LITTLE CYPRESS — With the fourth-pace playoff berth on the line at the Bear Cave Tuesday night, the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Lady Bears picked the wrong night to go cold from the field.

The Lumberton Lady Raiders jumped on the Lady Bears early as the Lady Raiders went on to seal the playoff berth with a 52-39 victory.

Lumberton (17-14, 6-8) darted on to a early 11-2 lead behind the hot hand of Megan Worry. Worry scored 10 of the Lady Raiders’ first 11 points and finished with a huge double-double, tallying a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Behind freshman Sheridan Rogers, who scored all five of her points in the first period, the Lady Bears (13-20, 5-9) trimmed the margin to 15-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Getting nice buckets from Taylor Powell, who finished with 10 points and five boards, the Lady Raiders extended their lead to 24-10 midway through the second period.

LC-M scrapped back to get to within 24-19 but the Lady Raiders, thanks to four quick points by Hannah Holt, extended to a 30-19 lead at intermission.

Lumberton upped their margin to as much as 38-23 in the third quarter but the Lady Bears scored seven of the final 10 points in the period to get to within 40-30 at the end of the quarter. LC-M post Kaleigh Roy had four of her nine points in the third.

Free-throw shooting down the stretch helped the Lady Raiders keep the Lady Bears at bay. Lumberton went 15-of-22 from the charity stripe for the game and 11-of-15 in the second half.

The Lady Bears went just 10-of-23 from the foul line, 8-of-17 in the second half.

Lady Bear post Tara Thompson finished with six points and six rebounds. Grace Chen and Tori Thompson pulled down five rebounds apiece as LC-M went on to outrebound the Lady Raiders 35-31.

Forward Taylor Harvill had 10 points and five rebounds while Hannah Holt added seven points.

The Lady Bears finished with 16 turnovers while the Lady Raiders had just 12.

Lumberton will face District 19-4A champion Barbers Hill in the bidistrict round of the Class 4A Region III playoffs next week.



Bears rip Raiders

LUMBERTON - The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears avenged a home loss to Lumberton in the first half of District 20-4A play by blowing out the Raiders 66-36 at Raider Gym Tuesday night.

The Bears (12-19, 3-9) jumped on the Raiders (12-21, 6-6) quickly, going on a 20-8 spurt in the first period.

LC-M expanded its lead to 29-13 at the half and led 43-21 at the end of the third quarter.

Taylor Peveto paced four Bears in double figures with 23 points.

Blake Fuss tallied 15 points while Trumaine Elmore had 13 and Jace Robertson added 11.

Logan Gunter led the Raiders with 13 points.

The Bears return home Friday when they play host to first-place Beaumont Central.

Central (24-5, 11-1) pounded Livingston (9-18, 2-10) 97-28 Tuesday. Nederland (24-8, 10-2) pulled into a second-place tie by defeating Beaumont Ozen (18-10, 10-2) 50-45 in overtime. Port Neches-Groves (11-17, 6-6) pulled into a fourth-place tie with Lumberton by downing Vidor (5-22, 0-12) 44-31.



Mustangs burn Buna

BUNA - Placing four players in double figures, the West Orange-Stark Mustangs blew past the Buna Cougars 80-50 in District 21-3A play at Cougar Gym Tuesday night.

Travon Blanchard led the WO-S (19-10, 8-2) attack with 20 points.

Laquarious Paige chimed in with 16 points while Brandon Joubert had 14 and Tyrant Thompson added 13.

Buna fell to 13-16 overall, 1-10 in 21-3A play.

The Mustangs remain in a tie for second in the standings with Hardin-Jefferson (30-3, 8-2), which throttled Bridge City (11-17, 2-8) 65-30. First-place Silsbee (23-7, 10-0) bombed Hamshire-Fannett 101-58.

WO-S will host Bridge City Friday while H-J faces Silsbee at Ford Park in Beaumont.



Hawks dazzle Cards

BRIDGE CITY - The Hardin-Jefferson Hawks darted to a 26-4 lead in the first quarter and never looked back as they downed the Bridge City Cardinals 65-30 in District 21-3A action at Cardinal Gym Tuesday night.

Zjori Bosha led the Hawks (30-3, 8-2) with 15 points while Braden Harmon had 11.

Bryce Sampere led the Cardinals (11-17, 2-8) with 10 points while Tanner Cervenka had eight and Alex Bingham six.

The Cardinals will visit WO-S Friday.