SPORTS
Basketball Roundup
Gold-Burg boys
The Gold-Burg Bears went into the holiday break following a fun smashing of Wichita Christian at home on Monday night.
The Bears won 76-30 against the Stars where their aggressive press defense produced a layup line of breakaways throughout the whole game.
Gold-Burg was coming into the game following its opening season loss to 3A Bridgeport.
The Bears played the bigger school well despite it being the first game. It was a tight first half with the score tied at 21-21.
The second half saw the Bulls execute offensively better, especially in the fourth quarter to pull ahead by a couple of baskets down the stretch. Bridgeport won 47-40.
The aggressive press and zone defense created many fast break opportunities, but Gold-Burg was sloppy at times trying to play too fast and turned the ball over in some unforced errors.
The Stars only trailed 20-10 after the first quarter, but the Bears defense was a bit more sharper and wore down Wichita Christian even more as the game wore on.
Gold-Burg kept the fast breaking pace up for the rest of the game, scoring 20 or more points in the second and third quarters as well and only scoring 15 in the final period.
The Bears won with little drama 76-30.
Gold-Burg girls
The Gold-Burg Lady Bears had a tough matchup against Wichita Christian at home on Monday night.
The inexperienced Lady Bears lost 53-31 against a hard pressing Lady Stars team.
Gold-Burg returns only one player with varsity experience and the team had no bench players.
Playing a full-court press style team like Wichita Christian is an early season nightmare since the pace will probably be quick and will push the Lady Bears early season fitness level as much as experience handling pressure.
The Lady Stars used it to force some turnovers, but mostly made Gold-Burg pay with exploiting the holes in the Lady Bears’ zone defense.
The Lady Bears broke the press enough times to set up some offense, but were behind from the jump and trailed 34-15 at halftime.
Thankfully Wichita Christian called off its press in the second half and the game was more competitive for Gold-Burg. The Lady Stars only outscored the Lady Bears 18-16.
Unfortunately, it did nothing to make up the double-digit deficit as Wichita Christian won 52-31.
Nocona boys
The Nocona Indians had two close losses on Monday and Tuesday to send them into the holidays with things to work on.
The Indians lost to Howe 72-65 and Vernon 55-52.
Nocona came into the week after easily winning its first game of the season the previous week against Saint Jo.
The Bulldogs proved to be a tougher opponent as they jumped out to 23-15 lead after the first quarter. The pace was calmed down a bit in the second quarter, but Howe had built a double-digit lead 39-27 at halftime.
Nocona could not make up the difference and went into the fourth quarter down 15 points. Only through the Indians best offensive peak of the game did they close the distance, but the Bulldogs made enough free throws to keep them at bay.
In the end, Howe won 72-65.
Nocona then played Vernon on Tuesday afternoon.
It was the opposite of the day before as the Indians came out on fire in the first half, scoring 21 points in the first quarter and leading 35-28.
Nocona scored less than double-digits in both the third and fourth quarters. The Lions kept up the same scoring pace they had in the first half which allowed them to make up the deficit.
The score was tied at 44-44 heading into the fourth quarter. Vernon got a big boost from its leading scorer Adarius Williams scoring seven of his team high 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Nocona’s only scorer in the final period was Stone who scored eight of his team high 20 points in the fourth.
The Lions won 55-52.
Forestburg
The Forestburg Lady Horns were runners up at their first tournament last weekend at Perrin-Whitt while the boy’s team had an up and down experience.
The Lady Horns went 2-1, only losing in the championship game while the Longhorns also went 2-1.
The Forestburg girls team beat tournament host Perrin-Whitt on a late game shot to win 43-42 to start off the tournament. The Lady Horns then beat Community Christian 56-44 to make it to the tournament championship.
Unfortunately, Forestburg lost to Victory Christian 44-28 to finish the tournament on a bit of a sour note.
Brenna Briles was named to the all-tournament team as she led the team in assists while also taking seven charges during the three games.
The Longhorns’ boys team started the tournament by playing district opponent Prairie Valley. Forestburg was able to win easily 51-28 against the Bulldogs. The Longhorns also beat tournament host Perrin-Whitt’s JV team 46-29.
Unfortunately, Forestburg lost a game against Bryson 61-50 to finish 2-1 at the tournament.
Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley basketball teams struggled overall at their first tournament last weekend at Perrin-Whitt.
The Lady Bulldogs went 1-2 while the inexperienced Bulldogs team went 0-3.
The Prairie Valley girls bounced back from its opening loss to Victory Christian 48-23, by beating Bryson 34-21. This put the Lady Bulldogs in the consolation championship game where they played Perrin-Whitt. Unfortunately, Prairie Valley lost 43-27.
The boy’s team played district opponent Forestburg to start the tournament and lost 50-28. The Bulldogs bounced back by playing close games against Bryson and Perrin-Whitt JV teams. Unfortunately, they fell short in those games losing 40-35 and 32-30.
Bellevue girls
The Bellevue Lady Eagles won at Archer City on Tuesday in a one-sided game.
The Lady Eagles won 64-36 against the Lady Cats.
After a slow start in the first quarter with Bellevue leading only 11-6, the Lady Eagles scored 21 points in the second quarter to go into halftime up 32-14.
After another slow quarter to start the second half, Bellevue finished strong by scoring 21 points again in the fourth quarter to close out the game.
The Lady Eagles won easily 64-36.
Cirstin Allen led the team with 26 points as she made eight 3-pointers in the game. Tristan Shook joined her in double-figures with 11 points.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Saint Jo will have a new boy’s basketball coach this school year.
Jacob Nocktonick is coming to the district after spending the last two years at Bland as an assistant coach. It is his first head coaching job in basketball.
Nocktonick graduated from Princeton High School in 2015 where he played and loved basektball. He graduated in 2019 from Tarleton State University and despite playing basketball up until he graduated, he did not see coaching in his future. He worked for most of three years after college at a landscape supply company, but something was missing from his life.
“I realized after being out of it for three or four years, something was missing from my life that I really loved,” Nocktonick said. “That was playing the game I love and being around people that really love to be there.”
Nocktonick did not have much experience coaching before then, but through his experience at Bland, he knows he has found his true purpose.
“I missed that passion,” Nocktonick said. “I love it and love the kids I have been working with.”
Nocktonick is especially excited in his role in shaping young men for the future through basketball.
“At the end of the day, people aren’t going to remember me for my records,” Nocktonick said. “I get to touch lives in this role. It’s a lot different than other jobs because I have a lot of kids that look up to me. Even past players from Bland still hit me up, asking for life advice and it’s just different.”
He describes himself as the type of teacher who likes to climb up on his desk and get everyone involved more than just lecture through power point presentations. That extends to his coaching as well.
“I am extremely passionate and enthusiastic,” Nocktonick said. “I want kids to know when the time is to be serious, but know we are going to have fun, bond and become like family. I am not in this for the business. I am in this for the relationships.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie cheerleading team went to cheer camp on July 13-16 at Texas Women’s University.
It was a good opportunity for the team to learn new things to take into the school year, according to cheer sponsor Destanie Curry.
“They learn their job is not to just lead the crowds in cheers, but they are ambassadors of their school and community and how to fulfill that role to the best of their ability,” Curry said. “Of course, they also learn stunt safety, new stunts, new cheer material and how to incorporate all this into pep rallies, routines and games.”
It can be intense, with campers expected to eat, sleep and breathe cheerleading from morning until night, staying positive and spiritful in everything they do since councilors are always watching and looking to see who will earn extra awards.
At the end of the four days, the Lady Rabbits cheerleading team took home several team and individual awards.
The team won one spirit stick daily and one on the final day. They were awarded each night to teams who demonstrated leadership, positive attitudes, excellent class participation and who respect and encourage one another, their coaches and staff.
Bowie earned its National Federation of State High School Association’s squad credential. The group earned Stunt SAFE, which was presented to teams that displayed excellent skills in spotting and stunt technique.
The final team award was in the Game Day Championship trophy. The competition included crowd involvement with a game day chant and cheer learned at the camp.
They were judged on crowd leading effectiveness, use of props, incorporation of stunts, technique and execution of skills.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona got its new press box into place this week at Jack Crane Stadium. The old press box, which was in place for more than 60 years, was taken out in early June and moved to Indian Valley Raceway. The new press box was by the Southern Bleacher Company out of Graham. Athletic Director Black Crutsinger said they looked at a lot of press boxes and decided they liked the one at Lindsay High School and went with that model. Sean Hutson operated the crane from the Hurd Crane Service that put the press box up for Nocona.
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