The Orangefield Bobcats suffered their first loss in district last week but rebounded with a good win at home. The Bobcats occupied second place in the standings entering the final week of the first half in the district schedule.

On Tuesday, January 10, Orangefield traveled to Winnie and played the East Chambers Buccaneers. The game was tied 27-27 at the half then East Chambers had a big third quarter outscoring the Bobcats 19-5 to take a lead that proved insurmountable. The final score was 62-48 with the margin of difference being the third period.

The following Friday night Orangefield played the Anahuac Panthers at the Orangefield Gymnasium. It would be a battle between two of the top teams in District 22-3A.

Off the opening tip the Panthers took the first lead with a quick basket. The Bobcats got field goals from Pete Ragusa and Zane Wrinkle to take a 4-2 lead. Two free throws by Wrinkle had Orangefield up 6-3 and a second basket by Zane restored the three-point lead 8-5 for the Bobcats.

Anahuac hit two three point shots and scored ten points in the closing minutes of the first quarter. The Bobcats could only manage two free throws by Brayden Parker during the streak and trailed 15-10 after one quarter.

The Bobcats responded or more correctly Ragusa and Morgan Sampson replied with tremendous efforts in the second quarter. Sampson made multiple steals and scored five points. Pete scored twelve points in the second including a three pointer, a length of the court dribble and driving layup, concluding with a steal and a basket to put Orangefield up 28-23 at the half.

Wrinkle answered a three by Anahuac with a three of his own to begin the third quarter. Ragusa ripped two more threes in the third and Koen Maddox alternating with Sampson as the Bobcat post scored two buckets, the last one to give Orangefield a ten point lead 45-35 after three quarters.

Neither team shot very effectively in the final period as the Bobcats and Panthers evenly divided sixteen points. Orangefield won the game 53-43 to improve to 4-1 in district.

The high scorer was Ragusa with 26 points. Wrinkle produced a double-double scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Sampson and Maddox combined for 11 points.

The result for Orangefield was a big win against a much bigger Anahuac team. "I'm so proud of how our Bobcats responded. That was a big gut check for us. We lost a big one on Tuesday kind of in a tough way. It would have been real easy for us to hang our heads and let one slip tonight, but our guys were all about the fight and they were ready to go. They knew if we just handled business we could get right back where we need to be which is in the district championship race," Orangefield Coach Jake McDonald expressed.

Another tough test was expected for the Bobcats when they played the Kountze Lions in Orangefield on Tuesday, January 17. Orangefield's next game will be Friday, January 10, at Kirbyville which concludes the first half of district.