The Nocona Lady Indians were able to finish in third place at the Decatur tournament on Monday and Tuesday.
The Lady Indians went 2-1 overall while playing against much bigger schools in the process.
Nocona is only in its second week with its full roster in a season that is expected to be another ambitious one, eying the state tournament.
To do that is to challenge itself against bigger schools that provide unique teams and players it most likely won’t have to face at the top of 2A, but is good to experience either way.
The Lady Indians started the tournament playing a 4A Randall team that had won 27 games.
It was a close game throughout. Nocona held a slight lead for most of the game and went into the fourth quarter holding a one-point lead 33-32.
The final period was an explosion of offense for both teams. The Lady Indians did a good job of playing with the lead and making free throws down the stretch to make it pay while the Lady Raiders had their leading scorer get hot. Nocona’s Meg Meekins did as well, scoring 17 of her team high 30 points in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Indians scored 26 points to help them hold on to win 59-51. Reagan Phipps was second on the team with 12 points, with nine coming in the fourth quarter.
The second game was against 5A Anna team that is coming off a 20 win season that won first place in its district.
The Lady Coyotes proved to be too much for Nocona as it won 68-51. The Lady Indians were trying to play catch-up from the start and just could not match Anna.
Meekins led the team with 23 points while Phipps again was second with 12 points.
Nocona played its final match of the tournament against private school RWG STEM from Arlington. Like most teams, the Lady Lions had a height advantage at most positions, but especially in the post in this game.
The Lady Indians gave extra attention on defense and had a pretty good 31-22 lead at halftime. RWG came back with a big third quarter to tie the score up at 38-38.
After a tight fourth quarter that saw both teams make clutch baskets down the stretch, the score was tied at 52-52 and the game headed to overtime.
Nocona made two quick 3-pointers to start the period to give itself the lead and was able to play with the lead and control the clock until the end of the game. The Lady Indians won 61-55.
Meekins led the team with 21 points as she was named to the all-tournament team. Aubree Kleinhans had her best offensive performance of the tournament, scoring 18 points.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the tournament, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870776&T=1