SPORTS
Nocona boys win first district title in 35 years
Nocona
The Nocona Indians won their first district title since 1988 with their win against Archer City on senior night Tuesday.
The Indians blew the Wildcats away by winning 61-32 in a game that was expected to be close.
Nocona needed to win to avoid being in a three-way tie for first place with Seymour and Archer City. The Indians won the first game between the teams by only six points 48-42 and knew with the stakes high they could not come out flat.
So Nocona came out and played its most complete game from the jump. All five starters made at least one basket, scoring in multiple ways, sharing the ball on smart cuts to the basket, drives and four made 3-pointers.
On the flip side, Nocona defensively were pests all night, pressuring the ball full-court in tough man-to-man sets that just seemed to overwhelm the Wildcats.
The Indians led 25-7 after the first quarter and never looked back.
While Nocona’s offense cooled off the next three quarters, Archer City did not score in the double-digits until late in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach and the Indians had pulled back their press and intensity.
With the lead growing past 30 points at certain times in the second half, it was the type of game where end of the bench rotation players, some of whom are seniors, got to play big stretches of minutes and were encouraged to throw up shots with the game already in hand.
In the end, Nocona won 61-32.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers came up short against Slidell on Tuesday night.
The Greyhounds won 54-48 to seal up another district title.
The Panthers came into the game hoping to upset Slidell’s senior night and maybe keep alive the chance to move up in the district standings.
The Greyhounds came out scoring well in the first half and were up 37-25. Saint Jo made some defensive adjustments and limited Slidell to only 19 points in the second half which gave the Panthers a shot.
Some late 3-pointers got the game close and Saint Jo had opportunities to either tie or take the lead, but ultimately just could not convert. Slidell escaped with the win, 54-48.
Forestburg vs Bellevue
The Forestburg Longhorns ended their season on a high note with a win at Bellevue on Monday night.
The Longhorns won 55-54 against the Eagles.
Forestburg got out to a big lead up 23-11 after the first quarter. The pace slowed to a crawl in the second quarter as the team’s combined to score seven total points. The Longhorns scored only one point during that time, but still led 24-17 heading into halftime.
The pace picked back up in the second half for both teams as they made shots. The Longhorns lead was picked away at, but they still held 42-37 lead heading into the final period.
In the fourth quarter, Forestburg survived three Bellevue 3-pointers by making just enough free throws to eek out the win by one point 55-54.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
With the 2024-2025 year of high school athletics kicking off next week across Texas, many coaching staffs and players are soaking up the last few days before the months of work starts for fall sports.
The Bowie athletics program is prepared heading into Athletic Director Tyler Price’s second year at the helm.
The main goal for Price in year one was trying to raise the bar, or standard, of how the athletic program operates both on and off the field of play. He feels him and his staff did that.
“We feel like we’re in a good spot now and feel good about what we’ve done right now,” Price said. “With that being said, there’s still a lot of work to do, but it makes it easy come to work every day. We have really good kids who want to work and who want to get better.”
Obviously the biggest criticism for football is the team went 1-8 in the first season, but it was always going to be a tough season with the team replacing a lot of new faces. Trying to change the fortune of a football program that has won four games in the last three seasons is not an overnight process and is still the biggest challenge ahead.
“I think the kids learning how to win is the next big step,” Price said. “I feel like we’re competing. The kids want to compete, know how to compete and don’t turn down from anything. Learning to win though, winning is hard, regardless of what sport you’re playing.”
One aspect Price wants to see more of are athletes in the program taking charge and leading their peers.
“I think the next step is more student-led stuff,” Price said. “Having leaders in every sport who are taking the lead on the ins and outs because this is their athletic program; it’s not my athletic program. It’s not my coaches. It’s the kid’s athletic program.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Recent Nocona High School gradute Conley Kleinhans won his second straight World Championship Junior Rodeo world championship in the junior division on July 27 at Guthrie, OK. Working as a header in team roping, he and his partner Brant Cookston were the only team to secure a catch in the final round to win not only first place, but earned the money the second and third place teams would have won as well.
The National Federation of State High School Association will put a rule change in place for the upcoming school year about punishing flopping in basketball.
“Flopping” is a term in basketball used when someone thinks a player is exaggerating contact in order to draw an offensive foul, usually when trying to draw a charge.
It has grown in popularity at the highest levels in the last 20 years since it is so hard for referees to tell in real time if a player is over acting. With some replays revealing Oscar worthy over acting in slow motion, flopping has been derided by fans, coaches and media members, with rules only recently being been put into place to punish players who garner a certain reputation.
Whether it is a problem at the high school level is up for debate, but the NFHS thinks it is enough to enforce the rule across the nation. A first offense will be when an official issues a team warning.
After that, any instances where flopping is deemed the correct call it will result in a team technical foul.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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