McAnelly, Cardinals hold back Newton, 76-67

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McAnelly, Cardinals hold back Newton, 76-67
Van Wade
The Orange Leader

BRIDGE CITY — Nate McAnelly scored 34 points and snagged 10 rebounds as the Bridge City Cardinals held off a late Newton rally to turn back the Eagles 76-67 in non-district action at Cardinal Gym Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals (10-12) built up a substantial 64-38 lead over the Eagles (1-11) going into the fourth period but Newton go as close as 74-67 with less than a minute left.

McAnelly was on fire throughout.

He scored 10 points in the first period, 13 more in the second quarter and nine more in the third and added a bucket in the fourth as the Cardinals played their last non-district game before opening District 21-3A play Friday night on the road at Hardin-Jefferson 23-2.

Post Tanner Girouard joined McAnelly with a double-double as he poured in 14 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.McAnelly ripped five three-point bombs in the win.

Guard Johnathan Peterson had a solid overall game, tallying 11 points to go along with nine assists and five rebounds while William Veillon added nine points.

Newton guard Trevor Holmes had the hot hand early on and finished with a team-high 21 points. He had 16 points in the first half and wound up hitting five three-point shots.

Bryon Foster had 18 points and seven rebounds, including 13 points in Newton’s 29-12 run in the last period.

Dion Seastrunk had seven points and six rebounds for Newton while Shaun Balkum had six points and 10 rebounds and Brent Spikes added six points and five boards.

The game was tied 10-10 early in the fourth period but the Cardinals closed it with a 7-0 run, utilizing the halfcourt-trap to near perfection.

Bridge City went on a 23-15 run to grab a 40-25 cushion at intermission as McAnelly connected on five buckets, three of them three-pointers while Girouard and Veillon had two buckets apiece.

The Cardinals broke it open more with a 24-13 spurt in the third period with McAnelly tallying nine points and Peterson seven.

The Cardinals finished with a 39-34 rebounding edge.

Newton finished with 18 turnovers while Bridge City had 15.

The Cardinals went 7-of-16 from the free-throw line while Newton shot 5-of-11.