Saint Jo vs Gold-Burg
The Saint Jo Panthers won at Gold-Burg on Friday night to keep its pace for possibly second place in the district standings.
The Panthers won 41-37 against the Bears in a game that was up and down in terms of consistency from both teams.
Saint Jo won the first game between the teams way back in early January by a comfortable margin, but Gold-Burg was only one game back in the district standings since then and had the more experienced team.
Still, the Panthers showed what they can play like when everything is working as they got out to a 17-10 lead in the first quarter.
Then Saint Jo showed in the next quarter what has been its biggest weakness, its maddeningly inconsistency. The Bears held the Panthers to only three points in the second quarter.
This left the door open for Gold-Burg to come back as the team scored 13 points and took the lead 23-20 at halftime.
Saint Jo turned it around in the third quarter, getting a big boost with two made 3-pointers as it outscored the Bears 13-7.
The Panthers led 33-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
It was a close game throughout in the final period and Gold-Burg will kick itself for missing five free throws during quarter.
Saint Jo made just enough, going 4-6 from the free throw line, to hold off the Bears and win 41-37.

Nocona
The Nocona Indians wrapped up the first round of district play undefeated with a win against Archer City at home on Friday.
The Indians won 56-39 against the Wildcats.
Nocona came into the game confident with a 4-0 record compared with Archer City’s 1-3 record. Still, the Indians were down one starter thanks to a suspension from an on-court instance two games ago.
Nocona started the game playing like the better team, going up 14-8 after the first quarter and 31-15 at halftime. The Indians defense had limited the Wildcats to single-digit point totals in the first half.
The third quarter saw Nocona’s offense keep it up, but Archer City equaled its first half total to give it some life despite still trailing by double-digits heading into the fourth quarter.
The Indians were able to slow down the pace in the final period, limiting the Wildcats from being able to come back while still holding a comfortable lead.
Nocona won 56-39.

Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns bounced back from a bad loss by beat Midway on the road on Friday night.
The Longhorns won 55-43 against the Falcons to keep their second place in the district standings.
Forestburg was coming into the game after a disappointingly one-sided loss to first place Slidell which also saw some players get hurt and were out for Friday’s game.
Still, the Longhorns started the game well, going up 18-6 after the first quarter thanks to making three 3-pointers.
Forestburg kept scoring up in the second quarter relying on Jesse Wadsworth and Jesus Sanchez combining to score all 13 points. The Longhorns led 31-13 at halftime.
The second half saw Forestburg’s defensive intensity wane. The Falcons equaled the Longhorns 12 points in the third quarter before outscoring them 18-12 in the fourth quarter.
Still, it was not enough to crawl back into the game as Forestburg won 55-43.

Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Bulldogs lost to first place Slidell on the road on Friday night.
The Greyhounds won 69-22 against the Bulldogs who are only the latest victim against undefeated Slidell.
Prairie Valley came into the game as a major underdog against a Greyhounds team that has outscored opponents 586 to 255 in district so far.
From the start it was clear it was not the night Cinderella was going to bless the Bulldogs with the chance to upset.
“We were on the bad side of a lopsided game from the get-go,” Coach Seth Stephens said. “We really struggled early on taking care of the ball against Slidell’s pressure defense and traps. That allowed them to build a large double digit lead by the end of the first quarter.”
Thankfully, Prairie Valley played a bit better in the second half, but not enough to make the game compelling in anyway.

Missing scores
The Bellevue team had a bye-game on Friday night.

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