OF 49 HJ 32 Final/Tuesday

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Stay tuned.

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15-14 OF after 1.

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25-25 half.

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35-28 OF after 3.

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49-32 OF wins!!

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Very rough game. Didn't see the HF game but it was the roughest I saw this season. Hope everyone made it through without any serious bruises.

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Lady Bobcats take down H-J

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

ORANGEFIELD — They let Hardin-Jefferson stay in the game in the first half but the Orangefield Lady Bobcats sure didn’t let the Lady Hawks off the hook after intermission.

Breaking away from a 25-25 tie at the half, the 12th-ranked Lady Bobcats showed little mercy in the second half, holding H-J to just one field goal as Orangefield closed out its regular season with a 49-32 District 21-3A victory at Bobcat Gym Tuesday night.

Orangefield (25-7, 12-2), runnerups out of 21-3A, scored the first 10 points of the third period, spearheaded by senior Jessica Shores.

Shores, who finished with 10 points, buried a three-point bomb to open the third period and then scored on a smooth move in the paint to push the Lady Bobcats ahead 30-25. Kaylin Little ensued with a three-point missile of her own and Nichole Judice bulled her way inside for two more points as Orangefield took control at 35-25 with 2:17 left in the half.

“We found our groove to start the second half,†said Lady Bobcat head coach Sondra Ancelot. “Jess (Shores) came out and drilled a couple big ones for us and that helped set the tone after that.â€

Whitney Sutherland gave H-J (20-15, 7-7) its only field goal of the half when she scored inside with 1:50 remaining in the third period.

The Lady Bobcats outpointed H-J 10-3 in the third quarter and finished with a 14-4 spurt in the fourth on Senior Night.

Orangefield forced the Lady Hawks into 24 turnovers and its defense proved to be the difference in the second half.

“The first half was kinda crazy and rough,†said Ancelot. “I thought the kids handled themselves very well in the second half. Our offense was kinda sputtering most of the game but our defense was pretty much solid throughout and we stayed aggressive.â€

The Lady Bobcats will take on either Tarkington or Coldspring in the bidistrict round of the Class 3A Region III playoffs next week.

Orangefield advanced to the Region III semifinals last season where they fell to eventual 3A state champion China Springs.

Seven seniors closed out what has been a tremendous home run in a Lady Bobcat uniform in Shores, Kayla Stone, Kristy Sanders, Paige Roy, Alyssa DeRamus, Meaghan Granger and Nichole Judice.

“This is such a special group of kids and it’s been such a pleasure coaching them,†said Ancelot. “I think they know that they can be even more special when the playoffs start up. They feel like there is still plenty of unfinished business.â€

Sanders led a balanced Orangefield attack with 12 points. Laura Riddick powered her way to eight points and seven rebounds in the first half. Little canned two three-pointers while Judice contributed six rebounds.

Katelyn Bernsen paced the Lady Hawks with 10 points and added five rebounds. Jennifer Breeden poured in nine points and snagged five boards. Latricia Moore added seven points and five boards while Sutherland grabbed six rebounds.

The first quarter was the most “offensive†with Orangefield managing a 15-14 lead at the end of the period. Riddick led the way with six quick points for the Lady Bobcats while Breeden poured in six for H-J.

H-J forced Orangefield into six of its 15 turnovers in the second period and Bernsen went 4-of-5 from the charity stripe and Breeden buried a three-pointer to enable the Lady Hawks to pull even at the half.

Orangefield finished with a 26-25 rebounding edge. H-J went 11-of-21 from the free-throw line while the Lady Bobcats went just 9-of-17.