By Christopher Shaban
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — The Cardinals have found Division III to their liking so far this young season as they remain near the top of the standings after handing visiting Gilford a 64-38 defeat on Wednesday.
The Cardinals zipped out to a quick 9-0 lead but the small and very scrappy Gilford team cut that lead to 14-9 after one quarter. Zahna Rice and Tara Sullivan feasted on the smaller Gilford lineup while the Cardinals were primed to break the game open early.
“We had a great team meeting last night,” Rice said. “This team is very close and nobody thinks we have reached what we are capable of yet. We know we can get much better and we will.”
Those words couldn’t have been any more accurate as the Cardinals exploded for 28 second quarter points to give Stevens a huge 42-16 cushion at the half. Stella Lavertue dropped a 3-point bomb before Gilford’s Olivia Keenan hit her own 3-pointer then the Cardinals went into overdrive as they would outscore the visitors 20-2 over the next six minutes.
Sullivan’s move to the hoop for an old fashion three point play opened the floodgates for Steve Condon’s Cardinals. Kiley Bundy ripped the net then a Derosier three pointer followed a Rice swish.
Aylssa Paquette became unstoppable on the glass with second chance points as everything was going right for Stevens. Rice’s half court shot hit nothing but net at the buzzer to end the half as the Cardinals were on their way to another win.
“We hit our shots because we didn’t settle for a good shot. We made the extra pass for a great shot,” Condon said. “We played a much better game tonight. We shared the ball and kept aggressive while rotating to keep the tempo in our favor.”
Gilford’s feisty play didn’t let up all game while the Cardinals had contributions from a deeper bench as players injured at the start of the season are getting into playing shape. Jenna Bonneau played her best game of the season using her soccer skills to make space in the paint for some important rebounds and her picks set Bundy free for good looks at the hoop while Lavertue’s soccer injury appears totally healed.
The Cardinals ended up outscoring Gilford 14-10 over the final eight minutes as Bundy became red hot and knocked down eight points in the quarter as the Cardinals won going away.
“We are a confident group right now. We are solid — top to bottom,” said Sullivan after the game. “We have fun but we still know there is a lot more we can do to get better.”
Bundy led all scorers with 16 points while Rice finished with 13 points and Sullivan closed out the night with 12 points.
In junior varsity action, Sara Faro and Joar Figal each scored six points to lead Stevens to a 34-18 win over Gilford.
Stevens (4-1) will head to Mascenic (1-5) on Friday.
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