The Bowie Jackrabbits broke their two-game losing streak in dramatic fashion at home on Tuesday night against Holliday.
Brody Armstrong’s shot at the buzzer went through the net to give the Jackrabbits the 47-45 win against one of the district’s best teams.
Bowie came into the game needing a win. The previous game saw the Jackrabbits lose a disappointing game against rival Nocona. Before that, the team had lost by 24 points against a still undefeated in district City View team.
The Eagles would not be any easier than either of those teams. Holliday’s only district loss so far had been against the Mustangs 64-50, a margin that was far and away the smallest of all the games City View had won so far in district play.
The Eagles also were coming off a win against the same Nocona team that had beaten Bowie the previous week.
The Jackrabbits had had Friday off and were also getting head coach Andy Atkins back from his weeklong absence due to illness heading into Tuesday’s game.
The game started with Holliday getting control early. While this Eagles’ team did concede some height to Bowie in the post, the physical, meticulously grind-it-out approach Holliday teams have played with for several seasons was more of the same. The Eagles led 9-5 most of the way through the first quarter.
Bowie was trying to speed up the pace of play by full-court pressing Holliday and pushing the ball whenever it could. The Jackrabbits were finally was able to string together a few good minutes, ending the first quarter on a 6-2 run to take the lead 12-11.
The second quarter saw both teams go back and forth, neither getting more than a one basket lead on the other.
Bowie was most successful when the pace was at a faster speed and the Eagles were more successful when the pace was more controlled. The teams went into halftime with the score tied 22-22.
The Jackrabbits started the second half well on a 6-2 run in the first two minutes to build a 30-24 lead. Bowie’s defense was doing a good job of shutting down Holliday’s shots around the basket. Both teams had a tough time scoring the rest of the third quarter until the final two minutes.
The Eagles jumped three passes for steals they took the other way and drew free throw opportunities. On the other hand, the Jackrabbits scored six more points to slightly improve their lead to 36-29 heading into the fourth quarter.
Holliday started the fourth quarter by scoring seven points in the first two and half minutes to tie the score at 36-36.
Bowie retook the lead as Riley Blackburn finished a dump off pass for a basket and then drew free throws on the next possession, making one to put the Jackrabbits up 39-36.
The Eagles leading scorer on the night Nathan Williams knocked in a 3-pointer to tie the score back up again at 39-39 with 4:10 left to play.
A minute later Holliday drew free throws and made one to put the team up by one. Next possession Bowie came back to take the lead 41-40 as Logan Hutson made a tough post up basket.
The Jackrabbits then played a minute of great defense that required multiple blocks near the basket before gaining back possession with 1:50 left in the game. Unfortunately, Bowie turned the ball over out of bounds 24 seconds later.
This allowed the Eagles to take the lead as Hayden Strealy made a tough basket near the rim to put Holliday up 42-41 with 1:11 left to play. The Jackrabbits answered on their next possession as Cade Thompson scored on a mid-range fadeaway to put them back up 43-42 with 55 seconds left.
The Eagles missed on their next possession. After Holliday had to foul multiple times to get into the bonus and force Bowie to shoot free throws, the Jackrabbits Brody Armstrong stepped up and made both of his foul shots to push the lead to 45-42 with 30 seconds left.
The Eagles Strealy came through again though, scoring on a tough shot near the rim through contact that also drew a foul. Strealy made his free throw to complete the three-point play and tie the score at 45-45 with 11 seconds left. Bowie would have the ball for the last shot in regulation.
Following a timeout, Armstrong dribbled the ball up the floor. He ran a pick and roll with Drew Weber, but Holliday switched on defense which did not allow him a runway to the basket.
Armstrong picked up his dribble and passed it to his right to Thompson. After making a quick dribble move to his right to see if he had space to either drive or pull up for a shot, Thompson had neither and quickly passed it back to Armstrong near the top of the key.
With time running out, Armstrong made one dribble inside the arc to his left to evade the closing the defender to get a little space before he pulled up for the mid-range shot right before another defender came to contest.
The ball seemed to roll in as time expired and the Jackrabbit team and fans went ballistic as Bowie won 47-45.

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