The holidays are an action-packed time for the South Shore Cardinals! Not only do both the guys’ and girls’ teams have lots of practice over the break, but they both have two games hosted at Washburn High School.

On December 29th, the teams traveled to Washburn for their first game of the tournament. The varsity girls’ team was up against the Hurley Midgets. The game went back and forth with even scoring and aggressive defense. The scoring was quite spread out equally on the Cardinals side. The scorers for the night were Chloe Sipsas with 15 points, Myla Lahti with 10 points, Signe Branham and Natalie Knaack with 6 points, Heather Ranta with 5 points, Taylor Nicoletti with 3 points, and Morgan Rock with 1 point. Although the Cardinals fought hard, the Hurley Midgets ran away with the lead, as a result of the Cardinals running into some foul trouble. The end score was 52-46.

To follow up the girls’ game, the boys’ varsity team was up against the Bayfield Trollers. The Trollers were seated second to last in the conference, the Cardinals who hold the number one seed now, were predicted to dominate the court. The Cardinals assertively took the win against the Trollers 62-36. The scorers for the night were Connor Sorenson with 20 points, Tristin Wilcox and Doug Hipsher with 12 points, Dallas Williams with 9 points, Chase Reijo with 3 points, and Hunter Schierman, Steven Kavajecz, and Bjorn Branham all with 2 points.

The Cardinals got a break the next day, to prepare for the next games. The athletes rested up and then practiced that night. On December 30th, both of the teams traveled back to Washburn, this time to play the notorious Castleguards of Washburn. The girls’ team had their game first starting at 4:00 p.m. The girls were up against the number one team in the conference and the reigning champs of the Indianhead Conference. The game started off great for the Cardinals. Although they lost the jump, a junior, Rylee Nicoletti, took the aggressive approach and stole the ball from the Castleguards before they even had the chance to set up their offense. The Cardinals made the first basket of the night, starting off on a good foot. Both teams fought hard, at the halftime, the Castleguards were up by only three points, 26-23. With only two minutes left, the Cardinals had the lead by 8 points. Although the Cardinals tried to stall and hold the ball, the Castleguards pressure was a bit too much. The Castleguards also hit some important shots giving them the lead. With the time dwindling down, the Cardinals just couldn’t pull ahead. They lost the game within less than a minute, 49-52. The scorers for the night were Heather Ranta with 16 points, Myla Lahti with 11 points, Chloe Sipsas with 10 points, Signe Branham and Natalie Knaack both had 4 points, and Morgan Rock and Lilly Tapani both chipped in 2 points.

The boys played next, hoping to give vengeance to the girls. They played a great half and dominated the court. The boys lit up the floor hitting some prime three-pointers. The second half was a bit different story. The Castleguards fought hard to try and get the lead. However, the Cardinals remained on top and sealed the deal ending the game 58-47. The scorers for the night were Dallas Williams with 20 points, Connor Sorenson with 17, Douglas Hipsher with 11 points, and Tristin Wilcox with 10 points.

The girls’ team fought hard in both games, but sadly took defeat when it came down to the final seconds. The boys kept their title of a tough team to beat. Congrats to both teams and good luck with the rest of your season!