Cardinals defeat Panthers in MAC action

NEW BREMEN - A lightning quick start helped New Bremen roll to a 67-44 victory over Parkway Thursday night in girls Midwest Athletic Conference basketball action at the Cardinal Gymnasium.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 25-3 lead after eight minutes.

For the 1-4, 0-2 (MAC) Panthers, the inability to get out of the starting gate has been an early-season problem.

"It's has been our downfall so far, and I'm at a loss," Parkway coach Chris Weirrick said of the slow start. "We even changed our warm-up a little tonight to try and see if maybe that would help. We just have to come out and not play scared."

Although the game was never in doubt after the first quarter, the Panthers played the Cardinals almost even over the final three quarters.

"After we got beat up a little bit, and the girls got yelled at a little bit, then all of the sudden they're ready to go," Weirrick added. "I'd just like to figure out a way to avoid all that if possible."

New Bremen outrebounded Parkway 16-3 in the first quarter and shot 50 percent (5-of-10) from behind the three-point arc in the first half, stretching its lead 42-17 at intermission.

"Right now we're playing with a lot of confidence and we're shooting the ball very well," New Bremen coach Chris Burden said.  "We hit the open shots tonight and it was good to see us get off to the fast start."

The Cardinal offense slowed down a little in the second half, as Parkway shifted out of its 1-2-2 zone into a man-to-man defense.

"We've been working on our man defense, and we went to it in the second half," Weirrick said. "I think it confused them a little bit, got us some turnovers and put us in a little bit better rebounding position."

Debbie Paul finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds to pace the Cardinals. Paige Jones and Alyse Clune also scored in double figures for the winners with 13 points each.

New Bremen improves to 4-2 on the season and 2-0 in the MAC, and despite the good start, Burden feels his squad still has room for improvement.

"I think we have a little ways to go," he said. "We have the gauntlet yet to come in January with our league schedule. We just have to maintain our focus, get better every day, and the winning will take care of itself."

Sophomore Sydney Crouch paced the Panthers with 14 points followed by Sarah Gehron with 10.

Both teams are in non-conference play on Saturday at home. New Bremen hosts Delphos Jefferson and Parkway plays host to Antwerp.