NORTH POWDER – The Arlington/Ione Cardinals boys battled and tried to find a path to victory but ultimately fell to the undefeated Damascus Christian Eagles on Tuesday, 47-55.
Playing at the Powder Valley High School gymnasium, the Cardinals could not find an answer for Damascus Christian guard Micah Colburn. The senior had a game high 24 points, including 12 points in the 4th quarter to ward off the Cardinal comeback.
Trailing 6-15 after the first quarter, the Cardinals regrouped and got a spark off of the bench from Gary Wall and Korbin Williamson.
But Damascus Christian continued to make shots and extended their lead in the second quarter. Arlington senior Jace Troutman came on late in the second quarter and made a 3-point shot at the buzzer to cut the Damascus lead to twelve points: 15-27.
In the 3rd quarter, Ione senior Hunter Padberg got hot. Battling inside, Padberg scored back to back buckets and fought for rebounds. Padberg finished with 13 points and six rebounds.
The Cardinals continued to chip away at the Eagles lead. With only 7 players suited up, the Eagles started to get tired in the final quarter.
Arlington senior Jace Troutman came on strong in the final quarter, scoring 8 of his team-high 16 points in the final minutes.
With the clock under two-minutes, Troutman was fouled and scored the bucket. With the lead cut to 6 points, the Cardinals looked to steal the game from Damascus Christian.
But Colburn put the Eagles on his back and had a steal with a layup and then another score off of a dribble drive. The Cardinals ran out of time but scored the second most points on Damascus Christian this season.
Cardinals head coach Dennis Stefani said it was a hard loss but recognized the talent of Damascus Christian. “We played well but they are a good team,” Stefani said.
The Cardinals will play a final game tomorrow at 2:45 pm against the winner of Powder Valley / N. Clackamas Christian.