PORT NECHES — Port Neches-Groves hoops coach Pat Abel knows one thing about his team after Tuesday’s season opener: the Indians have to play better.
It was as simple as that.
PNG fell to Little Cypress-Mauriceville 45-35 at The Reservation as the Bears took advantage of 23 Indians turnovers.
The Indians were up 6-0 to start the game and then led 11-6 after the first period.
“The first three or four minutes of the game we had a little momentum,” Abel said. “I don’t know if we got tired or rested on what we had just done, but for the next three-and-a-half quarters we just could never get back in sync.”
Abel is right. The Indians never got back into a rhythm the rest of the game.
PNG scored six points in the second period and trailed 18-17 at the break.
LCM capitalized big on the PNG mistakes and scored 19 of its 45 points off turnovers. The Bears outrebounded the Indians 31-27 and had 10 offensive rebounds compared to nine for PNG.
Trent Lee led the Indians with 14 points. He made two three-pointers late in the game and shot 3 of 6 from behind the arc.
PNG as a team was 9 of 20 shooting treys and LCM was 2 of 10.
Derrick Papa finished with six points for PNG and Haden Wiggins added five points. Wiggins led the team with six boards while Papa had four.
One thing is for certain: Abel will be practicing his team around inside the paint. The Indians missed a lot of close shots and finished shooting 31 percent for the game.
“We positively have to work on finishing around the rim,” Abel said. “I saw that that we have to do. We have a lot of things we have to work on.”
Abel might also have his Indians working on free throws as they shot 9 of 20 from the line Tuesday.
He did yell at one point after a missed free throw that “every free throw is important.”
LCM was 7 of 15 from the line and was led by Katon Brown who had 11 points. He also had six points.
Ayson Simmons and Keegan Sonnier each had eight points for the Bears. Simmons also had seven rebounds.
“LCM played a tremendous ball game,” Abel said. “They had a great game plan and executed it. Hats off to the Bears.”
Abel and the Indians now face Goose Creek Memorial in Baytown at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
“Everyone wants to win their first game, but 50 percent of the teams do not,” Abel added. “You have to go back to the drawing board and work on what didn’t work and try to build on the positives.”
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Gabriel Pruett: 721-2436. Twitter: @PaNewsGabe

Bears 45, Indians 35
LCM 6 12 9 18 — 45
PNG 11 6 8 10 — 35
LCM (1-0)
Katon Brown 11, Ayson Simmons 8, Keegan Sonnier 8, Jacolvan Provost 4, Christian Weatherly 4, Jordan Garica 4, Braden Bridges 2, Tyreke Brown 2
PNG (0-1)
Trent Lee 14, Derrick Papa 6, Haden Wiggins 5, Brandon Petix 3, Preston Le 2, Bailey Broom 2
Three-point goals — LCM 2-10 (Sonnier 2-3), PNG 4-15 (Lee 3-6). Field goals — LCM 18-42 (Brown 5-6, Sonnier 3-4), PNG 11-35 (Lee 4-11). Rebounds — LCM 31 (Simmons 7, Brown 6), PNG 27 (Wiggins 6, Papa 4). Technical fouls — none.