Coyotes bring down Cardinals in regionals
By Adam Thomas, BHG News Service
Being the district runner-up and coming into the regional tournament a two seed as the Washburn Cardinals did last week at the Shiloh gymnasium in Bismarck, you expect to play one of the weaker teams out of the other district. But with how sharply contested the talent-heavy District 9 was this year, it turned out that the Cardinals had to play one of their strongest teams in the Grant County Coyotes for their first round matchup. The match was largely a non-contest as the Coyotes brought the full force of their hard hitting attack against the Cardinals who were missing all of the mojo that had carried them in districts just a week earlier. As a result, Grant County ended Washburn’s season in three straight sets, 3-0. The Cardinals held up to start within the first set. Every player on the senior-heavy Cardinal side put a point up on the board to keep pace with the Coyotes up to 8-8. It was after that Grant County began to contest shots at the net, blocking or deflecting potential points from the Washburn side. Combined with some extremely fast hits, the Coyotes took the lead and quickly raced to a 25-15 first set conclusion. The second set was even more devastating to the Cardinal morale.
