SPORTS
Bowie wins at Nocona 39-32
The Bowie Jackrabbits came out on top in their matchup at rival Nocona on Friday.
The Jackrabbits won 39-32 in a low-scoring, grind-it-out game where neither team ever felt safe until the buzzer sounded.
Both teams were coming off of stinging district losses against City View and were looking to get back on track.
Right from the beginning the physical nature of the game was apparent. Drives to the rim were met with big bodies. Players were not easily awarded free throws by just throwing up a shot in the lane while getting contested.
Both teams were playing jersey-to-jersey type of tight man-to-man defense, with Bowie playing full-court though only to provide a bit of pressure and not to force turnovers.
Neither team had much success offensively in the first quarter. The Indians had trouble shaking loose on the perimeter for shots and had trouble penetrating cleanly into the lane. The only points came on a couple of free throw attempts senior Landry McCasland earned with grit.
Bowie had more chances, but no one was hitting their few open shots. Cade Thompson made the only two field goals in the quarter, including a 3-pointer.
In a score that would not seem out of place in a junior high game, the Jackrabbits led 6-2 after the first quarter.
Things picked up a bit for both sides in the second quarter. Nocona kept trying to drive into the lane and drew three trips to the free throw line. Unfortunately for the Indians, they only made 50% of their attempts, a disturbing trend that did not get better as the game went on.
The Jackrabbits kept their narrow lead throughout the quarter with timely shot making and got a big boost from Brody Armstrong off the bench. He made two 3-pointers in the quarter to keep them in the lead when no one else for Bowie was making their open 3-pointers.
The Jackrabbits lead was only one-score 16-13 heading into halftime, but neither team felt great about their offenses heading into the locker room.
The third quarter was another low scoring effort from both sides. McCasland knocked in Nocona’s only 3-pointer of the game during this time, but missed free throws continued to cost the team since field goals were so rare.
For Bowie, Armstrong scored two more baskets off the bench to lead the team since free throw attempts were tough to come by for the Jackrabbits in the first half of the game.
Nocona took its first lead midway through the quarter 18-16, but Bowie came back in the back half to take back the lead 22-20 heading into the fourth quarter.
It was the highest scoring quarter of the game for teams as the game wound down. Every time it looked like the Jackrabbits were going to comfortably pull away, the Indians would cut the lead back to one basket.
Nocona got a boost from Ryder Oswald who scored all six of his points during this period. Fellow post player Sam Davis scored two baskets and five of his 12 points in the fourth quarter as well to help the Indians try to catch Bowie.
The Jackrabbits kept their lead two baskets away in the final two minutes. Thompson led the team with seven points in the quarter including a couple of steals off of inbound passes late in the game.
Up 35-30 in the final minute, a missed free throw from Bowie was batted by Jackrabbit post player Riley Blackburn back outside to a teammate.
After a couple of passes, Armstrong hit his third 3-pointer of the game, the last of his game high 15 points for the final dagger.
Up 38-30 with 26 seconds left, it was too much for Nocona to overcome and not enough time. The Indians scored one more basket and Bowie a free throw before the final buzzer as the Jackrabbits won 39-32.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of 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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