SPORTS
Lady Panthers win area round playoff game against Avinger
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers won their area playoff game on Friday night against Avinger to keep their season alive for one more game.
The Lady Panthers easily took care of the Lady Indians 54-21, overwhelming the undermanned Avinger team as the game went along.
Saint Jo came into the game with a lot of momentum after beating Perrin-Whitt earlier in the week in the bi-district playoff game with little trouble.
The biggest thing coming into the game against the Lady Indians was how much was unknown. Coach Daniel Lindenborn was able to find only a little bit of film of his opponent during the two days of preparation and some were out of date.
It was only when the team showed up did the Lady Panthers see that not only was Avinger down one key player they had seen on film, but had only five players total.
Saint Jo knew from the film it would have to contain one explosively athletic player and another guard who could shoot 3-pointers well.
The fact the Lady Indians had several tall players also meant Saint Jo was outsized by average as well and made driving to the basket tough at times.
Still, the Lady Panthers had the exact style of play that is tough for a team with no substitutions.
Saint Jo plays a physical full-court press defense as its base and early on was having success creating turnovers in the backcourt for some transition offense opportunities.
It took a little bit for the Lady Panthers to start capitalizing on these chances, but were leading 14-4 after six minutes.
Avinger came back in the final two minutes, knocking in two 3-pointers and cutting the lead to 14-12 heading into the second quarter.
However that would be the most energetic the Lady Indians were in the game as scoring became tougher in the final three quarters against Saint Jo’s constant pressure.
The Lady Panthers scored enough while limiting Avinger to only five points to extend their lead to 25-17 at halftime.
The third quarter saw Saint Jo break the game open with its most successful offensive run in the game.
The Lady Panthers made three 3-pointers and had five players make at least one basket as they scored 18 points.
This seemed to demoralize the Lady Indians energy, which was already lacking due to fatigue as they scored only four points in response.
Saint Jo was in control up 43-21 heading into the final period. Not needing to do much with Avinger players throwing up desperate shots and a big lead in hand, the Lady Panthers coasted in the fourth quarter while giving up no points on defense.
Saint Jo won 54-21.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl is this week on June 6-7 and graduating athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo are confirmed to be playing.
In total, seven athletes from Bowie, five from Nocona and three from Saint Jo are planning to play in the all-star games this week. Nocona also will have a pair of coaches participating as well.
The girl’s basketball game kicks off events on June 6, scheduled for 6 p.m. at Wichita Falls Memorial High School. In the game, the east team will have Nocona players Avery Crutsinger, Meg Meekins and Reagan Phipps playing while Kyler Spitzer and Clayton Brown coach them one last time.
On the west team, Saint Jo’s Payzlie Cervantes is confirmed to be playing.
The boy’s basketball game is scheduled to follow at 7:30 p.m. On the east team, Bowie’s Boston Farris and Nocona’s Jose Gomez Jr. will be playing.
On June 7, the volleyball games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. with the small school game. On the west team, Nocona’s Kaygan Stone and Saint Jo’s Taylor Patrick are confirmed to play. On the east team, Saint Jo’s Aubrey Morman will get to play her teammate.
There are no local athletes confirmed to be playing in the big school volleyball game.
The final event is the football game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. It is an all Bowie affair with six players confirmed to be playing for the east team: Justin Clark, Jorge De Leon, Hunter Fluitt and Braden Rhyne, Preacher Chambers and Moh Azouak.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona Independent School District officials looked inward for a new athletic director/head football coach, selecting Jeff Hill for the position.
Hill, who served last year as Nocona football’s offensive coordinator and also led the softball program to the playoffs for the first time in a while as its head coach, was upgraded to the role.
This came on the heels of former Athletic Director Blake Crutsinger, who served in the role the last four years, resigned in May.
For Hill, the choice to apply for the position was a no brainer. His one year in Nocona had impressed upon him and his wife that it was the place they would like to be long term.
“I’m looking for a town to raise my kids in and Nocona has treated my family really well,” Hill said. “There are some really good people. The kids work hard. Everything I am looking for in a hometown is right here in Nocona and I want to try and make it as best as it can be, especially through athletics.”
Before Nocona, Hill served as the athletic director at S&S Consolidated while also spending time at Hebron and Whitewright in his coaching career.
Hill expresses great respect for the departing Crutsinger and besides changing a few small things in how he personally wants to do things, he is not trying to come in with a sweeping restructuring of the whole athletic department.
The program had five of its six team sports make the playoffs, with volleyball playing in the regional final and the girl’s basketball team winning the state championship.
That along with two athletes competing at the state championship in cross country and track with one earning a gold medal, it was one of the more successful school years in athletic program history.
“Coach Crutsinger was awesome and did a great job so honestly just little tweaks, a little bit of structure and cohesion amongst the coaching staff between boys and girls,” Hill said. “I hope to keep the winning tradition going overall in the athletic department.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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