Cardinals Look To Return to Winning Ways

The Cardinals men dropped their second game in a row Thursday night, falling 74-64 against the Hagerstown Community College Hawks. The teams were inseparable in the first half as the lead changed hands five different times throughout the first period. A stronger offensive showing for the Hawks in the second half proved too much to handle for the Cardinals and Hagerstown would go home with the win. 

The first half started rather sloppily, the Hawks going 0-2 and the Cardinals 0-4 in the first two and half minutes of the game. Sophomore guard/forward Maurice Smith (Newton) got the Cardinals going, scoring six points in the opening six minutes of the period. Alongside Smith, sophomore forward Christopher Johnson (St. George's High) would record ten of his twelve points of the night in the first half.  

As for the Hawks, the first half was controlled by freshman guard Alan Kane (Balboa School). Kane entered the game Thursday night averaging 15.1 points per game, and his abilities on the court showed against the Cardinals, going 5-8 from the field in the first half including two three-pointers to retake the lead from Catonsville halfway through the period. 

The second half started much the same as the first half with each team seeming to have an answer for each other's attacks. The Cardinals regained their lead five minutes into the second period thanks to a sophomore Keith Bullock (Cardozo) layup and successful free throw attempt. Sadly, this is where the game would change drastically, and Hagerstown took full control. The Hawks would go on a 17-0 run to take a 56-42 lead that Catonsville would not recover from.  

Despite the Cardinal's inability to find an answer for the Hawk's run in the second half, they continued to fight until the final buzzer. Sophomore guard Jalen Yates (Baltimore City) found his stroke and knocked down four three-pointers in the final ten minutes of the game to help the Cardinals decrease the Hawks lead to just seven points, but late game fouling by Catonsville would see the Hawks win by double digits, 74-64 at the final horn. 

Catonsville travels to Mercer County Community College on Tuesday, December 20th in their final game before the winter break. The team will look to finish off the 2022 calendar year with a much-needed win against the Vikings.