It was a disappointing loss for the Bowie Jackrabbits on Wednesday night when they hosted Iowa Park.
The Hawks won 55-40 in a game where the Jackrabbits struggled to make any open shots.
Bowie came into the game following a disappointing loss at Holliday to close out the first round of district play. With another loss earlier to City View, the Jackrabbits were sitting in third place in the district standings.
Bowie had handled the opening district game at Iowa Park back in December, handing the Hawks a 53-39 welcome to the new district. The Hawks went 2-4 in the first round and were on the outside of the playoff race.
Still, the first half of the first game between the two teams had been competitive throughout until the Jackrabbit defense stepped things up to help them run away with that game.
Therefore, it was not surprising when the first quarter saw the team’s tied at 11-11 at the end of it. The Hawks played zone defense throughout which meant Bowie could hunt open perimeter shots if it passed the ball around smartly. Only one 3-pointer fell in to start the game which would prove ominous as the game went along even with the game tied after the first quarter.
The Jackrabbits were getting open looks from outside, but none of them went in during the second quarter. Even with players trying to drive to the basket against Iowa Park’s tall and lanky post defenders, the good chances just seemed to roll out every time.
Bowie made only two field goals all of the second quarter and missed its both shots in its one free throw trip.
Scoring only four points in a quarter will get you behind in most varsity games and the Jackrabbits found themselves behind 24-15 at halftime.
Bowie was hopeful once it could start to knock down shots the game would flip as it was not like the team was running horrible offense, turning the ball over or taking rushed, bad shots that were out of character.
Still, the led on the basket stayed closed at the start of the second half for Bowie. The Jackrabbits scored more than four points, but not by much, scoring seven points on three made field goals.
Bowie’s success on defense shutting down Iowa Park in the first game was never replicated on Wednesday. The Hawks handled the Jackrabbits pressure and made them pay with smart passing and timely shot making from all over.
It looked dire with Bowie trailing 37-22 heading into the fourth quarter, with only a blisteringly one-sided performance the only way the team was going to come back.
The Jackrabbits upped their intensity and urgency as the time slipped away and finally did start to score the ball. They sold out with their pressure defensively, which created some turnovers and led to some transition opportunities that were lacking in the middle quarters.
Unfortunately, that selling out meant Iowa Park was able to feast on breakdowns if it beat the aggressive press defense which led to some easy scores for the Hawks.
Both teams scored 18 points in the frantic final period which meant Bowie finally did break through offensively, but it was too little too late and at the expense of its defense in the process.
Iowa Park won 55-40.

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