Bridgeport’s girls’ basketball team opened up the 2017-18 season with a three-game home stand. And while the results weren’t perfect, the Indians did manage to go 2-1 in those outing.

 

The Tribe managed to get a season-opening win against Braxton County before coming back Friday night with a victory against Lewis County. The only loss in the run was to Class AA power and defending state champion Fairmont Senior.

 

So how does Coach Dennis Hutson see things in the early going?

 

“On a scale from one to 10 we’re at a six or a seven and we’re probably leaning closer to a six, which means we have a lot of room for improvement,” said Hutson. “I really like the play of our young kids with a couple of freshmen stepping up, but we just haven’t shot the ball as well as I thought we would. Defensively, we’ve been good in spurts. That’s something I want to see every night because defense is an effort issue and effort should always be there.”

 

On Thursday, Bridgeport broke open a close game with Lewis County with a dominant third quarter to get a 68-38 win. The Tribe, only up by 21-18 at the half, exploded in third quarter to put the game away. The momentum continued into the fourth quarter as well.

 

BHS outscored the Minutemaids 30-14 in the third and then put on a 17-6 blitz in the final eight minutes. Hutson said he emphasized one thing at halftime and the team listened.

 

“We just talked about energy. We had such a great practice Wednesday and was hoping that intensity would carry right over into the Lewis County game and it didn’t,” said Hutson. “In the second half, it was all about energy and effort and you could see us getting into the passing lanes and getting steals and it snowballed from there.

 

“When you get a bounce in your step things tend to come naturally and that started happening,” he continued. “We played with energy and when you do that you can play with anyone.”

 

Emily Riggs was virtually unstoppable in the contest as she finished with 24 points. For good measure she added eight rebounds.

“She was just super. She was the only one in the first half that showed up and thanks goodness for that,” said Hutson. “We could have been down without here because Lewis County has has a good team and she carried us early with her strong post moves and scoring in transition.

 

“The Jacobs sisters (Bria and Bronlie) probably played the best they’ve played this season together and we got great minutes from Kaitlin Smith and Paige Humble in the second half. We hope to get Kaitlin going a little bit more and, if we do, that will change us into a much better team offensively.”

 

Smith reached double figures with 12 points, while Humble added 10. Bria Jacobs just missed double digits with nine points and added eight assists.

 

The first game of the year wasn’t close from start to finish. The Indians rolled to a 70-28 victory against Braxton County. Riggs led the way with a game-high 23 points as she nearly outscored the Eagles on her own.

 

Rory Marple also had a strong showing with 14 points. Jacobs and Humble both finished with eight points.

 

Bridgeport led 16-6 after one period. The lead ballooned to 40-12 at the half and the outcome was never in doubt.

 

Against the Polar Bears last Wednesday, Bridgeport never recovered from a first quarter run that left the defending champs in control. Fairmont Senior used an explosive first period outburst to go up 19-5 after one period and slowly added to its advantage in each quarter after that to take a 63-36 win.

 

“We should never only score five points in any first quarter,” said Hutson. “To make matters worse, we had an opportunity to be up eight to 10 early after forcing several turnovers, but we fumbled the ball away and missed a lot of good and open shots. If you can’t take advantage of opportunities against a team like that then you’re going to be in a tough spot and they had no trouble putting us in a tough spot pretty fast. Doing what we did against Fairmont will never work against a quality opponent.”

 

Riggs led the way and was one of two players in double figures with 14 points. Marple added 12 in the setback.

 

Bridgeport is back in action Tuesday. The Indians play Nicholas County at the Waco Center in Glenville at 7 p.m. If the Indians win, they will play Saturday against the winner of Roane County and Braxton County. If the Tribe loses, they will play Thursday against the loser of the same game.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Emily Riggs driving hard to the basket, while Kaitlin Smith attackes the defense in the second photo. Below, Coach Dennis Hutson shows a bit of his emotion during Thursday's contest with Lewis County. Photos by Joey Signorelli of www.benqueenphotography.com.