The News staff reports and The Orange Leader

NEDERLAND — The Bulldogs are in the playoffs, without a doubt.

The only question Nederland has to answer is, will they get the No. 3 seed out of District 22-5A?

Kevin Howard nearly reached a double-double in his final home game for the Bulldogs, leading them to a 61-41 win over Livingston. Nederland (25-9, 8-5) is still one game behind Ozen (20-8, 9-4) in the chase for third place, and each team beat the other this season.

Ozen can wrap up third place with a win against Central on Tuesday, but a loss would open the door for Nederland to force a tie with a win at Vidor.

Howard finished with 22 points and nine rebounds Friday, and classmate Darrell Jones had nine points. Freshman Hayden Hefner scored 10.

WEST HARDIN 51, SABINE PASS 50

SARATOGA — Daniel Sam had a consistent night shooting the ball, but Sabine Pass came up just short on the road by a point.

Sam made 9 of 11 field goals (7 of 8 within the three-point arc) and scored 23 points. He added two assists and five rebounds.

Caleb Malbrue had 10 points, and Jamyus Jones totaled six assists to go with eight points for the Sharks.

Sabine Pass was down 30-29 at the break.

BRIDGE CITY 38, ORANGEFIELD 37

BRIDGE CITY — The Bridge City Cardinals edged out a 38-37 win against the Orangefield Bobcats Friday night in District 22-4A play at Cardinal Gym.

The game went down to the last ten seconds of the final quarter and the Cardinals (15-10, 5-4) were able to hang on to the slim margin they had.

The Cardinals, who have clinched a playoff berth,  are currently in a third-place tie with West Orange-Stark with one game remaining. Bridge City goes to top-ranked Silsbee on Tuesday while WOS visits second-place LCM.

It was Senior Night in Bridge City, and two of the four seniors showed up for the Cardinals in a big way.  Dane Piper and Brandon Vela combined to score 30 of the 38 points for Bridge City.  Piper had 18 points which were all in the paint, and had six rebounds.  Vela had 12 points and was a part of nearly every other point by creating the play or assisting on it.

Orangefield (9-17, 1-8) had the goal of ruining Bridge City’s senior night with a win, but came up one point short.  The Bobcat’s Wesley Frillou only scored three’s throughout the game making six for 18 points, including one absurdly long shot from NBA three-point range.

SILSBEE 103, WOS 78

WEST ORANGE — They pushed the top-ranked Silsbee Tigers hard but the West Orange-Stark Mustangs simply ran out of gas down the stretch.

The Mustangs trailed at the half 53-39 but railed all the way back to within 55-54 with 2:52left in the third quarter.

However, the Tigers and their full-court press finally wore down the Mustangs as Silsbee finished the game out with a 48-24 spurt in the final 10:52 to notch a 103-78 District 22-4A victory at Mustang Gym in front of a packed house.

Turnovers and fouls hampered the Mustangs (10-13, 5-4) throughout the night. Silsbee (26-5, 9-0) forced the Mustangs into 35 turnovers. There were 58 fouls in a game that was called tight but the Mustangs were whistled for 35 of them.

The Mustangs led 17-16 at the end of the first period but the Tiger combination of Braylon Bush and Trajan Harris was too much in the second period.

Bush scored 12 of his game-high 29 points in the quarter and Harris erupted for 11 of his 20 as the Tigers went on a 37-22 second-quarter run to go up 14 at the half.

Jay’len Mathews led the Mustangs with 14 points as he had two treys and five rebounds.

Guards K.J. Miller and Bretlin White tallied 11 points apiece with Miller getting five boards.

Tarik Riley had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Mustangs while Malick Phillips contributed nine points and six boards.

BOYS SOCCER

PA MEMORIAL 3, OZEN 0

In Port Arthur, brothers Ricardo and Azael Monreal each struck a goal in the second half, and the Titans blanked Ozen in District 22-5A play.

Jesus Gonzalez but the Titans (2-9, 2-3 in 22-5A) on the board off a Sergio Sanchez assist 5:10 into the game.

Ricardo Green, in his first start, made 12 saves and was named Memorial’s Man of the Match. The Titans had nine shots on goal.

Memorial hosts Vidor on Tuesday.

PNG 2, LUMBERTON 0

PORT NECHES — Caleb Davis netted the first goal, Kevin Hoyt followed with another, and Port Neches-Groves (12-1-2, 5-0 in 22-5A) remained atop district standings with a shutout win.

The pace of the game, though, was back-and-forth, PNG coach Chad Luttrull said.

“Lumberton was very good with the ball, and our defense played pretty stout,” he added.

Noah Riggs came up with a pair of saves to earn the clean sheet.

PNG visits Central at the Thomas Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

NEDERLAND 2, VIDOR 1

NEDERLAND — The Bulldogs scored both goals in the first half, and the insurance was needed to hold off the Pirates.

Hunter Banta struck first off a dish from Travis Wiedenfeld and assisted on Wiedenfeld’s score. Vidor’s score came off a corner kick.

“We played a much more patient game tonight, which allowed us to build,” Nederland coach Torrey Gomez said. “Both goals were a result of excellent ball movement. I credit the guys for continuing to work hard in practice and believing in one another through a little adversity. They understand it’s a process, and their best soccer is yet to come.”

Nederland (7-5-2, 3-2 in 22-5A) visits Livingston on Tuesday.

GIRLS SOCCER

NEDERLAND 4, VIDOR 0

VIDOR — Meg Sheppard scored twice, and Nederland pitched a shutout on the pitch Friday night.

Destyn Miguez and Maddison Diaz each added a goal. Madison Ledet made two assists.

Emma Roccaforte made five saves for Nederland (9-1-2, 3-1-1 in 22-5A), which hosts Livingston on Tuesday.

LUMBERTON 3(3), PNG 3(1)

LUMBERTON — PNG’s second defeat in 22-5A play went the same way the first one did — right down to penalty kicks.

A Lumberton breakaway goal with 2:30 left in the second overtime forced the game into PKs tied 3-3. The Raiders won that battle 3-1.

PNG (10-2-1, 3-2 in 22-5A) struck in the first overtime on a Grace Seymour free kick. Grace Reed tied the game at 2-2 right off the second-half kickoff.

Hailey Loupe of PNG rocketed a shot from outside, past the keeper, in the 23rd minute, to open the scoring. Lumberton answered 5 minutes after that and eventually went ahead before halftime.

Central will visit PNG for a 5 p.m. Tuesday game.