The Bellaire Cardinals and the Spring Woods Tigers took to the court Wednesday night at the Merrell Center to see who would advance to the area playoffs. The Tigers were the fourth seed in district 19-5A as the Cardinals were the first seed in 20-5A.

The Cardinals started the game on a 5-0 run to give Bellaire the early advantage. Spring Woods had trouble keeping Bellaire from dominating down in the paint. However, Spring Woods’ Josh Whitfield got the offense moving for the Tigers knocking down several shots in the first half. Despite Whitfield’s offense, the Cardinals were able to gain a 19-12 lead by the end of the first quarter.

The Tiger defense stepped it up the second quarter, allowing the Cardinals only ten points. Spring Woods ended the quarter on a 7-2 run to bring the game within four heading into halftime. 29-25.

The Cardinals would not start the second half like they finished the first half. They jumped out with a 7-0 run to start the second half to give the Cardinals an 11-point lead. The Tigers bounced back once again and kept the game close through the majority of the third quarter. However, the end of the third period the Cardinals had regained a comfortable nine-point lead.

Heading into the final period up nine, Bellaire never looked back. They went on to earn a decisive victory over the Tigers.

The Tigers did a good job of hustling to keep themselves in the game against a strong Bellaire team.

We expected them to play hard and we knew they would,” explained Bellaire coach Bruce Glover. “They are a very scrappy team and were out hustling us the first half.”

Leading scorers for the Cardinals were Christian Phillips and Cameron Wells who both had 23 points. For the Tigers it was Cornelius Williams who led the way with 17 as Josh Whitfield and Michael Lewis both had 12.

Bellaire will face the Cy-Falls Golden Eagles in the area playoffs this weekend.

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