Stone Bridge races past Cards in basketball

It may have been just another non conference game, the back end of two games in two days for the Cardinals (2-7, 0-4), but it was a monumental event for the Stone Bridge High School boys basketball program. They had a big crowd on Saturday as they hosted the first visit ever by a WCAC basketball team anxious to evaluate their budding program against a visitor from the legendary basketball conference. The host Bulldogs sent the faithful home happy with a 67-35 win over Bishop Ireton.

“We’re trying to build a program. To get a WCAC school in here and obviously win by the margin we did shows a lot of the energy and effort these kids put in since day one. They work and fight every day to get better.” said Stone Bridge head coach Corey Stitzel.

Ireton started slowly, falling behind 12-6 after one period of play. After the visitors grabbed a 2-0 lead, Stone Bridge junior Nick Barnes scored the game’s next 8 points, he would score 24 on the night, and the Bulldogs were off to the races.

Quint Gilcrest scored in the second period to pull the Cardinals within 16-14 before the hosts went on a 9-2 run to close the half with a 25-16 advantage.

If the Cardinals had any hope of closing the margin coming out in the second half, the Bulldogs scored the first 15 points of the third quarter and, for all intents and purposes, the game was out of reach at 40-16. The period ended with the home team enjoying a 49-25 cushion.

In the loss, Kyle Bethea scored 8 points, also helping the effort for the Cardinals were Quintin Gilchrest (7 points, 3 rebounds), Jeremiah Brooks (4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block), Jamie Pasha (3 points, 4 rebounds), Michael Everett (3 points, 2 rebounds), Joey Hamer (3 points), Chase Hill (2 points, 2 rebounds) and Darius Hines (2 points, 2 rebounds). The Cardinals finished the game with 27 rebounds (four offensive/23 defensive), one block, and four steals.

The Cardinals must regroup and host DeMatha Tuesday. The action begins at 2pm with the freshmen tilt while the varsity squads tip off at 5:30pm. Following Christmas, Ireton will head to the Governor’s Cup tournament in Salisbury, Maryland.