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BRIDGE CITY – Bridge City senior point guard Walker Britten had the game of his life thus far against Big Sandy but it was not quite enough Tuesday to lift the Cardinals past the Wildcats in non-district action at Cardinal Gym.

The Wildcats (5-0) ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 2A, went on a 24-14 run in the second half to turn back the Cardinals 52-51.

Britten fired in 33 of the Cardinals’ (3-2) points, burying nine three-pointers in the process. He had eight three-pointers in the first half alone, leading Bridge City to a 37-28 lead by halftime.

However, the Wildcats turned the tide in the second half, led by post player Elias Bullock, who had a double-double, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He had 15 of his points in the second half, including all eight of the Wildcats’ points in the final quarter.

The Wildcats turned it up a notch on defense in the third quarter and outscored the Cardinals 16-6 in the period with Bullock bulling his way inside for seven points in that quarter.

It was hard for Britten to get up shots in the third quarter with the hounding Wildcats defense as Big Sandy held its first lead of the game at 44-43 at the end of the third.

Britten answered with a big three-point missile late in the third to give the Cardinals a 48-46 lead, but the Wildcats went on a 6-3 run, getting three buckets inside from Bullock, to hold on for the win.

Britten had a chance to win it with a three-point attempt with 0:05 left, but it rattled out. The Cardinals then got Big Sandy to turn it over on the ensuing inbounds pass as Britten swiped the ball, missed a short shot and fellow Cardinals player Jerris Brown got the rebound. His putback rattled off the rim, and the Wildcats held on.

Tavian Battise had 11 points and five rebounds for the Wildcats, while teammate Javon Criswell contributed nine points and eight boards.

Fernando Rodriguez had seven points for the Cardinals, while Aaden Bush had five points and five rebounds.

Aaron Torres led the Cardinals with eight rebounds, while Lincoln Breaux had five.

Big Sandy finished with a 28-23 rebounding edge. The Cardinals had 16 turnovers, while the Wildcats had 17.

The Cardinals hurt themselves at the charity stripe, going just 2-of-7 from the free-throw line while Big Sandy was 7-of-8.

The Cardinals led 20-16 at the end of the first quarter as Britten fired in 14 of the points and drained four three-pointers.

Orangefield boys

FANNETT – The Orangefield Bobcats rallied late but fell just short to the Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns 74-71 at Longhorn Gym.

The Bobcats (4-1) trailed 52-46 entering the fourth quarter but outscored the Longhorns 17-11 to force overtime before Hamshire-Fannett was able to pull it out.

Pete Ragusa led the Bobcats with 26 points and had six rebounds and four assists.

Zane Wrinkle chimed in with a nice double-double, scoring 16 points while hauling down 10 boards and dishing off five assists.

Brayden Parker had 10 points while Koen Maddox had seven and Jaden Scales six. Cameron Dischler collected six rebounds.

LC-M boys

NEDERLAND – The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears dropped a tough 47-41 decision to the Nederland Bulldogs to end their five-game winning streak to start the season.

The Bears (5-1) led the Bulldogs 27-22 at the half, but Nederland finished with 25-14 spurt in the second half to nail down the win.

Senior Ben Elliott led the Bears attack with a double-double, scoring 20 points while snagging 12 rebounds.

Luke Harrison had 16 points to lead the Bulldogs while Dallas Rosette added 11.

Vidor boys

VIDOR – Getting a huge outing from Zander Lindsey, the Vidor Pirates stormed past the Kountze Lions, 69-58, in non-district hoop action.

Lindsey poured in a whopping 33 points to go along with eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

Bryce Loftin filtered in 17 points, grabbed five rebounds and swiped three steals for the Pirates, while Brayden Root contributed seven points and 11 rebounds.

Bridge City girls

BRIDGE CITY – The Bridge City Lady Cardinals dropped a 57-34 decision to the Woodville Lady Eagles in non-district hoop action.

Kaylee Britten led the Lady Cardinals with 12 points and also led the way in steals.Rylynn Thornton was the top rebounder.