SPORTS
Jackrabbits lose to Decatur 58-26
The Bowie Jackrabbits completed its challenging week against two state ranked 4A teams versus Decatur at home Saturday morning.
Maybe it was the early starting time of 10:30 a.m. Maybe it was because the Jackrabbits were playing its second straight game without all-state player Daniel Mosley. Maybe it was because the Eagles are just that good.
Whatever the reason, Bowie played its ugliest game of the season as Decatur won 58-26.
It was a slow paced, defensive grind it out affair from both teams in their approach. The Eagles were trying to get to the rim and were looking for driving lanes. The Jackrabbits were looking for open perimeter shots.
Bowie did a good job of staying in front of drivers, but Decatur made up for it by dominating the glass and getting put backs. The Eagles led 11-0 near the end of the first quarter.
No matter how much passing and screens were set, the Jackrabbits could not get anyone open. This led to some forced drives from players that missed with no foul call to bail them out. Bowie scored its first points with a little more than two minutes to go. Decatur led 13-6 heading into the second quarter.
With no Mosley inside, the Jackrabbits’ post players had a hard time dealing with the physical Eagles. Coach Jonathon Horton would sub in another player anytime he saw a post player give up an offensive rebound. At one point, after Horton had gone through all of his post players, he sent in guard Kade Hilton to play two minutes in the post and he held up better than you would think.
Not much changed throughout the game. Open shots were hard to come by for Bowie and players had to make something happen, usually falling on Justin Franklin’s shoulders. The Jackrabbits trailed 27-12 at halftime.
With the third quarter usually being Bowie’s best quarter, things looked like it was going to be a different half. The Jackrabbits scored six of the first eight points in the quarter’s first two minutes and looked like offensively things might pick up.
Unfortunately, Bowie’s offense went on a drought for the rest of the quarter while Decatur steadily continued extending its lead by finding driving lanes and offensive rebounding. The Jackrabbits went into the fourth quarter with little hope of a comeback trailing 42-18.
At some point, Bowie started isolating Franklin on offense, hoping he could get hot from the field creating his own shot.
Despite trying many things offensively and defensively throughout the game, the results from each quarter did not change much. The final score was 58-26.
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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