PORT NECHES — Port Neches-Groves senior Ryan Abel admits he is not used to all this winning with the Indians basketball team.
Abel and the Indians are now riding a seven-game winning streak after Tuesday’s 56-54 win over Goose Creek Memorial.
PN-G is now 10-5 on the year and 2-0 in the District 22-5A race. Goose Creek fell to 0-12 and 0-2.
Abel led the Indians with 16 points and 14 rebounds. PN-G was 17-of-42 shooting for 40-percent.
“Starting out 2-0 is something I am not used to after three years on varsity,” Abel said. “It is really big for the Indians. We need a good year and hopefully now we follow it up. We have all got to play together a bit and we are starting to mesh.”
Keynel McZeal continued his stellar play with 12 points and eight rebounds.
This group of Indians is different because past PN-G teams would falter after the hole it dug itself into Tuesday.
The Patriots grabbed an early 11-1 lead in the first quarter behind the shooting of Goose Creek guard Printon Cooper. Cooper had four treys in the game’s first eight minutes and finished with a game-high 24 points. He finished 5 of 7 from behind the arc.
The Indians got going when Adam Morse ripped a three pointer.
PN-G would not tie the game until the fourth on a pair of free throws from Abel to make it 24-24.
Morse would soon hit another bucket to give PN-G its first lead at 26-25 following a Goose Creek free throw. Morse finished with 12 points and three rebounds.
The Patriots took a 27-26 lead into the break.
PN-G came alive in the third and outscored Goose Creek 19-10 in the frame.
The Indians lead climbed up to 10 points at 45-35 after Edsel Damo hit a shot in the third. Damo finished with seven points for the Indians.
The Patriots had one last shot for the win after Abel gave the Indians a 56-54 lead.
Cooper had a look at the basket behind the arc but his shot was off and the Indians escaped the rally.
“Winning is contagious,” PN-G coach Pat Abel said. “On the flip side, so is losing. We are doing a lot of things well right now. We make mistakes out there but our kids are finding ways to win basketball games. We have the Raiders in Lumberton on Friday and they always play us tough. There are no more easy games on the schedule.”
The Patriots shot 37 percent from the field on 16-of-43 shooting from the field. PN-G sank 21-of-28 free throws while Goose Creek was 16 of 26 from the line.
The Indians outrebounded the Patriots 33-28.