BOYS BASKETBALL: Cards stay hot in Shark Tank

Published 9:06 pm Friday, December 14, 2018

SABINE PASS — Ethan Oceguera is fitting into his role on Bridge City’s varsity team just fine as a freshman.

“Every game, he gets better and better,” first-year Cardinals coach Randall Robertson said.

The 6-foot Oceguera scored a career-high 18 points and led the Cardinals to a 69-34 win over Sabine Pass on Friday. Bridge City (8-8) has won three straight heading into its District 22-4A opener at two-time state champion Silsbee on Tuesday.

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“It’s a bunch of teamwork,” Oceguera said. “You know, passing the ball around, getting open shots and playing better as a team.”

The Cards, who had lost five straight before the win streak, gave Robertson the performance he was looking for.

“We started hitting shots,” Robertson said. “We went to the Nacogdoches tournament and we shot really bad the first couple of games. The last game of the tournament, we hit about eight threes, and since then, we’ve carried it over and we’re playing a lot better team ball.”

Harold James led Sabine Pass (7-4) with 23 points.

“We rely on Harold a lot because he’s special,” first-year Sharks coach Chad Bryan said. “He can go to any school. He can probably start for any team around here.”

Robertson has had many players finish as leading scorers this season, but Friday was Oceguera’s night to take over. He made three 3-point baskets.

Bridge City closed the first quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 20-6 lead and remained in control the rest of the game while holding Sabine Pass without a field goal for stretches of 4 to 5 minutes.

Kolten Weeks had 10 points, and Beau Martin and Grant Boudreaux each scored nine for the Cardinals.

Grayson Johnson (four points) was the second-leading scorer for the Sharks, who’ll look to end a three-game slide Tuesday night at Bob Hope.

“We’ve got to get more kids involved,” Bryan said. “When they do double Harold, they’ve got to make the jumpshot. They’ve got to make the layup. They can’t turn the ball over after he gets doubled, or it’s going to be very hard to score.”

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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