Sabine Defeats White Oak 52-43

In the Cardinal's first district win over the Roughnecks since 2003, Colton Kirk's 21 points lifts Sabine to 1st place in district 18-2A.

The house was packed at Liberty City Friday night, as the Sabine Cardinals and the White Oak Roughnecks renewed an old district rivalry. Both teams came into the game with 4-0 records, and a share of the lead in district 18-2A. Sabine had the edge, having beat the Roughnecks last month at the Last Man Standing tournament, and they didn't disappoint the home crowd.

Matching the point total of White Oak's two top scorers, Sabine's junior point guard Colton Kirk found a seam in White Oak's man-to-man defense that he would exploit all night, bucketing several easy lay-ups, and leading the Cardinals to their fifth district 18-2A victory. The Cardinals, ranked 4th among state 2A teams, claim first place in the district with a perfect 5-0 record.

Scoring in the first half was fairly even, with Sabine taking a slim 30-27 lead into the half. Resuming play in the second half, the Roughnecks were held to just five points, while Sabine added 12. Those twelve points would prove to be key.

In the last period, White Oak outscored Sabine 11-10, but the Cardinal lead was too much to overcome, and the Roughnecks were handed their first district loss.

Kirk led all scorers with 21 points, followed by teammate Tyler Woodrell with 12.

The Roughnecks were paced by Jackson McCurdy with 11 points, and Trevor Wait with 10.

Scoring by Quarter

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	OT	Tot
Sabine	15	15	12	10		52
White Oak	11	16	5	11		43

Box Scores

Sabine	White Oak
Colton Kirk 21	Jackson McCurdy 11
Tyler Woodrell 12	Trevor Wait 10
Noah Jackson 10	Caleb Carr 9
Jacob Kenna 4	Conner Sharp 6
Josh Montana 3	Taylor Goll 4
Lie'Quan Byrd 1	Blake Ware 3

The Roughnecks will get another shot at Sabine when the two teams rematch in White Oak on Feb. 10th.

Sabine takes their 5-0 record on the road Tuesday to Union Grove, facing a struggling Lion squad searching for their second district win.

White Oak will look to get back on track on the road against Harmony, who is riding a razor thin 44-42 win over Harleton. They face off Tuesday as well.