Bridgeport teams battle tough league opponents this season

BRIDGEPORT – The Mustangs and Fillies varsity basketball teams are facing some stiff competition in one of the toughest 2B leagues in the state this season. Brewster, Lake Roosevelt, Tonasket, Oroville, and Manson are fielding solid boys’ teams with the Lady Bears, Lady Raiders and Waterville-Mansfield’s Lady Shockers putting up good numbers on the girls’ side.

The Mustangs have suffered four consecutive losses, the most recent a 20-point, 76-56, decision at Oroville last Thursday, Dec. 14. Earlier losses against Tonasket, 66-56, on Dec. 11, at Manson, 69-48, on Dec. 7, and a 34-point, 74-40 fall to league-leading Lake Roosevelt at home on Dec. 4, find the varsity boys in seventh place in the Central Washington 2B with a 1-4 record.

The Mustangs did come out on top of one of the more exciting games of the early season with a two-point 72-70 nail-biter against Pateros on the Billygoats’ home court, Dec. 3. The Pateros win followed Bridgeport’s season opening victory over the Soap Lake Eagles at home on Nov. 30.

The Nannies have alternated win-loss-win-loss since the start of the season when a 36-47 loss to Soap Lake was followed by a 72-13 massacre of Easton on Dec. 3. The following night, Dec. 4, the Nannies were in turn massacred at home by the Lady Raiders, 56-13.

Next came a 42-30 win on the road at Manson, Dec. 7, followed by a 44-33 home loss to Tonasket on Dec. 11. The Nannies are riding the crest of their most recent 63-25 win over the Lady Hornet at Oroville last Thursday, Dec. 14.

Both the Mustangs and Fillies were scheduled to meet Liberty Bell on the road on Tuesday, Dec. 18. The Mountain Lions have been in a holding pattern in the bottom half of league rankings during the early season and should be a good match for both Bridgeport teams.

Bridgeport will compete in the North Central Washington Tournament at Entiat on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 27-28, and will be on the road until they host Manson on Jan. 1.