SPORTS
Jackrabbits win at Henrietta despite lackluster first half showing 51-35
It took a half for the Bowie Jackrabbits to realize they were playing in a district game at Henrietta on Friday, but once the second half started they found their footing.
The final score reflected what most people thought the game would be like as the Jackrabbits won 51-35, but a lackluster first half made it seem like the Bearcats were in position to pull a major upset.
Despite only one district win, Henrietta has had spurts of competitive play in a district full of tough teams you have to show up for every night. Bowie found out even they would have to come out to play if they wanted to win against the Bearcats.
The first quarter seemed to play like the Jackrabbits would rather be doing anything else. Henrietta’s two-three zone made passes inside frustrating and minute long possessions of passing around the perimeter usually ended with a Bowie player throwing up an ill-advised three-pointer.
While the Jackrabbits have some players who can knock down shots, it seemed like no one was making anything in the first half.
The Bearcats on the other hand were able to make some open shots and execute their offense well in the first quarter. In every way they were outplaying Bowie in terms of energy, effort and passion. A made half court shot at the buzzer from Henrietta seemed ominous as they led 14-8 heading into the second quarter.
The Jackrabbit’s defense picked things up in the second quarter, but offensively they still could not solve the Bearcats zone. Bowie started to collect several steals from Henrietta on interior passes, but these turnovers could rarely be turned into transition opportunities. The few times they did was when the Jackrabbits scored.
Despite holding the Bearcats to only five points in the quarter, the Jackrabbits still trailed 19-16 heading into halftime.
Coach Jonathon Horton knew that a discussion of tactics would be useless.
“They knew when we went in at halftime there wasn’t much to say,” Horton said. “It was all up to them. It was getting physical and we had to adjust, but we had to take the opportunities that we were given.”
It did not take long to see the message had sunk in. Some scores off turnovers gave Bowie its first lead of the game 21-19 within the opening minute and half of the third quarter.
There was this extra bit of energy they were playing with now that was mostly absent as they started winning lose balls, grabbing offensive rebounds and running with a purpose.
Henrietta was not about to get run out of their own gym so fast. They tied the score up at 23-23 at one point and only trailed 29-25 heading into the fourth quarter. If the Bearcats could just find their offense again, they still had a chance to pull the upset.
Any hope of that started to vanish at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Jackrabbits Evan Kennedy collected a steal and scored in transition. On the next possession he knocked in a three-pointer. This helped spark Bowie for the rest of the quarter as they took a double digit 38-27 lead with 4:49 still to play.
Instead of coasting towards the finish, both teams offenses came alive to finish the game in a flurry. By the end, the Jackrabbits 22 point quarter exceeded their total from the first half and almost equaled their total from three quarters as they won 51-35.
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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