Central Decatur made 11 3-pointers here on Dec. 2 in a 71-22 win over Clarke.
Three Cardinal players scored in double figures, led by Lily Simon’s 18 points. Lydia Martin added 17 points and Hallie Linhart chipped in 14. Raegan Boothe scored nine in the win.
Boothe and Linhart each sank three 3-pointers, while Simon and Martin made two apiece. Jentri Hullinger made the other 3-pointer for the Cardinals on her way to scoring seven points. Keegan Bethards added six points off the bench.
“You have to pick your poison,” Clarke head coach Eric Zoske said about defending Central Decatur. “They’re so good athletically, we could not have matched up man-to-man. We knew going into the game, CD had shot 3-of-15 from 3-point against Lamoni. Our gameplan was anybody but Hallie could shoot the three, and we got burnt on that one. When they have other girls supporting Hallie, that’s a heck of a ball club.”
Central Decatur’s press set up numerous baskets for the Cardinals. Head coach Curtis Boothe noted that when he called off the press in the second quarter, his team’s offense seemed to go into a lull.
“I thought we were very active on our press tonight, and I think that got us going,” he said. “I think we were a little sluggish going into that second quarter when we called it off, but that’s something we’re just going to have to adapt to.”
Vanessa Bakley led the Indians with eight points to go with three rebounds and two steals. Baylie Balcaen scored four points with a team-high five rebounds for the Lady Indians. Sydnee Redman and Amanda Kindred each scored three points, while Kassidy Spurgin and Sydney Sickels each netted two points.
Hullinger led Central Decatur with seven rebounds, while Linhart stuffed the stat sheet with five rebounds, eight assists, four steals and three blocked shots. Martin collected six steals and Boothe finished with five. Simon added four steals and three assists. Hanna Mendenhall dished out four assists in the win.