SPORTS
My look back at 2018 state title

It has been only two years and a little less than four months since the last state title team from Montague County, the Bowie boy’s basketball team, won it all.
Like most things looking back, it feels simultaneously like it was long ago and just yesterday.
While I could tell the state title was a big deal for the town and community, it also felt like a big deal for me personally. I was brand new at the paper during the run.
My first day at the paper was Dec. 1, 2017. I was just coming off of getting laid off at my previous job at the Kaufman Herald when they terminated the sports editor position the week before Thanksgiving.
Luckily, I got a job interview at The Bowie News the very next week, though unfortunately it came because of the tragic death that befell the new hire before me. I was able to find housing in less than a week and moved from the metroplex to Bowie.
I had covered some state level events at Kaufman. There was a cross country and tennis team coming up just short of winning the state title along with some individual track medalists, but never the overall state champion.
I did not get into covering sports to exclusively cover winners and champions.
I was taught in college to try and keep a neutral position covering your teams that I have tried to keep, even though I have seen some high school sports editors embraced for their homerism like coverage.
My ideal team to cover is one that makes their season interesting. That does not always equate to winning or losing. Blowouts are not fun to write about or watch, whether it’s the team I am covering or otherwise.
When I was hired I was told the Bowie boy’s basketball team was rated number one in the state during the preseason. Despite the Kaufman area having pretty great sports year round, I had never covered a basketball team that had any type of expectations beyond winning the district title and winning a playoff game or two.
My first game was the Jackrabbits playing in the Decatur tournament against Weatherford. Even though they are not a household name, the Kangaroos were still a 6A program with a size advantage. I watched in awe as that did not seem to matter at all as Bowie easily controlled and won the game 73-56.
Of course I first noticed the biggest and best player on the team Daniel Mosley. It was hard not to. I had covered guys similar in size and athleticism, but not one with the type of consistent motor, fundamentals and ability to dominate the game with just his presence beyond just scoring in the post.
It was not just Daniel though since Bowie played as a true team. Over time I came to appreciate every player for the role they played, big or small, which I saw in this cog.
I did not realize the impressive resume Coach Doug Boxell had at the time. While I never had a casual conversation with him like I do with some coaches, he was always able to give me exactly what I needed after games in usually less than two minutes.
With his experience and the team’s state level expectations, his post game quotes were the only thing that made writing about a lot of the blowouts interesting for me. They were always in service towards building towards a state title.
The team had its stumbles in the brutal pre-district schedule. The lowest I saw them was at the Whataburger Tournament, where Bowie scored only 12 points in three quarters in a loss to Central Heights 38-32. From the outside it seemed like there were line up issues and players were still trying to figure out their roles.
The team was good and was mostly winning, but it seemed like everyone was waiting for them to go to another level since they had realistic state level expectations.
District was mostly a breeze after playing bigger schools besides two teams that easily would have won the district title in any other year.
That Nocona team was one of the best in school history, with an all senior starting five with few holes. Holliday had the size to match up with Bowie along with a guard who could get anywhere he wanted on the court that was hard to contain.
No one knew it, but the Eagles 46-43 win on their court would be the last game the Jackrabbits would lose that season.
From the outside it seemed like Bowie simplified its game plan after that game. There seemed to be a renewed effort to play inside-out instead of letting it fly so judiciously from 3-point land.
With a frontline featuring the Mosley brothers, no team had the overall size and athleticism to shut both down or keep them off the offensive glass. Why not play up that advantage.
After close games against the Indians and a rematch win against Holliday, the rest of the games seemed mostly easy even as the playoffs started.
I distinctly remember how uninterested the team seemed after every win during this time. They seemed so locked in on trying to get to state, most of the playoff wins rolled right off of them. Banner pictures after every win, usually filled with beaming smiles, were mostly stoic affairs.
As the competition got harder, I thought Peaster seemed like it might be a bad matchup from what I saw on film. As a good shooting team, all it would take was one hot night from 3-point range to end Bowie’s season.
It turned out it was the opposite as the Jackrabbits made nine 3-pointers and won by 26 points. Only then did I really start to believe this team might have it.
After hearing the story of how the previous year ended against Brock, it seemed destined these teams were going to meet. Throw in the father-son coach dynamic and this storyline writes itself.
It was my first drive that far west of Texas and the farthest I had ever driven for work. Missing two days in the office, including a deadline day, only something as important as a chance for a state tournament birth would have made it worth it.
The Jackrabbits 54-47 win against the Eagles was not only the first close game Bowie had had in a month, it was the most emotion I had seen from the team all season. The scene was almost on pair with winning a state title in my estimation as tears flowed easily in the post game celebration.
What is your favorite memory from that season? Email me at sports@bowienewsonline.com.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Bowie track runs at Peaster in final meet before district

The Bowie track team competed in its final meet before district last week on March 27 at Peaster.
The boy’s team finished fourth overall while the girl’s team got seventh place.
The boy’s team had three athletes who won their events.
Russell Anderson won the 400 meter race, Braden Rhyne won the triple jump and Tyler Richey won the pole vault events.
Some other highlights for the team included Cody West getting second in the shot put, the 4×400 relay team getting second place, Richey getting fourth in the 110 meter hurdles, Rhyne getting third in the 300 meter hurdles and Jorge De Leon getting fourth in both the discus and shot put.
Brayden Willett got second place in the 3200 meters, third place in the 1600 meters and fourth place in the 800 meter race.
The Lady Rabbit highlights included Dallie Monroe getting fourth in the shot put, Laney Segura getting fifth in the 800 meters and Olivia Richey getting sixth in the 100 meters.
The 4×200 relay got fifth place and the 4×100 relay got sixth place to earn points.
Bowie competes in the district rack meet this week at Iowa Park. The running finals are scheduled for 5 p.m. on April 4.
Results for all Bowie varsity athletes who finished sixth or better are in the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Montague County has nine named all-region basketball players

Nocona’s Meg Meekins (above) not only earned all-region honors, she also earned all-state honors and was named the Texas Girls Coaches Association 1A-4A Player of the Year.
Other Montague County basketball athletes who were named to all-region teams including Rayder Mann from Bowie and Reagan Phipps from Nocona. From Saint Jo, Payzlie Cervantes, Taylor Patrick and Barrett Johnson were named to the all-region team. From Forestburg, Jesus Sanchez, Brenna Briles and Kyler Willett were named to the all-region team.
For pictures of all nine athletes, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Baseball Roundup

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost a close game at home against Perrin-Whitt on March 28.
The Pirates won 8-3, only taking the lead in the seventh inning after the Panthers had come back to tie up the game.
Saint Jo was coming into the game after a close one-run loss in extra innings against Perrin-Whitt earlier last week.
The second game started with two scoreless innings before the Pirates got on the board in the third inning. A line drive into left field resulted in a fielding error that allowed one run to score. A double followed that drove in another run as Perrin-Whitt went up 2-0.
The Pirates added to the lead in the fourth inning, driving in a run on a single to extend its lead to 3-0.
Saint Jo answered back in the same inning. Charlie Evans drove in one run with a single. Later in the inning, with a runners on second on third base, the Perrin-Whitt pitcher balked twice, an illegal pitching motion, that allowed both runners to advance to home plate. The Panthers had tied the score at 3-3.
After a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, the Pirates had the pressure on in the seventh inning.
With the bases loaded, a hit batter and later a walk scored two runs for Perrin-Whitt. Then a bases clearing double scored three more runs to break the game open in the final inning.
Saint Jo tried to answer in its final at-bats, getting two singles and drawing a walk but could not get enough things going to score.
The Pirates won 8-3.
Evans led the team with one RBI and two hits as the team finished with five hits and drew six walks.
Sam Martin allowed eight runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out six and walking three batters in 6.2 innings of work. The defense committed three fielding errors overall.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians had a tough start to district last week, losing both games in their series against Lindsay.
The Knights won 11-4 and 7-3 against the Indians last week as Nocona hopes to get back into the playoffs.
Nocona was coming off a string of good wins the previous week against smaller schools, but knew Lindsay would be tough.
The first game saw Lindsay continually score runs in the first four innings, building a 9-0 lead before the Indians could get on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning with two runs.
Nocona added two more runs in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 9-4 and get some momentum heading into the final two innings.
After a scoreless sixth inning, the Knights scored two runs in the seventh inning to extend their lead and eventually win 11-4.
Miller Jentry led the team with two RBIs while RJ Walker also drove in two runs. The team had only two hits, but drew nine walks in the game.
Brody Langford allowed six runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out three in three innings pitches. Landon Fatheree allowed five runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out one and walking four. The defense committed five fielding errors.
Nocona knew it could play better and tried to in the second game later in the week while playing on the road at Lindsay.
The Knights again took the early lead, scoring in three of the first four innings and going up 6-0. The Indians scored two runs in the fifth inning and one in the top of the sixth inning to initially cut the lead to 6-3. Lindsay answered with one run in the bottom of the sixth inning and held on to win 7-3.
Walker Murphey led the team with two RBIs after hit a double. Kutter Cabrera drove in the other run for Nocona. The Indians finished with three hits and drew only two walks, making the most of their limited opportunities.
Walker got the start on the mound and allowed seven runs (two earned) on eight hits while striking out six batters and walking two in six innings of work. The defense committed six fielding errors overall.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles started district last week playing a series against fellow 1A team Bryson.
Unfortunately, the Cowboys won both games handily 11-1 and 10-1.
Bellevue was coming off a tough week where it hung tough playing 2A teams Nocona and Chico, not getting wins but competing well against the more experienced and bigger schools.
Unfortunately against Bryson in the first game, a few bad defensive innings threw away a good start to the game. Bryce Ramsey drew a leadoff walk in the first inning and stole his way around to second base, third base before eventually coming home on a steal.
Bellevue led 1-0 after the first inning.
That was the highlight as the Cowboys scored four runs in both the third and fourth inning to take control of the game. Bryson eventually added three more in the sixth inning.
The Eagles needed to score at least one run to avoid getting run-ruled and play the seventh inning, but could not do it. The Cowboys won 11-1.
Walker Strahan, Ryan Jones and Ramsey each had one hit to lead the team. With the Eagles drawing only one walk, it was a tough day swinging the bats for Bellevue.
Defensively, the Eagles allowed 12 hits and walked four batters, though avoided committing any fielding errors.
The second game on the road was not much better.
Bryson built up a 6-0 lead before Bellevue scored in the fifth inning. Cam Blaylock scored on the base paths to cut the lead to 6-1. The Cowboys responded in the same inning scoring four runs to go up 10-1.
The game cuts off on the Game Changer app from there.
Ramsey led the team with three hits in the game and Strahan was behind him with two hits as the team finished with six total and drew one walk.
Defensively, Bryson had nine hits and drew eight walks, but Bellevue did not commit any fielding errors.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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