The Bowie Jackrabbit basketball team came back from the holidays to host 4A Aubrey on Monday afternoon.
The Jackrabbits held on to win a close game 48-46 that the Chaparrals had a chance to win late.
Bowie came into the game having last played in a blowout win against Wichita Christian the previous week. Before that, the team only played one game at its final tournament because of a team wide sickness.
The Jackrabbits needed this game with district play starting later this week.
Aubrey came in missing their tall post which left the Chaparrals not particularly big when compared to Bowie.
Aubrey made up for it by pushing the ball extremely fast on offense with its guards and pressuring the ball a bit in the back court on defense.
The game started and the Jackrabbits led from the jump, building a 13-7 lead at one point before the Chaparrals closed it to 15-11 heading into the second quarter.
Both teams struggled to score in the second quarter as neither broke double-digits. Bowie got to the free throw line quite a bit, but only made two of its nine attempts.
The Jackrabbits barely got the lead back before halftime as they led 21-20.
Aubrey came out in the third quarter with more energy for whatever reason and grabbed the lead for most of the period. The team made three 3-pointers and scored 15 points in the quarter.
Despite the Chaparrals lack of elite size, the team did a good job of contesting drives at the basket which led to Bowe ball handlers kicking the ball out to shooters.
Not many open shots were going in for the Jackrabbits besides stretch big Drew Weber hitting to back in the first quarter.
A.J. Whatley made one after a scramble for the ball in the third quarter, but the team was cold for most of the game.
The team did make an effort to find post player Riley Blackburn for dump offs and he did a good job of finishing most of these opportunities, scoring six of his 11 points in the third quarter.
Unfortunately, the team lost him for the rest of the game when he dove for a loose ball and collided with a teammate.
The Jackrabbits closed Aubrey’s lead down to one point 35-34 heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams seemed locked together for the first half of the final period. Every time Bowie would tie the score, the Chaparrals would make a timely 3-pointer to get back the lead.
With the score tied at 41-41, the Jackrabbits finally put together a stretch to grab the lead.
A couple of turnovers led to five points from Brody Armstrong and Weber making a clutch 3-pointer to push the lead to 48-41 with only 2:42 left to play.
Bowie was able to run some clock off, but could not make Aubrey pay from the free throw line. The Chaparrals knocked in some free throw attempts and their leading scorer Zac Hamilton, who scored a game high 22 points, made his sixth 3-pointer to get the game within one basket 48-46 with 17 seconds left.
After another missed free throw from the Jackrabbits, Aubrey rebounded the ball and shot a 3-pointer for the win with little time remaining.
It missed and Bowie got the rebound and sent to the free throw line with less than a second left.
Even with another missed free throw, it was not enough time for the Chaparrals to attempt a full court heave as the Jackrabbits held on to win 48-46.
Armstrong led Bowie with 16 points, scoring half of them in the crucial fourth quarter. Blackburn (11) and Weber (10) joined him in double-figures.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.