Lady Cats win District 21-3A title

[KFDM COOP]

Lady Cats win District 21-3A title

Gabriel Pruett

The Orange Leader

ORANGEFIELD — For the first time since 1992 the Orangefield Lady Bobcats will sit alone atop the district standings when the final game is over Tuesday.

The No. 11 Lady Bobcats wrapped up the District 21-3A title Friday with a 96-16 victory over the West Orange-Stark Mustangs on Senior Night in Orangefield.

The Lady Bobcats are now 22-9 overall and a perfect 13-0 in the district standings. The Lady Mustangs fell to 0-18 on the year and 0-13 in district.

Orangefield senior Kaylin “Kay-K†Little celebrated the night in style with a career high 41 points while fellow senior Laura Riddick fough off early foul trouble to lead all players with 13 rebounds to go with a block and three steals.

“Not only are those two great all-around players, they are the key to the defensive system I brought in here,†Orangefield Coach Chris Jost said. “We call it a full-court diamond and Laura was made to play the middle of it. Her speed is huge. Those two average 10 steals a game between them in district. In our big ballgames this year, it has been their poise and experience that has been the key for us.â€

With her fourth point of the night, Little scored her 2,100th career point in Orangefield.

Junior Olivia Wagner put in 21 points, six steals and six rebounds in the win while fellow-junior Allie Beach aded 16 points and nine boards. Junior Jessica Weldon finished with six points, six rebounds and five steals while sophomore Aimee Scales put in seven points to go with five rebounds.

Demetrius Heard led the Lady Mustangs with six points while Ryshaniqua Winbush had a team-high 10 rebounds.

The Lady Bobcats came out on fire from the get-go as Little scored eight in the first period as Orangefield built a 21-2 lead heading into the second.

WO-S, who commited 34 turnovers, made its first field goal of the game with 6:30 left in the second.

The Lady Bobcats would outscore the Lady Mustangs 29-3 in the second to lead 50-5 at the break.

Little scored 14 points in the second while Wagner and Beach each had six.

Wagner then had nine points in the third, including a four-point play after getting fouled on a three-pointer, and Little added 10 in the frame as Orangefield led 75-12 heading to the fourth.

Jost and the Lady Bobcats had the chance to attempt to hit the 100 mark yet pulled off in a show of sportsmanship.

Now the Lady Bobcats will finish the district season with a road trip to Sour Lake Tuesday to face the Hardin-Jefferson Lady Hawks.

“Winning the district title is a good feeling,†Jost said. “We felt like if we came together we would have a shot at contending for it. Now we would like to go undefeated. H-J is back to playing at a high level and it is going to be a playoff atmosphere. We are treating it like a playoff game because there are going to be some things exposed about our game that have not been exposed in a few weeks.

“We are certainly going to try to win the game. The pressure is off of us heading into the game. It would be a different game if the winner was district champions. That is off and we just want to continue to play well.â€

WO-S will finish their season Tuesday when they play host to the Bridge City Lady Cardinals.

[Bobcat1]

You played awesome as a team! Keep it up ladies!

[Gabe]

To all the OF Lady Bobcat fans I have a question.

Are you surprised this team is 13-0 and won the district title for the first time since 92?

Dont get me wrong here, I know this is a great, special team after watching them play all season. They work so well together it is kinda scary sometimes.

But at the start of the season there was a new coach and 7 seniors had graduated. HJ and Silsbee looked to be, and still are, very tough.

So is it a surprise the Lady Cats are where they are?

[Bobcat1]

I'm not going to lie, I am surprised.  I knew we'd make the play offs, but I thought Silsbee and HJ would be in the fight for first and us and HF for the 3rd spot. In the beginning I thought that it was going to be a long season, I wasn't a huge fan of the new defense, but I did like the offense.  They really pulled together and play like a team and it is so fun to watch!  Who would have thought, the team that lost 7 seniors would be in this spot.  Go Lady Cats!!

[Guest bleed orange]

To be honest I knew we were going to have a good season (20+wins) but after watching summer league I too thought we would be fighting for that third spot. That's one of the reasons I am so proud of these girls. In the beginning of the season they had flashes of a very good team but could never put it together. They looked confused at times and out of sync. But then a light came on and the rest is history. This team has gotten better through out the season and that's what good teams do. Our girls have grown a lot not only as young women but as basketball players. I knew the potential was there. The girls had to realize it and they did. A good example of how these young ladies have matured is our two seniors fouled out with 3 minutes left in the Silsbee game. Silsbee started to make a run. Our underclassmen could have wilted but instead they kept their composure and won the game. We were playing well before that game but the confidence we gained from that game was huge.

[PoppaBearstarr]

Congrats Lady Bobcats great job fighting through a very tough District.  ;D.

[hawkdad]

Any team that can go thru this district that strong should have a very bright future in the playoffs.