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.