The district rivals of Bowie and Nocona met each other Friday night in a humid Indian gym, with both teams playing for something to prove.
The Jackrabbits wanted to shake off the taste of a humiliating loss at home against Holliday the previous game, while Nocona wanted to show it could compete with their defending state champion county neighbors.
The fury with which Bowie came out within the first quarter carried them to win a mostly one-sided 62-44 game that saw most of their key players playing together for the first time in weeks.
The Jackrabbits got out to an 18-2 lead a little more than midway through the first quarter. They could not have played much better as Justin Franklin, Taylor Pigg and Braden Armstrong combined to scored 22 of the teams 26 points in the first quarter as they led 26-11.
The Indians were not ready to throw in the towel yet. Backed by loud, supportive crowd and motivated by months of anticipation to show Bowie they were still a threat to them despite the team coming into the season relatively inexperienced.
It was a low scoring second quarter for both teams, but it was Nocona who used it to their advantage as they slowly chipped away at the lead. Led by Jason Sparkman’s eight points in the quarter, while the Jackrabbits grew frustrated coming off such a high scoring quarter. With a 1:35 left before halftime, Bowie led 30-20, but were able to close the quarter strong to keep its lead in the double digits 36-23.
The Indians hoped they would be able to keep up the level of competitiveness they showed for most of the second quarter, but the Jackrabbits came out determined to shake off the memory of the second quarter. Bowie outscored Nocona 16-4 in the third quarter and almost doubled the Indians score 52-27 heading into the fourth quarter, closing the book on the hope of a comeback.
The Indians closed the game strong, making five three-pointers in the fourth quarter and playing hard until the end, but the Jackrabbits lead was too much to overcome in one quarter as Bowie won 62-44.

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