Nocona
The Nocona Indians lost their bi-district game on Feb. 19 against Cisco after the game got rescheduled due to cold weather.
The Lobos won 42-34 against the Indians as Nocona let a close game slip away bit by bit as it went along.
The Indians came in as the underdogs, being a two seed in the 2A division 1 bracket and playing a one seed. Cisco won its district championship after losing only one game during district play, but were not seen as a state-power or anything Nocona could not handle.
The Indians knew if they could deal with their season long Achilles heel of lack of size in the post and rebounding, they had a chance. The Lobos presented a challenge because not only did they have two big post players to contend with, but the team also liked to shoot 3-pointers at a high frequency. Trying to defend both would be tough for Nocona.
The game started and the Indians did a good job of limiting both despite sending Cisco to the free throw line five times. Nocona got a boost in scoring from leading scorer Karson Kleinhans, who scored eight of the team’s 10 points the Indians led 10-6.
The second quarter saw the Lobos find some offensive success as they scored 14 points. Nocona struggled to seven points and trailed 20-17 at halftime, but it was still close enough to be anyone’s game.
Nocona made a couple of 3-pointers in the third quarter from players not named Kleinhans, but the team scored only eight points in the third quarter. The Indians were able to hold Cisco to only 11 points, but the Lobos were slowly inching away, leading 31-25 heading into the fourth quarter.
Nocona was able to get close a few times in the final period as Karson Kleinhans scored eight points. Unfortunately, the team only got one other point from someone else as the Lobos slowly pulled away, winning 42-34.

Bellevue
The Bellevue boy’s basketball team lost its bi-district playoff game on Feb. 17 against a tough Bryson team.
The Cowboys won 54-47 against an Eagles team trying to play catch up and making things close in the second half, but just not able to take control.
Bellevue came into the game as the underdogs. After finishing fourth in the district standings, the Eagles were the second seed in division two bracket.
Bryson had 24 wins and had finished second in its district, only losing to state-ranked Perrin-Whitt.
According to Coach Colby Broussard, he sensed nerves from his young team early in the game.
A few key stops that were not capitalized on did not allow the Eagles to get out in front as they trailed 12-8 after the first quarter.
The Cowboys got more of their offense going in the second quarter as they extended their lead to double-digits, leading 28-17 at halftime.
Bellevue changed tactics defensively and played aggressive man-to-man defense which turned the game around. Not only did it slow down Bryson’s offense a tic but it also created opportunities for the Eagles they took advantage of.
Bellevue made three 3-pointers in the third quarter and nearly equaled its first half total as it cut the Cowboys lead to 38-33 heading into the fourth quarter.
A few times Bellevue was able to cut it to three points, but just could never pull any closer or get ahead.
It was a fairly even fourth quarter as Bryson held on to win 54-47.

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