The Saint Jo Lady Panthers came up short at the regional final for the third straight season, one game away from state, on Saturday at the regional tournament in Midlothian.
The Lady Panthers beat Evant in straight sets 3-0 on Friday to reach the final game against Harrold which they lost 3-0.
Saint Jo knew before the season even started it would likely come to this big challenge, but it still had to go through all the steps to get there.
The Panthers reached the regional finals the previous two seasons, losing both times to eventual state champion Blum.
With district realignment meant a new region so a rematch with a Blum program that had graduated several key players from those teams would have to wait until state possibly.
Instead, a showdown against last year’s state runner-up Harrold was forecast in the regional final.
With the team having six seniors, with five of them having been on varsity since they were freshman, it was this year or bust for Saint Jo.
First, the Lady Panthers had to beat Evant. The Lady Elks leaned heavily on a big front court player. When she rotated to the back row, Evant showed almost no net resistance which meant Saint Jo hitters had free reign during that time.
The Lady Panthers won each set pretty easily, with the scores being 25-17, 25-17 and 25-19.
This set up the match with Harrold the team had been anticipating. The Lady Hornets had been at or near the top of the state standings since the beginning of the season.
Harrold had so much respect it had even played bigger local schools this season, beating Bowie in straight sets and Nocona in five sets during its pre-district schedule.
The two teams had met earlier in the season when the Lady Hornets attended Saint Jo’s hosted tournament. The two teams met in the tournament championship where Harrold won 2-1.
Still, with the tournament format being a best of three instead of five and the match after playing an exhausting schedule of five matches the previous two days, that result was not gospel, especially two months later.
The challenge is Harrold had multiple big hitters at the net, which is a big deal since most 1A teams are lucky to have one or two, which meant constant pressure on Saint Jo’s defense.
This also meant the Lady Panthers constantly had to find ways to attack the Lady Hornet defense as well or it would face strong hit after strong hit which was unsustainable for any team.
The first set saw the Lady Hornets get out to a good start before the Lady Panthers rallied back and took a little lead 8-7. Unfortunately, it started turn from there.
Harrold had some good runs from the service line that Saint Jo struggled to make much offense out of and led to the Lady Hornets pulling away. Harrold won 4-1 to get the lead to 11-9 and then extended it to 14-11, 17-13. Another 4-1 run and the Lady Hornets could smell the end of the first set coming.
The Lady Hornets won 25-17 to take the lead 1-0.
Saint Jo needed to bounce back, but unfortunately never got anything going in set two.
Harrold led 4-1 and then 8-2. The Lady Panthers would have needed a huge run at some point from the service line to get back into the set, but it never came as the Lady Hornets lead grew more and more.
Harrold took set two 25-13 to go up 2-0 and had all of the momentum.
Saint Jo had its back against the wall, knowing the only option was to hope for a comeback that would lead to a fifth set, but to get there it needed to win set three.
The Lady Panthers initially started on the right foot. After falling being 4-1 to start the previous two sets, it was Saint Jo that started well up 4-1. Unfortunately, the Lady Hornets came roaring back, going on an 8-2 run as it led 9-6, then 12-8 and 15-10.
It looked like it was heading towards a similar place as set one with Harrold slowly running away with the set before the Lady Panthers made one last gasp.
Saint Jo eventually cut the lead down to one point, trailing 20-19 as the set entered the final stretch and the Lady Panthers had their best momentum of the match.
Unfortunately, it was Harrold that was able to close the set out with momentum, earning the final five points to win 25-19 and the match 3-0.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For pictures from Friday’s match, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870620&T=1

The Nocona Lady Indians lost in the regional final on Saturday for the second straight season, falling one game from the state tournament.
Wink won 3-0 in a tough match the Lady Indians just could not turn their way.
Nocona came into the match after three one-sided playoff wins, though the previous match against Forsan ended dramatically with a comeback in set four.
Wink came in with 39 wins, but there was hope the Lady Indians more difficult schedule might give them an advantage. The Lady Cats had the advantage of having Aizlyn Dewberry as their middle-blocker who could play all the way around.
The first set was competitive up until the midway point as neither team got three points or more ahead. Nocona led 13-12, but then Wink went on an 8-2 run to open the set up and led 20-15.
Even as the Lady Indians played better, it was not enough to make up the deficit as the Lady Cats won 25-21, with that stretch making the difference.
Nocona tried to maximize when Dewberry was in rotation in the back row since she would more likely be less involved in the attack and also away from the net on defense. The thing was, it was difficult to get balls down against Wink since the Lady Cats team proved to be solid in all aspects.
The second set did not start well for Nocona which put the Lady Indians on the defensive even as they stayed within range of two to three points.
Wink extended its lead to 17-13 and it looked like it might start to pull away. Instead Nocona fought back within one point, down 19-18 and hoping it could ride the momentum to snag the lead and control of the set.
Instead, the Lady Cats won six of the next eight points as they closed out the set strong, winning 25-20 and leading 2-0.
The Lady Indians knew they now needed to complete a five-set comeback if they wanted to win the match. To do that, they would first need to win set three to extend the match.
The opening 20 points were competitive and back and forth as both teams exchanged leads, though Wink established a small 11-9 lead. Then the Lady Cats went on an 8-2 run to extend the lead to 19-11 and the end was near.
Nocona tried to climb back as it outplayed Wink the rest of the set, but it was not enough to make up an eight-point deficit. The Lady Cats won 25-18 to secure the victory 3-0.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the match, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870622&T=1

The Saint Jo Panthers upset undefeated Avalon on Friday night in Keene to win their first playoff game since 2021.
The Panthers won 92-67, breaking their program’s scoring record in the process in a game that had 21 combined touchdowns between the two teams.
Saint Jo was coming into the game as the slight underdog, having drawn the tough game after losing its only regular season game the previous week against Union Hill to finish second in district for the third straight season.
Before that, the Panthers had some tough games in the pre-district, winning three games by one-score but only getting better as the season wore on and the team got more used to new Coach CJ Hantz’s offensive system.
Avalon on the other hand had beaten almost all comers easily, outscoring opponent 588 to 178, with only one close game in the mix when it beat Bynum by one score back in the third week of the season. The team was ranked ninth in the state according to Texas Football.
The Eagles showed right away what made them so dangerous as they drove down and field quickly running the back with Josh Novak, who scored on a short run a minute into the game. Avalon led 8-0.
Saint Jo seemed like it was going to struggle responding as its first drive faced a fourth down at midfield. Then Devin Stewart found Wade Lucas open behind the defense for a 48-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 8-8 and the game was on.
The Eagles answered quickly with Novak scoring on a 25-yard run. The Panthers then hit on Wyatt Lucas scoring on a 28-yard run. Avalon saw Novack score untouched on a 38-yard run. Then Saint Jo had Lee Yeley scoop up an attempted onside kick and return it 45-yards up the sideline for a touchdown.
All four of those touchdowns happened with only 42 seconds coming off the game clock as the score was tied at 24-24 with 4:03 still left to play in the first quarter.
Finally, one of the defenses got a stop and it was Saint Jo that came through, turning Avalon over on downs as it seemed to get better filling the Eagles sweeping runs to the outside better.
This was the opening the Panthers needed and they took advantage. To open the second quarter they took their first lead when Stewart found Yeley open for a 27-yard touchdown pass. Saint Jo led 32-24.
Avalon was still dangerous as one mistake on the Panthers’ defense could still be catastrophic. The Eagles answered quickly as Novak ran for a 53-yard touchdown to tie the game.
Thankfully, Avalon’s defense had no hope stopping Saint Jo’s that was clicking on all cylinders now. On the Panthers first play of the next drive, Yeley ran for a 60-yard touchdown to give them back the lead 38-32.
The Eagles then drove down the field, helped by a big run that set up a short touchdown run from Novak. The missed extra point tied the score again.
Saint Jo’s offense stumbled a bit in its next drive, facing a fourth down it needed to convert at one point. The Panthers did and Wyatt Lucas would later score on a nine-yard run to put Saint Jo back in front 44-38.
The Panthers defense then came up big again, getting a stop by turning the Eagles over on downs. With 1:13 left, Saint Jo had to move the ball quickly to try and go two-scores up before halftime. With the Panthers receiving the ball to start the second half, it was a big opportunity to break the game open.
Saint Jo’s offense came through as Yeley scored on a 38-yard run to put the Panthers up 52-38 with only 38 seconds left before halftime.
Unfortunately, Avalon was able to get one score back as it quickly moved the ball to Saint Jo’s red zone before scoring on a 10-yard pass play due to a misread in the Panthers defensive secondary.
The Eagles scored with only four seconds left to cut the lead to 52-46 heading into halftime. While Saint Jo had played well, it also knew it had missed an opportunity to get some breathing room.
The Panthers opened the second half on a high note when Stewart recovered the onside kick and returned it 45-yards for a touchdown and improve their lead to 60-46.
Avalon answered on a drive into Saint Jo’s red zone where Novak scored on a short run to cut the lead to 60-54.
The Panthers offense looked like it might stumble facing a fourth and medium. Stewart passed the ball running to his left and it was tipped by a rusher.
Fortunately, it was tipped to his teammate Jayden Curry, who fought his way for a first down inside the Eagles red zone. Shortly after, Yeley scored on a short run to put Saint Jo back up by two scores 66-54 and the Panthers knew it had caught a break.
Saint Jo’s defense then was able to hold out on Avalon’s next offensive drive, forcing a turnover on downs at the Panthers 15 yard line. Saint Jo now had a chance to finally go up three scores and would feel a bit more comfortable.
Unfortunately, what followed was the Panther offense one big goof of the night. The first offensive play saw Saint Jo fumble the ball away trying to fight for more yards on a run.
It looked like the Panther defense might be able to bail out the turnover as they had the Eagles in a fourth and goal situation from the nine-yard line. Unfortunately, Avalon came through as Novak scored on a run to start the fourth quarter, cutting Saint Jo’s lead to 66-61.
Just when it seemed like the Panthers momentum was running at their lowest after two straight disappointments, the team got a pick me up on special teams.
Yeley recovered an onside kick and for the third time in the game and his second of the night, he returned it 45-yards for a touchdown.
Saint Jo’s lead was back to two scores 74-61.
Still, Avalon would not go away. The Panthers made the Eagles work a bit, taking two minutes off the game clock which was crucial since Avalon needed to make up multiple scores. In the end, the Eagles scored on a nine-yard run from Novak to again make it a one-score game.
It did not take Saint Jo long to answer. Quickly, Stewart found Logan Hoover wide open for a 50-yard touchdown pass as the Panthers offense had put the turnover behind them. Saint Jo’s lead was 80-67.
Then the Panther defense was making Avalon work to move down the field again, burning crucial minutes from the game clock.
This time, Saint Jo also was able to get a stop as Stewart intercepted a pass in the end zone on fourth down.
The Panthers offense did not slow down despite having time on their hand and instead pushed their lead more.
Yeley scored a short time later on a 14-yard run to push Saint Jo’s lead to 86-67 and finally get its three-score lead it had been trying to get all game.
The Eagles had no quick response, taking more than two minutes on their next drive before the Panther defense again got a stop at its own 20-yard line with l:22 left in the game as Saint Jo could taste the victory.
The Panthers added one more score on their way to win. Wyatt Lucas scored on a 60-yard touchdown run to ice the game with 1:03 left to play.
Saint Jo won 92-67.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870621&T=1