Cranbrook falls to Cardinal Mooney 51-39 on the road, slides to 3-2 on the season.

The Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Cranes lost to the Marine City Cardinal Mooney Cardinals 51-39 on the road Saturday. The defeat drops Cranbrook to 3-2 on the season, while Cardinal Mooney moves to 2-5 for the year.

Senior Cam Garner had 11 points to lead the Cranes. Senior Kevin Everhart had 11 points to lead the Cardinals in the win.

Cranbrook trailed the early in the game, even as senior Bryce Hall roamed the paint to lead the Cranes in first half scoring. Combining with perfect free throw shooting by junior Bennett Luckoff, the Cranes frontcourt worked to the pace with the Cardinals.

But Everhart and sophomore Trent Rue gave Cardinal Mooney the offensive fire power to maintain the lead before the end of the second quarter.

Cranbrook trailed 22-13 at the half.

The second half saw the Cranes come alive, with junior Brandon McCaskill and sophomore John Kersch hitting several 3-pointers to give the offensive thrust. But Everhart answered with a pair of shots beyond the arc to keep the Cardinal lead.

Cranbrook closed the deficit to trail 36-33 at the end of the third quarter.

Senior Larry DeDalis lifted Cardinal Mooney in the last period with a pair of clutch field goals to keep the Cranes at bay. Garner took the reins on a late charge by Cranbrook, but it would not be enough to overtake the Cardinals.

These two teams will square off again next week, with Cardinal Mooney traveling to face the Cranes at home. The game will be played at the Keppel gymnasium on the Cranbrook campus on Wednesday. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m.