SPORTS
Nocona beats Bowie 45-25
The Nocona Indians traveled to Bowie on Friday night with both teams coming off fresh losses and sitting at 1-1 in district.
The Indians’ defense stifled the Jackrabbits offense on their way to beating Bowie 45-25. The last time a Nocona team beat the Jackrabbits was in 2016.
The game started off slow for both teams. It took half of the first quarter until Bowie scored the first points of the game.
The Jackrabbits were playing zone to try and keep the bigger Indians from getting shots near the basket. Nocona was playing man-to-man and seemed to contest every shot that was attempted.
The score was tied at 4-4 with less than two minutes to go in the quarter. The Indians’ point guard Landry McCasland found himself open from beyond the arc a couple of times and drilled two 3-pointers to close the quarter as Nocona led 10-6 heading into second.
The Indians started the quarter strong, scoring eight points in the first two minutes to extend the lead to 18-6. With less than half the quarter still to play, Bowie still had not scored while the Indians lead was at 22-6 as post player Jason Sparkman scored inside and Carter Horn and Blake Gauna made some outside shots.
The Jackrabbits rallied to score seven points from Cade Thompson and Riley Harris, mostly doing so at the free throw line. Still, Nocona’s lead was in double-figures as the teams went into halftime, Bowie trailing 25-13.
The Jackrabbits needed a change. Bowie switched its defense and started to try and trap the Indians around the court. This tactic worked.
The forced turnovers allowed for some easy baskets as the Jackrabbits chipped away at Nocona’s lead, but also prevented the Indians from executing in the half-court like they were in the second quarter.
Bowie cut the lead to as close as seven points at one point. Only 3-pointers at the beginning and end of the quarter stopped Nocona from not scoring at all. The Jackrabbits trailed 31-23 heading into the fourth quarter.
If Bowie could keep up that energy and up its scoring, it might have enough to turn around the game into a win.
Instead the Indians started to handle the Jackrabbits pressure a bit more. An early 3-point play from Sparkman put Nocona’s lead back at double-digits and the lead never dipped back under for the rest of the game.
Bowie’s offensive woes continued for the whole quarter while the Indians rode the hot hand of Sparkman, who scored 11 of his team’s 14 points to seal the game. The Jackrabbits only score in the quarter came right before the buzzer as Nocona pulled away to win big 45-25.
Both teams wrap up the first round of district on Jan. 31. Nocona will travel to Henrietta and play at 7:15 p.m. Bowie will host Childress and play at 7:30 p.m.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Bowie had six players play in the Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl football all-star game. For pictures from not just the football game, but the basketball and volleyball games as well that feature athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6875584&T=1
Nocona is welcoming back Coach Sandy Langford, former coach and alumnus for the Lady Indians, as its new volleyball head coach.
Langford comes back to Nocona after spending the past 11 years leading the Glen Rose volleyball program.
Her circumstances with her family allowed her to jump at the opportunity once she became aware the position at Nocona was available.
“My youngest graduated and is playing football at Midwestern (State University),” Langford said. “All of our family is here and I knew that Coach Kara (Lucherk) was leaving. We were eventually going to retire here. Our oldest son plays college football at West Texas A&M and we’ll be two hours closer to him as well.”
She again will lead the Lady Indians volleyball program, one that she led all the way to the state title game in 2011, which is the farthest the volleyball program has ever gone in its prestigious history.
Langford kept up that level of success during her 11 years at the bigger 4A Glen Rose. She won less than 20 games only twice during her time, winning her 500th career game back in 2023. Her teams were ranked among the top 10 in the state five times and Langford led Glen Rose to the state tournament in 2017, the best finish in program history.
With the Lady Indians also having its own string of success, appearing in back-to-back regional finals while finishing atop the district standings both years, Langford is excited to not just keep the success going, but shoot for the stars.
“We are not expecting anything less than a state championship,” Langford said.
She has stacked the non-district schedule with strong, state-ranked 3A and 4A teams as well as big tournaments that will test Nocona’s mettle early next season in the hopes it will prepare them for a long playoff run.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly 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.
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