Cardinal boys rout Tigers

LEON – The Central Decatur boys won big at home Thursday night, winning 73-41 over Lenox.

A hot start for the Cardinals was all that was needed to take the wind out of Lenox’s sails early.

CD jumped ahead to a 20-7 lead on an alley oop score from Michel Evertsen to Cole Pedersen early in the second quarter, putting energy into CD’s home gym that helped back it in a 13-6 stretch to close the half up 34-16.

A planned play, Central Decatur’s head coach Zack Clark feels with an athlete like Pedersen, you need to take advantage of it.

“It’s designed and we have a couple different of them (plays), because when you have a guy like that you have to try and take advantage of it,” said Clark. “... Mike threw a good pass and it was a great finish by Cole. They trust each other.”

The second half was smooth sailing for Central Decatur as the Tigers were unable to surmount a sizable run to break the deficit. The Cardinals extended their lead to 32 at 73-41 before the final horn.

The Cardinals had four scorers in double-digit figures with Pedersen leading the way with 18 points. Haden Leymaster scored 14 points with Matthew Boothe and Michel Evertsen scoring 13 points.

Evertsen had a triple double, grabbing 10 rebounds and 14 assists. He also had six steals.

The Cardinals moved the ball inside the arc with confidence and trust Thursday night to help create the rout.

“We moved the ball really well. We moved the ball side to side, inside and outward,” said Clark. “You look at Monday night against Lamoni, we only scored 39 points and they did some things to slow us down. ... (Thursday) we did a much better job of throwing it in the paint and we talked about having cutters to the backside and when we got the ball in the high post. We did a good job of that.”

Clark noted the Cardinals also had opportunities from 3-point range that they could have capitalized on. The Cards as a group shot 6 of 27 from beyond the arc, but did a good job of finishing as a team and getting the second chance score.

“We had some great looks at three that I thought were good when it left people’s hands, and then it caught a sliver of the rim and didn’t go in,” said Clarke. “... In the first half we didn’t finish every opportunity, but I think in the second half, I think we did a better job of finishing every posession when we got in the lane. I think that was a good thing for us, offensively.”

Clark said that while the team has had success this season, there is still much to work on and learn going forward with a very good Pride of Iowa race bound to heat up once teams come out of school break.

“I look at the box scores and films on some of these teams (Martensdale-St.Marys, Mount Ayr, Nodaway Valley) and sometimes it’s going to come down to who executes better on that given night and I think it’ll be really competitive,” said Clark. “I think we were the last team in 2014 to make it through the conference unbeaten, so it’s really hard to do. ... you absolutely have to have your shoes on and tied and ready to go.”

UP NEXT – The Cardinals will play on the road at Southeast Warren Tuesday night (Dec. 17) before taking Christmas break to regroup. The Cards will get back in action Jan. 3 in Chariton at 7:45 p.m.