SPORTS
I will never dunk
I will never experience the joys of dunking a basketball in my life.
Sure, I dunked all over my modified Nerf rim (so it would not break) growing up. My friend lowered his goal to eight feet (later to eight and half to make us feel more manly) during our pickup games so that we could dunk all over each other.
None of that is quite the same as being able to pick up any regulation basketball and go run and dunk, cleanly mind you, a basketball through any regulation height rim.
I just turned 28 and I quit my athletic pursuits early on in college. I like to think I can run and jump the same as I remember or better. Years of inactivity and weight gain have me convinced that even though most professional athletes’ primes are in their late 20s, my athletic prime has passed me by. I do not want to test it because it will probably just confirm it.
My height is 5 foot 10 inches and my last measured vertical in high school was around 24 inches. The closest I could get was the middle of the net. I was never close at all, which I think is a good thing.
My friend Andrew is slightly taller and more athletic than me. He was always so tantalizingly close to dunking it drove him mad. He could grab the rim, but just could not get high enough to get a regulation basketball through. Dunking a small toddler’s ball gave him hope he could will the extra inches he needed out of himself if he kept trying, but I witnessed him try and fail for several hours at different points of his life.
Junior high is when you first start hearing about other kids your age dunking. Even if you did not go to school with a kid who could dunk, you always heard about a kid at another school who could.
If someone at your school could, it would usually take a lot of convincing to get them to even start attempting in front of everyone to confirm their dunking prowess.
By high school, the mystique kind of goes away in some communities as players grow tall enough it becomes more embarrassing they cannot dunk if they are a certain height, than the fact they can.
Some players might dunk every time through the layup line, but if they never get that perfect breakaway scenario with no one contesting them and the score perfectly out of reach to risk it, then they never do it.
Still, this is closer than I will ever get so I asked some current players on the Bowie High School basketball team to explain the feeling.
To read more pick up the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
In its first match since last year’s state semifinal appearance, Saint Jo hosted Bryson Aug. 11 and took a 25-13, 25-12, 25-21 win over the Cowgirls.
The Lady Panthers lost some talent to graduation but have five seniors ready to have a successful season. Savannah Hil, one of the five, got Saint Jo rolling offensively with a four-point serving string, including a pair of aces. Abby Carter’s kill and Kamron Skidmore’s block helped put the Lady Panthers up 5-2 in game one.
Hadleigh Moore added a four-point string of her own to extend the lead to 10-3. Tatum Morman’s pair, helped by a Hill kill, gave Saint Jo a 14-5 lead. Bryson got within five before a Hill 3-pointer, with help by a Carter kill, put the lead back at 18-10.
After an Olivia Johnson kill broke serve, Jordyn O’Neal served up the final five points, with Johnson providing a kill to move things along.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Despite being the smallest school in the Brock varsity classic volleyball tournament, the Lady Indians finished 4th out of the eight teams there.
After losing to the host team in its first pool play match Aug. 14 18-25, 14-25 and also to Class 3A Wall 12-25, 8-25, Nocona rebounded to close out pool play with a 20-25, 25-23, 25-20 win over Christoval. Sy Parker had 16 kills and 7 blocks in the three matches. Raylea Bowles had 12 kills, 17 digs and served up three aces. Maddyn Bowles had seven kills and 14 digs while Paige Davis had seven kills and 15 digs. Baylee Thomas added 11 digs.
From the setter spot, Kasi Castro had 20 assists, served up five aces and contributed 14 digs. Leah Meekins added 18 assists and six digs during the three matches.
To open Saturday’s bracket play, the Lady Indians posted a 25-18, 18-25, 26-24, 25-19 win over Fort Worth Christian. Castro staked Nocona to a 2-0 lead in game one. Kills by Parker set up pairs of points from Raylea Bowles and Leah Meekins helped Nocona negate an early deficit and take a 10-9 lead.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
County football teams had their first scrimmage of the season Aug. 14 with mixed results.
Forestburg hosted Azle Christian and Victory Christian. Under a new system with new head coach Cori Hayes, the Longhorns looked pretty good in the coach’s eye.
“The first team looked good,” Hayes explained. “Overall we need to work on our pace and blocking assignments and blocking assignments. Overall we looked good for the new regime.”
Forestburg hits the road to scrimmage Newcastle Aug. 21.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
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