SPORTS

Nocona falls just short at Lindsay

Published

6 years ago

09/01/2018

It was a hard fought away game that went back and forth Tuesday night, but the Nocona Lady Indians just could not get the win at Lindsay.
The Lady Indians lost a close fifth set in a match where either team could have won in the end.
The first set did not go the way Nocona wanted. Facing a Lindsay team that was tall in the middle, the Lady Indians knew they would have to deal with some blocks in the middle and look to attack elsewhere. Still, Nocona was blindsided in the first set.
Falling behind 12-8, the Lady Indians got into a vicious serve receive cycle where nothing was going right. The lead quickly grew to 20-10 and Lindsay was able to finish things off with little resistance to win the first set 25-10.
The good thing was Nocona could only play better and they responded as such. After a back and forth opening to the set, the Lady Indians held a slight 13-12 lead. They were able to grow that to 19-16 lead before finishing the set on a 6-0 run to win the set 25-16 and tie the match up.
Things did not get off to a good start for Nocona in the third set as they fell behind 9-6 and it only got worse from there. Lindsay built a 17-8 lead and looked poised to take the set and the lead in another one sided set.
Ella Nunneley stepped up for the Lady Indians. Utilizing her jump serve and good placement, Nunneley’s serve was the catalyst behind Nocona’s comeback. Her serve caused Lindsay players trouble, leading to some free points or free ball the Lady Indians was able to jump upon and score.
Nocona scored 10 straight points and took an 18-17 lead. After coming to an end, Lindsay was able to regain the lead down the stretch and held a close 23-22 lead. Fortunately, the Lady Indians were able to clinch next three points to pull off the set comeback to win 25-23 and take a 2-1 match lead.
Needing to win the next set to win the match, Nocona was coming off a wave of momentum. With the completed comeback, people in the stands were confident. The Lady Knights needed to get off to a strong start to make sure the match would continue. Lindsay responded in kind, taking an early 11-9lead and growing it to a 17-13 lead. The Lady Indians were able to catch all the way back up, but still trailed 23-22. On set point, a controversial double hit call did not go Nocona’s way as Lindsay won 25-22 to force a fifth and final set.
With the fifth set changed to the first team to score 15 instead of 25 points, every little lead is magnified. The Lady Indians were up 6-4 early, but the Lady Knights switched things around and held a 13-11 lead. Nunneley was up to serve and the fans were hoping she could pull off some of that magic she had in set three. After Nocona scored a point to cut the lead to one, things really did look good for the Lady Indians.
Unfortunately, Lindsay broke the serve to go back up by two points and more importantly was on match point. At some point during the point, the ball went into the net for Nocona and the setters could not dig the ball out of the net as the ball fell to the floor as the Lady Knights won the set 15-12.

To read the rest of the story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

SPORTS

District awards for 1A released

Published

1 day ago

05/18/2024

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Bellevue’s Bryce Ramsey was named his district’s newcomer of the year.

With the baseball and softball seasons over for the area 1A schools, district awards have been released.
Listed below are those earned honors on the field and in the classroom for Saint Jo and Bellevue.

Softball
Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Utility player: Taylor Patrick; Catcher: Jordyn O’Neal

Baseball
Superlatives
Offensive MVP: Devin Stewart, Saint Jo
Newcomer of the Year: Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue

Pitcher: Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Jayden Curry, Saint Jo

Second team
Pitcher: Charlie Barclay, Saint Jo
Infielder: Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; Sam Martin, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Rylan Forrester, Saint Jo
Catcher: Charlie Evans, Saint Jo
Utility: Logan Hoover, Saint Jo
DH: Amzy Barclay, Saint Jo

Honorable mention
Cody Gaston, Saint Jo; Xander Joyner, Saint Jo

To see academic awards from Saint Jo players, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

SPORTS

Forestburg coach retiring

Published

1 day ago

05/18/2024

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Forestburg boys basketball coach Eldon Van Hooser helped lead the program to its first playoff win in nine years in his last year coaching.

Eldon Van Hooser is leaving Forestburg better than he found it.
The head boy’s basketball coach is retiring after more than 30 years, spending the last five at Forestburg.
Van Hooser did not come to this decision because of a lack of fire or feeling tired after decades in the profession. He had to for family reasons.
“My wife has MS (multiple sclerosis) and it’s a disease where you have trouble standing and walking and she needs help,” Van Hooser said. “I am able to so I am going to step away from teaching and coaching to be there for her.”
Van Hooser was hired in 2019. Along with being the boy’s basketball coach, he also was the football team’s defensive coordinator.
There were some lean years for Forestburg on the boy’s athletic side, with numbers being low and the available athletes being mostly underclassmen.
For two years, the Longhorns’ boy’s basketball team won few games and one of those seasons saw the team field five players on the high school team.
“One of those years we had COVID-19 and the other we had five kids,” Van Hooser said. “It was very rough. After that we worked with the kids and we had a good freshman group coming up. Next year they are going to be seniors.”
That group has helped to turn the program around. Last year the young Longhorns team contested for a playoff spot and just barely missed it finishing fifth in the district.
This season, that same group took a leap and finished second in district with a record of 7-5.
Despite losing its last two regular season games in dramatic fashion heading into the playoffs, the team stepped up in the bi-district game.
Playing against an athletic Newcastle team, Forestburg led for most of the game.
Unfortunately, the previous game against Bellevue saw the Longhorn team blow the lead late in the fourth quarter against a hard pressing style team and they were suffering the same fate against the Bobcats down the stretch.
Fortunately, Forestburg held on just enough to win 53-46. It was the first boy’s basketball playoff win in nine years for Forestburg.
“It was huge for our program,” Van Hooser said. “This new year we will have new goals. The new coach will have some goals of his own, but I set some for the team and think that we have come a long way.”

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

SPORTS

Bowie Sports Banquet

Published

4 days ago

05/15/2024

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The Bowie sports banquets was on Monday night. Olivia Gill and Tucker Jones were named Jackrabbit and Lady Rabbit of the year. Pick up the mid-week paper for all of the sports team awards and pictures.