Playing in front of a sparse crowd of seven with just six players dressed, the Labette Cardinals women nabbed their second win of the season on Saturday, beating Metro-Penn Valley, 65-48.
“I’m glad we survived and no one got hurt,” Labette head coach Gabby Cortez said. “That’s all I can ask for — six healthy players coming out of today’s game. I’m glad we got it done with low numbers and sore bodies.”
Ahmani Klabunde led Labette with 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting. The Cardinals shot 41.3% from the field as a team.
Most notably, the Cardinals limited themselves to seven turnovers after committing 28 in a loss earlier in the week.
“It was nice to see it recalibrate,” Cortez said. “We had been taking care of the ball all season. So why throw it away now? We went back to controlling what we can control and that’s taking care of the ball. That’s what I preached the last few days — plus a lot of recovery.”
Tierra Bargeman had 15 points and eight boards for the Cardinals.
“She started the season really strong. She got a minor shoulder injury, so that had been bothering her,” Cortez said. “She did a lot of treatment and that gave her body some time to recover. She’s starting to be more aggressive and she did a good job of that.”
Labette’s Najya O’Neal and Jon’qora Moore missed the game with injuries, leaving the Cardinals with six players.
“It’s a learning curve for all of us to be able to adapt,” Cortez said. “Our main emphasis is the details. If we can be a detailed team, that’ll help us on the back end no matter what numbers we have. You can throw 12 kids at us, but our six-to-eight will know your 12 like the back of their hand.”
Cortez’s priority is to get to the second semester with a full roster of eight healthy.
“My goal is to get to conference play and compete once we’re there,” Cortez said. “I will do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
Up next
NOC-Enid welcomes Labette on Wednesday. The Cardinals then travel to State Fair on Friday.
“We have to keep taking care of our bodies,” Cortez said. “We’re more locked in, now. The girls feel like they should be in these next two games. Hopefully we can sneak a win or two away.”
