Van Wade
The Orange Leader
EVADALE
December 06, 2008 09:15 pm
—
Orangefield basketball coach Rea Wrinkle gave a “State of the Union” address to his Bobcats at halftime of the Evadale Tournament and the Bobcats responded like champs to down rival Bridge City 62-32 in the title game Saturday.
Leading by a narrow 25-22 margin at the half, Wrinkle wanted his troops to clamp down more on the defense and the Bobcats (6-1) responded in a huge fashion.
The Bobcats held the Cardinals (8-2) to just two points in the third period and finished the second half with a 37-10 run as the rolled to the convincing win.
“To compete in our district, the kids understand that we have to get it done on the defensive end,” said Wrinkle. “They all played huge in that second half. The best thing about it all was that every single kid contributed. That’s the best game they’ve played all year.”
Zach Hayes led the Bobcat arsenal, scoring a game-high 23 points while yanking down five rebounds. Forward Bryden Smith had nine points while point guard Garrett Granger had eight. Stefan Addison and Tyler Angelle added six points apiece. Casey Sparks, who played a huge defensive role, yanked down a game-high 11 rebounds as the Bobcats outrebounded the Cardinals 37-24.
The Bobcats did an excellent job on Cardinal posts Nate McAnelly and Tanner Girouard. The two post players had a huge tournament but the Bobcats limited them to a combined 13 points and 14 rebounds. Girouard had seven points and four boards while McAnelly had six points and 10 rebounds.
“Those kids are pretty darn good,” said Wrinkle. “The key was getting a hand in their face and blocking them out and the kids did a great job at that all night.”
Guard Zach Heinze added seven points for the Cardinals, who were playing their fifth game in three days.
Julian Morgan added five rebounds for the Bobcats.
The Bobcats, who only had nine turnovers, forced the Cardinals into 17. Orangefield finished a solid 17-of-22 from the free-throw line while the Cardinals went 3-of-8.
Both the Bobcats and Cardinals nabbed wins earlier in the day.
Orangefield throttled District 21-3A counterpart Hamshire-Fannett 60-43.
Hayes led the way with 20 points. Derrick Evans pumped in 16 and Granger added 11. Cory Adams led the Longhorns with 14.
The Cardinals took down Deweyville (3-5) 80-62.
McAnelly ripped for 27 points while Mason Ellis and Tyler Hyde added 13 points apiece.
Eric Avila led the Pirates with 16 points. Garrett Haney poured in 15 while Dylan McGlothin added 11.
The Pirates fell to H-F 69-61 in the third-place game.
Colby Caswell led the Pirates with 21 points. Post Dalton Estes tallied 13 points and snared seven boards while Keeton Addison had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Adams led the Longhorns with 20 points. Logan Johnson had 15 points and eight rebounds and Hagan Daigle had 13 points and 11 boards as H-F outrebounded the Pirates 40-27.
H-F finished with 16 turnovers and went 8-of-12 from the foul line. The Pirates committed 12 turnovers and were 7-of-12 from the line.
On the ladies’ side, both the West Orange-Stark Lady Mustangs and Deweyville Lady Pirates came away with trophies.
The Lady Mustangs (5-6) hammered Burkeville 65-7 in the third-place game.
The Lady Mustangs forced Burkeville into 39 turnovers and held their fellow Lady Mustangs counterparts to zero points in both the first and fourth quarters.
Demetrius Heard led the Lady Mustangs with 22 points and had five rebounds. Ryshaniqua had a double-double with 18 points and 12 boards. Breanne Cook had eight points while Mishanequa Warnell added six rebounds.
The Lady Pirates took down District 23-2A rival Buna 49-38 to win the consolation finals.
The Lady Pirates sped out to a 21-9 lead at halftime and maintained that balance the rest of the way.
Amanda Vincent led Deweyville with 16 points. Sam Smart pumped in nine points while Marly Moss and Heather Beaudoin added eight apiece.
The girls championship tilt was a thriller as the host Evadale Lady Rebels nipped Starks (La.) 41-40.
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