Big second quarter helps Bobcats beat WOS in basketball

The recent battle of Highway 105 was won by Orangefield over West Orange-Stark. The Bobcats beat the Mustangs 68-48 in a non-district basketball game on Saturday, November 25, at the West Orange-Stark High School Gymnasium.

The margin of the score was not indicative of how competitive the contest was except for the first six minutes in the second quarter. Orangefield scored sixteen unanswered points to start the second period to grab a 28-13 advantage and never allowed the Mustangs to get closer than thirteen points during the remainder of the game.

The Bobcats' Griffin Thomas scored 14 points in the decisive second period including four three-pointers. Jaden Scales closed the quarter with a buzzer beater that put Orangefield on top 40-19 at the half.

The Mustangs took the initial lead on a basket by Carter Eglin, and led 4-2 on a field goal by Ja'Vaughnte Richard before Zane Wrinkle hit the first of his five three-pointers on the day to give Orangefield its first lead 5-4.

Kane Smith of the Bobcats got his fourth points of the game to increase the lead to four 10-6 before West Orange-Stark went on a seven-point run thanks to two put back baskets by Richard and a three from Braylen Solomon that put WOS up 13-10 late in the first. Wrinkle added two free throws for Orangefield to make the score 13-12 in favor of the Mustangs after one period.

A three pointer by Scales started the sixteen point Bobcat splurge. Jamikael Davis made a bucket with about two minutes showing on the second quarter clock for the first points of the period for the Mustangs, but it did not really stop the bleeding as Orangefield outscored WOS twelve to four in the closing two minutes before halftime.

The third quarter saw the Mustangs shrink the deficit from 21 to 17 points. Richard and Davis both hit three-pointers and Solomon made two field goals during the third period to make the score 52-35 in favor of Orangefield with a quarter to go.

Orangefield overcame seven turnovers in the final quarter to pad its lead. Wrinkle and Scales tallied seven points a piece in the final eight minutes to secure the victory for the Bobcats.

Three Bobcats finished in double figures with Jaden Scales scoring 20, Zane Wrinkle registering 19, and Griffin Thomas tallying 17 points. Kadyn Rucker played a strong defensive game for Orangefield with 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 5 blocked shots. The Mustangs were led by Braylen Solomon who totaled 14 points and Ja'Vaughnte Richard who finished with 12 points.

Orangefield Coach Bryan Whitmire commented on the Bobcats' rampage at the beginning of the second quarter. "We heated up there in the second quarter. We hit a lot of shots and when they're going down it definitely makes it look easier. What we did was once we built that lead we were able to sit on it and kind of just defend and hang on to it. I thought West Orange-Stark did a good job of pressuring us forcing us into a number of turnovers. I think we need to do a better job of taking care of the basketball. That second quarter was our best job of transitioning and we were able to get some buckets off of it," Whitmire analyzed.

The Orangefield Bobcats will play in the Big Sandy Tournament the first weekend of December. The West Orange-Stark Mustangs will participant in the Nederland Tournament that same weekend. Both the Mustangs and the Bobcats will play in the Bill Tennison Orangefield Tournament which is the second weekend in December.