SPORTS
Lady Rabbits win in five sets
The Bowie Lady Rabbits won an up and down five-set match at Paradise on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rabbits were coming off a tough, but positive stretch at their final tournament and was trying to keep that energy and level of competition up.
The Lady Panthers came into the game ranked in the top 20 in the state in 3A according to the Texas Girls Coaching Association so Bowie knew it would not be easy.
For most of the first set the Lady Rabbits made it look easy though. They led by multiple points for most of the set, with the biggest lead being 19-11 at one point as Paradise was not sharp at first.
The Lady Panthers then came storming back to make it a set as Bowie tried to close it out while not completely losing all of its momentum. The Lady Rabbits did eventually win the set 25-22, but how the set ended was telling of things to come.
In a reversal from the first set, it was Paradise who got out to a big early lead in the second set. The Lady Panthers scored the first seven points as Bowie had trouble receiving Paradise’s server for a stretch.
The Lady Rabbits cut the lead to five points 10-5, but could not get much closer for the rest of the set. With the lead extending to 19-11 for Paradise, there was no big comeback for Bowie to try and get any momentum going.
The Lady Panthers won 25-16 to tie the match at 1-1.
The beginning of the third set had a long 5-10 minute stretch of inaction after the first two points were played. Some error had the Lady Rabbits out of their rotation and despite protests from Coach Breanna Jones, Bowie just had to play on.
For most of the set being out of rotation did not seem to negatively affect the Lady Rabbits as they led for the majority. Up 16-14 and both teams playing competitive, Paradise then went on an 8-2 run to take the lead.
Bowie could not recover as the Lady Panthers won the set 25-21 to take the match lead 2-1.
It looked like the match was heading towards an end in the fourth set in favor of Paradise. Still in control, Paradise got out to a lead early in the set and led 10-5.
Instead of giving up, the Lady Rabbits came back to tie the score immediately at 10-10. The two teams traded one-point leads for the next 20 points, with Bowie opening up a small lead 21-19 heading into the final stretch.
The Lady Rabbits were then able to close out the set well as they won 25-21 to tie the match at 2-2 and force a fifth and final set.
With the set played to 15 instead of 25, fifth sets are much more tight as each point and lead is precious since there are up to 20 less points.
Therefore when Bowie went up 6-1 at the start, a lot of the pressure and drama seemed to disappear. Paradise then won the next three points to cut the lead to 6-4 to rise the tension back a bit.
The Lady Rabbits extended their lead again to 9-5, but again the Lady Panthers came back to make it 10-8.
Then Bowie won the next five points with solid play to win the set 15-8 and the match 3-2, ending an up and down frustrating game with a little bit of an anti-climax.
To read the full story and see player stats, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
With the baseball and softball seasons over for the area 1A schools, district awards have been released.
Listed below are those earned honors on the field and in the classroom for Saint Jo and Bellevue.
Softball
Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Utility player: Taylor Patrick; Catcher: Jordyn O’Neal
Baseball
Superlatives
Offensive MVP: Devin Stewart, Saint Jo
Newcomer of the Year: Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue
Pitcher: Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Jayden Curry, Saint Jo
Second team
Pitcher: Charlie Barclay, Saint Jo
Infielder: Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; Sam Martin, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Rylan Forrester, Saint Jo
Catcher: Charlie Evans, Saint Jo
Utility: Logan Hoover, Saint Jo
DH: Amzy Barclay, Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Cody Gaston, Saint Jo; Xander Joyner, Saint Jo
To see academic awards from Saint Jo players, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Eldon Van Hooser is leaving Forestburg better than he found it.
The head boy’s basketball coach is retiring after more than 30 years, spending the last five at Forestburg.
Van Hooser did not come to this decision because of a lack of fire or feeling tired after decades in the profession. He had to for family reasons.
“My wife has MS (multiple sclerosis) and it’s a disease where you have trouble standing and walking and she needs help,” Van Hooser said. “I am able to so I am going to step away from teaching and coaching to be there for her.”
Van Hooser was hired in 2019. Along with being the boy’s basketball coach, he also was the football team’s defensive coordinator.
There were some lean years for Forestburg on the boy’s athletic side, with numbers being low and the available athletes being mostly underclassmen.
For two years, the Longhorns’ boy’s basketball team won few games and one of those seasons saw the team field five players on the high school team.
“One of those years we had COVID-19 and the other we had five kids,” Van Hooser said. “It was very rough. After that we worked with the kids and we had a good freshman group coming up. Next year they are going to be seniors.”
That group has helped to turn the program around. Last year the young Longhorns team contested for a playoff spot and just barely missed it finishing fifth in the district.
This season, that same group took a leap and finished second in district with a record of 7-5.
Despite losing its last two regular season games in dramatic fashion heading into the playoffs, the team stepped up in the bi-district game.
Playing against an athletic Newcastle team, Forestburg led for most of the game.
Unfortunately, the previous game against Bellevue saw the Longhorn team blow the lead late in the fourth quarter against a hard pressing style team and they were suffering the same fate against the Bobcats down the stretch.
Fortunately, Forestburg held on just enough to win 53-46. It was the first boy’s basketball playoff win in nine years for Forestburg.
“It was huge for our program,” Van Hooser said. “This new year we will have new goals. The new coach will have some goals of his own, but I set some for the team and think that we have come a long way.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie sports banquets was on Monday night. Olivia Gill and Tucker Jones were named Jackrabbit and Lady Rabbit of the year. Pick up the mid-week paper for all of the sports team awards and pictures.
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