The Nocona basketball teams hosted Holliday on Friday with high stakes on the line for both.
The Lady Indians wrapped up their second undefeated district title, winning 59-55 while the Indians lost the rematch 46-31.
The Nocona girls already had the district title guaranteed heading into the game, but a win would make them undefeated. With it being senior night as well, the big morale boost would also be welcomed heading into the playoffs.
The Lady Indians were behind in the first quarter as the Lady Eagles went ahead 17-11.
Nocona got a big boost from senior Averee Kleinhans, who scored 15 of her team’s 19 points in the second quarter to wrestle back control from Holliday. Thanks to a better defensive effort as well, the Lady Indians led 30-27 at halftime.
Things continued similarly for Nocona in the third quarter. Kleinhans scored 12 of her team’s 17 points while the defense kept the Lady Eagles in single-digits.
The Lady Indians seemed to be pulling away as they led by double-digits 47-35 heading into the fourth quarter. Holliday was not about to let them coast easily to victory.
The Lady Eagles got a huge offensive boost from Sarah Cowen, who scored 16 of the team’s 20 points in the fourth quarter. It made the final score closer than it seemed it would be, but Nocona held on for the win.
Nocona’s bi-district game against Eastland is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 11 at Chico.

Nocona boys
The Indians were hoping to continue the good feelings from earlier last week. With their win at rival Bowie making up for the first loss, Nocona was hoping to do similarly against Holliday.
The first half was a low scoring game with the team’s tied at 12-12. The third quarter was going the same way with neither team’s offense finding easy ways to score, when the Eagles had a good run, powered by Connor Cox scoring eight of the team’s 13 points to open the lead up to 25-19.
Despite being down only six heading into the fourth quarter, in a low scoring game that had been back and forth, it felt like much more.
With the lead and the momentum, Holliday did well to keep it. The Indians offensively did all they could to get back in the game.
After drawing only six free throws through the first three quarters, Nocona shot 11 in the fourth quarter, making eight of them.
Unfortunately, not enough other shots went down for the Indians as the Eagles made enough of their 15 free throws in the quarter to secure the win with little drama.
The Indians play their final district game at 7 p.m. on Feb. 12 at home against Jacksboro.

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