SPORTS
Panthers, Bears play at Saint Jo tourney
The Saint Jo Panthers finished with two wins in their annual tournament Nov. 29-Dec. 1 that included teams from Texas, Oklahoma and even Australia.
“For the first time in the tournament’s history, the field was not comprised of just Oklahoma and Texas schools, but a group from Australia. The experiences gained by all teams involved was immeasurable,” said Saint Jo Panthers Coach Michael Wheeler.
The Australian players stayed with families from Saint Jo while competing in the tournament.
“Five Saint Jo families were honored to play hosts to these remarkable young men. On Friday, the players shadowed students during class, providing an opportunity for discussion in regard to what a day in the life was like both here and there, simply supporting the fact that the off the court life lessons are just as valuable as the on the court ones,” said Wheeler.
The Panthers opened the tournament with a 71-30 win against Sacred Heart on Thursday. Preston Lyons powered the offense with 28 points and Brock Durham added 13.
The Panther’s only loss of the tournament came to a larger 3A school when they faced Paradise.
The second time around, Durham led the Panther’s offense with 21 points and Logan Morman put up 17.
Saint Jo wrapped up the tournament with a 60-27 win against Gold-Burg with 18 points from Lyons and 13 each from Connor Thompson and Durham. The win earned the Panthers third place.
The Gold-Burg Lady Bears also gained some valuable experience, facing tough competition in the tournament.
The Lady Bears opened the tournament against Trenton, but fell 62-32 despite 14 points from Taylor Lyons and 12 points from Kelly Contreras.
The second game of the tournament resulted in a 40-37 win for the Lady Bears against Savoy.
Contreras led the scoring with 17 points and Taylor Lyons added 12. The win was a battle for the Lady Bers, who finished the game with only four players on the court due to injuries and fouls.
However, Gold-Burg didn’t stay down long and played hard against a competitive Ryan team, who topped the Lady bears 48-17. Contreras powered the offense with 13 points and Lyons provided four points.
Teams from Montague County and others not featured in story did not turn in tournament results to the Bowie News by press time.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl is this week on June 6-7 and graduating athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo are confirmed to be playing.
In total, seven athletes from Bowie, five from Nocona and three from Saint Jo are planning to play in the all-star games this week. Nocona also will have a pair of coaches participating as well.
The girl’s basketball game kicks off events on June 6, scheduled for 6 p.m. at Wichita Falls Memorial High School. In the game, the east team will have Nocona players Avery Crutsinger, Meg Meekins and Reagan Phipps playing while Kyler Spitzer and Clayton Brown coach them one last time.
On the west team, Saint Jo’s Payzlie Cervantes is confirmed to be playing.
The boy’s basketball game is scheduled to follow at 7:30 p.m. On the east team, Bowie’s Boston Farris and Nocona’s Jose Gomez Jr. will be playing.
On June 7, the volleyball games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. with the small school game. On the west team, Nocona’s Kaygan Stone and Saint Jo’s Taylor Patrick are confirmed to play. On the east team, Saint Jo’s Aubrey Morman will get to play her teammate.
There are no local athletes confirmed to be playing in the big school volleyball game.
The final event is the football game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. It is an all Bowie affair with six players confirmed to be playing for the east team: Justin Clark, Jorge De Leon, Hunter Fluitt and Braden Rhyne, Preacher Chambers and Moh Azouak.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona Independent School District officials looked inward for a new athletic director/head football coach, selecting Jeff Hill for the position.
Hill, who served last year as Nocona football’s offensive coordinator and also led the softball program to the playoffs for the first time in a while as its head coach, was upgraded to the role.
This came on the heels of former Athletic Director Blake Crutsinger, who served in the role the last four years, resigned in May.
For Hill, the choice to apply for the position was a no brainer. His one year in Nocona had impressed upon him and his wife that it was the place they would like to be long term.
“I’m looking for a town to raise my kids in and Nocona has treated my family really well,” Hill said. “There are some really good people. The kids work hard. Everything I am looking for in a hometown is right here in Nocona and I want to try and make it as best as it can be, especially through athletics.”
Before Nocona, Hill served as the athletic director at S&S Consolidated while also spending time at Hebron and Whitewright in his coaching career.
Hill expresses great respect for the departing Crutsinger and besides changing a few small things in how he personally wants to do things, he is not trying to come in with a sweeping restructuring of the whole athletic department.
The program had five of its six team sports make the playoffs, with volleyball playing in the regional final and the girl’s basketball team winning the state championship.
That along with two athletes competing at the state championship in cross country and track with one earning a gold medal, it was one of the more successful school years in athletic program history.
“Coach Crutsinger was awesome and did a great job so honestly just little tweaks, a little bit of structure and cohesion amongst the coaching staff between boys and girls,” Hill said. “I hope to keep the winning tradition going overall in the athletic department.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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