SPORTS
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: A journey’s underway
By ERIC VICCARO
[email protected]
Wednesday, basketballs could be heard pounding down on the hardwood or tartan surfaces of area high school gymnasiums.
Like girls the week before, boys’ basketball teams began practices on Wednesday at several locations in the area.
Four boys’ teams from the Bowie News area qualified for the playoffs during the 2015-16 season in Bowie, Bellevue, Forestburg and Nocona. Bowie advanced the farthest by reaching the regional quarterfinals in Conference 3A, Region II.
“We worked on full- and half-court traps,” said Bowie head coach Doug Boxell, “and on breaking the press.”
That’s pretty advanced for the first day of practice, but a champion coach like Boxell wouldn’t have it any other way.
Boxell reported 18 boys out for basketball so far, not including some that may join once the football season has completed.
The head coach said he expects Kason Spikes to be a frontline starter this year along with returners Taylor Pigg and Keck Jones. Justin Franklin was promoted to varsity late last season. And Boxell expects Spenser Meekins to log plenty of minutes.
“We’re excited to get the ball rolling,” the coach commented.
Bowie will have a pair of scrimmages, at Keene on Nov. 10 and then at 10 a.m. on Nov. 12 at Conference 5A Wichita Falls Rider. Read more in the Oct. 29 Bowie News.
The first allowable date for boys’ basketball practices across the area was this past Wednesday. Here, Bowie’s Spenser Meekins shoots during a timed drill. (News photo by Eric Viccaro)
SPORTS
Lady Rabbits open district with win
The Bowie Lady Rabbits started off district play on Tuesday with an impressive home win against Iowa Park.
The Lady Rabbits won 45-31 in a game that was not close for most of it as Bowie jumped out to a good lead.
The Lady Rabbits are coming off a season where they only had one district win and had a lot of new faces to varsity this year. Despite that, in its pre-district schedule Bowie has proven doubters wrong as it went 14-5. Now, the Lady Rabbits will prove how real that record is against a district team that pre-season was ranked to finish fourth in the district.
The Lady Rabbits also had another resource on their side as assistant coach Griffin Fields had spent the previous six seasons as the Lady Hawks head basketball coach. With his job being to come up with the team’s defensive game plan anyway, Bowie was even more equipped for Iowa Park.
That showed up in the first quarter as the Lady Rabbits’ defense zone defense just seemed to be playing in perfect unison.
Every shot thrown up was contested. Attempts to drive to the basket or get the ball to the free throw line were thwarted. Bowie’s defense shut out the Lady Hawks in the first quarter.
On offense, the Lady Rabbits were moving the ball around Iowa Park’s zone defense, getting the ball to a cutting Laney Enlow who scored six of the team’s 12 points as Bowie led 12-0.
The second quarter saw the Lady Hawks finally get some things going. It was not pretty, but they finally got some shots to go in around the basket.
The Lady Rabbits were going to live with allowing a few outside shooters letting it fly and living with the results. Iowa Park made one 3-pointer and scored 10 points in the second quarter, but Bowie’s offense kept things going as well.
Laney Segura made two 3-pointers and scored eight of the team’s 14 points in the second quarter.
The Lady Rabbits led 26-10 heading into halftime.
The Lady Hawks switched to more of a man-to-man defense in the second half and Bowie’s offense struggled.
Iowa Park’s offense did not have much success shooting from the perimeter, but were finding opportunities to score in transition as well as just continuing to pound the ball inside.
The Lady Hawks cut the lead to 35-24 heading into the fourth quarter.
Early in the period, Iowa Park cut the score to single-digits 37-30 and looked poised to push the Lady Rabbits in the final minutes.
From there Bowie’s defense locked in and allowed the Lady Hawks only one point the rest of the way.
The Lady Rabbits got some breathing room as Parker Riddle and Lanie Moore made 3-pointers down the stretch to push the lead back over double-digits.
A few made free throws in the final minute and Bowie won comfortably 45-31.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6871225&T=1
SPORTS
Girls Basketball Roundup
Forestburg
The Forestburg Lady Horns had a good final tournament playing in Thackerville last week.
The Lady Horns went 2-1 overall and finished third overall while playing in the tournament just over the border in Oklahoma.
Forestburg played 3A Tishomingo’s JV team and won 44-33 to start off the tournament. The second game the Lady Horns lost to Class A team Ringling 37-28.
The third and final game of the tournament for Forestburg was against a fellow Texas team, 1A Garner. The Lady Horns won 43-32 to close out the tournament strong and leave with some hardware.
Brenna Briles scored a tournament high 54 points while grabbing 20 rebounds. Jocelyn Rich scored 40 points, with 22 coming in the final game while grabbing 24 rebounds.
Bowie
The Bowie Lady Rabbits had a great final tournament at Jacksboro last week to head into district play feeling confident.
The Lady Rabbits went 3-0 against smaller schools, winning by two blowouts and one close game.
Bowie first played Perrin-Whitt and beat the 1A Lady Pirates easily 47-27. Laney Enlow led the team with 18 points and eight rebounds. Parker Riddle was second with nine point and Laney Segura scored eight points. Hanna Bell had a team high four assists and also had four steals, along with Segura.
The second game proved to be the most competitive of the tournament for the Lady Rabbits. Playing 1A Gordon, a state-ranked team, Bowie led 27-25 at halftime and won 53-50.
Riddle led the team with 14 points, Enlow was second with 10 points. Bell grabbed a team high 11 rebounds to go with eight points along with Lanie Moore.
The Lady Rabbits then played local team Bellevue. The teams had played earlier in the season where the Lady Eagles gave Bowie more of a game than expected. At the tournament, the Lady Rabbits won easily 51-20 to close out the tournament strong.
Segura had a team high 12 points while Payton Holt was second with 11 points. Kendall Fallis and Sadie Weaver scored six points off the bench while Bell also scored six points.
Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians started off district play with an easy win at Archer City on Friday.
The Lady Indians won 63-27 against the Lady Cats as they showed why they are favorites to win their seventh straight district title.
Nocona came into the game following a big win playing at defending 1A state champion Newcastle earlier in the week. District play is just another step on its way to hopefully getting back to the state tournament.
Archer City came into the game with a modest 9-5 record, but had mostly played schools its own size and level. The Lady Indians showed the Lady Cats what level they were at.
Nocona started the game off fast with full-court pressure on defense and looking to push the ball on offense. The Lady Indians led 18-9 after the first quarter and 36-11 at halftime.
The third quarter saw Nocona keep up the pace as it added to its lead, up 54-18.
The Lady Indians took their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter, getting a lot of their bench unit some playing time as they coasted to the win 63-27.
Meg Meekins led the team with 17 points, eight steals and four assists. Reagan Phipps scored 14 points and made four 3-pointers.
Avery Crutsinger added 10 points as well and Aubree Kleinhans grabbed a team high seven rebounds.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers easily won at Throckmorton on Friday night.
The Lady Panthers won 64-29 against the Lady Greyhounds.
Saint Jo came into the game on a good stretch, having won five of its last six games to start December, usually by comfortable margins.
It was a similar story as Saint Jo’s aggressive pressing defense and fast offensive pace quickly allowed the team to run away with the lead.
Payzlie Cervantes led the team with 28 points while Jordyn O’Neal was second with 16 points and Krista Reeves scored eight.
Missing scores
The Bowie News did not receive results from the Bellevue and Prairie Valley coaches.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Boys Basketball Roundup
Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Bears had an up and down first tournament at Saint Jo last week.
The Bears went 2-2 overall while playing their most extended games of the season.
Gold-Burg had only played one game all season leading into the tournament thanks to the football playoff run and basketball scheduling complications, so the team needs all the game experience it could get.
The Bears got that in their opening game when they played 3A Pilot Point and it did not go well. The Bearcats won 71-23 which meant Gold-Burg had nowhere to go but up. Camden Dreyer led the team with nine points.
The Bears next played Trenton and won 43-27 against the 2A Tigers team. Dreyer led the team with 16 points while Jayton Epperson had 10 points.
Next Gold-Burg played an Australian team and won 54-37. Dreyer led the team with 15 points and four made 3-pointers. Epperson was second with 12 points, Keelyn Case scored 11 points and Eli Freeland scored nine points.
The win put the Bears into the silver division championship game against Texoma Christian. The private school won 81-45 against Gold-Burg, meaning the Bears finished second in their division.
Dreyer led the team with 11 points and Epperson was second with 10 and Case added nine points.
Bowie
The Bowie Jackrabbits had a good second tournament at Graham last week.
The Jackrabbits went 3-1 while playing some good local competition.
Bowie was heading into the tournament on a six game win streak, including the previous week’s tournament where it had won the whole thing.
The Jackrabbits kept that up with a win against Sweetwater 60-44. Rayder Mann led the team with 23 points while Gaige Goodman was second with 13 points and Adam Pickett scored 11 points.
Bowie then beat the tournament host Graham 45-26. Bradly Horton led the team with 15 points and five made 3-pointers. Mann was second with 13 points.
The Jackrabbits beat Breckenridge 51-21 in another one-sided game. It was a team effort scoring the ball. Horton, Pickett and Nick Salazar off the bench each scored eight points to lead the team in scoring.
The one stumble for Bowie came against 4A Hereford. The Jackrabbits lost 50-36 after falling behind in the first quarter and not being able to dig their way out. Mann led the team with 11 points while Horton was second with eight points.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians had a tough tournament at Poolville last week playing some tough teams.
The Indians went 1-3 overall as the team is trying to work through their deficiencies as they placed sixth place.
Nocona was able to beat Bethesda Christian 56-31 in its best game of the tournament. Landon Fatheree led the team with 26 points and six rebounds. Karson Kleinhans was right behind him with 23 points while having five assists and six steals.
The other games were all against state-ranked teams and the Indians struggled.
Against Mt. Pleasant Chapel Hill, Nocona let the third quarter get away from it as the team lost 51-32. Kleinhans scored 16 points, Fatheree scored eight and Oscar Salomon-Gomez scored six to lead the team.
Against Jim Ned, the Nocona Indians scored only three points in the middle quarters as they lost 38-22. Kleinhans scored 11 points and Fatheree scored 10 and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the team.
The final game against Slidell saw the fourth quarter slip away to make the final score worse than it was for most of the game as Nocona lost 45-21. Fatheree had a team high 14 points while Walker Murphey was second with three points.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers hosted their tournament last week.
Only two of the four games the team played have their scores posted online and no statistics were provided to the Bowie News.
Saint Jo had a great kickoff to the tournament as its dominated Christ Academy 71-13. The second day the Panthers lost a close game against Texoma Christian 50-47.
Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns played in their final tournament across in Oklahoma in Thackerville last week.
The Longhorns went 2-1 overall, beating two Oklahoma teams before losing to a familiar area team in a close game.
Forestburg beat Tishomingo 64-27. Jesus Sanchez led the team with 21 points, Kyler Willett was second with 14 and Jesse Wadsworth scored 10 points.
Against the tournament host Thackerville, the Longhorns won 50-28. Sanchez scored 23 points and Willett was second with 10 points.
In the one loss, Forestburg played Bryson. The Longhorns trailed by double-digits heading into the fourth quarter and came up a basket short of tying the game. Forestburg lost 52-49.
Sanchez led the team with 19 points, Willett scored 14 and Wadsworth scored 11 points.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles struggled in another tough tournament last week playing in Poolville and playing mostly bigger schools again.
The Eagles went 1-4 overall as the young team tried to keep up against the tough competition.
Bellevue was able to get a close win against Millsap 49-46 to not be completely down about the whole weekend.
The Eagles lost a close game against Wink 53-47 before losing to Windthorst 58-42, Trinity Christian 64-41 and Victory Christian Academy 47-37.
It was another tough week as Bellevue’s lack of size and foul trouble got it into trouble every game.
Coach Colby Broussard hopes the hard times now will pay off for the team in the near future.
Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Bulldogs played at a tournament in Thackerville last week in Oklahoma.
Two scores were reported to the Bowie News and the Bulldogs went 0-2 in those games.
Prairie Valley played Oklahoma school Ringling and lost 64-43. Sawyer Bray led the team with 13 points. Trae Campbell, Hunter Camden and Dayne Sadler each scored six points.
The next game the Bulldogs lost 59-35 against a team that’s name was cutoff in the results. Camden led the team with 10 points, Bray was second with nine points and Sadler scored eight points.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
For pictures of the Saint Jo team from last week, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6871143&T=1
For pictures of the Gold-Burg team from last week, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6871142&T=1
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