The Nocona Indians basketball team fought for their season on Friday night in a play-in game against Henrietta for the final playoff spot in the district at Chico.
The Indians came through, beating the Bearcats for the second time last week by the score of 44-34.
Nocona knew it would be a tough game. While it had beaten Henrietta only three days earlier at home by 16 points, the Bearcats also had come back to win in the final seconds by one in the team’s first matchup in January.
In the third game, there was nothing either team had left to hide and it came down to who made shots and executed its gameplan better.
The Indians did not let Henrietta’s press affect them. Nocona ran its halfcourt sets and got points inside from post player Jason Sparkman and point guard Landry McCasland driving to the hoop.
Shots from outside went in as Carter Horn and Blake Gauna knocked in 3-pointers as well as the Indians got a bit of a lead 12-8 to get the team on the right track.
In the second quarter the Bearcats started to make shots from outside, making three 3-pointers during the quarter, but they did not have much luck scoring any other ways.
Nocona made a couple of 3-pointers as well, but really started to get to the free throw line, making five of its six attempts and building its lead. The Indians led 25-18 heading into halftime.
Nocona’s lead reached double-digits at one point in the third quarter, but Henrietta made its big run to cut the lead down to six points.
The Indians did not flinch as it got points inside the arc from Sparkman, Horn and Lyndon Fenoglio to not let the Bearcats get any closer.
Nocona led 35-26 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Indians ran clock at every opportunity and forced Henrietta to foul them and send them to the free throw line.
Nocona did not shoot great from the line, shooting just better than 50 percent but made nine of its 17 attempts to stay in front.
Cautious of any late run from the Bearcats that would come like the first game, the Indians closed the game out in solid fashion to win 44-34.

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