GHV boys top Newman; fall to Eagles

It was a week of ups and downs for the Garner-Hayfield/Ventura boys basketball team.  The Cardinals split a pair of games.

GHV 61, Newman 49

The Cardinals pulled off a tight game in the fourth quarter to top Newman Catholic, 61-49, on Tuesday, Dec. 2.

Sam Cataldo came out strong in the first quarter, collecting eight straight points to take an early 10-5 lead.  The Knights battled back and collected five unanswered points to knot the score at 10-10 and went on to hit another basket and a three-pointer to take a 15-10 first quarter lead.  

The Cardinals got rolling in the second quarter, outscoring the Knights 18-8.  Logan Ryerson went on a five point run to end the half and take the lead, 28-23. 

“Newman was able to get in a rhythm earlier than we did and kept us off our game on offense until late in the first half,” said Coach Joe Albertson.

The Knights came out fired up after the break and sunk two three-point shots to regain the lead, 29-28.  From there, the Cardinals slowly started to stretch the lead for the final 61-49 victory.

“The guys did a nice job on the glass throughout the game, holding Newman to two offensive rebounds,” said Albertson.

Cataldo and Holden Hutcheson both hit double figures.  Cataldo collected 14 points and Hutcheson had 13.  Payton James added nine points, while Ryerson, Harley Forry and Johnathan O’Connor all had seven.  Alex Stromer rounded out the scoring with four points.

Cataldo and Hutcheson also led in rebounds, with nine and seven respectively.  Ryerson grabbed four boards and James had three.

Ryerson and O’Connor led the team in steals with two apiece.  Forry, Ryerson and Turner Albertson all had three assists.  Cataldo recorded one blocked shot.

West Hancock 74, GHV 66

The Cardinals knew heading into Friday night’s match-up with West Hancock that it would be a tough battle.

“West Hancock has many experienced and talented players that posed problems for us,” said Coach Joe Albertson.  “It was evident early in the game that West Hancock thrived on playing up-tempo ball.  We really struggled to guard the ball handlers, rebound and rotate on defense.”

The Eagles showed off their speed and up and down the floor mentality in the first quarter by taking a big lead, 28-13.

It was more of the same in the second quarter, with West Hancock taking a 46-24 lead into halftime.

GHV came back from the half and picked up their game.  They outscored the Eagles 15-13 in the third period and 27 to 15 in the fourth quarter behind the hot hand of Payton James, who was hitting some big threes.  Although the Cardinals were able to close the gap, they couldn’t close it enough, as West Hancock picked up the 74-66 win.

“We have to get back to practice and work on our defense and ball control if we want to compete with the top teams in our conference,” said Albertson.

Sam Cataldo had an excellent game on both ends of the floor for the Cardinals, collecting 20 points, seven rebounds, one steal and six blocked shots.  James also had a good game connecting on 15 points, all from the three-point line.  He also had five rebounds and two assists.

Holden Hutcheson had four points, four rebounds and five steals, Harley Forry had four points, three rebounds and four assists.  Ben Baumgard came off the bench and put in some quality minutes with six points and four assists.

The Cardinals face Belmond-Klemme on Friday night, Dec. 12.