SPORTS
Bowie beats Porcupines 71-58
The Bowie Jackrabbits picked up an entertaining win against Springtown at home on Tuesday night.
The Jackrabbits won 71-58 in a game in which they led from the beginning against the Porcupines.
The first quarter was a little slow going. Springtown kept trying to bully-ball its way to the basket despite not having good height. The Porcupines were met with tough contests and a few blocks from Bowie, but did get to the free throw line a bit.
On the other side, the Jackrabbits were at their most lethal getting out in transition for good looks from 3-point range or layups. Cade Thompson scored eight of the team’s 12 points in the first quarter as Bowie led 12-8 heading into the second quarter.
This was where the Jackrabbits pulled away. Bowie’s full court press started to up the tempo of the game which benefited the better offensive Jackrabbits.
Six different players scored for Bowie as the team almost doubled its first quarter scoring with 22 points. The Porcupines could not keep up as the Jackrabbits led 34-20 at halftime.
Both teams played even in the third quarter as the offensive pace stayed pretty fast. Springtown were making more field goals and more of its free throw attempts to keep up with Bowie’s pace, but with the margin being more than 20 points as times it never seemed close. The Jackrabbits led 51-37 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Porcupines cut it to 10 points late as they tried to bring full court pressure to stage a comeback. Bowie never panicked and continued to score at a furious pace, ending the game scoring 23 points in the final period as it won 71-58.
To read the full story, 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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