Garrettsville, OH- On Thursday night the Garfield Lady G-MEN welcomed in the Liberty Leopards for an MVAC matchup. The G-MEN came in at 15-1 winners of four straight while the Leopards stood at 8-6.
Garfield won the tip and scored quick on a layup by Madeline Shirkey. Liberty answere back on buckets by Demi Watson and Aaliyah Foster to take the lead. It was a back and forth first quarter that ended with a 14-12 Garfield lead. Foster was big for the Leopards putting up 8 points in the quarter.
After Foster scored the first points of the second quarter tying the game at 14, Garfield went on a 9-0 run to go up 23-14 before Watson ended the G-MEN run with a 3 ball. Unfortunately for Liberty the G-MEN scored the final 13 points of the half to take a commanding 34-17 lead at the break. Garfield outscored Liberty 20-5 in the quarter. It was a big quarter for Garfield's talented freshman Mandy Cardinal who put up 10 points including a pair of three's and a buzzer beater to end the half.
Garfield kept the ball rolling their way to start the third quarter as they opened on a 6-0 run with Cardinal scoring the last two buckets putting them up 40-17 for their biggest lead of the night. Liberty fought right back with a 9-0 run that was led by Watson and Foster.
But Garfield was able to fight off the Leopard rally and score the next seven straight before a Foster layup beat the buzzer for Liberty. Garfield took a 47-28 lead into the final quarter. Cardinal scored 7 points in the third while Nora Trent put up 6. Foster continued to pile up the points with another 6 of her own.
Both teams went back and forth throughout the fourth and frustration set in for the Leopards when Mia Parker shoved Garfield's Maggie Fogel from behind after a jump ball resulting in a technical foul. Liberty would outscore the G-MEN 8-1 to end the game but the damage had already been done. Garfield took this one 59-42.
Mandy Cardinal was sensational for the G-MEN posting 21 points and 9 rebounds. Nora Trent had a double/double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Aaliyah Foster had a spectacular game for the Leopards scoring 28 points. Demi Watson had 10 points and 4 rebounds.
I talked with Garfield coach Aaron Gilbert along with the two players of the game for the G-MEN Mandy Cardinal and Nora Trent.
This recap is brought to you by Daystar Ford