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ORANGEFIELD – They may be young, but the Orangefield Lady Bobcats continue to show tremendous improvement for first-year head basketball coach Eric Girola as they wrapped up the Tennison Tournament they Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Lady Bobcats went 2-2 in the tournament.

That was never more evident when the Lady Bobcats turned back the Evadale Lady Rebels 47-44.

The Lady Rebels checked into the game ranked No. 7 in the latest Texas High School Girls Coaches Association Class 2A state poll but the Lady Bobcats fought and scrapped their way to a nice victory.

The Lady Bobcats received a huge effort from junior post Greenlea Oldham. The Lady Rebels had no answer for Oldham inside as she powered her way to a game-high 20 points to go along with a game-high 18 rebounds.

The Lady Bobcats led 13-8 at the end of the first quarter with Oldham scoring nine points in the period.

Guard Mallorie Dougharty kept the Lady Rebels close. Dougharty buried three three-pointers in the first half and helped get Evadale to within 24-21 at the half. Dougharty finished with a team-high 16 points.

The Lady Bobcats expanded their lead to 38-30 by the end of the third quarter. Brooklyn Waggoner scored all six of her points for the Lady Bobcats in the quarter, burying two three-point missiles.

Dougharty and fellow Lady Rebel guard Kelsin Bruce teamed up for 12 points in the fourth quarter as Evadale came all the way back to tie things up at 40-40. Bruce finished with 12 pints.

However, the Lady Bobcats made key defensive plays down the stretch and got seven big points inside by Oldham to hold back the Lady Rebels.

The Lady Bobcats did a number on the boards against the Lady Rebels, outrebounding them 42-23. Orangefield did finish with 21 turnovers while Evadale had just 12.

Harleigh Rawls had six points and six boards for Orangefield. Sterling Richard contributed six points while Ava Dyer collected five rebounds.

Madison Cotton had eight points and a team-high nine rebounds for Evadale while Addison Henderson had seven boards.

It was a nice rebound win for the Lady Bobcats, who dropped a tight 40-38 decision to Vidor in an earlier tourney game.

Rawls led the Lady Bobcats with 20 points and had three rebounds. Oldham contributed 10 points and six boards while Brianna Moore added six points.

On Wednesday, the Lady Bobcats defeated Cleveland 36-21 and fell to Port Arthur Memorial 43-40.

Oldham led the Lady Bobcats against Cleveland, scoring 14 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. Rawls had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists while Kaylea Gravett had seven rebounds.

In the loss to Memorial, Rawls led the way with 16 points. Oldham contributed seven points and 12 boards while Brianna Moore added five points, five rebounds and five steals.

Other scores in the tourney included Port Arthur Memorial defeating Warren 44-40, Cleveland nipped Evadale 40-38, PA Memorial toppled Vidor 55-44, Warren edged Cleveland 44-43, Evadale downed Warren 44-29, Vidor zapped Cleveland 40-20 and Vidor also throttled Warren 56-31 while PA Memorial downed Evadale 55-27.

Memorial went a perfect 3-0 to win the title. Vidor was 3-1 followed by Orangefield (2-2), Cleveland (1-3), Evadale (1-3) and Warren (1-3).