Published: December 19, 2008 09:54 pm      

Lady Bears whip up on PN-G

LITTLE CYPRESS — If the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Lady Bears are going to make the playoffs this season, they must first defeat the teams they are supposed to win against.

Chalk up one step in the right direction after Friday night.

The Lady Bears defeated the Port Neches-Groves Lady Indians 50-34 in the Bear Cave with Amber Soileau leading the way.

Soileau finished the night with 19 points, five steals and three rebounds while Katie Harrell added 15 points and nine rebounds. Tayler Thompson finished with seven points and seven rebounds.

LC-M improved to 8-7 overall and 2-1 in District 20-4A play.

“Every game is a must for us,” LC-M Coach Amanda Ellerbee said. “We are going to have to beat the teams we are supposed to beat and then upset one of the big three.”

PN-G (5-9) was led by Caitlynn Dykes’ 12 points.

PN-G was ahead 14-10 after the first period only to see LC-M start to clamp down on defense the rest of the game.

Dykes scored eight points in the first frame.

The Lady Bears then outscored the Lady Indians 15-8 in the second to take a 25-22 lead into half-time.

Harrell and Soileau each scored seven points in the second period for the Lady Bears.

LC-M was 5-for-6 from the free throw in the second frame and had only committed six turnovers at the break.

PN-G was also doing a nice job of holding onto the basketball in the game with nine turnovers at half-time.

LC-M’s defense did an even better job in the second half by holding PN-G to 12 points in the game’s final 16 minutes.

Soileau had another six points in the third and Harrell had the other four points in the period as LC-M led 35-28 heading into the fourth.

LC-M was up 45-31 with 2:28 left in the contest and the Lady Bears were doing their best to waste time off the clock.

Ellen Williams, who had just two points up to this point, drained a three-pointer to give LC-M a decisive 48-31 lead. Williams added another bucket to finish with seven points.

Lauren Hanratty had a nice game for the Lady Indians as she finished with eight points and four rebounds. Haley Savant added four points and five points.

PN-G turned the ball over 18 times in the game while LC-M finished with nine.

LC-M returns to action Dec. 29-31 at the Barbers Hill Tournament.