(Guthrie Center, IA) — Momentum is a hard thing to turn and Earlham girls got it in the 4th quarter and knocked off AC/GC on Friday night 52-40 while the Cardinal boys got momentum in the 2nd half as well and ran away with the sweep 61-43.
In the girls game, AC/GC built a 15-5 lead early in the 2nd quarter but Darby Moore hit a couple of threes and Kenna Harskamp had 7 points in the 2nd quarter and the Chargers lead at the half was just one, 21-20. Earlham had a slight advantage in the 3rd quarter and took a 33-32 lead to the 4th. Cam Richter hit 2 free throws at the start of the final quarter to retake a 34-33 lead but Moore hit another three to go back in front 36-34. After each team missed a shot, Richter was called for an offensive foul and then got hit with a technical foul. Averie Fagan converted the free throws and the Chargers could never recover. Fagan is Earlham’s leading scorer and was limited to just one basket until the 4th quarter but had 9 points in the final period.
Moore led Earlham (10-3) with 18 points including three threes. Harskamp had 14 and Fagan added 13.
Richter was the only player in double figures for AC/GC (9-3) with 16 points.
On the boys side, Earlham looked like they were going to win in a runaway when they scored the game’s first 13 points. The Chargers came back in the 2nd quarter — outscored the Cardinals 19-8 and Joe Crawford’s three at the buzzer gave AC/GC a 24-21 going to the locker room.
The Cardinals, however, went on an 11-0 run to start the 2nd half and AC/GC could not recover. Brady Reynolds only had 2 points at halftime but had 16 in the 2nd half to lead the way.
Reynolds led Earlham (9-5) with 18 points, Carter Frank had 14, Griffin Messner put in 11 and Corbin Etter added 10.
AC/GC (3-8) was led by Tommy Skram with 19 points and Crawford had 16.
