As the Lingleville Cardinals lined up for a picture celebrating their win as Bi-District Champions at Mineral Wells Monday night, blood was visible on the face of a smiling Alex Carrizales. It provided a clear testimony to the fight that he and the other Lingleville players put into their 52-46 victory over the Covington Owls.
Carrizales was bandaged at the game’s end after a third period scramble to keep the ball sent him sliding face first on the court into the megaphones of the opposing side’s cheerleaders. After getting a towel, he got up and was taken off the court for treatment, but he returned in the middle of the fourth quarter and even sank free throws to extend Lingleville’s lead.
The Cards got to an early lead, scoring 14 points to Covington’s 4 in the first period and led 30-16 at the half.
Covington emerged in the second half with more speed, leading to a pretty even scoring third period (13 for Covington and 12 for Lingleville).
The Owls continued this fight into the fourth scoring 17 points, but Lingleville clenched a W based on a few solid shots and capitalizing on Covington fouls to score free throw points.
“Honestly, I’m really proud of my young guys for stepping up in their first real playoff minutes,” said Lingleville Cardinals Head Basketball Coach Steven Bailey. “We were outsized in the paint and for the most part did a great job rebounding and limiting them inside.”
The 8-4 Cardinals are now heading into the Area Championships. In this round, they will face the 9-1 Cherokee Indians at Brownwood Friday at 6 p.m.
“We have a really tough task moving forward,” said Bailey. “Cherokee won their district and we will have to clean some things up to come out with a win.”