Local girls basketball teams all get wins in first week of the New Year

The second Friday of January marks the halfway point of the district games for all four local girls basketball teams in Bridge City, Little Cypress Mauriceville, West Orange-Stark and Orangefield. Several key contests were played the first week of the New Year.

The Bridge City Lady Cardinals only played one ball game that week but they won it over arguably their biggest rivals. On Tuesday, January 2, Bridge City defeated Little Cypress Mauriceville 30-29 on the Lady Bears' home court.

LCM actually led after the first quarter 9-5 before the Lady Cardinals turned the momentum in their favor winning the second period 10-3 to grab a three point lead 15-12 at half time. Missed free throws by Bridge City prevented a wider margin as the Lady Cardinals only made 2 of 10 shots from the free throw line in the first two quarters.

The game got closer in the third despite two three pointers from Kennedy Campbell of the Lady Cardinals. The Lady Bears pulled to within a point 24-23 with a quarter to play.

The eventual outcome was decided in the final seconds as Little Cypress Mauriceville had retaken the lead by one point. A foul by the Lady Bears sent Campbell to the free throw line where she sank both shots to give Bridge City the victory by one point despite a vocal partisan LCM crowd trying to mess with her concentration.

Campbell was the high scorer for the Lady Cardinals with 14 points. Kennedy also led Bridge City with 5 rebounds. Whitney Cunningham contributed 7 points to the win. Nicole Sasser was a defensive standout for the Lady Cardinals with 6 steals and was second to Campbell with 4 rebounds while also scoring 4 points.

The win puts Bridge City at 3-1 in District 19-4A trailing only Silsbee which handed the Lady Cardinals their only district loss the week before the Christmas break. Little Cypress Mauriceville dropped to 1-2 in district after Tuesday's loss.

The Lady Bears bounced back three days later on Friday. LCM went to Vidor and beat the Lady Pirates 55-52 to even its district record.

Junior Keylie Washburn pulled off a double double scoring 15 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Coach Eddie Michalko was also proud of freshman Kendall Jones the high scorer for the Lady Bears with 16 points, and sophomore Eden Frenzel who totaled 13 points during the important victory.

The West Orange-Stark Lady Mustangs gained their first district win of the season on Friday, January 5. The Lady Mustangs won at Jasper 68-15 to improve to 1-4 in district action. They lost earlier in the week on Tuesday at home 54-45 to the Lumberton Lady Raiders.

West Orange-Stark had its first half bye on Tuesday of this week and returns to the court on Friday at home against the first place and undefeated in district Silsbee Lady Tigers. Bridge City had its bye last week on Friday before playing Tuesday of this week at home versus Vidor and goes to Lumberton this Friday. Little Cypress Mauriceville played at home with Lumberton on Tuesday, and its next game is Friday at Jasper.

The Orangefield Lady Bobcats won a district game at home on January 2 against the Hardin Lady Hornets. Orangefield played a solid second half to win 60-52 after trailing at halftime.

The Lady Bobcats enjoyed a slim 8-7 advantage in the first quarter after scoring the first eight points of the game. Two three point baskets from Mikayla Locke and a field goal from Olivia Smith who was called up from the junior varsity which did not play that day gave Orangefield the initial momentum.

Hardin rallied scoring 26 of the next forty points to go ahead 26-22 at the end of the second quarter. The Lady Bobcats started the third quarter with a basket from Greenlea Oldham followed by the fifth three of the game from Locke to regain the lead 27-26 for the Lady Bobcats. Mikayla had a huge third period scoring 13 points that helped Orangefield build a 44-39 lead with eight minutes to play in the game.

The fourth quarter saw the Lady Bobcats secure the victory thanks to Steeley Franklin who came off the bench with seven points in the final eight minutes. Oldham added six more points as well.

Locke finished the night with 28 points that included six buckets from beyond the three point arc. She made 6 rebounds and 3 steals as well.

Oldham pulled off a double double with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and had a team high 5 steals for the Lady Bobcats. Franklin scored 10 points, made 2 steals, and had 2 assists. Smith grabbed 8 rebounds to go with her early bucket, and Rebecca Durbin pulled down 5 rebounds plus scored 2 points. Kaylea Gravett hit a three pointer in the third quarter while assisting on three baskets by her teammates.

Coach Eric Girola of Orangefield said the Lady Bobcats played a good game to make the comeback and get the win. "The second half when we were down four we came out, and I looked up a short time later to see us leading 35 to 28 as we really jumped out in the second half. That was huge because I think after that we never trailed again," Girola recalled.

The Lady Bobcats then battled Warren on Friday night. Orangefield won 40-26 over the Lady Warriors.

Freshman Mikayla Locke had another big game for the Lady Bobcats scoring 18 points, hauling in 5 rebounds, and making 4 steals. Steeley Franklin contributed 6 points, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds. Greenlea Oldham tallied 4 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and had 3 steals. Kaylea Gravett made 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Other contributors to the Orangefield victory were Olivia Smith with 5 rebounds and 4 steals while Paisley Reeves had 5 rebounds.

Orangefield was 4-1 in district before playing at home on Tuesday, January 9, against East Chambers. The Lady Bobcats next game is Friday at Anahuac.