SPORTS
Saint Jo hires new boy’s basketball coach
The Saint Jo Panthers will have a new boy’s basketball coach this school year.
Ryan Bruce takes over for Lyndon Cook to lead the Panthers.
Bruce comes to Saint Jo after spending last year serving as an assistant coach at Nazareth High School. Before that Bruce had no high school coaching experience, having spent the last several years hanging fiber optic cables from telephone poles.
“I played college basketball for several years and always wanted to coach, but kind of got sidetracked trying to chase money more than dreams,” Bruce said. “I enjoyed what I did, but it wasn’t the same as coaching. It was just a matter of time before I got into it.”
Bruce graduated from Glen Rose High School in 2009 before spending time playing basketball at the University of Texas in Arlington and the Northwestern Oklahoma State University before finally graduating from Tarleton State University.
Bruce said what attracted him to Saint Jo was the returning talent the basketball team has along with its recent success.
“They seemed to be pretty successful last year and I saw they are returning seven seniors,” Bruce said. “I watched some film on them and was really impressed with all the guard play. The size of the post. The athleticism for a 1A school. They have a point guard (Kile Thurman) that is a true basketball leader and his IQ is through the roof.”
Bruce expects to change some stuff on defense, but with the team’s continuity and success he doesn’t want to mess too much with what the team has been doing on offense.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Saint Jo vs Prairie Valley
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers opened up district play on Friday by beating Prairie Valley at home.
The Lady Panthers won in straight sets against the young Lady Bulldogs.
Saint Jo came into the game following a tough five-set win against Poolville and Coach Kelly Skidmore was hoping her team would play better than that.
Prairie Valley struggled in the match with slow starts in all three sets. The Lady Panthers were ahead 8-2 in sets one and three and 9-1 in set two.
The closest the Lady Bulldogs got was in set three when they cut the lead to 12-8 midway through, but each time Saint Jo remained firmly in control.
Frustration seemed to set in for Prairie Valley at times with self-inflicted errors which did not help.
The Lady Panthers won with the set scores being 25-11, 25-9 and 25-13.
Bowie
The Bowie Lady Rabbits lost a tough match at Holliday.
The Lady Eagles won in straight sets against the Lady Rabbits.
Bowie was able to put it together to compete well and nearly win the second set, but ultimately lost 25-22. The first and third sets were not too great for the Lady Rabbits as they lost 25-11 and 25-10.
Coach Ashley Sanders did not think her team was in rhythm or playing their game at all during the match. It wasn’t so much at Holliday overwhelmed her team, Sanders said, but more about her team not playing up to its capability.
Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians won their eighth straight match of the season on Friday with a win against Wichita Falls High School.
The Lady Indians won in straight sets as well, which keeps another streak going of not losing a set in the last eight matches.
The Lady Coyotes made Nocona work a bit, but the Lady Indians were in control each set as they won with little drama. The set scores were 25-18, 25-15 and 25-14.
Skyler Smith led the team with 15 kills, 23 assists and two service aces. Meg Meekins also had 15 kills and was second with 21 assists while leading the team with two blocks.
Aubree Kleinhans had a team high 11 digs while Ava Johnson and Graci Brown each had two aces.
Forestburg vs Bellevue
The Forestburg Lady Horns opened district play on Friday with a win against Bellevue.
The Lady Horns won in straight sets against the Lady Eagles as they started off district strong.
The two teams played exactly a month previously and while it was similar results, Bellevue was looking much better than in that contest.
Forestburg had to work in all three sets. Though the Lady Eagles didn’t almost win a set like they did in the first match, they were more competitive throughout.
It was not good enough though as a solid Lady Horn team won with set scores being 25-18, 25-21 and 25-15.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
-
NEWS10 months ago2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona
-
NEWS5 months agoSO investigating possible murder/suicide
-
NEWS9 months agoWreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16
-
NEWS5 months ago
Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death
-
NEWS2 months agoMurder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry, frustrated with no arrest
-
NEWS8 months agoBowie Police face three-hour standoff after possible domestic fight
-
NEWS10 months ago
Driver stopped by a man running into the street, robbed at knifepoint
-
NEWS6 months ago
UTV driver killed in crash