SPORTS
Lady Indians upset Panhandle to make it to state
The previous win put Nocona into the state round for the second time in a row. Unfortunately, because of how they split up classifications into two divisions, only the state final is played at the Alamodome in San Antonio now.
This meant the Lady Indians would have to play the top ranked team left in 2A Division I, the region I champions and second ranked in the state Panhandle. The Lady Panthers only three losses all year came against top state ranked teams in 4A and 3A during their holiday tournament.
The only challenge Panhandle had faced this postseason was when it played sixth ranked Abernathy that featured a division I signee guard in the area round and had won by six points.
Somehow the game was only in Breckenridge and was played on Monday night. The two-hour drive naturally meant most of Nocona was there again while only the hard core supporters for the Lady Panthers showed up as most of the town were betting on them to make it to San Antonio.
The first quarter showed why Panhandle was rated so high. The team seemed to have no holes, having size, shooting and tough defense with the ability to give several different looks.
The Lady Panthers elected to use their size advantage inside to try to either post up or drive to the basket. Right away Nocona got a good look at another solidly built post player in Ann Garrison, who played bigger than her height and used her physicality and good hands to both score and grab offensive rebounds all night.
The Lady Indians struggled initially, trailing 11-6 with Meekins scoring all of their points.
The second quarter was more of the same. Nocona tried to bring help, but Panhandle showed the ability to punish that with a made 3-pointer.
The only thing that seemed to be going the Lady Indians way was the whistle as Nocona was able to get to the free throw line three times during the second period, going 5-6 as trying to find ways to make baskets continued to prove tough to find.
The Lady Indians only trailed 21-15 at halftime, but on the bright side it felt like the gulf in play was much more one-sided.
Nocona made a big swing early in the third quarter. Coach Kyle Spitzer, frustrated with the amount of offensive rebounds the team was giving up, brought in freshman Sy Parker. Parker had played on the JV team all season and her minutes this playoff run had mostly come in the last few minutes of blowouts.
She does possess a combination of size and athleticism the Lady Indians lack in that position and despite her inexperience and the stage, Spitzer pulled the trigger as he knew he might heading into the game.
Her presence seemed to make an impact defensively. Nocona was rebounding better and was able to push the ball in transition, something they had struggled to do in the first half. Meekins got to the free throw line three times and made all six shots count.
The Lady Indians more than doubled their first half scoring total as it had cut Panhandle’s lead to one point 32-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Panthers were relying exclusive on Garrison in the second half as she fought through the extra attention, scoring enough to keep her team in the lead in the third quarter and keep pace in the fourth quarter.
Nocona took its first lead early in the fourth quarter with back-to-back layups in transition from Meekins to go up 35-32.
The two players went back and forth throughout as the team’s went back and forth. One thing the Lady Indians had to be wary of was Meekins had four fouls, with one more fouling her out.
The score was tied at 39-39 when Smith drove from the baseline, dished the ball inside to Parker, who was playing crunch time minutes to finish the game, who laid the ball in to give Nocona the lead 41-39 with 1:15 left.
It would be a lead the Lady Indians would not give up.
After a stop, Meekins made two free throws to put Nocona up 43-39 with 38 seconds left.
Panhandle was not done as Garrison, who finished with 24 points, again was able to score quickly in the post to make it a one basket game 43-41.
Meekins made one free throw to put Nocona up by three points 44-41 with 16 seconds left.
The Lady Panthers ran a play and got one of their guards a deep open look from 3-point range running off a screen. It was no good and the Lady Indians rebounded the ball and the celebration was on.
Meekins waved to the Nocona faithful as she stepped up to the line with only a few seconds left and sunk both to make the final score 46-41 before the celebration commenced.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
For more photos from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6873312&T=1
The Red River High School Bass Club competed on Saturday at Eagle Mount Lake as the club finished fifth overall out of 28 clubs.
The club had two teams that brought in fish at the end of the day, but one also finished highly.
The team of Carson Caudle and Hunter Blackburn got fourth overall out of more than 100 teams. The pair caught three fish that weighed in at 7.99 pounds.
The club had one more pair that brought in fish. Walker Strahan and Bryce Ramsey got one fish that weighed in a 1.95 pounds that was good for 33rd place.
Only 37 out of the 126 teams were fortunate enough to bring fish to the weigh-in.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Bowie
Superlatives
Offensive most valuable player: Rayder Mann
First team
Gaige Goodman
Second team
Boston Farris
Honorable mention
Adam Pickett, Bradly Horton, Braden Rhyne
Academic all-district
Hayden Sutton, Keller Dosch, Anthony Jaraleno, Finn Riddle, Tyler Richey, Adam Pickett, Bradly Horton, Hayden Heugatter, Boston Farris, Rayder Mann
Nocona
Superlatives
Co-newcomer of the year: Landon Fatheree
Fighting heart award: Jose Gomez Jr.
First team
Karson Kleinhans, Oscar Salomon-Gomez
Second team
Zyrus Moreno, Walker Murphey
Honorable mention
Adrian Gutierrez
Academic all-district
Jose Gomez Jr., Kyle Waters, Kasch Johnson, RJ Walker, William Henley, Skye Kirby, Landon Fatheree, Karson Kleinhans, Oscar Salomon-Gomez, Zyrus Moreno, Walker Murphey, Adrian Gutierrez
1A
Superlatives: Jesus Sanchez, Forestburg, most valuable player; Barrett Johnson, Saint Jo, offensive MVP; Evan Chavez, Bellevue, sixth man of the year; Camden Dreyer, Gold-Burg, co-newcomer of the year; Josiah Wadsworth, Forestburg, co-newcomer of the year; Curtis Enis, Forestburg, coach of the year
First team
Ryan Jones, Bellevue; Jesse Wadsworth, Forestburg; Kyler Willett, Forestburg; Lee Yeley, Saint Jo; Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Second team
Aaron Allison, Bellevue; Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; River Trail, Bellevue; Jayton Epperson, Gold-Burg; Trae Campbell, Prairie Valley; Zeke Bonn, Saint Jo; Landon Shannon, Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue; Brenna Criswell, Bellevue; Eli White-Freeland, Gold-Burg; Keelyn Case, Gold-Burg; Barrett Allen, Gold-Burg; Angel Cruz, Forestburg; Hayden Halliburton, Forestburg; John Carranza, Forestburg; Hunter Camden, Prairie Valley; Jarrett Horton, Prairie Valley; Landen Williams, Saint Jo; Jayden Curry, Saint Jo; Colton Curry, Saint Jo
Academic all-district
Bellevue: Walker Strahan, Brycen Bancroft, Bryce Ramsey, Will Bonds, Cowyn Langford
Forestburg: Rafeal Sanchez, Josiah Wadsworth, Tristan Cumby, Hayden Halliburton, Jesse Wadsworth
Prairie Valley: Hunter Camden, Jarrett Horton, Josh Stout, Dayne Sadler, Kasey Caruthers
Saint Jo: Jayden Curry, Colton Curry, Landon Shannon, Barrett Johnson, Trent Gaston, Zeke Bonn, Lee Yeley
Gold-Burg: Levi Hellinger, Brady Allen, Barrett Allen
For pictures from players from every team, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians’ softball team had a great first week as a full team, winning all of their games and going 4-0 at their hosted tournament against a Seymour program.
The Lady Indians were able to add some players from basketball, which only ended the previous week after winning the state title.
Nocona kicked off the week with a blowout win against Perrin-Whitt on March 4. The Lady Indians scored 12 runs in the first inning and seven in the second as the game ended after three innings due to run-rule, Nocona winning 19-1.
Skye Kirby led the team with four RBIs while Kylea Wallace and Heidi Atteberry were second with two RBIs each. The team drew 12 walks.
Reagan Phipps, fresh from the basketball court, allowed one run (zero earned) on two hits while striking out seven batters.
Nocona on March 6-7 played double-headers on each day against Seymour and its JV team.
The first game against the Lady Panthers varsity team saw the Lady Indians win 14-6 after four and half innings. Gwyndelyn Forsyth led the team with three RBIs while Tinley Cable, Kirby and Phipps each drove in two runs. Phipps hit a home run as well.
On the mound, Phipps allowed six runs on nine hits while striking out nine batters.
The next game against the JV team from Seymour was strangely closer, but Nocona came out on top, winning 10-7 after four innings played.
Forsyth led the team with two RBIs as five different players drove in one run each. Atteberry got the start on the mound and allowed seven runs on six hits while striking out six batters and walking seven.
The next day Nocona dominated the Seymour varsity team again, winning 11-2 after five innings played. Evelyn Marquez led the team with two RBIs while four other players had one in a balanced approach. Phipps allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out seven batters.
The Lady Indians made sure not to let up against the Seymour JV team in the next game. Nocona won 16-3 after four innings played to end the week off right.
Kaitlyn Tiffner led the team with four RBIs while Marquez drove in three, Kirby and Cable drove in two. Atteberry allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits while striking out two batters.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers had tough games last week against 2A team Chico and Muenster.
The Lady Panthers lost by the scores 21-2 and 22-0 as they try to look for the positive while playing against mostly bigger schools.
Saint Jo played Chico on March 7. Most of the damage was done in the second inning, with the Lady Dragons scored 13 runs. The Lady Panthers did score runs in two of the three innings played, but the game ended after three due to run-rule as Chico won 21-2.
Reagan Wilson led the team with one RBI. On defense, the team had 17 walks and allowed 10 hits, though the team committed zero fielding errors.
It did not get any easier hosting Muenster on March 10. The Lady Hornets scored 10 runs in the first inning before Saint Jo could come up to bat and had dug itself a big hole. The Lady Panthers had little success with their bats in the game, with Maxey Johnson being the sole base runner as she got a hit.
Muenster won 22-0 as the Lady Hornets had 14 hits and drew 16 walks.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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