Cards – Eagles Split Monday Night

Cromwell, East Central Split Basketball Doubleheader

by Jake Kachinske

    East Central Visited Cromwell Monday night in a girls-boys basketball double-dip, and each school came up with a victory in two close games.  The Cromwell girls won 57-54, while the East Central boys took the second contest 58-53

    In the opener, the girls took the floor with Cromwell taking a 26-16 lead at the break.  The Cardinals would extend that lead to as much as 16 points in the second half before the Eagles mounted a rally late and nearly stole a victory.  East Central cut the deficit to three on a three-pointer with a few seconds to go and got the ball back with a chance to tie, but their efforts were stopped at the buzzer and the Cards hung on for the win.

    Senior Allie Cahoon led Cromwell with 17 points, eighth grader Teana Hakamaki scored 14, while Junior Rachel Hutar added 10 points.  The Eagles (0-1) were playing in their opening game of the year, while Cromwell evened their record at 1-1.

    In the boys tilt, the teams traded leads several times in the opening half, before Cromwell went to the locker room with a 32-28 halftime lead.  As was the case in the girls game, the Cromwell would pad their lead in the second half, but this time, an East Central rally would overcome the Cardinals.  The two teams were tied at 44, and a free throw put Cromwell up by a point and that would be their last lead of the game.  The Eagles scored 14 of the game’s last 23 points for the win.

    East Central (2-2) had ten different players contribute to the scoring sheet, led by Daylan Fuerhaker’s 13 points.  Cromwell (1-3) was led by junior Brandon Fairbanks, who scored 14 points.  Hunter Rauvola and Austin Pfisthner each added 13 points.