The Bowie Jackrabbits passed a big early season test by dominating Burkburnett at home on Tuesday night.
The Jackrabbits won 66-45 and were up by more than that several times in the second half.
This is Bowie’s seventh season in a row playing the Bulldogs. Traditionally a competitive 4A program that makes the playoffs, it has always been a tough draw that has not favored the Jackrabbits during that time.
Bowie has won only once in the past six seasons against the Bulldogs, and it was not the state title team or the team after that one. It was a close 68-64 win in 2020, which was current Jackrabbit Coach Andy Atkins’ second win.
Burkburnett is, if not the first, than the best early season test for Jackrabbit teams on how good its press break is. The Bulldogs feature a lot of good, long athletes and their Coach Danny Nix employs a platoon system to keep them fresh and full-court presses teams all game.
Bowie was coming off a win against Springtown where it saw some press defense and was in the mindset already coming in. With senior ball handlers Brody Armstrong and A.J. Whatley having multiple years of experience coming into the game, the Jackrabbits were ready to attack the press.
Bowie avoided disaster bringing the ball up and carefully worked around the trapping zone defense into its players inside. Bayler Swint and Tucker Jones aren’t the tallest of front court duos, but both took advantage of their teammates passing and looked to finish around the basket. They combined to score 16 of the team’s 20 points in the first quarter as the Jackrabbits led 20-10.
Bowie sat back in a tight zone all game and dared Burkburnett to shoot from outside, not wanting to give up driving lanes. The Bulldogs made five 3-pointers in the game, but it was not enough to make the Jackrabbits change its strategy or come back from the double-digit deficit.
Bowie’s offense got more balanced as its perimeter players started to find holes in the zone and knocking in three 3-pointers in the second quarter. The Jackrabbits didn’t falter even when inexperienced bench players came into the game as they led 38-22 at halftime.
The defense was its most locked in during the third quarter, which allowed some mistakes to not be catastrophic or momentum changing for Bowie. Andrew Sandhoff led the team with seven points during the quarter while Jones added six more points.
The Jackrabbits had a commanding 55-29 lead at the start of the fourth quarter and the bench units got to play out the majority of the rest of the game. It was the only quarter Burkburnett outscored Bowie, but only by 16-11 which allowed the Jackrabbit starters to sit back and cheer on their teammates playing big minutes.
Bowie won easily 66-45.

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