Bobcats lose at home to East Chambers

Sole possession of first place in District 22-3A was on the line Friday night in Orangefield. The East Chambers Buccaneers held off the Bobcats to capture an important 47-38 victory.

The Buccaneers came into Friday’s game following a loss to the Kountze Lions on Tuesday, January 31, that dropped them into a tie with Orangefield for first place with one loss apiece in the district. Three district games remained for the Bobcats going into this week which are at Anahuac on Tuesday, at Kountze on Friday, and at home against Kirbyville next Tuesday.

Orangefield jumped out to a 7-0 lead against East Chambers. Morgan Sampson scored the first basket of the game, Pete Ragusa added two free throws, and Jaden Scales dropped in a three pointer that had the Bobcats purring with some confidence.

Ragusa stopped a short run by the Buccaneers with a steal that resulted in two points to give the Bobcats a 9-4 lead. Kane Smith followed a score by East Chambers with a ten footer in the lane to put Orangefield ahead again by five points, but Dylan Winzer of the Bucs canned the last basket of the quarter to make the score 11-8 after one.

Winzer followed up a field goal by Ragusa with two of his own, the second a three pointer, to tie the contest 13-13 at the 5:39 mark of the second quarter. Ragusa put Orangefield back on top, but a three pointer by East Chambers’ Payton Anderson gave the Buccaneers their first lead of the game 17-15 with four minutes to play in the second quarter.

Another bucket by Winzer extended the Bucs’ advantage to four points. Brayden Parker made two free throws for the Bobcats with 25 seconds left to narrow the deficit to 19-17 at the half.

The Buccaneers came out in the second half gunning as Bryan Bordeaux hit a three and Anderson made two field goals to put East Chambers on top 26-18. Parker converted a miraculous underhanded layup as he was being fouled and tacked on a free throw to complete the three point play with 48 seconds remaining in the third to get Orangefield to within seven points 30-23. A free throw by Ragusa made the score 30-24 after three quarters.

To the Buccaneers’ credit they would not allow Orangefield to really threaten their lead in the fourth quarter. The Bobcats got a steal for a layup by Parker to scratch within five points with just over two minutes left but that is as close as they could get to a comeback as East Chambers extended its advantage to win by nine points.

The balanced scoring which is a hallmark for Orangefield was missing against the Buccaneers. Ragusa was the only Bobcat in double figures with 17 followed by Parker with 7 points. Four Bobcats had three points.

Winzer of East Chambers matched Ragusa for high scoring honors with 17 points. Jacoby Perrault scored 12 points for the Bucs making six of twelve from the free throw line.

The Orangefield Bobcats moved to 9-1 in district with their win on the last day of January. The Bobcats beat the Warriors 66-45 at Warren.

The first quarter saw Orangefield jump to a nine-point lead 15-6, but Warren responded with a good second period to trim the Bobcat lead to nine points 30-23 at the half.

The Bobcats’ defense limited the Warriors to eleven points in each quarter of the second half. Orangefield pulled away to win by 19 points.

Pete Ragusa was the leader for Orangefield with 23 points, and his 6 rebounds tied him for second in that category with Koen Maddox both one behind Camerson Dischler’s 7 boards. Jaden Scales was the other Bobcat in double figures with 18 points.