Prairie Valley vs Forestburg boys
The Prairie Valley Bulldogs hosted Forestburg on Friday in what would be a celebration for both the team and an individual.
The Bulldogs would pull away in the second half thanks to a barrage of 3-pointers to win their first district game 71-46.
Along the way, leading scorer for Prairie Valley, senior Nicholas Bell, scored his 1,000 career point in the process.
“We are very excited about Nic scoring 1,000 career points,” Coach Seth Stephens said. “His teammates were happy for him and it was awesome to see them get so fired up about their teammate’s accomplishment. In the two years I’ve been here he’s been one of our top 3-point shooters and that’s definitely helped him achieve this as well as making varsity all four years.”
He led the team with 29 points, six rebounds and seven steals. Tyler Reid scored nine points and led the team with five assists.
The game was close in the first half as it was a matchup of styles. The Longhorns were big and physical and wanted to score in the paint. Prairie Valley was not quite as tall or big and wanted to score from the perimeter. At halftime the Bulldogs only led 27-25.
In the third quarter Prairie Valley almost doubled its scoring production from the first half scoring 25 points as the team made six 3-pointers in the quarter to break the game open.
Things continued in the fourth quarter to make the final score as one-sided as it was, with the Bulldogs winning 71-46.
For the Longhorns, the team scored at a decent pace but just could not keep up with a Prairie Valley team that ended up making 16 3-pointers at a 55 percent clip.
Riley Sandusky led Forestburg with 15 points while also adding six rebounds, five steals and three blocks. Hayden Berry and Zach Bradley each scored in double figures with 12 and 11 points.
Prairie Valley next hosts Gold-Burg at 7 p.m. on Jan. 17. The Longhorns next travel to Bellevue to play at 7 p.m. on Jan. 17.

Saint Jo vs Gold-Burg girls
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers traveled to Gold-Burg on Friday to try and finish out the week with their second straight win.
The Lady Panthers came away with a 49-31 win against the Lady Bears to even out their district record at 2-2.
The game started off slow as Saint Jo only led 9-8 after the first quarter. In the second quarter Gold-Burg had a player get hurt and sit out for the rest of the game. With a player already out, the Lady Bears were down to only six players for the rest of the game, which did not help things.
The Lady Panthers went to senior post Bailey Parker, who scored eight of her 14 points in the second quarter as Saint Jo grew its lead to 25-15 at halftime.
Gold-Burg hung around in a low scoring third quarter, making up some ground and trailing 32-24 heading into the fourth. Their the Lady Panthers finished on a great note offensively as six different players scored at least one basket on the way to closing out the game to win 49-32.
Kaitline Harris led Saint Jo with 16 points to go along with Parker’s 14. The win was the team’s second straight after losing its first two district games against Midway and Bellevue.
For the Lady Bears, Taylor Lyons led the team with a game high 25 points. Ashlyn Brown was second with six points.
Coach Carlynn Murguia liked what she saw from her team as Gold-Burg competed for most of the game.
The Lady Bears next travel to Prairie Valley to play at 6 p.m. on Jan. 17. Saint Jo next plays at Slidell at 6 p.m. on Jan. 17.

Saint Jo vs Gold-Burg boys
The Saint Jo Panthers earned their second district win on Friday at Gold-Burg a week after earning their first against Forestburg.
The site of the Panthers getting upset from a year ago when the Bears Tanner Parrish scored 57 points, there would be no such theatrics as Saint Jo won 70-18.
Saint Jo started early with its full-court press defense and scored 30 points in the first quarter to gain a sizable lead. Unlike the previous game against Forestburg when the Longhorns came back, Gold-Burg did not have the firepower to get back into the game.
The athleticism and experience from Saint Jo proved too much as 20 of Saint Jo’s baskets came from layups at the rim.
Connor Thompson led the Panthers with 22 points. Logan Morman scored 15 points and Kile Thurman scored 12 points. Coach Lyndon Cook did not have much to complain about.
For Gold-Burg, Jack Henry led the team with six points while Kani Grace finished with four points. Jacob Reno and Kolton Whitaker each scored three points.
The young Bears team keeps improving in little ways that hope to pay off with a win soon.
Saint Jo next plays at district favorite and defending state champion Slidell at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 17. Gold-Burg will travel to Prairie Valley to play at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 17.

Prairie Valley vs Forestburg girls
The Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs picked up their first district win on Friday at home against Forestburg.
The Lady Bulldogs were able to contain the Lady Horns size on their way to winning a one-sided game 41-8.
Hailey Winkler led Prairie Valley with 16 points while Emily Carpenter pulled down 10 rebounds to go with seven points. Coach Jeannie Carpenter liked what she saw from her team.
For the Lady Horns, the young team is still trying to work on executing. They have the size inside to score on anybody in the district, but getting the ball there has proven to be a challenge against good defenses.
Prairie Valley next hosts Gold-Burg at 6 p.m. on Jan. 17. Forestburg travels to Bellevue to play at 6 p.m. on Jan. 17.

Bellevue girls
Instead of taking a game off during district play, the Bellevue Lady Eagles traveled to play at 4A Vernon on Friday.
Despite a promising start in the first quarter, the bigger Lady Lions had big scoring quarters in the second and fourth to win by a comfortable margin 72-48.
Bellevue led 13-11 after the first quarter, but Vernon would take the lead in the second quarter scoring 24 points and lead 35-24 at halfime. Even with a more competitive third quarter, the Lady Lions finished the game strong scoring 20 points to up the margin of victory.
Kaylee Trail led the team with 23 points and Sky-Lar Embry scored 18. Unfortunately, the rest of the team only scored seven points, which was not enough to keep up with the high scoring Vernon team.
In the end, this game does not count. Coming off a tough loss from district favorite Slidell 46-30, Bellevue knows what it needs to work on if it wants to give the Lady Greyhounds a better showing the next time it plays them.
The Lady Eagles next host Forestburg at 6 p.m. on Jan. 17.

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