The Cardinals ended their season with a 64-34 loss to Kingman during sub-state on March 2. “I think our season went great though,” senior Shannon Drouhard said. “We had a lot of chemistry, and we’ve all played together for a long time, so everything just seemed to click.”

After a disappointing loss to the No. 2 team at substate, the Lady Cards ended their season on March 2. Kingman beat the girls 64-34 and went on to lose to No. 1 Garden Plain.

“The only thing upsetting about the last loss was that it ended our season,” head coach Pat Carl said. “These girls worked extremely hard this year, and they were a fun bunch to be around. We were not ready for it to be over.”

Garden Plain then went on to win 3A girls state basketball with an overall record of 23-1. Their one loss came from the Cardinals earlier in the season, which was disappointing to some of the team.

“Losing to Kingman was upsetting,” sophomore Kara Koester said. “We knew we could have won, but [Kingman] played a really good game, and the shots just weren’t falling for us.”

Overall, the girls ended the season with a record of 16-5, their losses being to Kingman, Garden Plain, Haven, and Independent. According to some of the team, highlights of the season included beating Garden Plain in league play, winning the Mulvane Tournament, beating Andale (4A-II state champion runner-up), and having a good season record.

“The season went really good,” Koester said. “I’m glad we were able to beat the No. 1 seeded team, and our loss against Kingman doesn’t define the good season we had.”

Out of the three senior players, Sabrina Bellar is the only one who will continue playing in college. Three players received all-league honors, including Bellar and junior Kayla Koester as first team and Kara as honorable mention.

“I’m sad that my season’s over,” senior Shannon Drouhard said. “I’m going to miss it, but it’ll be fun to watch next year’s team.”

    In the first round of the playoffs, the Conway Springs football team faced the 1-8 Independent Panthers on Oct. 31. They went on to the defeat the Panthers 55-6, outscoring them 55-0 in the first half.

    The Cardinals also hosted the Hesston Swathers in the second round on Nov. 4 with a 7 p.m. kickoff time. The score was neck-and-neck through all four quarters, but with a last-second 24-yard field goal, the Swathers defeated the Cardinals for their first and season-ending loss. The final score was 42-45.

    “At first I didn’t think he was gonna make it, but he did,” senior running back Trenton Jones said. “We were upset at first, but then you gotta think, ‘that was a good game.’”

    Jones led the Cardinals’ rushing game once again with 166 yards off of 29 carries. His season total reached more than 2,000 yards with 14.5 yards per carry. Although he has had a huge senior year, Jones said he isn’t interested in playing at the college level.

    Defensively, junior cornerback Zachary Mercer came up big for Conway with 10 total tackles against the Swathers’ offense. He also had one reception for 47 yards and a touchdown.

    “We knew they’d be a tough team. They went to the state game last year,” he said. “But nobody wants to lose, especially when it ends your season.”

    Although the Cardinals were named Regional runner-ups, most of the boys said they believe that their season amounts to more than their one loss. After all, they have outscored their opponents 589-142 this year. Senior linebacker Andrew Friess is one of those positive players.

    “We did good, but we would’ve liked to do better. 10-1 isn’t bad though, obviously,” he said. “It was our best season of these last four years.”

Photos By Clarissa Snow