Nocona
The Nocona Indians fell in both games last week before the holidays.
The Indians lost to Graford 76-36 and Vernon 67-50.
Nocona won its opening game the previous week against Saint Jo. The Rabbits are the defending state champions in 1A and showed it against Nocona.
The Indians struggled to score for the first three quarters, scoring in the single-digits. In the fourth quarter Nocona doubled its score by scoring 18 points.
Brady McCasland led the team with 13 points while Javier Gaytan was second with seven points.
The next day the team played the 3A Lions. Nocona led in the first half, nursing a 29-28 lead heading into the second half.
Unfortunately, Nocona failed to score well to keep up with the Vernon offense that found its groove in the third and fourth quarters.
Michael Wetmore led the Indians with 21 points while Luke Fuller and Gaytan were second with eight points each.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers played three games last week.
The Panthers lost to Seymour 56-40 before beating Bells 51-42 and Bryson 66-37.
Saint Jo came into the game following a close but tough loss against 2A Nocona to open the season.
The Panthers struggled to score in the first quarter against Seymour and never was able to recover despite scoring well the rest of the game.
Collin Thomas led the team with 13 points. Brice Durham and Kile Thurman joined him in double-figures with 11 points each.
Against Bells, Saint Jo was able to take a bit of a lead thanks to a big 20 point second quarter. Even with the pace of the game going to a crawl in the third quarter, the Panthers were able to keep and slowly grow their lead throughout the game.
Thurman led the team with 19 points and four made 3-pointers. Devin Stewart and Durham were second with nine points scored each.
The last game on Saturday against Bryson was a blow out from the start. The Panthers limited the Cowboys to one field goal in the first quarter.
Saint Jo scored 18 and 25 points in the first two quarters to run away with the game even if the second half was more evenly played.
Thomas led the team with 19 points. Durham was second with 14 points while leading the team with four made 3-pointers. Thurman also was in double-figures scoring 12 points.

Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Bulldogs were able to win at Christ Academy last week before the holidays.
The Bulldogs won 64-50 against the Warriors, powered by a huge first quarter lead.
Prairie Valley built a 25-7 lead early in the game and never let Christ Academy pull close enough to come back.
Tyler Winkler led the team with 27 points, seven assists and seven steals while adding eight rebounds. Eli Croxton was second with 12 points and Tyson Easterling joined them in double-figures with 11 points. Dakota Fore had a team high 10 rebounds to go with seven points.

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