heads about. 

“I thought we worked our butts off this game,” Schreiner said. “I thought we did a pretty good job effort wise.” 

Junior Kenzie Yoder started the game off on a hot streak as she accounted for nine of the team’s 11 first-quarter points. Yoder gave credit to her teammates for her strong start. 

“They were just really pushing to get me open,” she said. 

Yoder and Schreiner led the team in scoring as each had 11 points. Junior Parker Long scored the rest of the team’s seven points. 

The only thing separating the teams through the first three quarters was 3-point shooting. Independence made five 3-point baskets in the game compared to only one by the Cardinals.

But being down in a loud and raucous environment hit the Cardinals late in the game and the team started making mistakes that hurt their chances of coming back. 

The Cardinals finish this season with a 6-15 record after making it to the state championship game last season. 

Parker said a team’s record, no matter if it’s good or bad, is not what defines them. 

“It’s about what we learn from each season and take from it,” Parker said. “Record aside, the kids need to be extremely proud that they didn’t do what most people in our society do when it gets tough, they run. They didn’t do that. I thought they showed an extreme amount of maturity in handling things this season.”

As the team’s only senior player, Schreiner shared similar sentiments about the team this year. 

“Even if we were losing by a bunch, we were always there for each other,” she said. 

Parker said losing seniors always stinks and it will be tough to replace Schreiner and senior manager Abby Keltner next season. 

“We have two young ladies that exemplify what a servant leader is,” Parker said. “All they do is care about the team and they love the kids. And so we’re the ones that have been extremely fortunate to have both of them in the program for four years, and showing people what servant leadership looks like.” 

The team may look different without Schreiner on it next season, but Yoder said she is excited to see what the underclassmen will bring to the table. 

“I think we have a lot of good freshmen and some underclassmen who will really be a good addition to our team,” Yoder said. “I feel like going into it, this game is definitely going to give us a lot of motivation for next season.” 

Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected].

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