SPORTS
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL: Season under way for area teams
By ERIC VICCARO
bnewssports@gmail.com
In District 3A-9, Bowie is once again expected to be head and shoulders above the rest while District 1A-21 could be a four-team toss-up.
Those are the dynamics at play as the 2015-16 girls’ basketball season begins. Two teams, Prairie Valley and Bellevue, already started on Friday.
Prairie Valley opened with a 13-point victory over the Wichita H.E.A.T. while Bellevue found itself on the business end of a loss.
Bowie opened the season Tuesday night at Burkburnett while district foe Nocona played just down the road at Iowa Park.
Gold-Burg was set to open the year at Bryson. Saint Jo played at Sam Rayburn in Ivanhoe. Both of Forestburg’s girls’ games have been scrapped according to head coach Cori Hayes. The Lady Horns’ season opener will be Nov. 24, also at Bryson.
Here’s a quick capsule on every team The Bowie News covers.
Bowie
The Lady Rabbits return from a 30-win season and its deepest playoff penetration in about half a decade.
The team features all-state guard Courtney Brady and three other returning starters in Brittney Pound, Kamryn Cantwell and Addy Cook. Henslee Ogle, River Romine and Madison Hill also are expected to see plenty of playing time for Coach Colby Davis-Pastusek.
“We have speed, athleticism and versatility,” said Davis-Pastusek when asked about the team’s strengths, “and we have plenty of girls that can contribute and score.”
The defending district champion added Stephenville and Conference 1A ranked Lipan to its schedule this season. The 3A-9 opener is set for Dec. 15 versus Boyd.
“We want to win the day,” said Davis-Pastusek regarding this year’s high expectations. That said, the team is using the hashtag: #R2SA.
The University Interscholastic League state championships are set for March 3-5 at The Alamodome in San Antonio.
Prairie Valley’s Kincaid Johnson dribbles up court during Friday’s game at home versus the Wichita H.E.A.T. (News photo by Kayla Jean Woods)
Bellevue’s girl’s basketball team led at halftime but a quick 9-0 Jacksboro run in the opening moments of the second half would prove the difference in a 28-25 Lady Eagle loss June 15 in a Nocona Summer League game.
Leading 12-9 at the half, Bellevue continued to shut down the inside game of the Tigerettes. Jacksboro switched tactics and began firing from outside. Three 3-pointers in the span of just under two minutes gave Jacksboro an 18-12 lead.
Bellevue kept things close, however, getting on the second half scoreboard with Mattie Broussard’s basket and free throws cutting the deficit to two, 18-16. A Haven Jones 3-pointer put the Lady Eagles up 19-18 midway through the second half.
The Tigerettes had just one 3 -pointer the rest of the way but got inside for a pair of buckets to take a 25-21 lead with 4:50 to go. Both offenses shut down late.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Most school-age athletes start off playing everything. By the time they graduate, they whittle it down to just one or two.
New Bowie girl’s track and overall cross country coach Shawnda Childers is no exception. While at Iowa Park she competed in volleyball, cross country and track before cutting out volleyball and focusing on track and cross country to close out high school.
Childers did not stay with athletics while moving on to Midwestern State University, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s Degrees. After graduation, shestarted coaching in Electra. She came to Bowie for one year, then went back to her old stomping grounds in Iowa Park where she spent the next four years.
The return home also put her in contact with now-Bowie Coach Griffin Fields, who was a coach there at the time. From Iowa Park, she spent the next three years at City View.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
New Saint Jo Girl’s Basketball Coach Grant Gooch isn’t completely unfamiliar with the area.
“We went to Muenster quite a bit when I was a kid,” Gooch, who will be going into his 20th year as a coach, said. “We’d load up the cooler from the meat markets. It’s good to be back.”
Gooch worked with Saint Jo Athletic Director CJ Hantz when the pair were in Throckmorton. Gooch comes to town from Menard where he spent three years at the West Texas school.
Gooch says coaching and education kind of come naturally to him.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
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