In a rematch with one of the top teams in the district the Lady Rabbits got revenge, beating the Lady Cats 56-44.
It was not only one of their best played games of the season, but their most important win to this point.
Bowie came in with a different strategy from its first game at Childress, a game that saw the Lady Cats win 58-37. One of the biggest issues in that game was dealing with big and versatile post player Grace Foster. Last year’s district co-most valuable player scored 26 points in that game.
Seeing a strategy that Nocona had used to beat Childress, Bowie did its own version of it. The strategy involves assigning a defender to be on Foster’s hip the entire game and do their best to prevent her from ever touching the ball.
The remaining four defenders would be in a zone defense. The change came from the Lady Rabbits doing a diamond shape instead of a box shape.
The assignment was put onto Landra Parr and Camberley Gunter, who despite both giving up several inches to Foster, did a great job of frustrating her.
Bowie started the game looking to attack. The team was rewarded with free throw attempts, making six of its nine attempts in the quarter. Only a couple of 3-pointers kept Childress in it as the Lady Rabbits led 13-8.
The second quarter was more of the same, with Jayci Logan scoring seven of the team’s 11 points. While Bowie got the free throw five times in the quarter, nothing went in.
Still, the defense frustrated as the Foster’s only shot in the first half came on a desperate step back 3-pointer at the buzzer. Childress’ Addilyn Keys and Chloe Teichelman were picking up the slack a little bit, but the Lady Rabbits led 24-15 at halftime.
Things picked up for the Lady Cats in the third quarter. Keys scored seven points and Childress were doing little things to earn points here and there, more than doubling its total from the first half despite Foster still not being a factor.
Bowie struggled to score as the team seemed to have a tougher time getting into the lane. A couple of 3-pointers and baskets allowed the Lady Rabbits to not fully collapse, tying the score up in the final minute of the quarter after falling behind. The teams were tied 34-34 heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams had a slow start to the start of the final period. Bowie led only 37-34 and were still having trouble scoring the ball. Abbi Gamblin, who had missed the last two games with a wrist injury, was inserted.
While she had not started the game, she had played some minutes earlier in the game. In the next two minutes she provided an offensive boost, scoring five points before being subbed out. Along with a 3-pointer from Logan, the Lady Rabbits lead was now 45-36 with only four minutes left to play.
Bowie ran down the clock a minute before Childress started to send the Lady Rabbits to the free throw line.
The Lady Cats Teichelman scored seven points in the quarter to try and keep pace, but Bowie made 10 of its 17 free throw attempts in the quarter to extend its lead.
It was enough as the Lady Rabbits won 56-44.
The Lady Rabbits host the Lady Eagles at 6 p.m. on Feb. 7 on senior night.

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