The teams battled to a 13-13 tie at the end of the first quarter before the Cardinals started to separate, taking a 30-22 lead at halftime.
The Seton Catholic Cardinals traveled west on Highway 40 on Friday, Feb. 21, for a game with potential sectional opponent Cambridge City Lincoln played in the Eagles Nest. Emotions ran high because it was also senior night for Lincoln.
Oliver Webb hit a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, cutting Lincoln’s deficit to five points. The Cardinals closed out the third quarter on a 15-8 run to extend their lead to 47-33 entering the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals slowed the pace of play and never allowed the Eagles to get back in the game. The final score of 61-40 was the largest lead of the game.
Tyson Tremain and Jackson Feist each scored 15 points for the winners, and Jason Moynihan added 13 points. Dustin Lunsford, Noah Patterson and Evan Stuckey each scored 9 points to lead Lincoln in scoring, and Aidan Munchel added 8 points.
“For the most part, our seniors maintained their composure and mental toughness tonight,” Seton Catholic head coach Josh Jurgens said. “There were a couple of times our seniors lost their cool tonight, and we cannot have that, but I trust my seniors to fix that going ahead. I felt like we were ready to play. This is a tough place to play, especially on their senior night when their crowd is into it. We wanted to slow Aidan Munchel. He is a great player, and Jason Moynihan did a great job on him. Once we got the lead, we put the ball in the hand of our point guard Tyson Tremain because we know that he will make good decisions.”
Lincoln head coach Rodney Klein said the emotion of senior night might have been a distraction.
“We did not move the ball well tonight,” Klein said. “We held the ball too long at times. We also shot poorly from the free-throw line. We are not going to beat a team of the caliber of Seton playing and shooting like that. Give Seton credit—they exposed us by putting the ball on the floor and going to the rim. They were more physical than us tonight. We have been talking about senior night all week long. It can be distracting and bring self-imposed pressure. Maybe we should have senior night at the first game each season and get it behind us.”
The game closed out the regular season for the Cardinals, who will be riding an eight-game win streak entering postseason play. The Eagles will close out their regular season with a trip to Centerville on Friday, Feb. 28.
Seton Catholic (14-10) 13 17 17 14 61
Grant Semler 3, Tremain 15, Eric Parker 8, Feist 15, Moynihan 13, Eli Brown 0, Ethan Nisewonder 0, Gavin Killion 0, Colin Murray 7 — Total 61
CC Lincoln (12-8) 13 9 11 7 40
Patterson 9, Lunsford 9, Stuckey 9, Ryne Sturgis 2, Carson Hawk 0, Munchel 8, Elijiah French 0, Oliver Webb 3, Ben Bates 0, Braxton Dick 0, Clayton Vickers 0, Caden Ripberger 0, Dustin Irwin 0, Trevor Zaffe 0 — Total 40
JV results: Lincoln 40, Seton Catholic 32
A version of this article will appear in the February 26 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.