Robert Brewer/MDN Cardinals freshman guard Kaydee Boyce (11) pushes the ball up the court during a first quarter fastbreak opportunity for the Nedrose offense.

On Monday evening, the Nedrose Cardinals (3-7) fought valiantly, but eventually came up short, losing to the Westhope-Newburg Sioux (2-4), 66-58.

After initial struggles to find an offensive rhythm, Nedrose managed to tie up the ballgame late in the first quarter following a layup by junior Alexis Lancaster with under a minute to go. By the end of the period, the score was still tied up at 11-11. However, Westhope again opened up a lead in the second.

Getting hot from downtown, the Sioux connected on a trio of three pointers later in the period to extend to a 12 point lead. At intermission the Cardinals found themselves behind 36-26.

Westhope maintained its lead throughout the third, but Nedrose did produce its share of offensive highlights. Late in the quarter, Lancaster, who ended the contest with 13 points, added another bucket off of a transition opportunity. Then as time expired in the period, sophomore Piper Stein connected on a buzzer beater shot from inside the paint to get the home crowd excited heading into the fourth. At that point, Nedrose trailed on the scoreboard 49-40.

In the fourth, Nedrose would cut into the lead and got to within five points on numerous occasions. With less than two minutes to go, a runner in the lane from Cardinals center A’Lexis Crawford made the score 61-56 in favor of Westhope. Crawford finished the game with a team-high 16 points.

Unfortunately for the Nedrose home fans, that would be as close as the Cardinals would come. Westhope’s Ellie Braaten led all scorers with 36 on the night, and Kimberly Tabarez totaled 24. Up next for the Cardinals, they are scheduled to play Drake-Anamoose on the road on Thursday.