The Bowie Jackrabbits rebounded from a team-wide sickness last week to blow out Wichita Falls High School at home on Monday afternoon.
The Jackrabbits won 65-30 in a game that was over within the first four minutes of the game.
Bowie came into the game after only playing one game the previous week at the Mineral Wells tournament on Thursday. By Friday, more than enough players had come down with seasonal sickness so bad they dropped out of its remaining games and everyone was sent home.
Coach Andy Atkins did not know what condition his team would be in on Monday, but everyone who was healthy suited out and played significant minutes in a game that was never in doubt.
The Coyotes are a scrappy team who like to play fast, employing a full-court trap with scorers who are perimeter oriented. The Jackrabbits decided to match that with their own full-court trap and looked to score well in transition and off the drive.
Within two minutes of the game starting Bowie was up 10-2. It only got worse for Wichita Falls. The lead grew to 22-2 with three minutes still to play in the first quarter. The Coyotes did not know what hit them and never recovered.
The Jackrabbits led 24-6 heading into second quarter. While the team let its foot off the gas pedal in terms of slowing the tempo down and calling off its press, Bowie still did a good job of never letting Wichita Falls get any hope of a come back in their minds.
The Jackrabbit defense did a good job of contesting shots at the basket, with post players Riley Blackburn and Drew Weber using their superior height compared to any Coyote player to swat several shots away.
Even with the tempo and shot making of the first few minutes cooled down, at times it seemed Bowie could get any shot it wanted in the half court. With Wichita Falls lack of a true post presence, drives to the basket were sometimes met with little resistance for Jackrabbit players.
When help did come, kick outs to open shooters usually resulted in a good shot being attempted.
Bowie led 36-11 at halftime and 53-18 heading into the fourth quarter. It was there playing against an all bench lineup that the Coyotes offense got any sort of rhythm going, playing loose with the game out of reach.
Still, the teams ended up tying 12-12 in the fourth quarter which did not help the margin get any smaller.
The Jackrabbits won big 65-30 to head into the break on a positive note.

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