SPORTS
Bowie falls to Ponder
It was a game to forget for the Bowie Lady Rabbits on Friday as it hosted state ranked Ponder.
The Lady Rabbits offense struggled as the Lady Lions won 47-29 thanks mostly to its ever present full-court press.
The game started off slow for both teams as Ponder held a meager 3-2 lead midway through the first quarter. All of sudden, some ugly turnovers from Bowie led to easy baskets. In about two minutes the Lady Lions went on a 12-1 run and led 15-5 going into the second quarter.
There was still plenty of time for Bowie to turn things around if they kept the turnovers down and played good defense for the next three quarters. Ponder’s platoon style of substituting three players at a time to keep its team fresh to press, made the Lady Lions mostly dependent on forcing turnovers to get them in rhythm offensively since they were bound to be taken out at the next ball stoppage.
It paid off as Ponder continued to force turnovers that led to easy looks. The times the Lady Rabbits did make it past the press, execution and shot making were not on the menu. Bowie trailed 26-9 heading into halftime looking for answers.
The only answer was to play better and better and the Lady Rabbits did. Bowie scored the first six points of the quarter in the first two minutes. Unfortunately, the rest of the quarter went the Lady Lion’s way as another bad spell from the Lady Rabbits fed into the lead. Heading into the fourth Ponder led 41-18.
Bowie finished strong in the fourth quarter. The egregious turnovers were cut down some and the offense played its best stretch of the game, scoring in double figures for the quarter. This also led to Ponder’s most lackluster offensive quarter as well. Unfortunately, there would be no miracle comeback as the Lady Lions won 47-29.
Aslyn Davis led the team with 10 points and Hope Howard was second with nine points.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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.
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.
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.
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