BY JACK BULLOCK
Friday night's homecoming game against visiting Casey-Westfield couldn't have started any better for Coach Josh Zink and his North Clay Cardinals.

For the first few minutes and trips down the floor, the Cardinals took it right to the ABV 1A second-ranked Warriors.

They jumped on the visitors and took an early 9-0 lead which was triggered by junior guard Ethan Bible.

His four first quarter 3-pointers, with two coming in the early scoring burst, put pressure on C-W and their head coach Tom Brannan.

However after a couple of timeouts to calm his team, the Warriors turned things around in a big way.

Trailing 14-7 with 3:13 left in the first frame, Casey-Westfield took control by going on a 14-0 game changing run to take the lead for good.

Junior guards Noah Livingston and Dawson Dallape, with Livingston beginning the run and Dallape closing the scoring spree, Turned a seven point deficit into a seven point advantage.

Dallape scored 25 points and Livingston added 20 as the Warriors improved to 4-1 on the season with a 74-56 win.

Coach Brannan's crew hadn't been shooting the ball very well in their first four contests but they perked up on Friday night as they nailed down 10 3-pointers as a team with Dallape knocking down six of those shots.

At one point in the second quarter, Dallape canned four consecutive 3-point bombs, including one from about 25 feet out from the left wing to beat the second quarter horn.

This pushed the C-W lead to 36-24 at the half.

The run by the Warriors in the second quarter was spurred on by Coach Brannan's defense, as they turned North Clay over eight times in eight minutes.

“These guys (North Clay) played their tails off. Their coach has to be proud of them,” said Coach Brannan about the Cardinals' effort. “I told the team before the game you are going to see a team tonight that is going to be all over the place playing hard. We needed to match that and play smart basketball against that intensity. If we can match that intensity we are going to be a pretty good team.”

North Clay saw it's record fall to 0-3 on the season as they lost to their third consecutive ABV top-ten team, having been defeated by both Woodlawn and Effingham St. Anthony.

Junior guard Ethan Bible led the Cardinals with 19 points with senior guard Tyson Jones adding 11.

Bible delivered a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter scoring burst and added another bomb in the second quarter.

Jones also added a pair of 3-pointers to the long range shooting.

Senior Luke Fleener added nine points for North Clay.

"Our kids really struggled cherishing the basketball tonight. We were extremely loose with the ball, which allowed Casey to have so many more possessions and shots that we were able to get,” saic Coach Zink. “That was the main difference in the game.

Bible, Fleener and senior Lane Holkenbrink put together seven straight points in the third quarter, which whittled the C-W lead down to just 38-31.

That was as close as the hosts got to the lead the rest of the game.

The Warriors got other key contributors in the game.

Will Hosselton, a junior guard, along with sophomore Rece Overbeck got in on the scoring fun.

Hosselton buried a pair of 3-point shots in the quarter while Overbeck scored inside on a nice assist from Livingston.

Junior Colin Branson stuck home yet another shot from beyond the arc, taking an inbounds pass for a right corner 20 footer to balloon the lead to 52-37.

The Warriors slammed the door shut midway through the final stanza.

A 13-0 run, with seven of the points coming from the foul line, ended the drama.

Livingston scored eight of the points while Dallape (two free throws) and sophomore Jackson Hills (lay in on an assist from Livingston) closing the run.

Hills bucket extended the lead to its largest at 74-49 with 1:12 remaining.

North Clay added seven late points to make things look a bit better at the end.

The tale of the tape wasn't much better than the final score for North Clay.

After a fantastic beginning the Cardinals cooled down in a hurry.

Coach Zink saw his team hit just 18-of-42 overall from the floor and 7-of-19 from the arc.

The Warriors were 24-of-56 with 10-of-24 from long range.

“I thought we did a good job of moving the ball and finding the open man,” said Coach Brannan. “When we get more consistent with our outside shooting, we're going to be a threat.”

Casey-Westfield controlled the glass, winning that battle 35-21 as they only allowed North Clay three offensive rebounds.

They also forced 20 turnovers, 13 in the first two quarters.

North Clay will have no time for rest as they get right back on the floor at 9 am in a game at the Patoka Shootout where they take on Mulberry Grove.

“I will be demanding more out our team, because in order to make that jump to being a good team every year, you must play at a high level consistently,” added Coach Zink. “We hope to get there this year, but we aren't there yet."