Devils Lake, N.D. (NewsDakota.com)—The Cardinals hung around for three quarters but ran out of gas late and fell 69-51 to the Devils Lake JV in the championship game of the Ramsey County tournament. Tournament MVP, Josh Bickett paced the Cards with 17 hard fought points. Maddox McIlonie added 13 points for the Cards and Tate Wolsky chipped in 9 points. The Cards and Firebirds traded 15 points in the opening quarter. The Firebirds would outscore the Cards 18-13 in the second and 19-15 in the third to take a 52-43 lead into the final quarter. Bryar Exner (game high 23 points) and Max Palmer (22 points) scored 13 of the final 17 points for the Firebirds as they pulled away late in the game for the 18 point win. Both teams were superb from the free throw line with Cards connecting on 15-16 for 94% and the Firebirds were 88% on 15-17. Turnovers were a bit of an issue for the Cards committing 13 overall, but 10 of the 13 were committed in the 2nd and 4th quarters. The Firebirds were not as friendly, committing just 6 turnovers.

Bickett scored 24 points the opening night of the tourney and added 27 points in the semis along with the 17 in the title game along with his hard nosed defense earned the tournament MVP award. The Cards dropped to 5-3 overall and Devils Lake JV improved to 5-2. Carrington will travel to New Rockford next Thursday against the 5th rated Rockets. The game will be aired om AM 1600 (THE CARDINAL), FM 100.1, and www.newsdakota.com along with YouTube video starting at 7:15