BRIDGE CITY – It was smooth sailing for the Bridge City Cardinals in their own Cardinal Classic Wednesday while the Orangefield Bobcats dropped a pair of tough games at Bridge City High School and Middle School on the first day of the tournament.

The Cardinals cruised past the Anahuac Panthers 62-47 in their first game of the day and then hammered the Sabine Pass Sharks 79-38.

Bridge City, along with Evadale and Tarkington, each won their two games on the first day.

The Bobcats, meanwhile, dropped a 72-66 tilt to the Evadale Rebels in their first matchup of the day and then dropped a 42-41 heartbreaker to the Port Neches-Groves Indians in their second game.

The Cardinals were clicking on all cylinders to blow past the Sharks. The two played almost two weeks ago with the Cardinals squeezing out a 50-47 decision. However, the Cardinals controlled it from the start Wednesday, going on a 22-9 run to start the game and they stretched it to 49-20 at intermission as they never looked back.

Every Redbird was involved in the onslaught.

Post Hunter Wiegreffe led the way with 20 points while also adding six rebounds.

Both guard Brandon Vela and post Benjamin Moore each contributed double-doubles. Vela had 12 points and collected 10 boards while Moore filtered in 10 points and snagged 12 rebounds.

Bridge City guard Chason Burch chimed in with 14 points. Brothers Zach Honeycutt and Caleb Honeycutt teamed up for 16 points and eight rebounds. Max Baker added seven points while Justyn Romero collected six rebounds.

Guard Jarrius Jones led the Sharks with 17 points.

The Cardinals controlled the glass, finishing with a 47-25 rebounding edge. BC finished 17-of-27 from the free-throw line while the Sharks went just 6-of-13.

Anahuac played the pest role for the first half in the Cardinals’ victory as BC held just a 24-18 advantage at intermission.

Behind the strong effort in the second half, especially by Romero inside, the Cardinals were able to pull away with a 17-7 jaunt in the fourth quarter.

Romero finished with a game-high 19 points. Moore collected 10 points while Wiegreffe had nine, Vela eight and Baker and Burch seven apiece.

Chuck Boles led Anahuac with 14 points while Ben Richardson had 10.

The Bobcats scrapped with the feisty Rebels in their first game but turnovers proved to be too costly as the Bobcats committed 29 of them.

Caleb Kress, who had a superb all-around day, led the Bobcats with 20 points while also grabbing nine rebounds to pace four Bobcats in double figures.

Payton Lathrop chimed in with 15 points and seven boards. Aven Lathrop had 14 points while forward Alex Catt had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Daniel Bean led the Rebels with 21 points as he connected on five three-point bombs. Guard Brady Griffin had 19 points while Jonathan Gravis contributed 11.

The Bobcats finished with a 41-26 rebounding edge. Orangefield was 15-of-25 from the free-throw line while the Rebels were just 8-of-18. Evadale had just 15 turnovers.

PN-G barely escaped the Bobcats.

PN-G forward Haden Wiggins was fouled with 0.3 seconds left with the game tied at 41-41. His first free-throw fell short but he was able to convert the second one as the Indians walked away with the victory.

Kress led the way for the Bobcats, scoring a game-high 21 points while Katt added 11. Zach Dischler and Blake Bradley led the Bobcats with five rebounds apiece.

Derrick Papa paced the Indian arsenal with 13 points.

Both teams finished with 29 rebounds. Orangefield was just 5-of-10 from the free-throw line while PN-G was just 5-of-15. Both teams had 12 turnovers.

In other action at the tourney Wednesday, Tarkington defeated Sabine Pass 63-61 and Anahuac 75-34. Evadale defeated Vidor 77-67 and Vidor toppled PN-G 46-34.

Games Thursday includes Vidor vs. Orangefield (9 a.m. HS), Bridge City vs. Tarkington (9 a.m. MS); PN-G vs. Evadale (10:20 a.m. HS) and Anahuac vs. Sabine Pass (10:20 a.m. MS).

The Pool A vs. Pool B fourth-place teams will play at 12:40 p.m. in the MS Gym.

The rest of the games will be at the HS Gym.

The two third-place teams from each pool will play at 12:40 p.m. The two-second-place teams in each pool will meet at 2 p.m. and the two first-place teams in each pool will play in the championship at 3:20 p.m.