It was opening night of the season for the Bowie boy’s basketball team as they took on a familiar foe at home against Grandview.
Losing to the Jackrabbits in the state semifinal last year, the Zebras gave this new Bowie team its best shot, considering that a portion of Grandview’s team did not play because of football. The Jackrabbits won 50-45 in a competitive, hard fought game where they secured control, but not without the Zebras trying to wrestle it away.
Missing their monstrous six-foot-seven-inch 230 pound center Demetrious Crownover due to football, Grandview still featured a sizable challenge with the six-foot-seven-inch Travis Massey.
The game got off to a slow start for both teams as fans packed into the Bowie High School gym, eager to see how the defending state champions and the number one ranked 3A team in the state looked. Bowie trailed 9-3 with two minutes to go in the first quarter, but closed the gap to 11-8 heading into the second quarter.
The Jackrabbits continued to struggle to score as they fell behind 17-11 halfway through the quarter, but some nice lobs and passes inside to big Daniel Mosley and some shot making from the perimeter saw Bowie take a 19-17 lead. Grandview was able to take a 20-19 lead into halftime as both teams were hoping their offenses would pick it up in the second half.
The Jackrabbits were able to get some momentum going their way in the third quarter as Mosley continued to be unstoppable inside. His misses were usually followed up with a putback offensive rebound from himself.
Returning impact players from last year’s team Justin Franklin and Taylor Pigg also were starting to knock down some open shots from three and finding driving lanes.
Bowie’s biggest lead was 31-24 midway through the third quarter and while the Zebras closed the gap, the Jackrabbits seemed in full control leading 38-34 heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter started out close as the teams were tied at 41-41 with five minutes left. In the next minute, Bowie reeled off seven straight points and led 48-41 with four minutes to go and it looked like they would cruise to the win.
The last few minutes saw some sloppy and hard play from both sides as Grandview’s pressure defense started to force some uncharacteristic turnover from the Jackrabbits. Not to be outhustled, Bowie made sure the Zebras could not just score easily off their turnovers. There was a couple sequences of back-to-back turnovers in quick succession all predicated on effort plays from their players.
The Jackrabbits were able to stay level headed and prevent Grandview too many easy looks as they won 50-45.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.