BRIDGE CITY — Pat Abel had reason to worry his Port Neches-Groves Indians would come out flat Monday against the Vidor Pirates. The Indians had not played a game since defeating West Orange-Stark 59-33 on Dec. 14.
PN-G made Abel a very happy coach Monday morning at the Bridge City Holiday Classic with a 64-54 win over Vidor.
The Indians (5-7) came out on fire and scored the game’s first nine points and led 22-6 after the first period.
“I was pleased with our first-quarter performance,” Abel said. “We came off the bus ready to play. It has been a long break for us, so I was a little worried about us being able to score. We came out and made a few shots. Adam [Morse] hit a few shots and we had some inside looks. That really set the tone for us.”
Four different Indians scored in the 9-0 run to start the game, and Edsel Damo hit two treys to score six points in the game’s first 8 minutes.
Morse had five of his 16 points in the first. He grabbed 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double.
The Indians started slow in the second as Abel went to his bench to start the quarter. PN-G outscored Vidor 13-11 in the period.
Abel left the second string in for a few minutes before putting the starters back in midway through the second.
“When we sub in, we don’t want any left off,” Abel said. “We want the same momentum. That is something we have to get better at. The guys coming off the bench have to know their role and step into it.”
Ryan Abel had a great overall game with 14 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks.
Damo finished with 13 and Keynel McZeal added 12 points and four rebounds.
PN-G won the battle for the boards with 47 rebounds compared to 20 for Vidor (6-5).
Gavin Lacy finished with 13 points for the Pirates and teammate Ty Morgan finished with 11 points.
Both teams scored 16 points in the third and Vidor outscored PN-G 19-11 in the fourth.