Cardinals win first game of region

The Adamsville Cardinal basketball team defeated Douglass on Saturday night in a region quarterfinal game of the Region 8-A Tournament with an exciting fourth-quarter rally. The victory moved the Cardinals into the region semifinals. Adamsville was scheduled to play Westwood out of Memphis on Tuesday night after press time in that game.

The loser of the semifinal matchup would be finished for the season. The winner would advance to the Region 8-A championship and also would secure a berth in the sectionals, which are scheduled for Monday, March 7. Adamsville also played Middleton in last week’s District 15-A championship game. Middleton defeated the Cardinals for the third time this season in a game that was close until late in the fourth quarter.

The Cardinals are now 18-9 on the season.

Cardinals 61, Douglass 59 (Region Quarterfinals)

Adamsville rallied from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter to pick up the win over the Red Devils. The Cardinals trailed by a score of 47-32 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Adamsville scored 29 points in the final quarter and took advantage of Douglass converting only 2-of-11 free throw attempts in the final two minutes.

The Cardinals trailed by 10 points with just 2:35 remaining in the game. Douglass held a 57-47 lead before Adamsville closed the game with a 14-2 run. Jake Martin hit a two-point basket with 1:01 on the clock to give the Cardinals a 58-57 lead. It was their first lead since the first quarter. After Douglass tied the game with a free throw, Josh Shoate hit two free throws to put the Cardinals on top 60-58 with just twenty-eight seconds left. Douglass cut the lead to one point in the final seconds, but couldn’t get any closer.

Douglass started the game with a 10-3 run and held a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Red Devils maintained their lead in the second quarter and led 30-17 at halftime.

Adamsville couldn’t get any closer than nine points in the third quarter. Douglass put together a 9-2 run to end the quarter to take a 45-29 lead going into the final quarter of play.

Jake Martin was the leading scorer for Adamsville in the game with 18 points. Jacob Hendon was second in scoring with 16 points. Hendon scored 13 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. Jalen Kendall picked up 11 points with 10 of his points coming in the second half. Josh Shoate scored all nine of his points in the second half and also pulled down 10 rebounds in the game.

Cardinal Scoring vs. Douglass (61) Jake Martin 18, Jacob Hendon 16, Jalen Kendall 11, Josh Shoate 9, Will Erwin 5, Jamel Sanders 2

Middleton 65, Cardinals 57 (District Championship)

Middleton used an 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to pick up the victory over Adamsville in the district championship game last Tuesday. The Tigers led the game 28-19 at halftime and held a 45-41 lead going into the final quarter.

The Cardinals had pulled within two points at 51-49 with 5:09 left in the game. Middleton answered with an 8-0 run to push their lead to double digits at 59-49 with just 2:26 left on the fourth quarter clock. Adamsville couldn’t get any closer than seven points in the final two minutes.

Jalen Kendall was the top scorer for Adamsville with 17 points. Josh Shoate was second in scoring with 16 points. Kasey Hurley also reached double figures in the scoring column with 12 points.

Cardinal Scoring vs. Middleton (65) Jalen Kendall 17, Josh Shoate 16, Kasey Hurley 12, Will Erwin 9, Jake Martin 3