SPORTS
County sending 8 to state
After taking part in windy regional track meets this weekend, the area schools are sending eight athletes to the state meet in Austin in three different classifications.
Athletes from Bowie, Nocona, Saint Jo and Gold-Burg will be competing against the best athletes in the state in their events.
For several athletes this year was redemption for last year. Bowie junior Tucker Jones made it to the regional final in last year’s 110 meter hurdles, but unfortunately a tough fall at the beginning of the race did not allow him to finish.
This year Jones barely made it to the final as the last seed, but in the final he put together a clean race. It was close at the finish with the top four finishing within .13 seconds of each other. In the end, it was Jones who finished second, running 15 seconds flat and qualifying for state in the 3A classification.
With everything coming full circle, Jones was appreciative he was able to overcome last year’s failure.
“It shows anything can happen at any given moment,” Jones said. “I wouldn’t be where I am without moments like those.”
Jones dedicated his achievement to the memory of his late friend Colby Price, who died in December in a car wreck.
Another athlete looking for redemption was Nocona’s Graci Brown. The sophomore was only a hair short of qualifying for state last year in the 400 meters as a freshman in 3A. In 2A this year and motivated by last year’s disappointment, she redoubled her commitment to training.
It paid off as she not only qualified in the 400 meters this year, but won it as well as the 800 meter race as well.
Brown also finished second in the long jump and anchored the 4×400 relay team that included Ava Johnson, Ayden Patton and Megyn Meekins to second place to qualify in those events as well. Overall, that performance and several others helped the Lady Indians team finish tied for fourth.
“Last year losing that wildcard by .002 really pushed me this year,” Brown said. “Every time I get in those blocks or just racing that 4×400 for my team, I don’t want that to ever be me again and I won’t let that be me. The training I did this year compared to last year is unlike any other so I am just thankful for that.”
For other athletes in the 1A classification it was a return to state in a way for all three. Saint Jo senior Collin Thomas has qualified for state all four years in cross country. He qualified for the first time last year in track running the 800 meters and was a part of the 4×400 relay team. This year he is heading back by finishing second in both the 800 meters and 1600 meters.
“I am very excited,” Thomas said. “I think I will not be as nervous this year after experiencing it last year. I want to make it in the top three this year so I can get a medal.
He won’t be alone as he is joined by fellow Saint Jo athlete, sophomore Devin Stewart, who finished second in the high jump as he jumped six feet flat. Stewart also will be making a return to state after being a part of last year’s 4×400 relay team that qualified.
“I’m pretty excited,” Stewart said. “I’m not sure last year’s experience will help much. Last year I ran and this year I am in a field event so it will be different. I just hope I can improve on my results from regionals and see what happens.”
The final athlete who qualified is not unfamiliar to the state stage. Gold-Burg sophomore Isaac Renteria has already run in the state cross country meet twice. This year he parlayed his success running long distances in the fall to the spring. Renteria finished first in both the 3200 meter race and was just ahead of Thomas in the 1600 meter race.
“I think my experience at the next level will help me prepare for this competition,” Renteria said. “While I won’t be shocked, I expect that the experience will still be different. However, I am fully aware that I will have to give it my all just to be able to compete.”
The state meet is scheduled for May 11-13 at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin.
Results for all of the athletes from area schools who competed at the regional meet are in the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians were able to beat Saint Jo at home on Thursday night in a tight contest.
The Indians won 55-48 against the Panthers in a game where both teams played hard, but made plenty of early season mistakes.
Nocona came into the game following a low-scoring win against Bells earlier in the week 35-30. For a young Indians team that only has a few players with varsity experience this year, every early season win builds confidence.
For Saint Jo, the Panthers were still without several returning starters since football is still going on. Despite that, new Coach Jacob Nocktonick is trying to build what he can with his group of basketball first players that include several key players even when the football team is integrated.
Despite Saint Jo being the smaller school, overall it had the height advantage in the front line since Nocona features only one player, Kasch Johnson, who is built like a post player. That is nothing new for the Indians, who featured a short team the previous year as Coach Brody Wilson emphasizes full-court pressure on defense and pushing the ball in transition in his system that makes up for a lack of height and size.
Initially Nocona’s pace and energy, grabbing several offensive rebounds, got it the lead 9-3. Eventually, the Panthers adjusted and trailed only 12-11 after the first quarter.
Saint Jo got the lead early in the second quarter. Post Trent Gaston took advantage of his size advantage, especially when the Indians had Johnson out, and led 17-12. Both teams had trouble scoring in a rough second quarter as open perimeter shots just were not going in and shots at the rim were tough to convert.
The Panthers led 23-20 heading into halftime.
Both teams had better offensive success pushing the ball when it could in the second half.
Saint Jo broke Nocona’s press and punished the Indians with quick baskets. Nocona ran whenever it could and seemed to put up an array of perimeter shots and drives, getting offensive rebounds it seemed at will to keep the pressure up and infuriate the Panthers coach.
The Indians got a big push from Landon Fatheree in the second half. After scoring eight points in the first half to lead the team, he scored 10 of his team’s 14 points in the third quarter.
Nocona got the lead back, but only led 34-33 heading into the final period.
The Indians had a comfortable lead up 44-36 when Saint Jo’s Gaston fouled out with 4:56 left in the game. Still, the Panthers did not give up and a minute later had whittled Nocona’s lead down to one basket 44-41 with 3:45.
The game stayed a one-possession game for the next two minutes as Saint Jo had several chances to tie or take the lead not go through.
Nocona made its free throws down the stretch to win with a little more comfort, with the final score being 55-48.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. To see more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870682&T=1
Nocona senior Meg Meekins signed her official letter of intent to play college basketball at Lubbock Christian University on Wednesday. Meekins, the daughter of Brandi and Lance, is a four-year starter on the volleyball and basketball court. She has earned several accolades like being named to the All State Teams for TGCA, TABC, Associated Press and was selected to the All Tournament Team at the UIL State Basketball Tournament in San Antonio last year.“The coaching staff and the community of the LCU program and just knowing you have a staff that coaches you, but also looks over you just like Coach (Kyle) Spitzer did here was a huge part in the recruiting process,” Meekins said. She plans to pursue a degree in either physical or occupational therapy.
For more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870680&T=1
The Bowie Lady Rabbits got more than they bargained for when they traveled to Bellevue on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rabbits escaped with the win 44-40, taking the lead with less than a minute to go after trailing whole game.
Bowie came into the game confident. The larger 3A school was supposed to play Windthorst, but had to reschedule because the Lady Trojans volleyball team was playing in the state tournament.
Finding a last minute replacement, the Lady Rabbits thought they would have an easy game playing the 1A program down the road. Little did they know.
Bellevue had a couple of players out with injury to limit its depth a bit and a new coach in Celsey Hoffman, but the Lady Eagles were coming off of nearly beating a Nocona team the previous week. While the Lady Indians were missing four starters who were still in volleyball, it still showed this was not a 1A team to take lightly.
Bellevue came out fast showing tough defensive pressure despite giving up size at nearly every position. Within a few minutes the Lady Eagles had used that pressure to force turnovers and convert those steals into transition opportunities.
Also, the energy showed in other areas as Bellevue seemed to grab every loose ball and fought for offensive rebounds despite lacking in height compared to Bowie.
After a little more than four minutes into the game the Lady Eagles led 15-0. The Lady Rabbits had barely been able to set up their offense or attempt a shot against the pressure.
Bowie Coach Matthew Miller had to reset his shell-shocked team during multiple timeouts. The young ballhandlers was reminded how the team was going to break the press defense so it could set up its offense.
Bellevue led 19-4 after the first quarter, led by Mary Grace Broussard and Brittany Gill who each scored six points.
The Lady Rabbits settled down and made some good progress in the second quarter. Their defense switched between man-to-man and 1-3-1 to keep the Lady Eagles off balance. With them taking care of the ball better, there were less chances for Bellevue in transition and the Lady Eagles offense struggled to consistently find ways to score against Bowie’s length.
The Lady Rabbits offense found some success as well. Five different players made at least one basket and the team made two 3-pointers.
While the game was physical from the start, now that Bowie knew what type of game it was in the team responded back. It was not pretty and only enough fouls were called to make the game watchable, but individual foul trouble affected Bellevue harder than the Lady Rabbits in the second quarter.
The Lady Eagles still led heading into halftime, but Bowie had gotten it down to single digits trailing 25-19.
The third quarter was more even between the two teams as both had trouble consistently scoring baskets. Bellevue made three baskets and a couple of free throws to keep ahead.
The Lady Rabbits got a big lift from Lanie Moore, who knocked in all three of her 3-pointers in the quarter, scoring nine of the team’s 12 points.
Bowie still trailed, but had cut the lead down to one point earlier in the quarter and one basket 34-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bellevue grew the lead to 38-32 early in the final period. The Lady Rabbits struggled to get anything going offensively and trailed 40-34 midway through the quarter.
Bowie’s Kendall Fallis made a 3-pointer in transition to cut the lead to one basket 40-37.
The score stayed there for the next several minutes even as the Lady Eagles had two starters, Karis Denson and Mattie Broussard, foul out of the game.
With a little more than a minute left, the Lady Rabbits drew up and out of bounds play that got Laney Segura an open shot in the corner. Despite not having made a basket all game, she sunk the 3-pointer to tie the game at 40-40 with a minute still to play.
Bowie had been in a pressure defense for the second half of the fourth quarter to prevent Bellevue from passively running clock. Still in the defense, the team next stole the in-bounds pass and Railey Martin made the undefended layup to give the Lady Rabbits their first lead of the game 42-40 with 48 seconds left.
The Lady Eagles could not tie the score on their next offensive possession. Bowie would made two more free throws to make the final 44-40.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870678&T=1
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