If there’s one thing that’s always true about rivalry games, it’s that they’re always unpredictable. It doesn’t matter how good, or how bad, one team may be, or how good or bad their rival may be, when that head-to-head game pops up on the schedule, both teams come out ready to play.
And that was certainly the case Friday night when the Cordell Blue Devils took their act on the road to face the Bearcats of Hobart.
The first half of the game was dominated by stingy defense on the part of both teams, resulting in what as shaping up to be a low-scoring affair early on. At the end of the first quarter the Blue Devils trailed the Bearcats by a score of 11-9.
The Blue Devils started to find their stride in the second quarter, with early three pointers from Brady Reimer, Raydon Kuehne, Gaige Keister, and Blaine Larsen, which pushed them into a 23-21 lead as the quarter ended.
The Blue Devils continued the pressure into the third quarter, blowing open a 10-point lead with more than 5:30 to play in the third. The closing minutes of the period saw a bit of a slower pace, but the quarter ended with the Blue Devils maintaining a 12-point lead at 38-26.
But, this was a rivalry game and the inaugural game in Hobart’s new gym, the Hancock Events Center, and the Bearcats were not about to go down without a fight. Hobart’s boys battled back in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 points and holding Cordell to just eight - and pushing the game into overtime.
The Blue Devils, however, were not going to be denied. Cordell’s boys came out firing in the overtime period, both on offense and defense. The Devils outscored the Bearcats 14-5 in the extra period to claim the 60-51 victory and their first win of the season.
“It was another of those tough, hard-fought games,” said head coach Brandon Gallagher. “I think our guys are really playing hard. We are getting a lot of hustle plays. We are still trying to define our roles, but that’s what these early games are for.”
Keister led all scorers with 24, along with nine rebounds, four assists, one deflection, four steals, and one block. Reimer added 20 points, four rebounds, five assists, six deflections, and two steals.
The Blue Devils faced Hinton Tuesday night and travel to Burns Flat for tournament play beginning Thursday at 5:15 p.m.