Week 2 of district basketball for the girls

Local girls basketball had its second week of district action last Friday. All four of the teams but Little Cypress Mauriceville had played three district games at that time.

The Lady Bears had their second district game against the Silsbee Lady Tigers on Tuesday, December 12, at the Dr. Pauline Colburn Hargrove Gymnasium. Silsbee won 76-30 dropping LCM to 1-1 in district action.

The Bridge City Lady Cardinals took on the tough Lady Tigers the following Friday night in Bridge City. Silsbee dominated the game winning 73-53 to go 2-0 in district. The Lady Cardinals are 2-1 after the loss.

The game was close at 13-9 through the first quarter, but the Lady Tigers pulled away outscoring Bridge City 27-11 in the second quarter to lead 40-20 at the half. The two teams were actually even in the last two quarters 33-33 thus keeping the margin at twenty points.

Whitney Cunningham led the Lady Cardinals with 21 points. Rylynn Thornton scored 8 and Kailey Nelson tallied 7 points. Nelson was the top rebounder for Bridge City with 8 followed by Cunningham who had 7 boards.

Bridge City won earlier in the week at home in Tuesday's game 41-32 against the West Orange-Stark Lady Mustangs. It was the Lady Cardinals second straight district victory.

Rylynn Thornton opened the scoring for Bridge City converting a three point play with a field goal and a free throw. The Lady Mustangs tied the score with a three point basket from Angel Cooper.

Nicole Sasser and Thornton hit buckets to put Bridge City up 7-3. Jadalynn Wilson closed the first quarter with a trey to move the Lady Mustangs back to within one at 7-6 through eight minutes.

Kaylee Britten hit the first three of the night for the Lady Cardinals to begin the second quarter. Nicole Sasser made back to back baskets to increase the Bridge City lead to eight points 14-6.

West Orange-Stark narrowed the gap to three after another three by Cooper and a field goal from Marilynn Guillory. Sasser and Kira Middleton hit shots for Bridge City to make the score 18-11 with a minute left in the half but the second quarter ended the same way the first did with Wilson nailing a shot from beyond the arc for a 18-14 score at halftime.

The Lady Mustangs played their best quarter of the game in the third period outscoring Bridge City 10-9 to narrow the game to three points 27-24. Cooper connected on her third three of the game while Wilson added three points with a basket and a free throw.

The fourth quarter started with Sasser scoring two similar baskets to give the Lady Cardinals a 31-24 advantage. Kennedy Campbell popped a three and the lead went to ten points for Bridge City with five minutes left in the fourth.

Jordyn Patton, Wilson, and Guillory made buckets for the Lady Mustangs to cut the lead to five points. Sasser answered with her seventh field goal of the night, Whitney Cunningham made a free throw, and then Thornton scored to get the Bridge City lead back to ten points 41-31 before time ran out for West Orange-Stark.

Nicole Sasser of the Lady Cardinals led all scorers with 14 points hitting at least one basket in each quarter. Whitney Cunningham and Rylynn Thornton both had 7 points. Cunningham was the leading rebounder for Bridge City with 6 followed by Sasser and Thornton with 5 apiece. Kennedy Campbell and Cunningham both made 4 steals. Campbell had 4 assists and Kaylee Britten had 3 assists in the win.

The Lady Mustangs got 11 points from Jadalynn Wilson. Angel Cooper was second high scorer for WOS with 9 points with her trio of three point baskets.

Bridge City Coach Larry Sterling was pleased with the effort from his Lady Cardinals. "Our kids played hard. I think we're a little more experienced than we were last year, so we're a little more cohesive defensively. Nicole Sasser brings a lot of energy for us on defense, she's our defensive MVP most nights," Sterling commented.

The Orangefield Lady Bobcats won both of their games last week. The two wins improve the Lady Bobcats' record to 2-1 in district action.

On Tuesday, December 12, Orangefield battled the Buna Lady Cougars. The Lady Bobcats came away with a 53-47 overtime win that evened their district record.

Greenlea Oldham had a stellar night for Orangefield with a double double scoring 21 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Brooklyn Wagoner also finished in double figures with 10 points and made 3 steals. Other contributors in the win were Mikayla Locke who scored 7 points and snagged 6 rebounds, Rebecca Durbin pulled down 7 rebounds and tallied 4 points, while Kaylea Gravett had 3 assists and 2 steals.

Orangefield traveled to Kirbyville on Friday. The Lady Bobcats won 57-38 to improve their record to 2-1 in district.

The freshman Mikayla Locke had a superb game with 18 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Brooklyn Wagoner had a second straight game in double figures with 14 points to go with her 3 steals, and 2 rebounds. Rebecca Durbin led the Lady Bobcats on the boards with 9 rebounds and scored 8 points. Greenlea Oldham made 7 points and had 4 rebounds. Kaylea Gravett had a solid night with 4 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds for Orangefield.

District action is on hold until the New Year for all four girls teams. The Bridge City Lady Cardinals and the Little Cypress Mauriceville Lady Bears renew their rivalry at LCM on Tuesday, January 2. That same night the West Orange-Stark Lady Mustangs are at home against the Lumberton Lady Raiders. The Orangefield Lady Bobcats play at home against the Hardin Lady Hornets.