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Lady Indians going to state

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The Nocona Lady Indians beat Muenster and defending state champions Lipan at the 2A region II tournament on Feb. 23-24 to qualify for the state tournament in San Antonio.

After years of local domination, the Nocona Lady Indians are finally going to the basketball state tournament this week after winning the 2A region II title on Saturday at McKinney North.
The Lady Indians got redemption, beating Lipan 50-41, the defending state champions who beat Nocona last year in the same game. The Lady Indians also beat Muenster the day before 58-43.
Nocona came into the tournament feeling confident, but knew it was not going to be easy. Last year the team played Muenster twice and both games were low-scoring and competitive with the Lady Indians winning by only four and five points.
The first quarter of last year’s game in the regional tournament infamously ended with Nocona leading 1-0.
The Lady Hornets had a similar record and ranking heading into the semifinal game this year, with 29 wins and ranked 16th in the state in 2A according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll and 12th according to Max Preps.
Nocona knew it was going to be tough despite being favorites to win again against a Muenster team that was seeking redemption for last year.
The Lady Hornets played a deliberate and patient offensive game, with much off-ball movement coming off of screens. Nocona opted to play man-to-man defense, so players had to navigate the many screens for sometimes a full minute. Many Lady Indians even took to barreling through some screens to try and keep attached to players.
Muenster played a similar style of defense, with nothing fancy except straight up man-to-man.
The first quarter was a little slow, but nothing compared to last year’s slugfest as Nocona led 8-7.
“Their urgency and defense makes it tough,” Coach Kyle Spitzer said. “When we are on offense it just seems like it is so hard to score sometimes.”
The biggest thing to happen was the Lady Indians Skyler Smith got into foul trouble, picking up two fouls in the final minute which pushed her to the bench.
Muenster found its most successful offense hunting matchups for big, but not tall, player Anna Kay Hennigan who used her size and skill to score on drives to the basket. With Smith out, Nocona was more vulnerable to these disadvantage matchups.
Luckily, the Lady Indians still had their leading scorer Meg Meekins to lead them and the Lady Hornets had no answer. Meekins had scored six points in the first quarter and then scored 10 in the second quarter.
This helped cover as Smith had to go back to the bench midway through the quarter as she picked up her third foul.
Nocona led 25-17 at halftime.
For most of the third quarter the Lady Indians had trouble scoring after two quick baskets in the first two minutes. Muenster was hanging around and Nocona got more bad news when Smith picked up her fourth foul with three minutes left to play in the quarter.
With the Lady Hornets trailing by six points they were hoping they could change the momentum of the game.
Again, there was too much Meekins for Muenster to handle. She scored eight of her team’s 15 points in the quarter and helped spark a 10-6 run to end quarter. Nocona led by double-digits heading into the fourth quarter, up 40-30.
Give the Lady Indians a lead in the final period and it has been death for opponents.
While it almost back fired in their previous game against Cisco, the scaling back of Nocona’s offense to run some clock with good free throw shooters and ball handlers on the court has made it hard for opponents to come back against the Lady Indians.
Still, the Lady Hornets gave it their best shot. Muenster went on a 10-2 run in about a two minute sequence to cut the lead down to 49-43 with 2:14 left to play.
Smith came back in and she made up for her time sitting as she was sent to the free throw line four times.
She sunk all eight of her attempts to help Nocona pull away for good as the Lady Hornets offense ran out of gas. Aubree Kleinhans added one more free throw to give the Lady Indians their final point as Nocona won by the comfortable margin 58-43.

To read the full story that includes the recap against Lipan in the regional final, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.

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Baseball Roundup

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Nocona
The Nocona Indians ended their regular season with a sweep of Alvord to secure a number one seed heading into the playoffs.
The Indians won 13-6 and 3-1 to earn the top seed in the big school division in the playoffs.
With that much on the line despite already securing a playoff spot the previous week, Nocona had a lot to play for in its final regular season series.
The Bulldogs got on the board first with two runs, but the Indians answered with nine runs in the bottom of the first inning to retake the lead 9-2.
Both teams scored one run in the third inning before Nocona scored three runs in the fourth inning to go up 13-3. Alvord was able to extend the game and avoid getting run-ruled by scoring two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth inning.
The Indian bats were cold in the final three innings, but the defense bounced back to shut out the Bulldogs in the seventh inning to win 13-6.
RJ Walker and Jayce Lehde each drove in three runs to lead the team while Ladon Fatheree and Zyrus Moreno both drove in two runs. Nocona finished with nine hits and drew nine walks during the game.
On the mound, Walker Murphey pitched six innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on 12 hits while striking out one and walking two.
The second game was more a pitcher’s duel that had far less action scoring runs.
The Indians scored first in the second inning with one run, but Alvord tied the game with one run in the fourth inning. Nocona answered with two runs in the fifth inning and held on to win 3-1.
Lehde and Fatheree drove in one run each while Murphey scored the other run on the basepaths thanks to a wild pitch. Nocona had only two hits while the team drew seven walks.
Walker helped carry the team on the mound, pitching the whole game while giving up one run on four hits and striking out 13 batters. The defense committed no fielding errors.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles ended their season on Monday this week, losing some tough games on the way out before closing with a win.
The Eagles lost to Perrin-Whitt 13-1, to Bryson 17-2 before beating Saint Jo 7-2 to end the season on a high note.
Bellevue struggled against the two other 1A teams in its district in its previous matchups as both teams are heading towards the playoffs. Both the Pirates and Cowboys proved it once again in the final matchup on April 22 and Monday before playing a team more on its level.
The Eagles and Panthers were 1-1 against each other this season. Playing after Bellevue’s loss to against Bryson right before on Saint Jo’s home field, the Eagles wanted revenge.
Bellevue got it with a 7-2 win against the Panthers to end both team’s season and this year improve the series 2-1 in the Eagles favor.
River Trail led the team with two RBIs while Hunter Blackburn had a team high two hits.
The team finished with seven hits and drew 10 walks.
On the mound, Bryce Ramsey allowed two runs on nine hits while striking out seven and walking five. The defense committed one fielding error.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers had a tough final week to their disappointing season.
The Panthers lost to Bryson 10-4 before losing to Bellevue 7-2 to close out their season.
Saint Jo knew it was out of the playoff hunt and was playing for pride as it hoped to end the season with its head held high.
The Panthers played the Cowboys on April 22 and were put behind the eight ball when Bryson rallied off seven runs in the third inning. Saint Jo closed the game well, but could not overcome that bad inning as it lost 10-4.
Sam Martin, Charlie Evans, Mathew Sampson and Jayden Curry each drove in one run each. Saint Jo had nine hits and drew six walks during the game.
Unfortunately, Saint Jo’s defense allowed 10 hits and nine walks while committing five fielding errors.
The Panthers then waited a week before ending their season on Monday, due to rain causing the game to be rescheduled, against Bellevue. Each team had beaten the other so far this season and with both teams out of the playoffs, it was a game about local pride more than anything.
Unfortunately for Saint Jo, it did not go its way on Monday. The Eagles scored in every inning besides the first and seventh inning while the Panthers only scored in the fourth inning. Bellevue won 7-2.
Devin Stewart led the team with two RBIs on a double he hit. The team finished with eight hits and drew six walks, but it was not enough to hang with the Eagles.
The pitching staff allowed only four hits, but three fielding errors and nine walks allowed Bellevue to rack up the runs.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

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Jackrabbits end season with series sweep

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Bowie baseball Coach Jason McCoy picked up his 100th career win during the team’s senior night win last week.

The Bowie Jackrabbits finished their season last week with a dominant series sweep against Vernon.
The Jackrabbits won both games by run-rule 13-2 and 11-1 against the Lions.
Bowie came into the week with its playoff hopes shot after splitting with Holliday. The Jackrabbits were playing for pride and knew they had what it took to win decisively against Vernon and made sure to show it.
Game one did not start off great as the Lions scored two runs in the first inning, but Bowie answered with three runs of its own in the same inning, taking the lead 3-2 and never looking back.
The Jackrabbit defense shut down Vernon the rest of the game while scoring three runs in the second and fourth innings and four runs in the third inning.
It was enough to end the game early after four and half innings, Bowie winning 13-2 in its final home game on senior night.
Edmond De Leon led the team with four RBIs while Boston Farris, Trae Seigler and Jorge De Leon each had two RBIs. The team finished with 10 hits and drew seven walks as the team consistently found ways to score every inning of the game.
Farris got the start on the mound and allowed two runs on six hits while striking out seven and walking four during five innings of work. The defense committed no fielding errors.
The second game was on the road, but the Jackrabbits made sure not to start slow like they did in game one. Edmond De Leon blasted a three-run home run in the first inning to put Bowie up 3-0.
After a scoreless second inning, the Jackrabbits scored three runs in the third and fifth innings and two runs in the fourth inning. With the Lions scoring only one run in the third inning, that was all the run support Bowie needed to end the game early again after five innings.
The Jackrabbits won 11-1.
Edmond De Leon led the team with three RBIs while hitting a home run and a triple. Seigler and Austin Cheney drove in two runs. Bowie finished with 10 hits and drew six walks.
On the mound, Seigler pitched four innings and allowed one run (zero earned) on two hits while striking out and walking one batter. The defense committed three fielding errors.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

For pictures from the last home game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6874727&T=1

For pictures from senior night, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6874728&T=1

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Saint Jo softball loses to Knox City 21-7 in the playoffs

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Saint Jo catcher Tatum Morman tags a Knox City player out at home base to prevent a run from scoring.

The Saint Jo Lady Panthers season ended on Thursday night in the bi-district round of the playoffs against Knox City.
The Houndettes won by run-rule 21-7 after six innings, ending the Lady Panthers year since the series was condensed to just one game.
Saint Jo came into the series after winning the district title, but knew Knox City would be tough. Still, the Lady Panthers had played in and won several games with high scores which gave them hope they could hang with whatever the Houndettes to could bring.
Knox City got on the board first, scoring on a three-run triple to go up 3-0. Saint Jo answered in the same inning with Kamron Skidmore driving in two runs on a single to cut the lead to 3-2.
In the third inning the Houndettes drove in five runs on a single, double and home run to increase their lead to 8-2. The Lady Panthers got one run back in the same inning thanks to a fielding error at third base that drove in one run to make it 8-3.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Knox City added to its lead in the fifth inning. A fielding error allowed one run to score and a three RBI triple added three more to make it 12-3.
In the sixth inning, the Houndettes reeled off nine runs to as it looked like the end was near for Saint Jo. Down 21-3, the Lady Panthers needed to score nine runs to avoid getting run-ruled.
Down to the final out, Saint Jo started a two-out rally. An error at short stop resulted in two runs to score. Jordyn O’Neal then ripped off a two RBI triple as the Lady Panthers had more than doubled their score.
Unfortunately that is where it would end. The next batter grounded out for the final out.
Knox City won 21-7.
Skidmore led the team with three RBIs while O’Neal was second with two. The team finished with seven hits and drew two walks, but it was not enough to keep up with the Houndettes who had 13 hits and drew 12 walks. Saint Jo committed two fielding errors.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6874729&T=1

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