By Marcus Elliott
Sports Editor
Over halfway through the district portion of their schedule and the Cardinals are still perfect, improving to 7-0 with wins over Caddo Mills and Rivercrest this week. Melissa has five games remaining in their regular season schedule. The Cardinals will play host to Paris Chisum on Friday and will travel to Leonard next Tuesday. Melissa has already defeated both of those teams this season.
Melissa 53, Caddo Mills 39
Melissa got a strong win over district foe Caddo Mills on Tuesday night in Melissa. Early in the opening quarter, Melissa trailed 2-6 when Ryan Ragon converted a traditional three-point play to bring the Cardinals within one. A jumper by Sheldon Moore gave Melissa their first lead of the game and Melissa was able to hold on to take a 13-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Malachi Davidson and Mason Hart combined for six points early in the second period that caused the Foxes to take a timeout and after the timeout Hart drilled a three pointer to put the Cardinals up by 10. Melissa was able to maintain that advantage throughout the remainder of the period and go into the locker room up 30-17 at the half. The Melissa offense came out of the break on the attack, with a baseline move by Webb that ended in a lay-up putting the Cardinals up by 17. With a minute left in the third quarter, Caddo Mills called a timeout after chipping a few points off their deficit and as time expired in the third the Foxes were able to get within 13. Caddo Mills opened the quarter with four unanswered points to cut the Melissa down to nine but a corner jumper by Hart put a stop to the run. Ragon was fouled on a drive to the lane, hit one of the freebees and put the Cardinals up by 12 again. The teams traded buckets in the last half of the fourth, with a big three-pointer helping Caddo Mills cut the lead to eight but their moments in single digits were short lived. The Foxes strategy led them to a hack-a-Cardinal late in the game but Melissa hit their free throws to pull away and win the game.
Melissa 48, Rivercrest 39
A total team effort lead to a Melissa win over Rivercrest on Friday night. Eight Cardinal players chipped in to help lift their team to a 48-39 win to stay perfect in district play. Jackson Webb and Zeylon Sabes each finished the game with eight points to lead Melissa to the win. The Cardinals jumped out to take a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and held on in the second quarter, almost matching Rivercrest point for point, to take a five-point lead into the halftime break. Mason Hart helped keep Melissa ahead, scoring six points in the game and Sheldon Moore and Zach Torres each finished the contest with four points. In the third quarter, the Cardinals held Rivercrest to seven points while building a double digit lead which they held on to late into the game, not letting Rivercrest back on their way to the 48-39 win. Other Melissa scorers included: Hunter McGuinness 2, Ryan Ragon 2 and Brass Woods 2.