SPORTS
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: Optimism abounds for girls
By ERIC VICCARO
Around Montague County and the rest of Texas, basketball season started in earnest.
The Bowie High School girls’ team – buoyed by the returning Kamryn Cantwell – took on Conference 4A Burkburnett in the traditional home opener.
Nocona also opened the season with a home date against Iowa Park.
There were several other girls-boys doubleheaders on the docket, with Bryson at Gold-Burg, Poolville at Bellevue, Wichita Christian at Saint Jo and Christ Academy at Prairie Valley.
Forestburg doesn’t open the season until Nov. 18 at Perrin-Whitt.
The boys’ basketball preview will run in the weekend edition of the News for Nov. 19.
Bowie
The Lady Rabbits are under new management, per se, as Chuck Hall has replaced Colby Davis-Pastusek as the head coach. Bowie’s coming off a 27-9 season, advancing all the way to the regional quarterfinals before falling to Brock 55-39.
Nocona
Nocona’s biggest memory during the 2015-16 season was a two-point home victory over Bowie during district play.
The Lady Indians (14-16) barely missed the playoffs last year, falling to Henrietta in a play-in game to determine the fourth seed.
Bellevue
Bellevue took the third and last playoff spot in District 1A-21 a season ago, and the Lady Eagles advanced to area.
However, the team will need to find new leadership this season in absence of do-everything Devon Cassetty.
Saint Jo
Saint Jo also features a new coach in former Hardin-Simmons and Muenster High center Taylor Klement.
The Lady Panthers won their opener on Saturday versus Chillicothe, playing tenacious defense.
Prairie Valley
Prairie Valley has won one of its first three games this season, coming off a hard-fought loss to Wichita Christian this past Friday.
The Lady Bulldogs have a more experienced squad that’s expected to win more than they did last year (5-24 overall record).
Forestburg
Forestburg was one of three playoff qualifiers from Montague County in 2015-16, coming off a 16-9 campaign.
The Lady Horns finished second in 1A-21, and virtually the entire team is back minus Cheyenne Banks.
Gold-Burg
Cheryl Cromleigh returns for her second season as head coach of the Lady Bears, a team that narrowly missed the playoffs last year – taking fourth in 1A-21.
Expect to see Gold-Burg try to use the high-low offense to generate points, and hopefully improve on the 2015-16 marks of 13-14 overall and 7-7 in district play.
Saint Jo’s Emily Haney (00) will be asked to be one of the point guards this season for the Lady Panthers, who have a new coach this season in Taylor Klement. (News photo by Eric Viccaro)
SPORTS
District awards for 1A released
With the baseball and softball seasons over for the area 1A schools, district awards have been released.
Listed below are those earned honors on the field and in the classroom for Saint Jo and Bellevue.
Softball
Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Utility player: Taylor Patrick; Catcher: Jordyn O’Neal
Baseball
Superlatives
Offensive MVP: Devin Stewart, Saint Jo
Newcomer of the Year: Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue
Pitcher: Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Jayden Curry, Saint Jo
Second team
Pitcher: Charlie Barclay, Saint Jo
Infielder: Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; Sam Martin, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Rylan Forrester, Saint Jo
Catcher: Charlie Evans, Saint Jo
Utility: Logan Hoover, Saint Jo
DH: Amzy Barclay, Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Cody Gaston, Saint Jo; Xander Joyner, Saint Jo
To see academic awards from Saint Jo players, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Forestburg coach retiring
Eldon Van Hooser is leaving Forestburg better than he found it.
The head boy’s basketball coach is retiring after more than 30 years, spending the last five at Forestburg.
Van Hooser did not come to this decision because of a lack of fire or feeling tired after decades in the profession. He had to for family reasons.
“My wife has MS (multiple sclerosis) and it’s a disease where you have trouble standing and walking and she needs help,” Van Hooser said. “I am able to so I am going to step away from teaching and coaching to be there for her.”
Van Hooser was hired in 2019. Along with being the boy’s basketball coach, he also was the football team’s defensive coordinator.
There were some lean years for Forestburg on the boy’s athletic side, with numbers being low and the available athletes being mostly underclassmen.
For two years, the Longhorns’ boy’s basketball team won few games and one of those seasons saw the team field five players on the high school team.
“One of those years we had COVID-19 and the other we had five kids,” Van Hooser said. “It was very rough. After that we worked with the kids and we had a good freshman group coming up. Next year they are going to be seniors.”
That group has helped to turn the program around. Last year the young Longhorns team contested for a playoff spot and just barely missed it finishing fifth in the district.
This season, that same group took a leap and finished second in district with a record of 7-5.
Despite losing its last two regular season games in dramatic fashion heading into the playoffs, the team stepped up in the bi-district game.
Playing against an athletic Newcastle team, Forestburg led for most of the game.
Unfortunately, the previous game against Bellevue saw the Longhorn team blow the lead late in the fourth quarter against a hard pressing style team and they were suffering the same fate against the Bobcats down the stretch.
Fortunately, Forestburg held on just enough to win 53-46. It was the first boy’s basketball playoff win in nine years for Forestburg.
“It was huge for our program,” Van Hooser said. “This new year we will have new goals. The new coach will have some goals of his own, but I set some for the team and think that we have come a long way.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Bowie Sports Banquet
The Bowie sports banquets was on Monday night. Olivia Gill and Tucker Jones were named Jackrabbit and Lady Rabbit of the year. Pick up the mid-week paper for all of the sports team awards and pictures.
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