By Tom Price Jr
After East Sequoia League powerhouse Corcoran dominated Lindsay last Tuesday 76-25, the Cardinals (3-3, 11-7) took out their frustration on Orosi on Friday winning 56-27.
"We had a long talk in the locker room about stepping up and leadership," Lindsay coach Pete Lindstrand said about his Cardinal squad that erased a three-game losing streak with the win. "I think it had a big impact on us, the girls are hungry and want to go 4-1 in the second half [of league play]."
Nikki Salinas led Lindsay to their resounding win over Orosi with a career high 29 points.
Salinas scored the first six points of the game and never looked back. She was able to get open underneath the basket all night long.
Cardinal point guard Raquel Chairez who has struggled mightely from the field of late, had a breakout 20 point performance.
Overshadowed by the gaudy numbers put up by Chairez and Salinas, reserve guard Valerie Chairez chipped in with six points.
More importantly she filled the vacancy left by Russie Saunders who spent most of the game on the bench because of foul trouble.
"Valerie stepped it up, she was really a part of this game," Lindstrand said. "She is just one of our reserves. I hope this puzzle I got gels together come playoff time."
The bumpy road to the playoffs will continue for the Cardinals this week as they take on Dinuba and Woodlake this week.
The Cardinals will be on the road when they take on Woodlake Thursday, but that may be the best scenario. The Cardinals are 6-3 on the road and 5-4 at home this year. One of those home loses was a 34-27 defeat at the hands of Woodlake.
"It has been a long season in the sense that we have had a lot of peaks and valleys and right now we are climbing out of the valley," Lindstrand said. "We have to step it up and play hard against them, right now we feel like we have to share the favor with them."
