SPORTS
Indians lose to Peaster 65-43
The Nocona Indians faced a tough test in the bi-district round of the playoffs on Monday night facing state-ranked Peaster.
The explosive Greyhounds took advantage of a great start for them as they rolled to a 65-43 win, but the way the first quarter went it looked like it might have been much worse.
The Indians came in after beating Henrietta twice the previous week to get the final playoff seed and had an uphill battle ahead of them. Peaster came in rated fifth in the state, featuring a dangerous perimeter attack to make up for a lack of height.
The Greyhounds full court press started up and at first it seemed to shock Nocona. Coach Colby Schniederjan adjusted his lineup to get more ball handlers on the court at one time to try and combat it, but getting good shots proved tough early on.
Peaster was driving and kicking from the get go, making three 3-pointers while also driving to the rim against the now undersized Indians team.
The Greyhounds were up 21-4 heading into the second quarter, with no sign they were going to let up given their huge margin of victory wins.
Nocona settled down in the second quarter. While the team had started to break the press in the first quarter, settling down and trying to run a set against an aggressively jumpy team proved tough.
The Indians were able to get some touches to senior post Jason Sparkman, someone Peaster had no answer for as he either scored or got sent to the free throw line.
Nocona played Peaster about even in the second quarter, a good sign since the lead did not grow even more. It also meant the Indians did not make up much ground.
The Greyhounds led 36-16 heading into halftime.
The second half went much like the second quarter. The two teams played about even . Peaster continued to have no answer for Sparkman when he got his hands on the ball.
The undersized lineup fought its hardest to make up for it on the defensive end and make open shots on the offensive end. The Greyhounds offense just refused to slump for more than a minute or two while Nocona just could never get on a huge offensive kick to make up the 20 points it was down.
Peaster would win 65-43, but anyone watching the final three quarters while ignoring the score would have seen two teams going at it in an intense playoff game.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Lady Indians beat Saint Jo at home on Saturday morning.
The Lady Indians won 16-1 after four innings due to run-rule against the smaller school.
Nocona was coming off a competitive loss at Collinsville earlier in the week while the Lady Panthers were hoping to compete after a busy week of their athletes doing everything else besides just softball.
The Lady Indians easily won the first matchup between the teams in March, 19-2 and it was more of the same on Saturday.
Saint Jo struck first to start the game off well. Jordyn O’Neal hit a one out single. Krista Reeves followed with a walk after O’Neal had stolen second base and had advanced to third thanks to an error trying to throw her out. A wild pitch then allowed her to score to put the Lady Panthers up 1-0.
The lead did not last long. Nocona’s first two batters drew walks which set up Abby Hill to drive them both in with a single to right field.
Despite giving up a single and a walk later in the inning, Saint Jo’s defense did not allow another run. A line out and groundout to the shortstop while picking off a runner attempting to steal got the Lady Panthers out of the inning unscarred.
The Lady Indians led 2-1.
That was about as competitive as it got. In the second inning, Nocona’s bats got going. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases up with no outs.
Reagan Phipps drew a walk that drove in a run. Hill hit another two RBI single. Skye Kirby followed with a two RBI double.
After the first out, Allie Sutton drove in one run with a single. There was a fly out for out two, before a runner came in to score after a passed ball. Finally, an error allowed two more runs to score on the base paths.
Nocona had scored nine runs and led 11-1 to break the game open heading into the third inning.
Taylor Patrick hit a double, with O’Neal and Reeves following with singles. Unfortunately for Saint Jo, Patrick was thrown out before the hits attempting to steal a base so the Lady Panthers scored no runs from this.
The Lady Indians kept pouring on the runs. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases up with no outs. Tinley Cable then hit an RBI single. Shelby Swell was hit by a pitch that drove in another run.
After two strikeouts, Evelyn Marquez drove in two more runs on a double to put Nocona up 15-1, coming up one run short of ending the game early.
The Lady Indians scored that one run in the fourth inning. After Phipps drew a leadoff walk, Hill hit a triple that drove her in to end the game.
Nocona won 16-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
-
NEWS1 year ago2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona
-
NEWS5 months agoSuspect indicted, jailed in Tia Hutson murder
-
NEWS12 months agoSO investigating possible murder/suicide
-
NEWS1 year agoWreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16
-
NEWS9 months agoMurder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry, frustrated with no arrest
-
NEWS12 months ago
Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death
-
NEWS1 year agoBowie Police face three-hour standoff after possible domestic fight
-
NEWS1 year ago
Driver stopped by a man running into the street, robbed at knifepoint