SPORTS
Cantwell continuing to flourish at next level
Seasons can end in what seems like a flash, but usually they happen during a game.
For Bowie alumnae Kamryn Cantwell, her Southeastern Oklahoma State team’s season ended right before it was to practice for the Division II Women’s Basketball Championship at the venue on March 12.
“We were dressed out in our practice gear with 20 minutes to go before practice started and we found out they had cancelled the Division I and II tournaments,” Cantwell said. “It was heartbreaking because we had gotten so far, and we’ll never know how far that team could have gone.”
The threat of COVID-19 was sweeping America that week, causing almost all sporting events at all levels to almost simultaneously cancel or postpone their seasons.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association made the call to cancel both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments that coins the phrase March Madness due to its unpredictability. The NCAA also canceled all spring sports.
“As far as the spring athletes, I hate that for them because so many of them didn’t even get to get their season going,” Cantwell said. “I know that a lot of those kids will get another year from the NCAA, but I also know a lot of them already have plans next year.”
The Lady Storm were just coming off winning the Great American Conference tournament, a tournament where Cantwell was named the most valuable player after averaging 22.7 points and six rebounds a game.
With a 22-7 record and with three senior starters, including conference MVP Katie Webb, Southeastern Oklahoma State will never find out how far it could have gone in the NCAA tournament.
For Cantwell, it was an anticlimactic end to a great sophomore season for all intents and purposes, both for the team and her individually.
The point guard was second on the team scoring 15.8 points a game while shooting an efficient 47.2 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from 3-point land. Besides just scoring, she led the team with 3.7 assists and also collected 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals. She was named to the GAC conference first team list.
She did all of this while never missing a game and playing the second most minutes at one of the most demanding positions.
“We knew pretty much from day one she could fill that role,” SEOSU Coach Darin Grover said.
Cantwell was not sure what her role would be when recruited. Though she had played point guard at Bowie, the step up in responsibilities are usually not thrust on an incoming freshman.
“I played point guard in high school, but I was more expecting to be the (shooting guard) or (small forward), but when I got on campus, I just told myself I was going to fill whatever position they needed,” Cantwell said.
The only thing clear to her when recruited was she was expecting to contribute in some capacity early on.
With the departure of a key senior player at the position, someone needed to fill it and Grover was sure Cantwell could do it.
Besides a hiccup in her second game against Pittsburg State, it was clear early on Cantwell was going to be a key piece to the team right away. She scored in double figures in 11 of her first 12 games, starting everyone she played in. Though she was making it look easy, Cantwell said the transition was not as seamless as it seemed.
“I would say how much faster and physical the game is,” Cantwell said. “When you go in as freshman, everyone is bigger than you. You’re typically one of the smaller ones if you’re a guard.”
That physical play took a toll on her as she started having to play through a nagging pain in her shin. When it became too much for her to tough it out, she got it checked out and found out it was a stress fracture on her tibia.
That news ended her season halfway through. She had averaged 13.5 points a game, 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
Though it cut short what was turning out to be a promising freshman year, Cantwell made the most of a bad situation.
“On the flip side, a part of me is glad because I got to see a lot of things I hadn’t seen,” Cantwell said. “The whole time I was there playing, I started from the first game, so I got to sit back and observe and just watch the coaches and the players and what we were trying to accomplish offensively and defensively. So I think that really helped this year.”
“What Kam has done is just rare for a freshman,” Grover said. “To not just start, but to excel and then to have her season cut short and come back even better this year. We needed every bit of that.”
Some people are less surprised than others she has been this successful early on.
“I really thought she was an extremely special talent,” former Bowie Coach Chuck Hall said. “I have not been surprised at all by her success. She works so hard and you see the work pay off on the court.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition at the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians wrapped up their first playoff berth since 2005 with a dominant win against Chico on Thursday at home.
The Indians won 10-0 in four and half innings due to run-rule to earn the district’s final playoff spot and break a nearly two decade drought.
Nocona was in a similar situation last year after beating Chico in the first game before losing twice more to the Dragons, once in the regular season finale and then in the play-in series.
The Indians won the first game earlier in the week 9-4, but knew they could play better. On Thursday they then proved it.
In the bottom of the first inning, Nocona got the scoring going as Wesley Murphey hit an RBI double. Two batters later, Landon Fatheree drove in two runs with a double.
Konnor Harrington followed with a groundout that scored another run as the Indians led 4-0.
In the second inning, Nocona kept up the pressure. Brody Langford drove in a run with a single. Later with the bases loaded, Caden Belcher was hit by a pitch that scored a run. A later passed ball allowed one more run to score as the Indians extended their lead to 7-0.
Nocona got one more run in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Wesley Murphey grounded into a fielder’s choice out that scored one run to make it 8-0.
The Indians got the final two runs they needed in the fourth inning. Walker Murphey and RJ Walker hit back-to-back RBI singles to put Nocona up 10-0.
Chico needed to score at least one run to prevent the game from ending early due to run-rule. Instead Walker Murphey completed the shutout performance by retiring the next three batters to end the game and the Dragon’s season.
The Indians won 10-0 and earned the district’s final playoff spot.
Wesley Murphey and Fatheree drove in two runs each to lead the team. Walker Murphey led the team with three hits. The team finished with 11 hits and drew six walks.
Walker Murphey also allowed zero runs and one hit while striking out five batters and walking none. The defense behind him committed only one fielding error.
Coach Zach Denson was beyond proud of this team for breaking the playoff drought.
“The amount of growth that they have shown throughout the year has been the most incredible I’ve seen in 13 years of coaching,” Denson said. “We went on a little skid in the middle of the year and that could have derailed our young team, but it actually brought us closer together as a unit.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Jackrabbits were able to clinch the final playoff spot on Thursday with a senior night home win against Henrietta.
The Jackrabbits won 6-1 in a game where all of the offensive action happened in the first three innings for both teams.
Bowie came into the game needing to win. Failing to do so would mean setting up a series with the Bearcats for the final playoff spot. If the Jackrabbits just took care of business against a team they had already beaten once pretty easily then they could avoid that whole situation.
Henrietta knew it was playing for the future of its season and struck first. A one out double followed by a single two batters later put the Bearcats up 1-0 against Bowie’s top pitcher Edmond De Leon on the mound.
The offense responded in the same inning with a two-out rally. Troy Kesey hit a single and Hayden Rodriguez drew a walk. De Leon then hit a double to drive one run in.
Cooper Hammer was then hit a by a pitch to load the bases up. Rayder Mann then drew a walk that scored one run and the Jackrabbits led 2-1 before the next batter popped up for out three.
Bowie added to that lead in the second inning. Boston Farris led off with a triple. Tucker Jones then hit a groundball to second base that resulted in an error that allowed Farris to score and make it 3-1 for the Jackrabbits.
Bowie then extended the lead in the third inning. Hammer hit a one-out single. Mann and Cy Egenbacher followed with hits that resulted in fielding errors for the Bearcats. The Jackrabbits scored one run on the second error.
Farris then hit a single that drove in another run. After a strikeout, a wild pitch then allowed another runner to score as Bowie was up 6-1. Another strikeout ended the scoring for the Jackrabbits.
The next three and half innings saw neither team score runs, though both had several chances with two runners getting on at times.
Henrietta’s best chance came in the fifth inning with two singles, but De Leon and Bowie’s defense shut that down. De Leon retired the final seven batters he faced as the Jackrabbits won 6-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Last week all of the area schools competed in their district’s tennis tournament and several schools had athletes qualify for the regional tournament.
In the end, 10 athletes finished second or better at district to move on for a chance to qualify for state.
Unfortunately, no players from Bowie were able to break through and qualify.
Many faced early seeding opponents from tennis power Vernon that ended their tournament.
The highest finish for a Bowie player was Lily Hodges who placed fourth in girls singles.
From Nocona, one girl was able to break through as Kaygan Stone finished second in girls singles to qualify for regionals.
Stone has had a tough year, dealing with shoulder problems that shortened both her volleyball and basketball seasons, but she bounced back this spring to qualify for regionals in tennis.
Her teammate Melissa Segura was not so lucky, as she finished third in girls singles and just missed the cut, having to settle for an alternate spot
At the 1A tournament, several schools had multiple athletes in one division qualify.
From Saint Jo, last year’s state qualifying girl’s doubles team of Kyler Dunn and Taylor Patrick won the division.
They beat out the second place finisher and their teammates, the girl’s doubles team of Maxey Johnson and Bailey Nobile, who also qualified for regionals.
From Gold-Burg, Jimena Garcia and Alyson Rojas placed first and second in girls singles to move on to the regional tournament.
Other schools only had one team or individual.
From Forestburg, the mixed doubles team of Jesse Wadsworth and Alli Cisneros finished second as they qualified for regionals.
From Prairie Valley, Case Carpenter finished second in the boys singles division.
To read the full story and see pictures of all of the qualifiers, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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