Indians shake off Cardinals, 48-40
Van Wade
The Orange Leader
BRIDGE CITY — Cold shooting in the middle two quarters and the inability to control Port Neches-Groves’ Layne Norris spelled “doom” for the Bridge City Cardinals in their season opener at Cardinal Gym Tuesday night.
Norris cut up the Cardinal defense for a game-high 25 points and the Indians held the Cardinals to just 12 total points in the second and third periods as PN-G notched a 48-40 victory.
The Indians (1-0) led by as much as 37-22 before the Cardinals (1-0) staged a fourth-quarter rally, cutting the deficit to 41-36 with 3:20 remaining.
The Indians were able to connect on a few crucial free throws down the stretch and held Bridge City to just one field goal in the final 2:30.
Norris scored six points in the first period, nine in the second quarter and 10 in the second half scoring in a variety of ways, mainly with hard-nosed drives to the bucket.
William Veillon paced the Cardinal attack with 13 points and eight rebounds. Tanner Girourd posted 11 points while grabbing eight boards while Nate McAnelly had 10 points and eight rebounds. Johnathan Peterson contributed six points and six boards.
The Cardinals finished with a 31-22 rebounding edge.
PN-G led 11-9 after the first period and stretched to 27-16 at intermission after limiting the Cardinals to just five points in the second period.
The Indians were able to push it to 35-21 heading to the fourth with both teams playing sluggish in the third.
The Cardinals kept chipping away has Girourd had five quick points, including a three-pointer while Veillon and McAnelly had two field goals apiece.
Bridge City’s defense came alive in the second half, forcing PN-G into 15 of their 18 turnovers after intermission.
The Cardinals finished with 17 turnovers.
PN-G went 12-of-21 from the free-throw line while the Cardinals were 8-of-13.
Norris led the Indians with seven rebounds. Point guard Scott Pellegrin contributed 10 points while Jordan Begnaud added seven points and six rebounds.
The Cardinals return to action Friday when they play host to the Lumberton Raiders.
