SPORTS
Basketball Roundup

Nocona vs Saint Jo boys
The Nocona Indians opened their season at Saint Jo on Friday night.
The experienced 2A Indians put it to the younger Panthers 78-41 in a game that showed the value of early season experience.
The two programs played to open last year’s season and a senior filled Saint Jo team hung with the bigger program Nocona for the whole game and only lost 53-46. It is a different situation heading into this season.
The Indians return five seniors from the team that won the program’s first district title since 1988, several with varsity experience dating back to their freshman year.
The Panthers returned only two players with varsity experience and only one started last year.
The start of the game was more competitive than the final score would indicate.
Nocona led 19-12 after the first quarter, but started to pull away in the second quarter.
The Indians’ experience and physicality became too much as their lead grew bigger and bigger as the game wore on.
In the end, Nocona won 78-41.
Johnny Stone scored a career high 21 points to lead the Indians. Javier Gaytan was second with 11 points while Karson Kleinhans scored 10 points off the bench. Conley Kleinhans grabbed a team high eight rebounds while Brady McCasland dished out seven assists.
For Saint Jo, Barrett Johnson led the team with nine points while Devin Stewart scored seven points.
Saint Jo girls
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers lost their opening game of the season on Friday against 2A Lindsay.
The Lady Panthers lost the physical game 52-31 against the bigger Lady Knights.
Saint Jo is hoping to build off its success from last year, finishing second in the district and winning its bi-district playoff game after several years of a playoff drought.
The Lady Panthers play at a frenetic pace and was successful in turning it into the type of game they like to play, forcing Lindsay into several turnovers and playing faster than it would want.
Unfortunately, with it being the first game while playing against taller players who were up for the challenge of playing just as physical as Saint Jo meant the Lady Panthers shooting and offense were not up to snuff.
The Lady Knights led from the beginning and the lead just kept growing the longer the game went on.
Fouls aplenty were called on both sides which meant several Saint Jo players had to sit for long periods of time due to foul trouble. It also meant a ton of free throw attempts.
Lindsay attempted 27 free throws and the Lady Panthers attempted 18. Many shots Saint Jo tried around the basket were blocked away by the taller and longer Lady Knight post players.
Kyler Dunn led the team with seven points while Jordyn O’Neal was second with six points.
Nocona girls
The Nocona Lady Indians won a low-scoring game, for them, at Graham on Friday afternoon.
The Lady Indians won easily 57-33 against the Lady Blues where the team was missing one of their starters.
Nocona was without post player Avery Crutsinger, but made up for it with tenacity.
In the Lady Indians opening game against City View, Coach Kyle Spitzer criticized his usually solid defense, but he chalked it up to being the first game of the season. Despite that, the team still won easily by shooting well.
On Friday, the team did not shoot its best. Only Skyler Smith, recently signed to East Texas Baptist University earlier in the week, had a great offensive day.
She scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the team in both categories. She was the only Nocona player to finish in double figures.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Protecting yourself from the sun’s rays

By Luke Clayton
You will find this week’s outdoor column a bit differently from what I normally share with you. I will give a bit of advice about protecting yourself from the sun’s harmful rays but I promise not to dwell on the subject long, just enough to cause you to this keeping yourself safe while outdoors. Then, I promise we will jump right into some current outdoor adventures!
Skin cancer is extremely common among those of us that spend a lot of time in the outdoors. People with fair completions are more apt to develop skin cancer that those with darker skin but everyone should know how to stay safe when exposed to the sun. I was prompted to share this with you after having a couple of Basic Cell Carcinomas removed through the years. These skin cancers usually present little problem when detected early and are easily removed. A yearly check up by a dermatologist is very important and is key to detecting skin cancer early. I considered myself too busy a few years ago and missed my yearly checkups for 3 year. Then I noticed a small brown blotch on my forehead. Passing it off as an ‘age spot’, I kept on hunting and fishing, wearing only a ball cap and no sunscreen. Then at a regular doctor’s check up, the doc inquired if I had been making my yearly appointments at the dermatologist. He pointed out that that little spot needed to be seen by my skin doctor. Even to her trained eye, it only looked slightly suspicious but she ordered a lab test and it was diagnosed as a melanoma, the kind of skin cancer that spreads more rapidly and can cause some very serious problems. She scheduled me with a surgeon and another lab test rated the spot as possibly the very early stage of melanoma. Without removal it could spread and turn into full blown cancer. After about thirty minutes on the surgeon’s table, it was removed and the skin was all stitched up. A day later, I had a shiner around my eye as big as a silver dollar, I looked like I had lost a skirmish with a wild boar but the spot, along with the risk of of serious skin cancer was gone.
So, here’s what I want you to give some serious consideration to doing when you are outdoors for an extended period of time: Wear a wide brimmed hat and long sleeves shirts made to block RV rays and always wear a good sun blocker of at least SPF 50. If you see me out on the lake, I’ll be the old guy with the funky white wide brimmed hat with the flap that covers the ears and a cool looking long sleeve shirt made of very lightweight material.
TIME TO HUNT TURKEYS This past week was largely devoted to getting this skin problem taken care of but I’ll be fully back in action by the time you read this doing two things I dearly love; hunting spring gobblers and catching and cooking fish. In last week’s column, I mentioned a turkey hunt/fishing outing I had planned with a good friend up in Grayson County. This I had to put on hold but in a couple days plan to make it happen. The gobblers have been sounding off on my buddies place and his pond is full of chunky bass in the 2 to 3 pound range, just right for a mid day blackening in the shade of a big oak on the banks of the remote pond. Who knows, we might just add a few well seasoned and fried turkey breast fillets to the menu!
If you’re planning a turkey hunt, remember that the period from about mid morning to mid afternoon can provide some very good action. Turkeys usually do a lot of their breeding early mornings and when hens have headed to their nest, gobblers are on the prowl. This is a great time to set up a decoy in a visible spot along the edge of a woodline and begin calling. Calling to frequently is a common mistake made by novice turkey hunters. I usually let the gobblers dictate how much to call. If I get a response from a gobbler back in the woods or across a field, I will call more frequently. I try to track his approach by his gobbles and call every minute or so. Once I hear him close, within 75 yards or so, I usually only give a few subtle hen purrs rather than a full blown loud yelp. Turkeys have a built in GPS and I’ve often watched them pop up out of the brush within a few yards of my position.
A decoy that is visible to approaching turkeys can be worth its weight in gold, the gobbler’s attention is taken off where the hen yelps are originating when he actually sees what he perceives to be his next romantic encounter! By the time the old gobbler figures out the lady love he is attempting to court is made of plastic, if the shot is true, Ole’ Luke will be attaching his turkey tag to the birds leg just above the spur!
CHANNEL CATFISH BITE RED HOT IN SHALLOW WATER Now is one of the best times of the year to catch channel catfish from the shore. For the next month or so, catching will be easy in shallow water on a variety of catfish baits fished under a cork. It’s hard to beat a good cheese based punch bait but anything from crickets to earthworms will put plenty of eater size channel catfish on your stringer. The best fishing is usually during the first couple hours of daylight when catfish and just about every other species in the lake are us shallow feeding on shad. Catfish feed a lot by smell and very often the longer the punch bait is I the water, the better the action.
A coffee can full of range cubes or better yet, soured grain often helps concentrate the fish quickly but this time of year, especially when fishing around rock rip rap in the vicinity of boat ramps, a limit of channel catfish is often accomplished in a couple hours or less when the fish are on a strong bite. Some mornings, the fish will strike hard, one minute you will see your cork and the next, it’s gone. But on the days when the fish bite softly, watch your cork and when it jiggles the slightest bit, set the hook!
Next week, I hope to have an account of a successful turkey hunt and noon fish fry on a remote pond to relate to you. Until then, remember to protect yourself from the sun while out there having fun!
Contact Outdoors writer Luke Clayton via his website www.catfishradio.org email lukeclayton1950@gmail.com. Listen to Luke’s weekly podcast , “Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton and friends” everywhere podcast are heard and watch the weekly outdoor show “A Sportsmans Life” on CarbonTv.com and YouTube.
SPORTS
Karate student wins awards

The North Texas Karate Alliance hosted its annual awards banquet on Feb. 1 in Cleburne.
Bowie’s own Brycen Ivy was the recipient of four awards. Awards are won based on points accumulated through the year at various tournaments hosted all around North Texas. Ivy won the following: Best of the Best Kata Division Champion Adult Men Black Belt, Best of the Best Continuing Sparring Division Adult Men Black Belt, Best of the Best Weapons Kata Division Champion Adult Men Black Belt, and Best of the Best Points Sparring Division Adult Men Black Belt. He is the 18-year-old son of Steve and Chanda Ivy of Bowie. He attends the North Texas Karate Academy in Bridgeport Texas with instructor Stephen Starnes. He is a 3rd degree Black Belt.
SPORTS
Saint Jo Baseball Interview

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