SPORTS
Lady Rabbits win opening district game
The Bowie Lady Rabbits got things going in the right direction on Saturday as they kicked off district at home against the challenging and familiar Henrietta.
After five back and forth sets it was the Lady Rabbits who came out the victor by the narrowest of margins. Early on it seemed like both teams were evenly matched and it would come down to who executed better down the stretch.
Bowie got out to an early 12-8 lead and were clicking on all cylinders, but the Lady Cats were able to close the gap and even take an 18-17 lead. The Lady Rabbits were able to regain form and close out the set on an 8-1 run to win the first set 25-19.
The second set seemed like it would be more of the same for Bowie as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead. However, Henrietta was able to fire back on the strength of their serves and net play as they not only made up the difference, but built a respectable 15-10 lead midway through the set.
The margin did not get any better after 10 points as the Lady Cats led 20-15 and it seemed like they were on their way to close the second set and tie the match up.
The Lady Rabbits made a mighty charge as they closed the gap to one point, still trailing 23-22 but right in position to steal the set after playing catch up for the majority of it. Unfortunately, Henrietta was able to close things out as they won the second set 25-22 to tie the match up.
The third set was tightly contested throughout the early points, but midway through Bowie grabbed a 14-11 lead and never looked back. They were able to keep that margin after 10 points at 19-16 and grow it down the stretch as the Lady Rabbits won the third set 25-20 to go back up.
Needing to win the fourth set to avoid the winner take all fifth set, Bowie needed to have a good start to the fourth set to not give the desperate Lady Cats any hope of a comeback. Unfortunately, the Lady Rabbits played the opposite way.
Henrietta jumped out to an early 8-2 lead. Instead of things getting better from there they got worse. Ten points later they were down 14-6 as nothing was going right for Bowie.
Effort plays were made by Bowie players, but good serving and sharp net play from the Lady Cats had the Lady Rabbits on the ropes the whole set as they could not get any rhythm of an offense going.
Henrietta’s lead just continued to grow as the set went along. The late set surge that came in the second from Bowie never came as the Lady Cats closed things out just as strong as they started as they won the fourth set by the huge margin 25-10.
Knowing they could only play better after that set, the Lady Rabbits prepared themselves to play the fifth and final set. Played first to 15 instead of 25, there would be no time for a slow start.
The teams were point to point early on, but Henrietta did gain a slight 5-3 lead early on. Bowie was able to gain the upper hand as they not only closed the gap, but took the lead at 8-6.
For the rest of the set the two teams traded points. Each time the Lady Cats would cut the lead to one point, the Lady Rabbits would score again to get their lead back up to two. Eventually, Bowie was able to close the set out by the narrowest of margins as they won 15-13 to win the match.
To read the whole story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl is this week on June 6-7 and graduating athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo are confirmed to be playing.
In total, seven athletes from Bowie, five from Nocona and three from Saint Jo are planning to play in the all-star games this week. Nocona also will have a pair of coaches participating as well.
The girl’s basketball game kicks off events on June 6, scheduled for 6 p.m. at Wichita Falls Memorial High School. In the game, the east team will have Nocona players Avery Crutsinger, Meg Meekins and Reagan Phipps playing while Kyler Spitzer and Clayton Brown coach them one last time.
On the west team, Saint Jo’s Payzlie Cervantes is confirmed to be playing.
The boy’s basketball game is scheduled to follow at 7:30 p.m. On the east team, Bowie’s Boston Farris and Nocona’s Jose Gomez Jr. will be playing.
On June 7, the volleyball games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. with the small school game. On the west team, Nocona’s Kaygan Stone and Saint Jo’s Taylor Patrick are confirmed to play. On the east team, Saint Jo’s Aubrey Morman will get to play her teammate.
There are no local athletes confirmed to be playing in the big school volleyball game.
The final event is the football game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. It is an all Bowie affair with six players confirmed to be playing for the east team: Justin Clark, Jorge De Leon, Hunter Fluitt and Braden Rhyne, Preacher Chambers and Moh Azouak.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona Independent School District officials looked inward for a new athletic director/head football coach, selecting Jeff Hill for the position.
Hill, who served last year as Nocona football’s offensive coordinator and also led the softball program to the playoffs for the first time in a while as its head coach, was upgraded to the role.
This came on the heels of former Athletic Director Blake Crutsinger, who served in the role the last four years, resigned in May.
For Hill, the choice to apply for the position was a no brainer. His one year in Nocona had impressed upon him and his wife that it was the place they would like to be long term.
“I’m looking for a town to raise my kids in and Nocona has treated my family really well,” Hill said. “There are some really good people. The kids work hard. Everything I am looking for in a hometown is right here in Nocona and I want to try and make it as best as it can be, especially through athletics.”
Before Nocona, Hill served as the athletic director at S&S Consolidated while also spending time at Hebron and Whitewright in his coaching career.
Hill expresses great respect for the departing Crutsinger and besides changing a few small things in how he personally wants to do things, he is not trying to come in with a sweeping restructuring of the whole athletic department.
The program had five of its six team sports make the playoffs, with volleyball playing in the regional final and the girl’s basketball team winning the state championship.
That along with two athletes competing at the state championship in cross country and track with one earning a gold medal, it was one of the more successful school years in athletic program history.
“Coach Crutsinger was awesome and did a great job so honestly just little tweaks, a little bit of structure and cohesion amongst the coaching staff between boys and girls,” Hill said. “I hope to keep the winning tradition going overall in the athletic department.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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