The junior varsity girls’ basketball team has been competing this past week at the tournament in Medicine Lodge. Players included foreign exchange students Siri Bakksjo and Olga Diaz; junior Amanda Smith; sophomores Audrey Doffing, Lexi Fisher, Maddie Koester, Sammie Osner and Molly Schmanke and freshmen Adyson Koster, Tori Kunz, Karlee Osner and Madison Pauly. The games began on Jan. 18 and continued into Jan. 21. Other teams that participated in the tournament were Trinity Academy, Douglass, Medicine Lodge, Belle Plaine, Garden Plain, Independent and Cheney.

“I was pretty excited for the tournament,” Sammie said. “We got to play a bunch a different teams.”

The tournament started off with a win against Medicine Lodge, and the girls continued their winning streak until the championship game against Cheney.

“It was nerve wracking,” Fisher said. “I didn’t want to play against Cheney, but I was ready to play nonetheless.”

The girls battled until the end of the tournament, receiving second place after a tough loss to Cheney 51-37.

“I think the girls played really well,” assistant coach Justin Regehr said. “Everyone played, and everyone stepped up. The championship was a lot closer than the score showed.”

Smith was the high scorer of the championship match with eight points, and Doffing had the highest one-game total of the tournament for the Cardinals, with 12 points in the game against Medicine Lodge.