SPORTS
Girls Roundup
Nocona
Playing on a big stage at Kay Yeager Coliseum as part of the Wichita Falls Classic, the Nocona Lady Indians stayed undefeated as they dominated Millsap on Saturday.
The state-ranked Lady Indians beat down the Lady Bulldogs 75-27.
Nocona came in heavily favored as the currently second ranked team in the state in 2A according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll. While Millsap is a bigger 3A program coming off a playoff appearance, the Lady Bulldogs proved to be no match.
The Lady Indians sprinted out to a 23-6 lead after the first quarter. Nocona had a bit of lax second quarter, winning by only a margin of 14-9 as it went into halftime up 37-15.
Coach Kyle Spitzer was able to keep his team playing hard in the second half despite the margin getting worse and worse as the game went along.
In the end, the Lady Indians won their most lopsided game of the short season 75-27.
Skyler Smith led the team with 22 points and 11 rebounds as she finished with a double-double. Meg Meekins was second with 16 points while dishing a team high seven assists and swiping six steals.
Avery Crutsinger scored a season high 14 points and Aubrey Kleinhans also scored in double-figures as she finished with 12 points. Jolie Rose added eight points off the bench.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers played in their second tournament of the season last week which they hosted and did well overall.
The Lady Panthers went 4-2 during the three days of games, winning big in the games they won and being competitive in their losses.
Saint Jo dominated its first three opponents during pool play. The Lady Panthers won by double-digits against Petrolia (60-31), Texoma Christian (61-22) and Electra (47-26).
Saint Jo then played Graford and suffered its first setback. The Lady Rabbits won a tight game 50-41 against the Lady Panthers to end pool play.
Saint Jo then had another setback in bracket play.
Playing against Tioga, the closest game of the tournament for the Lady Panthers did not go their way as they lost 61-56.
Saint Jo’s final game of the tournament came against Pretonwood North. The Lady Panthers were able to shake off the previous two losses and dominate private school Lady Lions 54-31 to end the tournament on a good note.
Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs had a tough tournament run at Chico last week.
The Lady Bulldogs went 1-3 overall as the team was stretched thin thanks to their lack of depth on the bench.
Prairie Valley started the tournament well by beating fellow 1A team Bryson in a low-scoring, but one-sided game 30-18.
The quality jumped when the Lady Bulldogs next played 3A Boyd. The Lady Jackets won 38-15.
Private school Victory Christian was the toughest game of the tournament for Prairie Valley as it lost 50-19.
The final game of the tournament was against host Chico. The 2A Lady Dragons won the low-scoring game 29-17.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Lady Eagles lost a tough game at Era on Friday night.
The 2A Lady Hornets won 56-40 against the Lady Eagles.
Bellevue was able to do some good things as its pressure defense caused a lot of turnovers for Era, but unfortunately the shots were not going in at the right times for the Lady Eagles.
Cirstin Allen led the team with 14 points, Brittany Gill had 12 points and Callie Martin had 11 points to add.
Missing scores
Missing scores from Gold-Burg and Forestburg coaches.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
With the baseball and softball seasons over for the area 1A schools, district awards have been released.
Listed below are those earned honors on the field and in the classroom for Saint Jo and Bellevue.
Softball
Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Utility player: Taylor Patrick; Catcher: Jordyn O’Neal
Baseball
Superlatives
Offensive MVP: Devin Stewart, Saint Jo
Newcomer of the Year: Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue
Pitcher: Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Jayden Curry, Saint Jo
Second team
Pitcher: Charlie Barclay, Saint Jo
Infielder: Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; Sam Martin, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Rylan Forrester, Saint Jo
Catcher: Charlie Evans, Saint Jo
Utility: Logan Hoover, Saint Jo
DH: Amzy Barclay, Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Cody Gaston, Saint Jo; Xander Joyner, Saint Jo
To see academic awards from Saint Jo players, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Eldon Van Hooser is leaving Forestburg better than he found it.
The head boy’s basketball coach is retiring after more than 30 years, spending the last five at Forestburg.
Van Hooser did not come to this decision because of a lack of fire or feeling tired after decades in the profession. He had to for family reasons.
“My wife has MS (multiple sclerosis) and it’s a disease where you have trouble standing and walking and she needs help,” Van Hooser said. “I am able to so I am going to step away from teaching and coaching to be there for her.”
Van Hooser was hired in 2019. Along with being the boy’s basketball coach, he also was the football team’s defensive coordinator.
There were some lean years for Forestburg on the boy’s athletic side, with numbers being low and the available athletes being mostly underclassmen.
For two years, the Longhorns’ boy’s basketball team won few games and one of those seasons saw the team field five players on the high school team.
“One of those years we had COVID-19 and the other we had five kids,” Van Hooser said. “It was very rough. After that we worked with the kids and we had a good freshman group coming up. Next year they are going to be seniors.”
That group has helped to turn the program around. Last year the young Longhorns team contested for a playoff spot and just barely missed it finishing fifth in the district.
This season, that same group took a leap and finished second in district with a record of 7-5.
Despite losing its last two regular season games in dramatic fashion heading into the playoffs, the team stepped up in the bi-district game.
Playing against an athletic Newcastle team, Forestburg led for most of the game.
Unfortunately, the previous game against Bellevue saw the Longhorn team blow the lead late in the fourth quarter against a hard pressing style team and they were suffering the same fate against the Bobcats down the stretch.
Fortunately, Forestburg held on just enough to win 53-46. It was the first boy’s basketball playoff win in nine years for Forestburg.
“It was huge for our program,” Van Hooser said. “This new year we will have new goals. The new coach will have some goals of his own, but I set some for the team and think that we have come a long way.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie sports banquets was on Monday night. Olivia Gill and Tucker Jones were named Jackrabbit and Lady Rabbit of the year. Pick up the mid-week paper for all of the sports team awards and pictures.
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