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Beach, Wagner, Weldon look for strong Lady Bobcat finish


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Beach, Wagner, Weldon look for strong Lady Bobcat finish

Gabe Pruett

The Orange Leader

ORANGEFIELD — It has been a long time coming.

Allie Beach, Olivia Wagner and Jessica Weldon are finally seniors for the Orangefield Lady Bobcats.

For three years the trio have been around, yet it seems a lot longer for Lady Bobcats fans.

“It has actually gone by really fast,†Beach said.

Beach and her teammates are 15-4 overall and carry a No. 9 ranking in the state.

The Lady Bobcats open District 21-3A play tonight with a road trip to face the Bridge City Lady Cardinals.

Orangefield is looking to defend its district title and then move on to the playoffs where the Lady Bobcats will be looking for a little revenge.

The trio of seniors say they do not like to talk about last year’s playoffs yet the loss against Navasota is forever etched into their minds.

Navasota, at one point, was up 17 only to have Orangefield come back and force overtime.

Orangefield’s Kaylin Little was then fouled with one second on the clock behind the three-point line and Navasota up two.

Little sank all three points to give the Lady Bobcats a 62-61 advantage. A referee from the Navasota chapter called a technical foul on the Orangefield bench for celebrating and the Lady Rattlers connected on 1-of-2 free throws to send the game to overtime where Navasota pulled away.

“I think about that game all the time,†Weldon said. “Then Coach (Chris) Jost will randomly bring it up at times and it still hurts.â€

Wagner said the loss has driven this year’s Orangefield team to achieve more and to make sure the Lady Bobcats are the ones deciding the games at the end.

“I get so angry thinking of it,†Wagner said. “I cried myself to sleep for about a week. We had that game taken from us.â€

So far this season there have not been many teams taking anything from the Lady Bobcats.

Two of four losses on Orangefield’s record have come to Class 2A No. 7 Kountze, a team looking to make the state tournament.

“We are yet to lose at home and we want to go undefeated here,†Wagner said. “We want to go as far as we can in the playoffs and go undefeated this year in district.â€

The three seniors have been playing basketball, along with a variety of other sports, together way before their high school days.

It is that continuity which brings out their best when on the basketball court.

“Jess is our ball handler and she has done so well at it,†Beach said of Weldon. “She has really stepped up after we lost Kay-K and Laura (Riddick). We are all very confident when the ball is in her hands.â€

Weldon and Wagner have been on the same basketball courts since they were 5-year-olds.

“I know I can always depend on Olivia,†Weldon said. “I absolutely hate it when she goes out of the game. We have a really great connection on the court and it helps that we are all best friends off the court.â€

Then there is Beach whose mere presence can intimidate opponents.

“Allie has really stepped up this year,†Wagner said. “She is our only senior post and she intimidates people out there. She makes our job a lot easier.â€

Time may be running out for the trio yet one thing is for certain — these three will leave their mark in the storied history of Orangefield basketball.

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I simply cannot believe these three are seniors. I guess I'll be saying that every year now about every group of seniors.

All three are great girls. Their families and coaches should be proud.

Just means you are getting old. Sorry that is just the way it is.

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