WAITSBURG – The Lady Cards played a tight game but ultimately lost 49-46 against the WWVA Knights at a Thurs., Dec. 17 home match.

The Knights were ahead seven in the first quarter, but the Cardinals made them fight for the win, taking the lead in the second and third quarters at 20-19 and 37-36, before losing the game by three.

Annie Araya was Cardinal high scorer with 14 points, followed by Devon Harshman with 12 and Tayler Jones with nine. Araya had 17 rebounds, Harshman pulled in another 15 and Jones made seven. Taylor Hays made seven points and seven rebounds, with two three-point buckets.

"The girls played very well all night long. They played as a team, took care of the ball and controlled the tempo of the game," said Coach J.T. Elsey.

"Without the injury to Caitlin Mohney, who was taken to the hospital with a busted chin, we could have pulled off the win," he added.

The Cardinals didn't fare quite as well at their home game against Mac-Hi on Dec. 15. The Pioneers bested the Cardinals by 10, with a win of 32-22.

Top scorers in that game were Tayler Jones with eight points and three steals and Devon Harshman with six points and 12 rebounds.

At the Mac-Hi tournament in Milton-Freewater, the Lady Cards beat Riverside 40-16 on Fri., Dec. 11 and lost a close game to Helix, 33-36, on Sat., Dec. 12.

"The girls played very, very well both days. Taylor Hays came out on Friday and nailed three three-pointers and Annie Araya also had four points in the first quarter and they didn't look back. Saturday's game was the best game I have seen the Waitsburg Cardinal girls play in a long time," said Elsey.

WWVA 14 5 17 13 - 49

Waitsburg 7 13 17 9 - 46

WWVA (49) - King 6 3-8 16, Evans 6 0-0 12, Graham 2 3-6 8, Underhill 2 1-4 5, Browning 1 2-4 4, Calkins 1 0-0 3, Miller 0 1-2 1, Anderson 0 0-0 0, Rothrock 0 0-0 0. Team 18 10-24 49.

WAITSBURG (46) - Araya 7 0-1 14, Harshman 4 3-8 12, Jones 4 1-1 9, Pearson 0 0-1 0, Williams 0 0-0 0, Hays 3 0-0 8, Mohney 1 1-1 3, Sandau 0 0-2 0. Team 19 5-14 46.

3-point goals - WWVA 3 (King, Graham, Calkins), Waits 3 (Hays 2); Total fouls - WWVA 17, Waits 22; Fouled out - Waits (Jones, Hays); Technical fouls - none.

Mac-Hi 4 9 7 12 - 32

Waitsburg 2 4 10 6 - 32

MAC-HI (32) - Carter 4 1-6 9, Crisman 1 0-0 2, Jones 0 0-0 0, Field 1 0-0 2, Fite 0 0-0 0, Smiley 0 0-0 0, Hernandez 0 0-0 0, Erb 2 0-0 4, Yensen 0 0-0 0, Richwine 5 1-4 11, Tveit 2 0-0 4, Biggs 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 2-10 32.

WAITSBURG (22) - Mohney 0 0-0 0, Jones 4 0-0 8, Pearson 0 0-0 0, Harshman 3 0-0 7, Hays 1 0-2 3, Williams 1 0-0 2, Sandau 0 0-0 0, Brannock 0 0-0 0, Araha 1 0-2 2, Espania 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 0-4 22.

3-point goals - Waits (Harshman, Hays). Total fouls - Waits 14, Mac-Hi 9. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - none.