SPORTS
Lady Indians beat Windthorst 57-40
The Nocona Lady Indians won possibly their biggest district game of the season as they hosted Windthorst on Tuesday night.
The Lady Indians won 57-40 to stay undefeated on the year against possibly the best team to challenge them in district play.
It was actually the second time the teams have played each other. Back in November the two teams met in the first tournament of the year at Bowie in the championship game. Nocona pulled ahead in the second half to win 64-44, but that win had some disclaimers.
The biggest was the Lady Trojans were coming off winning the state title the previous week in volleyball and came into the tournament with little to no practice time under their belts.
In any sense, nearly two months later and with the stakes higher, it was a whole new ball game for both teams to feel confident heading into the game.
Nocona has yet to lose so far this season and is ranked in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Poll at the top of the state in the 2A classification.
Since that loss to the Lady Indians, Windthorst had only one other loss on the year against Paradise in another tournament. The Lady Trojans were ranked 14th in the state in the same poll.
It was a classic contrast of styles matchup as the smaller, faster Nocona team matched up against a tall and big Windthorst frontline that wanted to post up and mash the Lady Indians rebounding the ball.
The first quarter was back and forth. Windthorst was able to get the ball into one of its post players and she did a good job of drawing fouls as Nocona sent aggressive double-teams. This also led to them allowing open shots from the perimeter as the Lady Trojans made two 3-pointers as well.
The Lady Indians initially had to break some back court pressure Windthorst sent at their two lead ball handlers, but they quickly burned that coverage to get them out of it. Some made 3-pointers of their own and, their bread-and-butter, pushing the ball in transition allowed Nocona to take a narrow 13-11 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Lady Indians defense tightened up in the second quarter, fighting to not give up position in the post or allow Windthorst to have such an easy time passing the ball into the post.
When the Lady Trojans did, Nocona scrambled and some aggressive contests were getting called for fouls at a higher clip than the Lady Indians would have liked considering their limited depth on the bench.
Still, Nocona continued to roll on offense. Playmakers Megyn Meekins and Skyler Smith hurt the Lady Trojans hitting ahead outlet passes to Aubree Kleinhans who scored six in the quarter. When that was covered better, Windthorst failed to pick them up and either were able to dribble all the way to the basket while pushing the ball up themselves.
Nocona extended its lead all the way to 27-14 at one point, but Windthorst closed the quarter strong to cut the lead down to 28-20 heading into the second half. Besides the close to the quarter, Nocona’s biggest thing was the eight fouls it committed which could prove to be fatal with a team that usually plays only seven girls.
The Lady Indians continued to execute transition opportunities with roll players leaking out at just the right times. When that was covered, Meekins and Smith found driving lanes converted enough to keep its lead.
Windthorst got hot from 3-point land in the quarter, making four. The Lady Trjoans closed the quarter on an 8-2 run to make the game the closest it had been since the first quarter 40-35 as the game went to the final period.
That momentum the Lady Trojans were building was swept away in the opening half of the fourth quarter as Meekins and Nocona’s defense took over.
The Lady Indians dialed up the pressure on the ball handlers and picked their pockets for steals that led to layups. Meekins, who admitted the team did not have a great shooting game, made back-to-back deep 3-pointers.
Reagan Phipps, who was dealing with foul trouble in the first half, got in on the action by sinking an open 3-pointer as well to provide the only other points in the quarter that was not scored by Meekins.
With 2:44 left in the game, Windthorst still had not scored since the end of the third quarter and Nocona’s lead was up to 55-35. All tension was melted away by then as the Lady Indians coasted to another double-digit win, 57-40.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Jackrabbits beat down City View on the road on Monday by run-rule to pick up a district win.
The Jackrabbits won 15-0 after five innings due to run-rule as they dominated against the Mustangs.
Bowie was coming off a close loss at Holliday in a game it nearly came back to win, so took out its frustration on a struggling City View team.
The Jackrabbits got going early as Troy Kesey hit a solo home run with two outs to get a rally going for the team. Two batters later Edmond De Leon hit a two-run home run.
Rayder Mann hit a ground ball to third base that resulted in an error that drove in a run. Cy Egenbacher then hit an RBI single to put Bowie up 5-0 before the Mustangs had even hit.
After a scoreless second inning, the Jackrabbits got back going in the third. Boston Farris and Seth Mann both hit a two RBI doubles.
Kesey and Hayden Rodriguez followed with RBI singles to make it 11-0 for Bowie.
The Jackrabbits kept the pressure in the fourth inning. Farris hit a three-run home run and Kesey later drove in another run with a double to make it 15-0 for Bowie.
The game continued into the fifth inning and City View needed to score at least six runs to keep the game going. The Mustangs broke up Kesey’s no-hitter on the mound with three straight singles to load the bases up with no outs.
Kesey finished strong, striking out the next two batters before inducing a fly ball to center field for the final out.
The Jackrabbits won 15-0.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians got some revenge by beating Perrin-Whitt on Thursday at home.
The Indians won 5-3 to hopefully make up for losing the previous game in the final inning against the Pirates.
Nocona had lost two days earlier to Perrin-Whitt 3-2 after leading for the entire game until the final inning.
The second game it was the Pirates that led for the majority of the game, leading 2-1 after the first inning. The Indians tied the score 2-2 after the third inning, but Perrin-Whitt got the lead back in the fourth inning with one run to make it 4-3.
Nocona took control in the sixth inning when Wesley Murpehy drove in two runs with a double. Brody Langford followed him with an RBI single to double the Indians score and put them up 6-4.
This time around, Nocona’s defense held on in the final inning, allowing only one base runner before closing the game with little trouble.
Missing scores
Scores from Saint Jo and Bellevue are not updated due to games being delayed due to weather late last week.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Lady Rabbits came up just short of winning their final game at City View on Friday.
The Lady Mustangs held off a furious Lady Rabbits rally in the seventh inning to scrape out a win 11-10.
Bowie was entering the game knowing it was the last game of the season no matter what so it came out loose and ready.
The Lady Rabbits took control early. Chloe Kinney scored due to an error trying to pick her off. Sage Gossett hit a single that drove in one run and an error on the throw allowed another run to score.
Several batters later, Beau Combs and Victoria Cox both hit RBI singles to make it 5-0 for Bowie.
The Lady Mustangs scored two runs to make cut the lead to 5-2 after the first inning.
Bowie scored one run in the second inning when Serenity Klump was able to score from third base due to an error by the catcher. City View equaled that run in the same inning with an RBI double.
After the teams exchanged scoreless innings in the third and fourth, things picked up in the fifth inning.
Kaylie Kinney hit an RBI double with two outs to extend Bowie’s lead to 7-3.
The Lady Mustangs answered with a huge inning to get back in the game. Three singles and two errors allowed City View to score four runs and tie the score up at 7-7.
After the Lady Rabbits offense could not get anything going in the sixth inning, the Lady Mustangs picked up where they left off.
Five straight singles, one walk and a passed ball allowed City View to score four more runs to take the lead 11-7 heading into the final inning.
With Bowie down to its last three outs of the season, the team buckled up to get something going.
Cox hit a one out double. Chloe Kinney followed with a single that drove her in. After a strikeout and Kinney advancing to second base after a passed ball, Klump drove her in with a double.
After a walk, Gossett came through and hit a single that drove in one more run to cut City View’s lead to one run.
With the tying run in scoring position, Bowie was in good condition but was also down to its last out.
Unfortunately, the next batter struck out looking to end the game and the Lady Rabbits season.
City View won 11-10.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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