SPORTS
Lady Indians win five games
The Nocona Lady Indians softball team played in their final tournament at Hirschi last weekend as they gear up for the start of district play this week.
The Lady Indians went 5-1 during three days of play, getting valuable experience while also having great success.
Nocona first played Quanah Thursday morning. The Lady Indians were behind after the first inning 2-1, but retook the lead by scoring one run in the second and third innings.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Nocona added four runs in the fifth inning so the final score was 7-2.
Tobi Cable led the team with two RBIs while Laci Stone struck out eight batters and allowed four hits on the mound.
The Lady Indians then played Gainesville in the early afternoon. The Lady Leopards took a 4-3 lead after the first inning.
They extended the lead to 6-3 heading into the bottom of the second inning, but Nocona scored four runs in the inning to take the lead 7-6.
Gainesville tied the score up scoring one run in the third inning, but the Lady Indians answered by scoring one run of their own to retake the lead 8-7. The game was called due to time and Nocona took the victory.
Cable again led the team, driving in five runs by hitting a double and a home run.
The Lady Indians started Friday morning playing Electra. The Lady Tigers were up 3-0 after three innings of play, Nocona started to come back.
The Lady Indians scored one run in the fourth innings to show some life on offense before rattling off four runs in the fifth inning to take the lead 5-3.
Nocona held Electra scoreless and the game was called after five innings to give the Lady Indians the win.
Paige James led the team with two RBIs and three hits while also getting the start on the mound and striking out six batters through three innings.
Nocona then played Haskell to finish Friday. It did not go well.
Haskell scored five runs in the opening inning to take the lead. Nocona would score five runs over the next three innings to eventually tie the score at 5-5 heading into the fourth inning.
Unfortunately, Nocona then had the “inning from hell,” allowing Haskell to score 10 runs in the fourth inning. The team could not equal that even with Nocona scoring one final run in the fourth inning before the game was called. The Lady Indians lost their first game of the tournament 15-6. Stone led the team with two RBIs in the game, but the team committed seven fielding errors.
Nocona’s first game on Saturday was against Olney. The Lady Indians started the game off strong scoring three runs in the opening inning to take the lead.
After a scoreless second inning, Nocona added four more runs in the third inning and two in the fourth inning before the game was called.
Thanks to pitchers Sydnee Mowery and Stone combining to throw a perfect game, the Lady Indians won in a shutout 9-0.
Laney Yates, Logan Patterson and Cable each drove in two runs each during the game. The only blemishes on defense came from three fielding errors that allowed the Lady Cubs to get on base.
Nocona ended the tournament with a game against Seymour. The Lady Indians again started the game strong, scoring three runs to take the early lead.
The Lady Panthers fought back to score one run in the second inning to cut into the lead. Nocona would extend the lead to 5-1 in the third inning by scoring two more runs. The team would hold that lead until the game was called midway through the fifth inning.
Kamryn Weaver and Logan Patterson each drove in two runs to lead the team while Stone got the victory on the mound pitching through three innings.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
On the Thursday the final Lone Star Cup standings were released for the 2023-2024 school year.
Montague County had two schools that finished among the top 25 in their classification.
Nocona finished tied for 13th place in 2A while Saint Jo was tied for 24th place in 1A.
It is the highest finish for Nocona ever since the Lone Star Cup started up in the late 1990s. While it is associated with and measures the overall success of a school’s athletic program, it also takes into account the school’s success in academic and other programs like band, one-act-play, robotics, etc.
Nocona scored points in volleyball, football, cheerleading, girls and boys basketball and baseball. Unfortunately, its state appearance in film did not count towards the total. It all added up to 41 points, which is the most in program history
For Saint Jo, the success of its volleyball, football, softball, baseball, girl’s and boy’s basketball teams led to 32 points.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The University Interscholastic League announced on Tuesday changes for the upcoming school year when it comes to playoff formatting.
For 2A-5A schools, playoff formatting for volleyball, basketball, softball, baseball and soccer will now be split up into two divisions that will model itself like the 6A football playoffs. For 1A schools, this will only be applied for basketball. In all, there will be 12 state champions in those sports now.
This means there will be two playoff divisions within every classification. Districts will stay the same and not be affected. Four teams from every district will still make the playoffs, but now the two biggest schools of the four will play in the bracket with the other bigger schools while the two smaller schools will play in the other bracket.
This will not be like 1A-5A football, where divisions are hard cut by enrollment numbers and district alignments are set up with this in mind. Some districts that feature schools with low enrollment numbers within a classification will have to send two schools to compete in the big school bracket.
At lower levels, it might still set up a scenario where a team faces a school with twice the enrollment numbers. The thought process is it should happen less.
With fewer teams in the playoff bracket, certain parts of the playoffs like the area round and the regional tournament will not be featured as there will be less games to play on the way to the state tournament.
While the announcement was surprising to some, other coaches said they first heard about it at the basketball state tournament. UIL polled coaches, who were reportedly all for the change according to Nocona athletic director Blake Crutsinger.
For some schools, the changes will not mean much besides fewer games. Bowie is in that spot. With an enrollment number of 493, only Vernon and Iowa Park are the schools in its district that are bigger and would have to finish at the top two spots in the standings in order for Bowie teams to play in the smaller bracket.
For other schools, the change could be a big deal. Nocona’s enrollment of 234 is only 20 short of the 2A limit. The Indians will most likely play in the bigger bracket in every sport.
The Lady Indians basketball team finished as runners-up at state this year and will return four of their five starters. The teams that have beaten them the last two years, Martin’s Mill and Lipan along with several other 2A basketball powers have low enrollment numbers and would probably be in the smaller school bracket.
For 1A schools, the change is welcome but the fact volleyball was not included was sad to see for some coaches. From a numbers perspective, there are almost twice as many schools that offer basketball (213) than volleyball (123) in 1A.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
These girls were all around winners at the June 8 Montague County 4H Horse Club show. High Point buckle winners were Emersyn Denoon and Laney Dyer, reserve all around halter winners were Kenzi McEwen and Audrey DeMore.
-
NEWS2 years ago2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona
-
NEWS7 months agoSuspect indicted, jailed in Tia Hutson murder
-
NEWS1 year agoSO investigating possible murder/suicide
-
NEWS1 year agoWreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16
-
NEWS11 months agoMurder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry, frustrated with no arrest
-
NEWS1 year ago
Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death
-
NEWS1 year agoBowie Police face three-hour standoff after possible domestic fight
-
NEWS2 years ago
Driver stopped by a man running into the street, robbed at knifepoint