The Bowie Lady Rabbits split games as they wrapped up tournament competition for the season at the 61st annual Whataburger Tournament in Saginaw this past weekend.
The Lady Rabbits opened competition on Thursday against the number one ranked team in the state in Class 1A, the Nazareth Swiftettes. Bowie fell 42-20 to the top ranked team, while Nazareth went on to compete in the championship game against the number one ranked team in the state in Class 3A, Wall, who defeated the Swiftettes for the title.
The Lady Rabbits struggled from the beginning, falling 15-4 in the first quarter. They held their ground in the second as Nazareth outscored them by only two points, 8-6, as the Lady Rabbits headed into halftime trailing 23-10.
The Swiftettes kept the Lady Rabbits from making a comeback in the third by putting up nine points and holding Bowie to just two. While Bowie fought back in the fourth with eight points of their own verses Nazareth’s 10, it was too late as they watched Nazareth earn the 42-20 win.
The Lady Rabbits struggled with reaching double digit numbers. Instead, it was a team effort for the offense with Hope Howard leading the way with eight points, Aslyn Davis providing five and Abbi Gamblin, three. Sayde Garrett and Jayci Logan contributed two each.
Next up on the slate was Quinlan Ford, who opened the first quarter by jumping out to a 20-9 lead against the Lady Rabbits. Once again, Bowie battled back in the second, allowing the Lady Panthers to outscore them by just one point 12-11.
The game went to the Lady Rabbit’s in the second half, as they outscored the Lady Panthers 13-10 in the third and 19-12 in the fourth, but unfortunately the big lead in the first doomed them to a tight two-point loss, 54-52.
Two Lady Rabbits topped the double digits in the second game of the tournament, with Howard once again leading the offense with 15 points. She was joined by Logan, who provided 12 of Bowie’s points.
Davis added another nine, Taygon Jones provided eight and Brysen Richey, four.
The Lady Rabbits snapped their first quarter drought in the third game of the Whataburger Tournament as they took on the Springtown Lady Porcupines.
The teams went neck-and-neck to end the first quarter tied 8-8, but the Lady Rabbits soon found their rhythm in the second as they outscored their opponent 14-9 to head into the half with a slightly comfortable 22-17 lead.
The Lady Rabbits dominated the court in the third, outscoring the Lady Porcupines 22-7. However, the Lady Porcupines weren’t done, and put a whopping 23 points on the board while holding Bowie to 11 in the fourth. Fortunately, the Lady Rabbits had done enough early in the game to take the 55-47 win and their first game.
It was Jones’ turn to lead the way in the third game of the tournament with 14 points, while Davis was close behind with 12 points. Howard continued to play a major role in the Lady Rabbit’s offense with nine points, who was joined by Gamblin with nine points as well. Landra Parr and Garrett provided three each, while Jayci Logan had one and Brysen Richey, one.
Returning to action after a knee injury suffered in basketball tournament during the summer was post player Bailey Grant, who put up two of the Lady Rabbit’s points.

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