Nocona
The Nocona Indians got one more tough non-district challenge playing an Australian team at home on Saturday.
The Bendigo Braves won a close fought game 52-47 against the Indians who were without one starter.
Nocona has competed well in its challenging non-district schedule despite some glaring holes the team has lived with, as the Indians are ranked 14th in 2A in the recent Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.
Nocona is short overall and struggles to rebound, which came back to bite them against a Bendigo team where every player’s height was estimated to be at six feet or taller.
The Braves held a narrow 22-21 lead at halftime, but extended their lead more in the third quarter, outscoring the Indians 14-9 and taking a 36-30 lead into the fourth quarter.
Nocona outscored Bendigo and even took the lead 47-44 with 1:27 left in the game and was looking to close to stealing it in the end.
Unfortunately, the Braves closed the game on an 8-0 run to win the game 52-47, giving the Indians a painful lesson heading into district play.
Javier Gaytan led the team with 15 points while Brady McCasland was second with 12 points. Johnny Stone and Karson Kleinhans both had a game high four rebounds along with McCasland. Charlie Fuller and McCasland also dished out three assists each.

Gold-Burg vs Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns came back from double-digits to win in the fourth quarter at Gold-Burg on Friday night.
The Longhorns won 61-58 as both teams were searching for their first district wins.
Forestburg had lost games to Slidell and Midway in performances the team was not happy with since it is aiming for a playoff berth.
The Bears were coming off a disappointing performance at Saint Jo earlier in the week in which nothing seemed to go right as Gold-Burg hopes its experience can help it challenge for the playoffs as well.
Both teams started the game off shooting well and scoring at a high volume, with the Longhorns getting several second chance opportunities and getting a lead 21-15 after the first quarter.
The Bears sharpened up on defense as their press slowed down Forestburg in the second quarter while continuing to create chances to score in transition on offense.
Gold-Burg made up the deficit and led by one point 29-28 at halftime.
Things continued to go the Bears way in the third quarter. Gold-Burg made four 3-pointers and scored 20 points to up its lead to double-digits 49-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
Forestburg made some defensive adjustments, mainly switching to man-to-man which seemed to do the job as the Bears ball movement seemed to struggle at that point in the game.
This allowed the Longhorns the opportunity to come back thanks to a huge offensive surge. Their three leading scorers all contributed to the balanced scoring attack as Forestburg poured in 22 points.
It proved just enough to pull ahead and win 61-58.
Jesus Sanchez led all scorers with 25 points while making four 3-pointers for the Longhorns. Kyler Willett added 17 points in the paint while Jesse Wadsworth scored 11 points.
For Gold-Burg, Jayon Grace led the team with 23 points while Keelyn Case added 11 and Aidan Foster scored 10 points.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles let the game get away from them in the second half at Slidell on Friday night.
The Greyhounds pulled away to win 83-46, despite the Eagles hanging close in the first half.
Bellevue came into the game with an opening district win against Prairie Valley back before the holiday break. After a holiday tournament and a non-district warm-up game, the Eagles had no excuse of still being rusty.
In the first half it was a close game as Bellevue was playing with the defending district champs. Slidell led only 38-31 heading into halftime and the Eagles felt like the game was still within reach.
Unfortunately, the Greyhounds came out in the second half and pounced on some Bellevue mistakes thanks to upping their pressure defense. A bad third quarter where the Eagles were outscored 25-4 seemed to seal the game.
Bellevue played better in the fourth quarter, but not enough to make up any ground as Slidell won 83-46.

Missing scores
The Saint Jo coach answered some details about the Panthers non-district game against Petrolia on Friday, but did not provide the final score or any player statistics.
“We played a solid first half and came out after the break and got a little sloppy,” Coach Ryan Bruce said. “We had several defensive breakdowns and missed assignments which led to extra possessions and second chance points. Our lack of rebounding the basketball is what got us beat.”
The News also never received sent scores from Prairie Valley’s coach about the team’s district game against Midway on Friday.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.