Cardinals fast break past Lumberton

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Cardinals fast break past Lumberton

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

BRIDGE CITY — They are certainly still a work in progress but the Bridge City Cardinals certainly look like they’re making strides under the guidance of first-year head coach Tony Knight.

The Cardinals gave Coach Knight his first hoop victory at his alma mater Friday afternoon by darting past the Lumberton Raiders 70-46 at Cardinal Gym.

The Cardinals (1-1) darted out to a quick 15-3 lead after one period of play and continued to pull away from the Raiders (0-2).

Bridge City had a solid inside-outside game from the opening tip to the final horn.

Post Corey Smith bulldozed his way inside for a game-high 21 points while also snagging five rebounds and power forward Adam Sanchez pumped in 14 points and five rebounds. Guard Jason Clark was hot from the outside as he buried three three-pointers to score 17 points and he also led the Cardinals with seven rebounds.

“It’s always good to get that first win under your belt,†Knight said. “The kids played with much better intensity tonight than they did in the loss to Port Neches on Tuesday.â€

Knight also enjoyed the way the Cardinals moved the ball around in the victory.

“We settled for the three-pointer against PN-G, I think we took about 22 of them, we can’t do that and be sucessful,†Knight said. “Today, the ball movement was strong. We were able to get Corey and Adam involved early and it paid dividends for us. That’s the type of team we want to be.â€

The Cardinals have already reached half of their win total of a season ago in which they won just two games. Their confidence level after two games seems to be much higher.

“I’m certainly seeing more hustle out of the kids but there is so much room for improvement and I think they realize that,†said Knight. “I see a lot more diving for loose balls and getting teammates more involved. Everybody gave us pretty good minutes today.â€

Clark and Smith teamed up for 13 points in the first quarter as the Cardinals gained plenty of momentum early.

The Cardinals were able to take a commanding 33-16 lead heading into intermission as Smith pumped in six points in the second quarter and Clark and Jaden Dillon, who had seven points and five rebounds, tallied five points apiece.

Both teams were hot in the third period with the Cardinals outscoring the Raiders 20-16 in the period to go up 53-32 heading to the fourth. Smith bulled his way to six more points in the period.

Sanchez scored six of his 14 points in the final eight minutes as the Cardinals continued to pull away.

Andrew Hall and Kevin Kronke paced the Raider attack with nine points apiece while Kris Koch.

The Cardinals finished with a commanding 37-24 edge in the rebounding department. Sophomore point guard Tyler Hyde grabbed six rebounds while Sanchez and Smith yanked down five apiece. Hall had six boards for the Raiders.

Bridge City finished with 16 turnovers while the Raiders had 14. The Cardinals went just 5-of-14 from the free-throw line while Lumberton went 15-of-27.

The Cardinals return to action Tuesday night when they play host to the Deweyville Pirates.