Cardinals fall to Bishop Garrigan; beat Lake Mills

The Garner-Hayfield-Ventura boys split a pair of games last week to move their record to 4-2, 5-3.

Bishop Garrigan 61, GHV 54

It was a tale of two halves for the GHV boys when they faced Bishop Garrigan (3-1, 5-1) on Tuesday, Dec. 12.

The Cardinals came ready to play and jumped to an 11-4 lead after a nine-point run.  The Golden Bears didn’t roll over, however and they answered that by pumping in seven of their own to knot the score, 11-11.  Nick Joynt connected on a pair of free throws and hit a three to end the first quarter with a 17-12 lead.

GHV held onto the lead with Colton Schroeder and Ryan Meyers connecting on one-and-one free throws for a 29-23 lead at the break.

The Golden Bears owned the second half, outscoring GHV 16-11 in the third quarter leaving the Cards with only a one-point cushion, 40-39.

Neither team scored for the first two minutes of the fourth quarter.  Bishop Garrigan made the first shot and took its first lead of the game.  The momentum turned and the Golden Bears racked up 13-points and a 54-43 lead.  Meyers and James Betz both hit threes to close the gap, 55-49.  The Cards started fouling to get back into the game, but unfortunately, the other team was connecting, 61-51.  Ray Cataldo dished to Joynt who sunk a three to end the game, 61-54.

Three players scored in double figures for the Cards.  Joynt ended with 21, followed by Meyers with 14 and Betz with 12.  Jared Graham chipped in five and Schroeder ended with two-points.

“Nick Joynt was our most effective scorer on the night, but down the stretch we could not get the stops we needed and hit the shots we were creating,” said Coach Joe Albertson.

Betz and Meyers led under the boards with nine and seven rebounds respectively.  Joynt grabbed five and Cataldo had three.

Betz led the team in assists with three and in blocks with four.  Graham had two assists, two steals and one blocked shot.  Meyers led the team in steals with four.

“Sometimes when you don’t play your best, you can still find a way to steal a win, but not this night,” said Albertson.

GHV 83, Lake Mills 58

After coming off a couple of losses, GHV Coach Joe Albertson questioned if the team’s confidence would be in question as they faced Lake Mills (1-4, 2-5) at home on Friday, Dec. 15.  Lucky for the Cardinals, confidence didn’t seem to be an issue, as they rolled to an easy 83-58 victory.

GHV took an early first quarter lead behind the hot hand of James Betz, who dumped in 15 points in the first quarter to take a 21-13 lead.

“Our offense got rolling behind James Betz, who was able to get himself into great position and finish about everything he put on the rim,” said Coach Albertson.  “They tried to double or triple team him, but that did not slow him down.”

The Bulldogs got scrappy in the second quarter and put in 12-points of their own to knot the score, 25-25.  GHV answered that by pumping in 18 points to take a comfortable 44-29 lead into the break.

“Connor Burke and Jared Graham did a nice job of finding the open shooter throughout the night,” said Albertson.

The second half was more of the same, with the Cardinals outscoring Lake Mills 21-13 in the fourth quarter for the final 83-58 victory.

Betz had a phenomenal game with a game-high 32-points.  He also had nine rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot.

Ryan Meyers and Nick Joynt also hit double figures with 18 and 10 points respectively.  Graham was close behind with nine points.

Other rebounding leaders included Meyers with nine, Joynt grabbed six and Jonah Albertson hauled in four.

Graham and Burke led the team in assists with six and five respectively. Meyers and Albertson had two steals apiece.  Meyers also led the team in blocks with three.

“We have two more tests before the break and that will give us a chance to build chemistry and evaluate the team and our plan of attack.  This week is important,” said Albertson.

The team hosts Humboldt on Thursday, Dec. 21, for the final game before break.  Game time is 7:30 p.m.