The Bowie Jackrabbits lost their bi-district game against state-power Brock on Tuesday to end their season.
The Eagles won 71-58 in a game that was close in the first half, but a bad third quarter made all the difference.
The Jackrabbits were coming into the game trying to shake off the bad taste from their play-in game against Holliday. The Eagles win on a buzzer-beater meant Bowie finished third overall and would get either of the top-10 ranked teams in the state from the other district.
Brock won its play-in game against Peaster to finish first in its district, but took the second seed route in order to avoid a City View team until later in the playoffs.
That is how the Jackrabbits got stuck playing a Brock team it was trying all season to hopefully avoid until later in their playoff run.
Still, Bowie did a good job of playing with a Peaster team last season for a half in the same sort of situation. The Jackrabbits did have some chances.
Bowie came out playing to win in the first quarter. The Jackrabbits got out to a lead to start the game. The Eagles only came on offensively in the final few minutes to cut the lead to 16-12, but Bowie showed it was not going to lay down.
The offense did not keep up in the second quarter while Brock got its big guy going. Big center Nathan Jones was who the Jackrabbits were trying to stop in the post.
When Bowie’s post player got into early foul trouble, the Jackrabbits did not have an ideal defensive matchup that was not giving up either several inches or several pounds.
Still, Bowie hung in their and trailed only 28-24 heading into halftime and still felt like it was in the game.
The third quarter came and the Jackrabbits offense was still not clicking like it had since the first quarter. Defensively, the team was trying everything to slow down Jones, who would finish with a game high 32 points and 17 rebounds, which led to some of his teammates making shots from the perimeter.
“We were throwing everything at him,” Atkins said. “We tried some zone where we tried to sandwich him. Tried some zone where we tried to bring a guy down from the top. Tried some man where we brought a guy. Just a lot of stuff.”
Brock scored 21 points in the quarter as its lead grew to double-digits 49-32 heading into the fourth quarter.
Needing to make up 17 points, Bowie’s offense started rolling in the fourth quarter. Each of the Jackrabbits leading scorers Brody Armstrong and Cade Thompson ended up with good days offensively.
The Jackrabbits scored 26 points in the quarter and at one point cut the lead to nine points looking to try and make a miraculous come back.
Unfortunately, Brock had another good quarter as well and made free throws down the stretch to not let the game get any close, scoring 22 points themselves.
The Eagles won 71-58.

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