*OF vs. HJ/52-43 OF WINS/COMMENTS*

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Post updates here.

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13-10 OF after 1.

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29-22 OF Half.

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44-30 OF after 3.

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52-43 OF wins!

[Bobcat1]

Hard fought game!  Way to go Lady Bobcats!!!  ;D

[24 over par]

congrats of

[Bobcat1]

Bobcats go perfect the first half of district!  Awesome job, good leadership by KayK and Laura! Everyone contributed to this win, keep it up Bobcats!

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Lady ’Cats take down Lady Hawks, 52-43

Gabriel Pruett

The Orange Leader

ORANGEFIELD — With half of District 21-3A play in the books, the No. 16 Orangefield Lady Bobcats are now the only team remaining undefeated with sole possession of first place.

Orangefield used a stingy defense to get past No. 17 Hardin-Jefferson Friday night in Bobcat Gym on its way to a 52-43 victory.

The win propels the Lady Bobcats to 16-9 on the season and a perfect 7-0 in the district standings. The Lady Hawks fall to 19-5 overall and are now two games back of first with a 5-2 district mark.

“It really blows my mind to know Hardin-Jefferson is now two games back of first,†Orangefield Coach Chris Jost said. “I have seen them play several times and have seen their scores all year, I know how good they can play. We definitely know what we are in for when we finish off district at their place.â€

For now though the Lady Bobcats will be able to celebrate a huge win before taking on Silsbee Tuesday at home.

Senior Kaylin Little once again paced the Orangefield offense with 19 points while Olivia Wagner added 11 and Allie Beach finished with 10.

Several Lady Bobcats were key on the defensive side as Little finished with four steals and Laura Riddick, Beach and freshman Marissa Wyatt had three.

Wagner also finished with a game-high eight rebounds.

Orangefield held Hardin-Jefferson to just the 43 points and also forced 17 turnovers on the night.

“We definitely play up to our competition,†Jost said. “What a great defensive effort. They (Lady Hawks) are one of the best teams we will play all year. We dictated things on defense and had them confused at times what they wanted to do.â€

Orangefield held Hardin-Jefferson’s Katelyn Bernsen to just 10 points while Latricia Moore had a team-high 15 points.

Little broke the game open late in the third after Hardin-Jefferson’s Jennifer Breeden knocked down a three to make it 37-30 Lady Bobcats.

Little scored the game’s next seven points, including a three of her own, to put the Lady Bobcats up 44-30 heading into the fourth.

Orangefield would need all of those points as Hardin-Jefferson went on a 7-0 run to start the game’s final eight minutes to close the gap to 44-37.

Beach finally got the Lady Bobcats on the board with a free throw with 4:20 left on the game clock.

The Lady Hawks then made it just a five-point game at 46-41 with 3:30 remaining in the game.

It was Beach again who came through for Orangefield with a bucket and Little quickly followed with two free throws to make it 50-41 with 54.5 left.

The two teams traded buckets the rest of the way and Orangefield found themselves the victors.

“The girls really stepped up tonight and made some huge plays,†Jost said.

Orangefield got Bernsen in early foul trouble as the Hardin-Jefferson standout was forced to the bench midway through the second with three fouls.

Orangefield went on a 10-3 run the rest of the way to take a 29-22 lead into halftime.

The Lady Hawks were up 22-19 before Bernsen was called for her third foul.

[Bobcat1]

Great article.

Thank you Gabe for doing such a great job for girls sports especially, I enjoy reading everything you write.

Way to go Bobcats!

[Gabe]

Trust me, the Lady Bobcats make my job a very easy thing to do. Great win last night.

What is funny after I thought about it, the number of fouls HJ did not have down the stretch cost them some time. Since they only had 1 foul compared to 8 for OF late, the Lady Hawks had a lot of fouling to do to get inside the bonus. It took up a good 30 seconds of the game. Ironic huh?

[Bobcat1]

[Guest bleed orange]

This was an awesome game. Two defensive sguads going at it for 32 minutes. Both teams played hard. Our girls where amazing. Everyone stepped up and played. I am so proud of these young ladies. We seem to step up to the level of our competition. Nobody expected us to be in this position and we still have a long way to go. Great job friday night ladies. Lets keep it going. This team is coming together.