By Caleb Adams

Leader Correspondent

BRIDGE CITY — The West Orange-Stark Mustangs took down the Bridge City Cardinals 51-38 in Bridge City on Thursday night in District 22-4A action as the Mustangs ran their district mark to 2-0.

The Mustangs (10-10, 2-0) and their defense was the key to the game as the Cardinals (7-13, 0-2) were held to just three points in the final quarter of play, telling a story on its own as the Mustangs were able to break away from a 24-24 at the half with a 17-11 run in the third and a 10-3 spurt in the fourth.

The Mustangs leading scorers were Domeneque Preston with 11 points, and Terron Brown with nine points on the evening.

The Cardinals leading scorers were Kolten Weeks with 12 points and Hunter Weigreffe with 10 points on the night.

The first few minutes of the game both teams had trouble finding points. By the middle of the first the story for this game became clear, whoever could play the best lockdown defense would find a win.

The Cardinals’ Grant Boudreaux and Weigraffe led the way with four points apiece in the opening quarer. The Mustangs’ Preston lead the way with six points and Brown was close behind with four of his own. The Mustangs lead after one quarter and lead 14-13.

The Cardinals found their first lead of the night a couple minutes into the second quarter going up 20-17. The Mustangs would tie it up with three minutes left in the half. The Cardinals started working the ball around the court offensively and found more openings but that changed in the second half as the Mustangs turned on the heat.

At the half the game was tied at 24-24 with four lead changes in the final couple of minutes of play. Weigreffe led the Cardinals with 10 points in the first half with Boudreaux at seven. The Mustangs’ Preston led the team with eight points, and Brown was close behind with seven of his own.

The Mustangs held the lead at four points for the majority of the third quarter but were not able to grow it much, until Zy Miller scored six quick points late in the quarter to make it 41-35 heading into the fourth. Each possession for the Cardinals, on the other hand, was a struggle to find opportune shots. The Mustangs defense, much like football, was carrying a lot of the weight in this game.

The Mustangs pulled farther and farther away from the Cardinals as the fourth quarter came to a close.

The Mustangs will play host to Orangefield Friday night while the Cardinals visit Hamshire-Fannett.