SPORTS
Boys Basketball Roundup
Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns were able to brush off a loss to Savoy early last week by winning their district opener on Saturday against Bellevue.
The Longhorns won 65-54 against the Eagles, coming back from double-digits in the third quarter to win.
Forestburg entered the game a little worried. The Longhorns last game before last week came all the way back on Dec. 20. Forestburg’s first game back from the holiday break was on Jan. 7 against Savoy.
Trying to shake off the holiday rust in one non-district game, the Longhorns were a bit sluggish due to trying to get back into shape in the days leading up to the game.
The Cardinals led 17-8 and Forestburg was playing catchup throughout. Despite competing better as the game wore on, the Longhorns could not take over the lead from Savoy.
The Cardinals held on to win 46-43.
Coach Curtis Enis was hoping a few more good days of practice would help the team prepare for the start of district play against a young Bellevue team that is an expected playoff team.
Then the snow came on Thursday and Friday which knocked off two potential days of practice and Forestburg went into Saturday’s rescheduled game feeling a little underprepared.
The Eagles had played a tournament as well as a game the previous week to shake off the rust and had been preparing for the game for about a week.
It showed in the opening minutes when Forestburg fell behind 10-1 midway through the first quarter.
The Longhorns got a bit together to tie the score at 10-10 by the end of the first quarter, but were not firing on all cylinders.
While Jesus Sanchez had a hot hand on offense to help Forestburg from falling too far behind, Bellevue’s offense was scorching hot. On top of making four 3-pointers, that opened up the lane to attack the rim against the Longhorns tight man-to-man defense.
Bellevue scored 24 points and led 34-23 at halftime.
The third quarter did not seem to change much. The Eagles made four more 3-pointers and were still giving the Longhorns fits on defense. Forestburg trailed by as many as 12 points during the quarter.
Thankfully, Wadsworth and Sanchez combined to score 17 of the team’s 19 points and the lead was narrowed down to single-digits 50-42 heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter seemed to be where the Longhorns defense seemed to truly commit to chasing Bellevue shooters off the 3-point line. This funneled the Eagle players to the rim where good contests and an increased in defensive intensity seemed to stifle Bellevue’s offense.
This left the door open for a Forestburg team that had scored well all game, but really turned it on in the fourth quarter.
Sanchez, who finished with a game high 39 points, scored 19 of his team’s 23 points in the final period.
What was an excitingly close game midway through the fourth quarter ended up seeing the Longhorns pull away by double-digits as they won 65-54.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers had a great week, winning two games, including their opening district game, by double-digit scores.
The Panthers beat Christ Academy 53-32 and before winning at Gold-Burg 57-32 on Saturday to start off district play.
Saint Jo was playing the Warriors for the second time this season and were hoping to win by a lot like it had the first time the teams played in a tournament.
The Panthers started off well, going up 29-11 at halftime. Christ Academy had a better second half offensively, but it was not enough to make up any of the deficit. Saint Jo won 53-32.
It was a good feel good win for Saint Jo heading into the start of district play at Gold-Burg. The game was rescheduled to Saturday due to the snow last week, but it did not seem to effect the Panthers much.
Saint Jo raced out to a 26-8 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Even with the scoring pace slowing down the rest of the game, the Panthers defense still allowed them to outscore the Bears in every quarter until the last one.
Saint Jo won 57-32.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians lost a tough district game at home on Saturday against state-ranked Seymour.
The Panthers won 46-32 against the Indians in a game where Nocona just did not do enough to pull the upset at home.
The Indians had extra time to prepare for the game with a bye earlier in the week, so that even when the snow came to delay the game and limit practice time it did not hurt as much. Nocona was 2-1 in district and hoping it could give top 10 state-ranked Seymour its first district loss.
The game started and while the Indians did not allow the Panthers to go crazy on offense, Nocona had trouble getting easy shots.
The Indians trailed 26-12 at halftime.
Nocona equaled that first half total in the third quarter, but it was not enough to make up much ground since the Indians could not fully stop Seymour.
The Indians could not catch fire in the fourth quarter to make up the double-digit deficit as the Panthers won 46-32.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles started off district on Saturday and let a prime opportunity slip away.
The Eagles allowed Forestburg to come back from double-digits to eventually win 65-54.
Bellevue was coming into the game prepared. The Eagles had played in a tough tournament in Windthorst and a game against Eula the previous week to shake off the rust from the holiday break. Bellevue had a bye earlier in the week to have extra time to prepare for the opening district game against one of the top teams.
The snow through a wrench into the preparation later in the week, but it was a problem every team had to work through.
The Eagles came out firing, going up 10-1 against the Longhorns, led by Ryan Jones who scored eight of the points. Forestburg came back to tie the score at 10-10 heading into the second quarter, but Bellevue really started to get hot, especially from the 3-point line.
The Eagles scored 24 points in the second period. While Bryce Ramsey and Jones each made two 3-pointers each, this opened up driving lanes for their teammates as five players made at least one basket. Bellevue led 34-23 at halftime.
The Eagles slowed down only a little bit in the third quarter. Ramsey made three 3-pointers in the period and Bellevue led by as many as 12 points at one point. Forestburg cut the lead down to eight points 50-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
Then the Eagles went cold offensively. The 3-point shot attempts were harder to come by. The drives to the rim, which had been there all game, were now being contested well and few free throw attempts were being awarded to either team all game.
On the other side, the Longhorns had their leading scorer get hot as Jesus Sanchez scored 19 of his team’s 23 points.
On the other side, Bellevue scored only four points in the quarter.
“In the fourth quarter Forestburg got really hot shooting and that really changed the momentum into their favor,” Coach Colby Broussard said. “I felt it was then that we started to try and carry our team individually and that hurt us.”
Forestburg pulled away to win 65-54.
Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Bears lost their opening district game at home on Saturday against a tough Saint Jo team.
The Panthers won 57-32, thanks in large part to a one-sided first quarter.
The Bears came into the game knowing they were the underdogs, but hoping they could surprise a Saint Jo team that came into the game confident. Gold-Burg had played tougher teams recently in the Bridgeport tournament following the holiday break and were more up to speed than it had been in other seasons.
Still, the Panthers came out of the gate hot, scoring 26 points in the first quarter and the Bears could not keep up, down 26-8.
While Gold-Burg did play better in the final three quarters, the Bears only really started to cut into the lead in the fourth quarter when the game was well and won. Still, Gold-Burg outscored Saint Jo 11-3 to finish the game on a good note.
The Panthers won 57-32.
Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Bulldogs lost their opening district game on the road at Midway on Saturday.
The Falcons won 77-53 against the Bulldogs, who scored much better in the second half than the first.
Prairie Valley came into the game feeling like the underdogs, being undersized in the post compared to Midway.
The Bulldogs could not allow itself to come out with anything less than their best and in the first half it was not the case. Prairie Valley scored six points in both quarters while the Falcons scored 20 or more points to build a big lead.
The Bulldogs picked it up offensively after halftime, scoring 16 and 25 points in the final two periods and actually outscored Midway in the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately, the defense was never able to stop the Falcons to allow Prairie Valley to get back into the game.
Midway won 77-53.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
For more pictures from the Forestburg vs Bellevue game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6872189&T=1
A solid day was had by Montague county high school tracksters at the State Track and Field Meet May 16 in Austin.
Bellevue’s Mattie Broussard had a pair of second place finishes in both the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.41 and the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:31.33. Broussard also was 4th in the 1,600-meters with a time of 5:22.18.
Her teammate Brylie Hager was 9th in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.93.
Forestburg’s Brenna Briles was 4th in the triple jump with a 35’9 1’2” leap. Her teammate Jocelyn Rich was 4th in the pole vault with a 9’ leap.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Bowie had a pair of top four finishes at the State Track and Field Meet May 14.
Sophomore Brayden Willett made it onto the medal stand, finishing 3rd in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:17.89. Bowie junior Tyler Richey finished 4th in the pole vault after a 14’6” effort.
The top two finishers from Holliday, also in Bowie’s district, celebrated with him after he crossed the finish line.
“It was kind of surprising,” Willett said about Ryder and Noah Stroman embracing him in a celebratory hug. “They’re good guys, so it was kind of cool.”
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
This past week found your outdoor scribe doing some rather mundane things such as yard work, vegetable gardening and repairs around the old cabin. Oh, I also wrapped up a couple of magazine articles. I always enjoy sharing my adventures with all of you in this column but to be perfectly honest, not nearly as much as my ‘field work’ hunting and fishing which is an iatrical part of any good outdoor column. If you’re like me, you much prefer reading about an adventure that you can also partake.
I am far more comfortable telling you about an outdoor experience I had firsthand knowledge of rather than the reporting part of my job as an outdoor communicator. So, this week, I’d do a bit of ‘reporting’ and share some planned adventures I have scheduled for the next couple weeks. By the time you’re reading this, I will have already been in the woods in quest of a fat ‘eater’ hog and probably have some freshly caught blue catfish fillets in the freezer, details will follow in the next couple of weeks.
I’ll kick things off early in the week heading down to my friend Jeff Rice’s Buck and Bass Ranch located on the upper end of Lake Fork. Jeff produces our weekly TV show “A Sportsman’s Life” which airs on Carbon TV and YouTube. Our plan is to film a segment of our show on stalking wild hogs. It will be a challenge to capture the shot with all the thick grown spring vegetation. It could happen fast and require a fast shot. We will be breaking in my CVA Cascade scout rifle in 308 caliber. This short barrel little rifle is light and easy to handle in thick cover, ideal for this type of hunting. Our plan is to hit the woods during the last couple hours of daylight and ease along the trails, watching and especially listening for hogs. Wild porkers are vocal critters and it’s common to hear them before seeing them. We will play the wind and attempt to get downwind and then close the distance for a shot but you can never guess how a hog hunt will unfold. Wild pork or not, Jeff and I always have a great time together and I plan to bring a side of wild pork ribs already slow smoked and covered in brown sugar and BBQ sauce with a side of camp baked beans!
After a tasty dinner we plan to get a good night’s sleep and head out the next morning for a planned fishing trip with guide David Hanson at Lake Tawakoni. Both channel and blue catfish are on a very good bite right but it’s hard to pass up those snow white blue catfish fillets when the bite is good. David is, to my knowledge, the most veteran catfish guide on the lake and became friends close to a quarter-century ago when we first began fishing
together. The plan is to use freshy cut shad in shallow water and target eater size blues weighing between 2 and about 10 pounds but as every catfish angler knows, it’s always possible to connect with a big trophy size blue when fishing Tawakoni.
Next week, I plan to join my long-time friend J.C. McCollough on the Red River below the Texoma dam. I’ve been fishing and hunting with J.C. for many years and look forward to getting with him again. I would describe this to catching big catfish in a barrel but in this case the deep holes in the river are comprised of several acres. The water level in the river below Texoma are dictated by the water release at the dam by the Corp of Engineers. When there is a current in the river, fish move upstream to feed on baitfish coming through the dam. When the water recedes, they fish move into the deeper holes where baitfish also seek refuge from the falling water. Catching will be fast paced with the chance to connect with some big fish as well as limits of “eater” size fish. We’ll be rigging with big live gizzard shad fished weightless on a free line, using medium spinning gear. The bigger fish will often nail the frisky live shad and the fresh cut bait is a sure way to connect with lots of smaller fish. There is something very exciting about fishing big live baits on a slack line. One minute your bait will be darting around and you will occasionally feel it taking up slack and the next when a big blue catfish grabs the bait, the rod will bow and the fight will be on. There is usually no ‘setting the hook’, by the time you feel the fish, it will already be hooked and making a strong run to the nearest submerged brush. Your job will be to keep the drag set just enough to keep pressure on the fish but not so much as to cause the line to break.
J.C. uses his airboat to access these deeper holes because of the very shallow water. While it’s not impossible to portage a kayak or small boat in the river, it often requires a few miles travel to get to these deep holes, this is best accomplished by experienced kayakers with plenty of endurance. There was a time when I was game for this type fishing but I much prefer to do my river fishing these days from a boat designed to negotiate the shallow waters.
Squirrel season is underway in many of the east Texas counties and there’s some pretty good fox squirrel hunting here close to home in Kaufman county and I’ve been thinking about how tasty a big skillet of smothered squirrel with rice, gravy and biscuits would be. Bream are on the beds now and my friend Edgar Cotton invited me to come do some ‘perch jerking’ with him and his son David-it’s in the plans! Well, hopefully next week I will have a ‘sure nuff’ adventure of two to relate you you-I’m ready to get some relief from all this work around the homeplace! LC
You can contact Tawakoni/Fork catfish guide David Hanson at 902-268-7391. Contact J.C. McCollough at 580-372-0320.
Listen to Luke’s podcast, “Catfish Radio” just about everywhere podcast are found.
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