SPORTS
STORM CENTER: Walker legacy remains
Last weekend in Nocona, the Ray Walker Coed Memorial Softball Tournament took place at the American Legion Sports Complex.
This marked the sixth annual Walker tournament, and it was a celebration of Ray’s life.
“The tournament started with friends in 2010, and we helped out,” Walker said.
Sherry Brown, Ray’s daughter, has continually been impressed with the outpouring of support for the event – and the Walker family.
“The community support means a lot,” Brown said. “We’ve come together to support dad, and that means the world to us.”
Walker grew up in Montague, and he valued hard work at such an early age.
Brown said Ray Walker shined shoes at the Montague County Courthouse, and that served as the start of his business savvy.
Walker also valued education, and he graduated from Nocona High School in 1965 where he concentrated on vocational and agricultural classes.
In 2001, Nocona surprised Ray with induction into the prestigious NHS Hall of Honor for his worldwide business success and military heroism – we’ll get into all that later in this writing.
Proceeds from the tournament benefit scholarships for Nocona and Prairie Valley High School seniors.
Brown estimated the tournament has raised about $50,000 in scholarships.
“It’s humbling,” she said. “We have a lot of sponsors who help out and give us donations.”
The money raised comes through tournament fees, T-shirt sales and a full concession stand.
Kenneth D. Jones won the home run hitting contest. Batters gave $10 for 10 swings.
Crown Royal took top honors and the Dino-Mites were second. Overall, Brown reported there were 11 teams in action. Read more in the weekend Bowie News.
Editor’s Note: The Storm Center column is the expressed written views of sports editor Eric Viccaro and not The Bowie News.
Nocona’s Ray Walker, who died in 2010 while vacationing with his wife, Mary, in Oregon. Walker’s legacy is still felt in the community today. (Courtesy photo)
Saint Jo boys
The Saint Jo Panthers were able to win a one-sided game at Dodd City on Tuesday.
The Panthers won 41-22 against the Hornets as they try and ramp back up after the holidays to get ready for district play.
Saint Jo had an up and down performance at its tournament in North Hopkins the previous week as it tries to get the rust off caused by the holiday break.
The first quarter was competitive as the Panthers got scoring from four different players. Saint Jo held Dodd City to only one field goal, but several free throws allowed the Hornets to trail only 12-7 after the first quarter.
The Panther defense cleaned up the fouling while continuing to make any shot an easy one for Dodd City. This allowed Saint Jo to grow its lead as the game went along.
The Panthers allowed the Hornets to never score more than eight points in a quarter while they scored modestly in the double-digits in three of the quarters.
Saint Jo led 22-11 at halftime, 34-19 after three quarters before allowing only three points in the final period to make it 41-22.
Nocona girls
The Nocona Lady Indians stayed undefeated in district with a blowout win at home against Windthorst on Tuesday.
The Lady Indians beat the Lady Trojans 78-27 in a game that was not close at all.
Nocona came into the game confident with, easily winning its first three district games before the holiday break before playing several tough teams at the Championship Basketball Tournament last week where it went 2-2.
The Lady Indians were up 15-8 after the first quarter and 33-17 at halftime. Despite leading by double-digits, Nocona upped its intensity in the second half by outscoring Windthorst 24-3 in the third quarter.
The Lady Indians scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to end the game with the ludicrous score of 78-27.
Nocona boys
The Nocona Indians lost their first district game of the season, losing a tough game at home against Windthorst.
The Trojans won 63-52 in a game where one bad quarter from the Indians was all it took.
Nocona came into the game after starting district 1-0 with a win against Olney before the break. The Indians struggled in their holiday tournament last week in Bridgeport, but it was mostly against bigger schools.
It was a low-scoring first quarter as Nocona led only 9-7, but were in control.
Then the second quarter came and the Trojans flipped the game on its head.
Windthorst exploded for 26 points, scored all by three of its players as the low-scoring game was burst open.
On the flip side, the Indians scored only eight points while making one field goal in the quarter. Nocona found itself down 33-17 at halftime.
The Indians bounced back a little in the third quarter, outscoring the Trojans 14-11 to make it 47-31 heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter was high scoring for both team. Nocona easily had its best offensive quarter, with 21 points scored as six different players made at least one basket.
Unfortunately, the Indians could not slow down Windthorst to try and make a comeback. The Trojans attempted 17 free throws in the period alone and made enough of them to nearly equal Nocona’s total, finishing with 19 points.
Windthorst won 62-53.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
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