SPORTS
Jackrabbits lose to Grandview to open season
The Bowie Jackrabbits opened their season on the road at Grandview on Saturday, suffering through early season growing pains in the loss.
The Zebras won the game 63-52, but a late surge from the Jackrabbits left a good lasting impression despite the loss.
Grandview was missing some players to football, but early on found success from outside. Driving into the lane before kicking it outside for open 3-point shots, Bowie’s defense was just a step behind.
The Zebras led 21-13 after the first quarter and made four 3-pointers.
The Jackrabbits came back strong in the second quarter, coming back from double-digits to cut the lead to 31-27 late in the quarter thanks to some easy quick points in transition.
Grandview extended the lead a bit before halftime, but Bowie was still in striking distance 36-28.
The Jackrabbits did not start the third quarter well. Early turnovers did no favors in getting the offense into any sort of rhythm. The Zebras continued to score at a good rate thanks to some of those turnovers, extending their lead to double-digits. Grandview led 55-37 heading into the final quarter.
Coach Andy Atkins decided to try and force the action and make sure none of his players would be able to coast towards what was looking like an inevitable loss.
Atkins had tried many types of defenses throughout the game and started pressing and trapping sometime in the third quarter. With the backs against the wall and down 20 plus points early in the fourth, the team’s energy with the full-court press defense picked up and good things started to happen.
Grandview players started to get frustrated with the physical play and calls not going their way as Bowie slowly started to gain momentum.
Turnovers did not directly lead to easy points though.
The Jackrabbits could not get a 3-pointer to land in the final quarter, but the team made all seven of their free throws which was almost half of their points in the fourth.
Down 21 points with a little less than six minutes to play, Bowie had cut the lead to 10 points 62-52 with 1:15 left to play. If the Jackrabbits could force a couple more turnovers that led to quick points, it looked like a comeback might be possible.
Unfortunately, those points did not come. Grandview made one free throw and Bowie failed to score any more points as it ran out of gas and time. The final score was 63-52.
Bowie’s next scheduled game is at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 20 at Gainesville.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week 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.
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