Nocona
Playing on a big stage at Kay Yeager Coliseum as part of the Wichita Falls Classic, the Nocona Lady Indians stayed undefeated as they dominated Millsap on Saturday.
The state-ranked Lady Indians beat down the Lady Bulldogs 75-27.
Nocona came in heavily favored as the currently second ranked team in the state in 2A according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll. While Millsap is a bigger 3A program coming off a playoff appearance, the Lady Bulldogs proved to be no match.
The Lady Indians sprinted out to a 23-6 lead after the first quarter. Nocona had a bit of lax second quarter, winning by only a margin of 14-9 as it went into halftime up 37-15.
Coach Kyle Spitzer was able to keep his team playing hard in the second half despite the margin getting worse and worse as the game went along.
In the end, the Lady Indians won their most lopsided game of the short season 75-27.
Skyler Smith led the team with 22 points and 11 rebounds as she finished with a double-double. Meg Meekins was second with 16 points while dishing a team high seven assists and swiping six steals.
Avery Crutsinger scored a season high 14 points and Aubrey Kleinhans also scored in double-figures as she finished with 12 points. Jolie Rose added eight points off the bench.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers played in their second tournament of the season last week which they hosted and did well overall.
The Lady Panthers went 4-2 during the three days of games, winning big in the games they won and being competitive in their losses.
Saint Jo dominated its first three opponents during pool play. The Lady Panthers won by double-digits against Petrolia (60-31), Texoma Christian (61-22) and Electra (47-26).
Saint Jo then played Graford and suffered its first setback. The Lady Rabbits won a tight game 50-41 against the Lady Panthers to end pool play.
Saint Jo then had another setback in bracket play.
Playing against Tioga, the closest game of the tournament for the Lady Panthers did not go their way as they lost 61-56.
Saint Jo’s final game of the tournament came against Pretonwood North. The Lady Panthers were able to shake off the previous two losses and dominate private school Lady Lions 54-31 to end the tournament on a good note.

Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs had a tough tournament run at Chico last week.
The Lady Bulldogs went 1-3 overall as the team was stretched thin thanks to their lack of depth on the bench.
Prairie Valley started the tournament well by beating fellow 1A team Bryson in a low-scoring, but one-sided game 30-18.
The quality jumped when the Lady Bulldogs next played 3A Boyd. The Lady Jackets won 38-15.
Private school Victory Christian was the toughest game of the tournament for Prairie Valley as it lost 50-19.
The final game of the tournament was against host Chico. The 2A Lady Dragons won the low-scoring game 29-17.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Lady Eagles lost a tough game at Era on Friday night.
The 2A Lady Hornets won 56-40 against the Lady Eagles.
Bellevue was able to do some good things as its pressure defense caused a lot of turnovers for Era, but unfortunately the shots were not going in at the right times for the Lady Eagles.
Cirstin Allen led the team with 14 points, Brittany Gill had 12 points and Callie Martin had 11 points to add.

Missing scores
Missing scores from Gold-Burg and Forestburg coaches.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.

Nocona
The Nocona Indians had a good first tournament of the season at Dodd City last week.
The Indians went 3-1 over the two days of the tournament while picking up some big wins against tough teams.
Nocona first played Thorndale which is a similarly ranked 2A team as the Indians. Nocona was able to leverage a dominant first and fourth quarter in able to pull out the back and forth 53-45 win.
The Indians next played Martinsville which ended up being their easiest game of the tournament. Nocona beat up on the 1A team and won by more than 40 points 69-27 to finish out the first day of the tournament.
The Indians next game was the first one on Saturday and proved to be the closest game of the tournament. Nocona faced another 1A team, but Dodd City was ranked among the top 10 in the state in its classification.
The Indians did not beat up on the smaller school as it was the Hornets that carried a 10 point lead into the fourth quarter.
Nocona came back and dominated the final period, but only pulled ahead at the buzzer when Charlie Fuller, who scored a team high and season high 21 points, made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. The Indians won 51-48 to pull off the comeback.
The championship game would be against another 1A team, but again it was not just any 1A team. Graford is the two-time defending state champion and features a tall and physical lineup not usually seen in 1A.
The first quarter was close, but Nocona had trouble scoring the final three quarters as the team failed to break double-digits. The Indians defense made sure the Rabbits had trouble as well, but Nocona was playing catchup for the whole game and was not gaining any ground.
In the end, Graford won the low-scoring game 38-27.

Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns faced some tough competition at their second tournament of the season last week at Chico.
The Longhorns went 2-2 overall playing against mostly bigger schools.
Forestburg first got matched up against tournament host Dragons and blew them out of the water. The Longhorns won 58-19 in their easiest game of the tournament.
Forestburg then went to play arguably the toughest game of the tournament against Windthorst. The Trojans won 64-34 against a Longhorn team that was overwhelmed.
The next game against private school Victory Christian was not much better. The Patriots won 46-27 against Forestburg.
The Longhorns ended the tournament against Valley View and played their most competitive game during the two days. It was close, but in the end Forestburg came out on top 45-37.

Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Bears got their first big test by playing in their first tournament at Saint Jo last week.
The Bears had a rough go of it playing against mostly bigger schools and went 1-4 overall, but ended with a big win.
Gold-Burg had a tough beginning to the tournament.
The Bears first played a good 2A Muenster team and lost 60-25. It was a similar story against private school Sacred Heart that won 75-42.
The game against 2A Lindsay was not as bad 49-31 as the team was starting to limit turnovers a bit more by playing more under control.
Gold-Burg would lose a close game to Texoma Christian 53-49 to then play a future district opponent.
Tournament host Saint Jo has dominated Gold-Burg during the two’s history, with the Bears winning only three games against the Panthers ever. The last time was in 2019 when Gold-Burg’s Tanner Parrish scored 57 points to help the Bears pull the upset.
On Saturday, it was the experience of the Gold-Burg’s team, which was playing better every game in the tournament, versus a still young Saint Jo team.
The Bears won the surprisingly one-sided game 45-27 to end their tournament on a great note.
Jayon Grace was named to the all-tournament team and Coach Christian Healer thought his team showed big improvement.

Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Bulldogs struggled at their second tournament of the season at Chico last week.
The young Bulldogs went 0-4 during the two days while also playing several bigger schools.
Prairie Valley first was paired with the similarly sized Electra to start the tournament. The Tigers won the one-sided game 51-19 against the Bulldogs.
Things did not get easier against private school Victory Christian. The Patriots won 54-23 to end the first day.
The beginning of day two was only a little better. Playing a tough 2A Windthorst program, Prairie Valley hung with the Trojans a bit more than it had in its previous two games. The game still was not close, but Windthorst won 52-34 as the Bulldogs scored the most points they would at the tournament.
It was not Prairie Valley’s best game though. That would be the Bulldogs final game against 1A Bryson. It was a back-and-forth, close and low-scoring match. In end the Cowboys won by one basket 31-28.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles had a positive first tournament at City View last week.
The Eagles went 3-1 overall during the two days of tournament play.
Bellevue first played the similarly sized Grandfield team from Oklahoma to start the tournament. The Eagles won by more than 20 points 57-36.
Bellevue was then presented with a tougher challenge playing 4A Hirschi. The Huskies won by double-digits, but the Eagles kept the margin respectable, losing 48-33.
Bellevue bounced back against 2A Olney. The Eagles won by a good margin against the Cubs 60-46 to start the second day of right.
Bellevue then ended the tournament on a great note by beating 2A Vernon. It was the closest game of the tournament for the Eagles, but Bellevue still won by double-digits as it won 51-40.

Missing scores
Missing scores from Saint Jo’s coach.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.

Bowie girls
The Bowie Lady Rabbits came home from their second tournament at Breckenridge last week with a second place finish in the silver bracket.
The Lady Rabbits went 1-4 overall during the tournament while playing some real tough competition in every game.
Bowie started off the tournament by playing the second-ranked team in the state in 1A Gorman. The Lady Rabbits were able to stick around, but could not keep up offensively as they lost 48-37. It would be the closest game during pool play.
Later the first day Bowie was paired against 5A Rider. Despite playing the much bigger school that had a height advantage, the Lady Rabbits competed well, but again the offense could not keep up. The Lady Raiders won 53-38 to end Bowie’s first day.
The Lady Rabbits final game of pool play was also their hardest of the tournament. Bowie was matched up against the top ranked team in the state in 3A Jim Ned.
It did not go well as the Lady Indians won in every facet with the final score being 70-17.
The 0-3 results in pool play meant the Lady Rabbits would play in the silver bracket on the final day of the tournament.
Finally playing a team that wasn’t highly ranked or from a much bigger school in San Angelo Grape Creek, Bowie dominated. The Lady Rabbits held the Lady Eagles to under 10 points most quarters as they won 44-24.
The win put Bowie into the silver bracket championship game where it faced a familiar team. Despite being the second ranked team in the state in 1A, Gorman found itself struggling against the tough competition and was in the silver bracket as well.
The Lady Rabbits kept up with the Lady Panthers, but offensively just could not score enough to make it close. Gorman won 38-25 to win the championship game while Bowie finished second and got some hardware.
Ziba Robbins was named to the all-tournament team. Coach Matthew Miller saw some improvement as the tournament went along.

Bowie boys
The Bowie Jackrabbits played in their first tournament last weekend at S&S Consolidated and posted great results.
The Jackrabbits went 4-1 overall, with three of the wins being one by double-digits in a dominant showing.
Bowie first jumped on Tom Bean and dominated with its defense, holding the Tom Cats to less than double-digit points total until the final quarter. The Jackrabbits won 43-13.
Bowie then played its closest game of the tournament against Bridgeport. After a close first half, the Jackrabbits came out in the third quarter to hold the Bulls to only four points to gain control. Bowie then held on to win 43-37.
The Jackrabbits then played Bonham and again the defense led the way. Bowie held the Warriors to only 13 points in the first three quarters which allowed it to dominate. The Jackrabbits won 46-29.
Bowie then played the tournament host S&S for a chance to play in the championship game. It was the Jackrabbits highest scoring game of the tournament as the team’s combined for more than 120 points. It wasn’t close though as Bowie won by highest margin 82-47.
The win meant the Jackrabbits would have a rematch against Bonham. Unfortunately, it did not go the same way as the first game.
The Warriors offense found rhythm early and flourished especially in the second and third quarters where they scored 17 points in each one. Bowie’s was playing from behind and could not keep up as Bonham won the game 56-39 which was same margin the Jackrabbits had won in the first game.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.