After starting the season with six games away from home, Bridgeport didn’t start a stretch of five out of its next six games as it wanted when it fell to Robert C. Byrd. However, the Indians have recovered to win two straight heading into their game Saturday with Oak Hill.

 

Bridgeport managed to knock off Preston at home last Friday and came back Wednesday with a win at Grafton. The victories moved the Tribe to 7-2 on the year.

 

In both wins, it was senior Nick Stalnaker leading the way. Stalnaker posted 20 points in both contests to help BHS find the victory lane.

 

“I think it’s really important to see Nick doing that as the other guys are still developing as players and still developing their confidence,” said BHS Coach Dave Marshall.  “We have guys that can shoot and do things, but until their comfort level is where we need it to be we're going to have to lean on Nick for consistent scoring.”

 

Against Preston, Bridgeport started off slow before gradually taking control of the contest. In fact, BHS trailed 16-11 after one period before rallying to take a 29-26 lead at the break. The Indians would add to its lead after that in what turned into a 61-49 win.

 

While Stalnaker led the way with points and rebounds with nine, there was plenty of help behind him. Drew Hogue netted 10 points, while Austin Massey and Corey Skidmore both finished with nine. Jack Bifano chipped in eight. Skidmore hit a pair of 3-point field goals in the decisive second period run that put BHS ahead for good.

 

“They were just tight. People have to remember that, for goodness sake, everyone outside of Nick are pretty much in new situations; almost like freshmen playing under big lights for the first time,” said Marshall. “As much as anything the turnaround in that game was the result of Corey hitting those 3-pointers and Austin hitting a big shot. After that we settled down and just started playing a little bit of ball.”

 

On Wednesday, there wasn’t as much balance and the Indians didn’t pull away early to get the win. Instead, the Tribe struggled offensively (only two players had more than four points) and needed a 6-0 run late to take a 44-40 win against Grafton at Scotty Hamilton Gymnasium in Taylor County.

 

Stalnaker’s points in this outing were huge. He also hit several big free throws down the stretch to help seal the win for the Tribe in a game where they trailed heading into – and well into – the fourth quarter.

 

Austin Massey added eight points for Bridgeport. He hit a huge 3-point field goal in the fourth as the Indians were struggling for offense, but the Tribe didn’t take the lead for good until Cameron Cole hit a pair of free throws with 1:20 remaining.

 

“It was great to see us hold on and come back late in such a fantastic environment … with a great crowd that made things interesting,” Marshall said “They’ve got great players and they just kept winging haymakers at us and we were down 10 early in the second half. It would have been easy for our knees to buckle, but we didn’t and I’m proud of the kids for it.’

 

Bridgeport will host the Red Devils at 2 p.m. Saturday. Bridgeport has three games next week with home games Monday and Wednesday against North Marion and Lewis County, respectively, before visiting Philip Barbour Friday.

 

All three of those games start at 7:30 p.m.

 

Editor's Note: Photos by www.benqueenphotography.com.