In his first season at Bridge City last year the Cardinals made the post season finishing a strong third place in district for Coach Larry Sterling. Once again Bridge City should be a team competing for the district title and definitely in contention for a spot in the playoffs.
Back from last year’s team Sterling has five Cardinals that can start this season. Three of the five were starters and two were all-district last season. Senior leadership is expected from Dane Piper. Hunter Wiegreffe and Justyn Romero are juniors also returning for the Cardinals. Two other varsity players from last season that are expected to make bigger contributions are junior Chason Burch and senior Brandon Vela. Sterling says, “That’s the five that return from last year’s squad.”
To add depth and bench strength Coach Sterling is looking for good contributions from three players that were on the junior varsity last season. Max Baker who was a standout on the Cardinals’ football team will be on the varsity basketball team and brings his outstanding athletic ability. The Honeycutt brothers, Zach and Caleb, are both coming from the football team. Sterling expects, “All those guys instantly make us better defensively and hopefully as the season progresses we’ll get better on the offensive end as well.”
The successful football season for the Bridge City Cardinals means several players are just now getting to work out with the varsity basketball team. Sterling is counting on those players helping put the Cardinals back in the post season again in basketball. The biggest thing is getting better each day according to the coach. The team goal is not only to make the playoffs, but be a contender once they get there. “Hopefully we’ll have the leadership that we need from our seniors and juniors to help us improve each day and accomplish those goals later in the year,” Coach Sterling concludes.
–
The Bridge City Lady Cardinals have a new head coach in JoLee Kolander. Bridge City Athletic Director Dwayne DuBois worked with Kolander at Hardin-Jefferson when he was the athletic director there and persuaded her to come to Bridge City.
Coach Kolander is counting on two returning ladies to provide leadership for the Lady Cardinals this season. Kassidy Wilbur who is outstanding on the softball field can handle the basketball too and has been selected by the coach to be a captain because she is a great leader on the court. Point guard Maysen Tyler returns after moving to Bridge City prior to last season. Kolander confirms, “She is definitely the one I’m going to count on as my point guard this year.” Kolander has brought up freshman Kyndal Harrison with a lot of potential to the varsity and sees her also as a possible starter by the time of district games.
The coach and the Lady Cardinals started the season on the right foot according to Kolander. In her first game as coach of the Lady Cardinals, Bridge City defeated Tarkington on its way to a 3-0 start. The Nederland Tournament saw Bridge City play Dayton, Vidor, and Lumberton which were all good teams resulting in Cardinal losses. Kolander admits, “There’s definitely room for improvement, but there’s nothing we can’t handle and fix.”
She is not into making predictions, but Coach Kolander is competitive and believes Bridge City will be in the mix for the district title. The coach talked to all of the players and their parents before the season, and she has high expectations for the Lady Cardinals. Kolander expounds, “I definitely expect to get out of district and make a few rounds in the playoffs, I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but that’s what I expect. I wouldn’t be here otherwise if I didn’t think we were going to win.”
Social Media