SPORTS
Girls Roundup
Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians won their second tournament of the season, with this one being extra special as they hosted the Tres Ninos tournament.
The Lady Indians went 5-0 to stay undefeated on the season as the top ranked team in the state in 2A continued to make it look easy.
Nocona started the tournament against Bells. Despite a slow start, the team picked up offensive momentum as the game went along which eventually led to a 73-35 blowout.
The Lady Indians finished the first day with a good win against the defending 3A state champ Holliday 69-55, though the Lady Eagles graduated most of the players from last years team.
On day two, Nocona picked up easy wins against Iowa Park 64-38 and Saint Jo 60-36 to qualify for the championship game.
There, the Lady Indians matched with one of 5A’s top programs in the state Argyle, though it was the JV team.
Despite playing the bigger school, Nocona showed the sub-varsity team what they didn’t know by winning with little drama 50-38 thanks to some second half adjustments.
On top of winning the overall championship, individually Skyler Smith and Meg Meekins were named to the all-tournament team.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers had a tough tournament playing only bigger schools at Nocona’s Tres Ninos tournament last week.
The Lady Panthers went 1-4 overall at the tournament that tested them throughout.
Saint Jo was the only 1A team in the varsity girls bracket and had an uphill battle.
The Lady Panthers started the district with their closest game of the tournament, one in which they let 3A Iowa Park go ahead the very end to win 51-49.
Saint Jo’s second game of day one was tougher, playing 5A Argyle’s JV team and losing 45-21.
The Lady Panthers had a better day two, winning against 4A Wichita Falls High School in dominant fashion 45-20.
Unfortunately, it was short lived as Saint Jo went up against tournament host Nocona.
The eventual tournament champion 2A Lady Indians won 60-36 against the Lady Panthers.
Saint Jo ended the tournament playing a 3A Holliday team that gave the Lady Panthers trouble scoring the ball as they lost 50-24.
Forestburg
The Forestburg Lady Horns had a tough tournament out of state in Thackerville.
The Lady Horns went 1-2 overall while playing some good competition to get ready for the start of district play.
Forestburg won a close game against the tournament hosts 39-36 that was the highlight of the trip.
The Lady Horns then lost a low-scoring game against Healdton 37-21, before picking up the pace in the final game and losing a close game against Ringling 59-54.
Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs lost a tough game on Friday’s homecoming game against 2A Tioga.
Prairie Valley was overwhelmed by a hot shooting night and tough press defense from Tioga, losing 89-27.
The Lady Bulldogs were led by Linzie Priddy who scored 16 points and made four 3-pointers while Abbie Pepper was second scoring eight points all in the post.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Lady Eagles played some tough teams at last week’s Poolville tournament.
The Lady Eagles went 1-3 over the few days of games the team hopes will get them battle tested for district play starting up this week.
Bellevue had a tough first game against Gordon, losing 58-23. The Lady Eagles played better against Henrietta, but lost 56-44.
Bellevue then blew out tournament host Poolville 55-14 to earn its first win. It would prove to be the only win as the Lady Eagles lost against Victory Christian Academy 68-41.
Missing scores
Gold-Burg did not play in a tournament or game late last week.
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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