SPORTS
Bulldogs lose to No. 4 Graford

The Prairie Valley boy’s basketball season came to an end playing state power Graford in the bi-district round of the playoffs Monday night.
The Rabbits won 87-17 against the overwhelmed Bulldogs, who were making their first playoff appearance since 1996.
With that type of streak broken, any sort of success against the fourth ranked team in the state would have been gravy. Looking past the ranking, it was not a good matchup for Prairie Valley.
Graford across the board were taller and bigger than Prairie Valley and did its best to use that to its advantage.
The Rabbits employed a full-court trapping style press on defense and looked to get shots off near the basket and crash the offensive glass for rebounds.
For a little more than half the first quarter, the Bulldogs did well to compete with Graford, contesting shots inside, breaking through the press and getting shots off in the 15-foot area between the perimeter and paint.
The Rabbits were only up 6-2 and Prairie Valley was at least competing with them and making them work for what they got.
Unfortunately, that did not last long.
Graford ended the quarter on a 13-2 run to go up 19-4 and the Rabbits never looked back.
The press and physical play wore on the Prairie Valley ball handlers, who drew several fouls for getting hit to the floor, but ultimately could not keep up with the scoring pace of Graford once it got going.
It did not help when the Rabbits started having shooters coming off screens in the half court. Prairie Valley had trouble fighting through the big bodies setting those screens and Graford’s shooters made them pay.
The best thing for Prairie Valley were a few looks of overwhelming frustration from the players as the lead kept getting bigger. It never seemed like the team shut down or got too mad with each other outside of small moments.
Prairie Valley was able to execute some of the things on offense despite Graford paying extra special attention. Senior Isaac Yeargin spent most of the night with a defender pinned to his hip to prevent him from catching or shooting many 3-pointers. Still, he made one on the night and got fouled on another attempt.
Guards Tyler Winkler and Eli Croxton were able to mix it up enough in the lane to draw free throws from the aggressive Rabbit defenders despite both coming up short physically compared to the guys who were guarding them. By the end, Graford defenders were frustrated themselves and shaking their heads.
It wasn’t enough to make the game competitive with the final score being 87-17.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Oil Bowl Pictures

Bowie had six players play in the Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl football all-star game. For pictures from not just the football game, but the basketball and volleyball games as well that feature athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6875584&T=1
SPORTS
Langford coming back home

Nocona is welcoming back Coach Sandy Langford, former coach and alumnus for the Lady Indians, as its new volleyball head coach.
Langford comes back to Nocona after spending the past 11 years leading the Glen Rose volleyball program.
Her circumstances with her family allowed her to jump at the opportunity once she became aware the position at Nocona was available.
“My youngest graduated and is playing football at Midwestern (State University),” Langford said. “All of our family is here and I knew that Coach Kara (Lucherk) was leaving. We were eventually going to retire here. Our oldest son plays college football at West Texas A&M and we’ll be two hours closer to him as well.”
She again will lead the Lady Indians volleyball program, one that she led all the way to the state title game in 2011, which is the farthest the volleyball program has ever gone in its prestigious history.
Langford kept up that level of success during her 11 years at the bigger 4A Glen Rose. She won less than 20 games only twice during her time, winning her 500th career game back in 2023. Her teams were ranked among the top 10 in the state five times and Langford led Glen Rose to the state tournament in 2017, the best finish in program history.
With the Lady Indians also having its own string of success, appearing in back-to-back regional finals while finishing atop the district standings both years, Langford is excited to not just keep the success going, but shoot for the stars.
“We are not expecting anything less than a state championship,” Langford said.
She has stacked the non-district schedule with strong, state-ranked 3A and 4A teams as well as big tournaments that will test Nocona’s mettle early next season in the hopes it will prepare them for a long playoff run.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Two teams compete at state tourney

The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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