SPORTS
Nocona volleyball clinches playoff berth
The Nocona Lady Indians clinched the last playoff spot in the district with their win against Jacksboro on Tuesday.
It was senior night for the Lady Indians and the Lady Tigers made them work for it as the match went to five sets, but Nocona got things done in the end.
Nocona came into the match on a four match losing streak. With its loss to Breckenridge a few weeks back and the Lady Bucks going on a rampage the second round of district, the Lady Indians were in position Tuesday night where they could be kicked out of the playoffs.
The good news was Breckenridge was playing district runner-up Henrietta. The Lady Cats did not suffer an upset loss to the Lady Bucks like both Nocona and Bowie had in the most recent weeks.
Still, to avoid a play-in game and guarantee the final playoff spot, the Lady Indians would need to beat the Lady Tigers.
Despite the emotions of senior night and trying to shake off the four game losing stretch, Nocona was also missing a starter, setter/hitter Megyn Meekins who is out with a foot injury.
The first set was competitive for the first 30 points. Jacksboro was up 16-14, but had its lead increase to 20-15.
The Lady Indians fought back to cut the lead to 21-19 and stayed close down 23-22.
Unfortunately for Nocona, Jacksboro closed out the set on top by the narrowest of margin 25-23 to take the early lead.
The second set could not have been more different. From the start the Lady Indians got into a groove serving the ball and the Lady Tigers serve-receive was a mess.
The 10-5 lead grew to 14-6 and 18-7. Jacksboro never got into the set as Nocona won 25-11 to tie the match up at 1-1.
The third set was like the opposite of the second for the Lady Indians for the first half of it. The Lady Tigers lead grew to 14-6 and still was firm at 16-9.
From there Nocona came all the way back to tie the score at 16-16. It looked like that effort might go to waste though as Jacksboro then got a bit of a lead 22-18 heading into the final few points.
The Lady Indians came back again to cut the score to 23-22. This time though, it went into extra points and Nocona came out on top 27-25 to take the match lead 2-1.
For most of the fourth set it looked like the Lady Indians were on their way to close out the match. An early 10-5 lead shrunk to 13-12 before immediately going back up to 17-13.
Unfortunately, the Lady Tigers came back to not just tie but take the lead 18-17. With the teams tied at 20-20 and the final few points looking like it could go any team’s way, it was Jacksboro that won out 25-21 to tie the match up at 2-2 and force a fifth and final set.
It looked like it might be a tight fifth set with how the match had gone to that point. Curiously though, it went much like how the second set went for Nocona.
The Lady Indians scored the first seven points of the set. Any of the several point come backs the Lady Tigers had done in the previous two sets never came as Nocona easily coasted to a one-sided fifth set win 15-3, winning the match 3-2.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Bowie had six players play in the Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl football all-star game. For pictures from not just the football game, but the basketball and volleyball games as well that feature athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6875584&T=1
Nocona is welcoming back Coach Sandy Langford, former coach and alumnus for the Lady Indians, as its new volleyball head coach.
Langford comes back to Nocona after spending the past 11 years leading the Glen Rose volleyball program.
Her circumstances with her family allowed her to jump at the opportunity once she became aware the position at Nocona was available.
“My youngest graduated and is playing football at Midwestern (State University),” Langford said. “All of our family is here and I knew that Coach Kara (Lucherk) was leaving. We were eventually going to retire here. Our oldest son plays college football at West Texas A&M and we’ll be two hours closer to him as well.”
She again will lead the Lady Indians volleyball program, one that she led all the way to the state title game in 2011, which is the farthest the volleyball program has ever gone in its prestigious history.
Langford kept up that level of success during her 11 years at the bigger 4A Glen Rose. She won less than 20 games only twice during her time, winning her 500th career game back in 2023. Her teams were ranked among the top 10 in the state five times and Langford led Glen Rose to the state tournament in 2017, the best finish in program history.
With the Lady Indians also having its own string of success, appearing in back-to-back regional finals while finishing atop the district standings both years, Langford is excited to not just keep the success going, but shoot for the stars.
“We are not expecting anything less than a state championship,” Langford said.
She has stacked the non-district schedule with strong, state-ranked 3A and 4A teams as well as big tournaments that will test Nocona’s mettle early next season in the hopes it will prepare them for a long playoff run.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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