SPORTS
Volleyball Roundup
Nocona
Nocona came up just short of taking control of the district standings, losing to Holliday on senior night Friday in a five-set thriller.
The Lady Indians lost by the barest of margins in the fifth set after a couple of chances at match point were squandered away by both teams.
Nocona came out hot in front of its loud home crowd as everyone knew the importance of the game. Both teams had only one district loss and the winner would have sole possession of first place in the standings.
The Lady Indians took a big lead early in the first set, which was enough cushion to survive a late surge from the Lady Eagles to win the set 25-21.
The second set looked like it was going to be similar with Nocona taking control early, but Holliday wrestled momentum away to come back and win the set 25-21.
The Lady Indians still seemed affected by the second set as the third started, with the Lady Eagles taking control early on and never letting go. Nocona battled, but Holliday won the set 25-19 to take the lead in the match.
The fourth set was competitive in the early going, but the Lady Indians found their spark again. Taking control midway through, Nocona won the most one-sided set of the match 25-17 to set up a fifth and final set
Holliday took a two point lead early on. The Lady Indians tied the score at 7-7. Nocona took a two point lead 12-10 as the target 15 points loomed close.
The Lady Indians had a chance to win the match up 14-13, but the Lady Eagles did not relent.
With the 15 point target coming and going with neither team up by two points, both teams traded multiple match points but could not put the other team away.
Finally, it was Holliday that came through, winning the fifth set 19-17 to win the match.
Nocona’s final district match is another big one at Henrietta at 5 p.m. on Oct. 23.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers won at Perrin-Whitt on Friday in straight sets to keep their undefeated record against 1A district opponents.
The Lady Panthers beat the Lady Pirates with little trouble with set scores of 25-13, 25-15 and 25-14.
Hannah Reyling led the team with 13 kills and six service aces. Kayden Skidmore had a team high 10 assists to go along with five kills and five aces. Libero Kassidy Pitman recorded a 90 percent serve-receive rating to help spark the offense.
Saint Jo’s final district match will come at rival Forestburg at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 23.
Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs lost a five-set heartbreaker on Saturday against district favorite Bryson at home.
The Cowgirls came back from two sets down to win in five sets against the Lady Bulldogs.
Prairie Valley won the first two sets 25-18 and 25-21.
Despite winning the second set, Bryson got enough good momentum there that seemed to carry over for the rest of the match with its scrappy defensive play.
The Lady Bulldogs did not help themselves as mental mistakes piled up, leading to the next two sets being no contest. The Cowgirls won sets three and four with one-sided scores of 25-10 and 25-13.
The fifth set was more of a contest, but Bryson pulled away in the end to win 15-11 to complete the comeback.
Emily Carpenter led the team with 20 kills and 16 digs. Veronica Gutierrez had a team high 18 assists. She and Molly Gilleland led the team with three service aces each.
Prairie Valley will not have to wait long for a rematch. The Lady Bulldogs end district play traveling to Bryson to play at 10 a.m. on Oct. 24.
Forestburg
The Forestburg Lady Horns lost at 2A state-power Poolville on Friday night.
A 30 minute power outage delayed the start of the match and while that was not the full cause of the Lady Horns loss it did not help things.
The Lady Monarchs won in straight sets with little trouble with scores of 25-4, 25-7 and 25-8.
Statistical leaders for Forestburg included Katie Willett and Athena Britain each getting one service ace each, Bailey Payne getting two kills, Willett passing out three assists and Keeleigh Burnam getting five digs.
Coach Cori Hayes felt like his team never got their mental status right after the power outage.
The Lady Horns play their final match of the season at home at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 23 against rival Saint Jo.
Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Lady Bears lost against 2A Windthorst on Saturday morning.
The Lady Trojans won in straight sets with set scores of 25-13, 25-11 and 25-13.
The Lady Bears were short handed, but did their best to compete, making Windthorst earn points after long rallies.
Coach Cheryl Cromleigh liked how her team fought overall.
“The girls played their hearts out, hustled from start to finish,” Cromleigh said. “I’m extremely proud of how the girls stepped up. Girls never quit.”
Gold-Burg’s last district match was earlier in the week played at Harrold on Tuesday.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Saint Jo will have a new boy’s basketball coach this school year.
Jacob Nocktonick is coming to the district after spending the last two years at Bland as an assistant coach. It is his first head coaching job in basketball.
Nocktonick graduated from Princeton High School in 2015 where he played and loved basektball. He graduated in 2019 from Tarleton State University and despite playing basketball up until he graduated, he did not see coaching in his future. He worked for most of three years after college at a landscape supply company, but something was missing from his life.
“I realized after being out of it for three or four years, something was missing from my life that I really loved,” Nocktonick said. “That was playing the game I love and being around people that really love to be there.”
Nocktonick did not have much experience coaching before then, but through his experience at Bland, he knows he has found his true purpose.
“I missed that passion,” Nocktonick said. “I love it and love the kids I have been working with.”
Nocktonick is especially excited in his role in shaping young men for the future through basketball.
“At the end of the day, people aren’t going to remember me for my records,” Nocktonick said. “I get to touch lives in this role. It’s a lot different than other jobs because I have a lot of kids that look up to me. Even past players from Bland still hit me up, asking for life advice and it’s just different.”
He describes himself as the type of teacher who likes to climb up on his desk and get everyone involved more than just lecture through power point presentations. That extends to his coaching as well.
“I am extremely passionate and enthusiastic,” Nocktonick said. “I want kids to know when the time is to be serious, but know we are going to have fun, bond and become like family. I am not in this for the business. I am in this for the relationships.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie cheerleading team went to cheer camp on July 13-16 at Texas Women’s University.
It was a good opportunity for the team to learn new things to take into the school year, according to cheer sponsor Destanie Curry.
“They learn their job is not to just lead the crowds in cheers, but they are ambassadors of their school and community and how to fulfill that role to the best of their ability,” Curry said. “Of course, they also learn stunt safety, new stunts, new cheer material and how to incorporate all this into pep rallies, routines and games.”
It can be intense, with campers expected to eat, sleep and breathe cheerleading from morning until night, staying positive and spiritful in everything they do since councilors are always watching and looking to see who will earn extra awards.
At the end of the four days, the Lady Rabbits cheerleading team took home several team and individual awards.
The team won one spirit stick daily and one on the final day. They were awarded each night to teams who demonstrated leadership, positive attitudes, excellent class participation and who respect and encourage one another, their coaches and staff.
Bowie earned its National Federation of State High School Association’s squad credential. The group earned Stunt SAFE, which was presented to teams that displayed excellent skills in spotting and stunt technique.
The final team award was in the Game Day Championship trophy. The competition included crowd involvement with a game day chant and cheer learned at the camp.
They were judged on crowd leading effectiveness, use of props, incorporation of stunts, technique and execution of skills.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona got its new press box into place this week at Jack Crane Stadium. The old press box, which was in place for more than 60 years, was taken out in early June and moved to Indian Valley Raceway. The new press box was by the Southern Bleacher Company out of Graham. Athletic Director Black Crutsinger said they looked at a lot of press boxes and decided they liked the one at Lindsay High School and went with that model. Sean Hutson operated the crane from the Hurd Crane Service that put the press box up for Nocona.
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