SPORTS
Bowie hires new softball coach
The Bowie softball program will be led by a new face this next school year.
Griffin Fields comes to Bowie after spending the last six years at Iowa Park. Before that he spent time at Muenster.
Fields spent his time as the assistant coach in softball at Iowa Park though he was the head girl’s basketball coach along with being the girl’s sports coordinator.
At Muenster before that he was the head softball coach and said he always wanted to get back to leading in that sport.
At Bowie he will also serve as an assistant girl’s basketball coach as well as leading the girls cross country team.
“I’ve known Coach (Matthew) Miller a long time,” Fields said. “Loved the job he does on the basketball side of things and with the girl’s program. It was just time for a change. I’ve been a head softball coach before and I always said I would like to get back to being the head softball position. Bowie was an opportunity where me and Miller could work together in basketball and also an opportunity for me to lead a softball program again.”
With his youngest two kids, Kyler and Gracyn, recently graduated from Iowa Park, the opportunity to leave for a good situation was now open for Fields.
“Being in the same district with Bowie the last two years and watching their program, especially this year with some good young pieces on the softball side of things that I think we can mold and grow and be successful with,” Fields said.
Field’s hiring allows previous Coach Heather Daniell to take a step back so she will have more time to go see her daughter play softball at Wayland Baptist University.
“She was looking to spend more time with her family and be able to go watch her kid play college softball more, so it was just a good fit for the softball program to let him lead that,” Athletic Director Tyler Price said.
The Lady Rabbits went 3-9 in district last year as the young team, featuring several key underclassmen that graduated only two seniors, showed some promise and increased competitiveness as the season wore on. Bowie last made the playoffs in 2019.
“I’ve seen a lot of really good softball over the last six years, being really fortunate at Iowa Park to see what it takes and learn from Coach (Eric) Simmons,” Fields said. “I think there pieces here and some kids that really want this program to be on the uptick and looked at in the area as one that is going to be competitive every time we step on the field.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Bulldogs had a good final non-district warm-up on Friday at home against Ector.
The Eagles beat the Bulldogs 69-63 in a game where Prairie Valley was trying to play catch up all the way through.
The Bulldogs were coming off a tough tournament at Electra the previous week to try and knock the holiday rust off. Prairie Valley was familiar with Ector, having played the team to start its season back in early November and was hoping to compete better than it did in that first game.
The Eagles came out firing, splashing five 3-pointers, including several deep ones, to go out to a 21-8 lead in the first quarter. Even with the Bulldogs changing out of their preferred zone defense, the 3-pointers continued a bit and opened things up inside the arc.
Thankfully, Prairie Valley’s offense came alive in the second quarter, scoring 18 points and cutting the lead down to 38-26 at halftime.
The third quarter was more of the same, though a different player for Ector started to get hot from beyond the arc. Even as the Bulldogs were able to keep up their offensive production from the second quarter, they could not break through and cut the game to single-digits, trailing 54-42 heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter saw Prairie Valley break through to cut it the lead to single-digits, but just not close enough. Every time the Bulldogs were on the cusp of making it a one or two basket game, the Eagles would make a shot to keep that distance.
In the end, the final score was the closest Prairie Valley got as Ector won 69-63.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians bounced back with a competitive district win at Petrolia on Friday.
The Indians won 60-53 against the Pirates in a game where the middle quarters took drastic swings in momentum.
Nocona was coming off its first district loss against Windthorst as the team sat a 1-1 district record.
Petrolia came into the game at 0-1, but had a bit more time to prepare for the game.
The first quarter was competitive, but the Indians were able to get to the free throw line at will and led 16-11.
Then Nocona’s pressure defense turned up its intensity in the second quarter.
“Our pressure seemed to disrupt them and we were able to get out in transition after forcing turnovers,” Coach Brody Wilson said.
Nocona scored 25 points and led 41-25 at halftime.
Unfortunately, that intensity did not keep up at the start of the third quarter for Nocona.
The Indians took their foot off the gas a little bit which allowed Petrolia’s offense to get back into the game and make up some of the deficit.
The Pirates outscored Nocona 15-7 and trailed only 48-40 heading into the final period.
Thankfully, the Indians bounced back and competed a bit better in the fourth quarter. Nocona was able to keep offensive pace to keep Petrolia at a bit of a distance instead of making it a one score game.
The Indians held on to win 60-53.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly Bowie News.
For more pictures from the Prairie Valley game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6871971&T=1
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