South Laurel’s season-best five-game win streak might have came to an end on Friday, but the Lady Cardinals continue to show they’re improving game by game.
Chris Souder’s squad held their own during an 80-76 loss to No. 9 Ryle.
South Laurel battled throughout, and never gave in before finally falling by four points. The Lady Cardinals trailed 22-18 at the end of the first quarter, and 47-39 at halftime before cutting their deficit to 66-61 entering the fourth quarter.
South Laurel outscored the Lady Raiders, 15-14, in the final eight minutes but came up short in the end.
“We really battled tonight just came up a little short,” Souder said. “I was really proud of our kids because we are really short-handed with some nagging injuries. At one point, we had four eighth graders and (Aubrey) Bundy on the floor. Emily (Cox) continues to prove she is one of the better seniors in the state. What other senior is surrounded by middle schoolers but continues to produce. She finished with 36tonight.
“We got really good minutes tonight from Jamie Buenaventura, eighth grader Sydney Blanton, and eighth grader Chloe Mastin,” he added. “Just good to see at this point of the season that we competed with one of the top teams in the state.”
The Lady Cardinals had trouble containing Ryle’s big three of Sarah Baker, Abby Hoffman, and Quinn Eubank. The trio combined to score 70 points with Baker and Hoffman adding 26 points apiece while Eubank finished with 18 points.
South Laurel senior Emily Cox led all scorers with 36 points while hitting four 3-pointers. Maci Messer, and Jamie Buenaventura each scored 10 points apiece.
The Lady Cardinals (16-12) will be back in action Monday at home against Clay County. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
