The Bowie Jackrabbits lost a close game at home on Tuesday afternoon against district favorite City View.
The Mustangs held on to win 47-43, withstanding a great second half charge from the Jackrabbits, who cut the lead to one point in the final minute and had multiple chances to take the lead.
Before the game, the teams came together for a moment of solidarity to support City View after its Athletic Director Heath Aldrich passed away during the holidays.He succumbed to pancreatic cancer after fighting for nearly a year.
Bowie came into the game with a 0-1 district record after losing by one basket at Jacksboro before the holiday break. The Jackrabbits had recently bounced back well, going 3-1 the previous week after the holidays in a tournament at Bridgeport. Still, the team knew City View would be tough.
The Mustangs were pre-season favorites to win the district title after falling short last season to Holliday. The team was 1-0 after beating Henrietta before the holiday break and have spent most of the season ranked inside the top 25 teams in the state in 3A in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll.
It was a clash of styles, with Bowie outsizing the Mustangs in the post, but City View making up for it by using its athleticism at every position to play aggressive press defense and rebound bigger than its size.
Initially the Jackrabbits were able to handle it. The Mustangs knocked in three 3-pointers while Bowie was able to finish around the basket since City View lacked a true rim protector. The Jackrabbits trailed 12-8, but finished the quarter strong.
The Mustangs dialed up their pressure in the second quarter and it seemed to knock Bowie out of any sort of offensive rhythm. While the Jackrabbits could break the initial press, the transition to either setting up their halfcourt offense or trying to play too fast caused them to not be successful for most of the period.
On the other hand, City View thrived with the pace going fast. The Mustangs were driving to the hoop more against the Jackrabbit’s zone defense and picking up free throw attempts. Scores in transition were happening. It was all going the Mustangs way.
City View broke the game open, outscoring Bowie 20-5 as it led 32-13 at halftime.
The Jackrabbits were challenged by Coach Ryan Dykes to make a game of it and they came out in the third quarter making the right strides.
Bowie attacked the basket, making calculated drives to the basket, both in transition and in the halfcourt by several players. The Jackrabbits scored the first nine points of the quarter to nearly cut the lead in half to 32-22.
City View’s perimeter shots seemed to abandon most of the team, but the Mustangs eventually tightened up its defense by employing a half-court trap that threw a wrench into Bowie’s plans.
City View then scored a few baskets and led 39-24 late in the quarter.
The Jackrabbits closed in the final two minutes by making their only 3-pointers of the game as Bradly Horton and Boston Farris knocked them down in short succession.
Bowie had cut the lead to single-digits, trailing 39-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Jackrabbits slowly clawed their way back while shutting down City View to only three points in the first six minutes of the final period. Bowie cut it to one point 42-41 with two minutes to go in the game and all of the momentum.
The Mustangs had free throws that they missed which give Bowie a chance to take the lead. Instead, City View stole the ball and was able to convert it to a layup to go up 44-41.
The Jackrabbits then answered with Gaige Goodman scoring on a layup with 58 seconds left to make it a one point game again 44-43.
Bowie was only able to get enough fouls to send the Mustangs back to the free throw line with 21 seconds left.
City View made one of the two to lead 45-43, but the Jackrabbits had the ball.
After getting passed the initial press defense and calling a time out to set up the final play, Bowie unfortunately threw the ball out of bounds for a turnover.
The Jackrabbits were forced to foul and the Mustangs player made both free throws to put the game out of reach with only seconds left to play.
City View won 47-43.

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

For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6871859&T=1