Lady Bobcats go undefeated in Tennison Tournament

The Orangefield Lady Bobcats played Kountze in their district opener on Tuesday, December 5, losing at home. This past weekend the Lady Bobcats were at home as the host team in a round robin format for the girls in the Bill Tennison Memorial Tournament.

Orangefield went 5-0 during the three day tournament. The Lady Bobcats won two games on Thursday, two more on Friday, and closed with a blowout on Saturday.

The first game on Thursday was really the toughest for Orangefield against Port Neches-Groves who the Lady Bobcats have played three times this season. The Lady Bobcats pulled out a 46-42 victory after leading most of the game for their third win over the Lady Indians.

Leading 18-7 through one quarter Orangefield saw PNG claw itself back into the game. The Lady Indians made the opening basket of the game and never led again until they went ahead 42-41 in the closing minute.

Mikayla Locke tied the game for Orangefield with a free throw. With eight seconds left Greenlea Oldham made a turnaround shot in the lane where the ball seemed to hang on the rim forever before dropping through to give the Lady Bobcats the lead. Steeley Franklin iced the game sinking two clutch free throws to avoid any miracle shot ending.

Oldham had a big game with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and a steal. Brooklyn Wagoner contributed 7 points and 5 rebounds to the victory for Orangefield.

As they did against Port Neches-Groves, the Lady Bobcats played a strong first quarter in their second game against Evadale going ahead 17-6 after the first eight minutes. Orangefield had no let up this time and won every quarter to take the triumph 56-30 over the Lady Rebels.

Freshman Mikayla Locke really shined for the Lady Bobcats in this game with 25 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. Brooklyn Wagoner and Greenlea Oldham both scored 7 points. Paisley Reeves matched Oldham with a team high 7 rebounds.

On Friday Orangefield played Baytown Lee in the morning. The Lady Bobcats rolled to a 62-20 victory.

Mikayla Locke picked up where she left off the day before scoring 17 points, dishing out 4 assists, grabbing 2 rebounds, and making 2 steals. Steeley Franklin had her best game of the tournament with 12 points and 4 rebounds. Rebecca Durbin took rebounding honors with 12 boards. Greenlea Oldham grabbed 5 rebounds and scored 10 points.

The evening game pitted Orangefield against Nederland. Once again the Lady Bobcats started fast and finished well winning 52-27.

This was somewhat of a breakout game for Rebecca Durbin who scored 9 points to match Mikayla Locke as the high scorer for the Lady Bobcats. Greenlea Oldham tallied 8 points. Senior Kaylea Gravett played well too with 7 points, 2 steals, and 4 assists.

Olivia Smith and Madison McCormack were called up from the junior varsity to play with the varsity Lady Bobcats during the tournament. Smith actually led Orangefield in rebounds this game with 7 while McCormack scored 5 points in the fourth quarter.

Orangefield wrapped up the tournament on Saturday against Deweyville. The Lady Bobcats won 68-23 to finish the weekend undefeated.

Again Mikayla Locke was the leading Orangefield point producer with 15 adding 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Brooklyn Wagoner was in double figures with 10 points to go with 3 rebounds and a steal. Rebecca Durbin continued her strong play grabbing 6 rebounds and scoring 8 points. Greenlea Oldham put in 6 points and pulled down 4 rebounds. Kaylea Gravett used great vision to dish out 8 assists, make 3 steals, come up with 4 rebounds all while also scoring 4 points.

Orangefield Coach Eric Girola said the goal of the Bill Tennison Memorial Tournament is to get the Lady Bobcats ready for the district battles. "I told the girls our goal is to develop some positive momentum so we can take that into Tuesday's game with Buna. We got the ball rolling in that direction on Thursday, Friday we managed to keep it rolling in that direction, Saturday we finished it, and hopefully we can carry that into Tuesday. Obviously, going to Buna my former school is going to be fun, it's going to be tough. They're going to play really hard because they want to beat me, they got us last year, and it's important because it is a district game," Girola concluded.