The Garfield G-Men won a close one the last time they played, but unfortunately they suffered a serious change of fortune on Thursday. They ended up on the wrong side of a tough 63-39 walloping at the hands of LaBrae. While losing is never fun, Garfield can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 678th, while LaBrae is ranked 254th).
Despite the defeat, Garfield saw an underclassman step up: Mandy Cardinal dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 rebounds. Cardinal has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last four times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Zoey May, who scored eight points.
LaBrae found their leader in underclassman Ella Kuszmaul, who scored 27 points along with five steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Kuszmaul has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Riley Rowe, who scored nine points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Garfield has been struggling recently, as they've lost six of their last seven matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-10 record this season. As for LaBrae, their victory bumped their record up to 10-2.
Garfield will head out on the road to square off against Champion at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Champion will be looking to extend their current five-game winning streak. As for LaBrae, they will look to defend their home court on Saturday against Bristol at 12:30 p.m. Bristol is also coming in off of a big victory, so somebody is in for a big reversal of fortune.
