By Caleb Adams

Leader Correspondent

SPLENDORA — The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears beat the Lufkin Hudson Hornets 73-61 Tuesday night at Splendora High School. The two teams were meeting for the second time, with the Bears getting the best of the Hornets when it counted most.

LC-M guard Ayson Simmons led the team with 30 points on the night, the majority of which were in the lane as he scorched the Hudson defense with strong drives in the paint.

The Bears will now moveon to face the Huffman Falcons, who defeated Houston Worthing 65-49 Tuesday night.

The Bears improved to 23-12 on the season and got revenge from a 63-52 loss that the Hornets handed them way back in the Hardin-Jefferson Marathon in December. Katon Brown had another solid outing for the Bears, scoring 16 points while snagging eight rebounds to go along with five assists.

Braden Bridges filtered in 15 more points for the Bears. Simmons added six rebounds and went 14-of-18 from the free-throw line.

The Bears defense was centered around the team winning the game as a whole.

LC-M head coach Brad Jeffcoat said after the game that “Our team made just enough plays to win as a team. That simple really.” Which is a great summary of the game and how it went.

For the Hornets (18-19) Jacob Pierce put up 22 points for the night, he found most of his success inside the paint, driving the lane for the easy points. Pierce played consistently all night for Lufkin Hudson. Gary Johnson scored 14 points for the Hornets while Terraven Rhodes added 13.

The first quarter started with a bang with both teams coming out firing on all cylinders. The Hornets were able to distribute the ball well among the starters putting up 14 points. The Bears point guard Simmons put up 11 points in the first quarter, four coming from the charity line, and one from three point land. The Bears went up early 16-14 in the first.

The second quarter was much of the same, this time Brown took over from three-point land, landing two threes in the quarter. For the Hornets Kade Johnson put up seven points including one three pointer in the quarter. The Bears held the lead at 31-29 to go into the half.

The third quarter was slower with both teams finding success on the defensive side forcing turnovers and contested shots. The Bears stayed on top 46-41 going into the fourth and final quarter.

In the third quarter the Bears lead was the largest of the night. Midway through the quarter Braden Bridges hit a three from downtown to put the Bears up by nine. After the Hornets failed to convert on the next offensive possession, the Bears Simmons hits a follow up three to put the game out of reach.

The Bears extend their season for another week in hopes to make a deep run into the tournament. As a whole LCM played well as a team and played at a high pace to top the Hornets and look to do this again when they take on Huffman.