SPORTS
Lady Indians struggle in final tournament
The Nocona Lady Indians softball team competed in its final tournament last week in Lindsay.
The Lady Indians had a tough time in terms of results as they went 0-4 against some tough schools.
Nocona started off with tournament hosts Lindsay. It was a short, but competitive game as the tournament stopped the game after only three innings.
The teams traded two runs each in the first inning. Karlee Keck and Taylor Richards drove in runs for the Lady Indians as the score was tied 2-2.
In the second inning Nocona scored on a passed ball, a steal home and a Laci Stone RBI to go up 5-2. The Lady Knights fired back scoring four runs to go up 6-5. The Lady Indians could not answer in the third inning before the game was called to an end.
Nocona next played Borger on Friday. The Lady Indians started the game well with Gisel Hernandez scoring on a bunt from Koryahanna Ramsey in the first inning. The Lady Bulldogs answered in the first inning as the score was tied 1-1.
Nocona struggled to score for the rest of the game despite getting some hits. Borger scored 10 runs in the next three innings to win the game 11-1 as the Lady Indians struggled with errors.
Nocona had to turn around and play Pottsboro after that where some of the previous game might have rubbed. The Lady Cardinals scored 10 runs in the first inning and the Lady Indians could not recover.
Nocona did scored two runs in the fourth inning with Richards driving in two runs on a single. Pottsboro scored one run to go back up by 10 to end the game right there as they won 12-2.
The Lady Indians ended the tournament on Saturday with a game against Era. Again Nocona was hit hard early in the first inning as the Lady Hornets scored five runs.
The Lady Indians answered with a run of their own in the first inning when Kycelynn Contreras drove in a run with single.
The score stayed 5-1 entering the third inning where Era put another five run inning together to go up 10-1. Nocona scored two more runs with an RBI from Karlee Keck and Ramsey scoring on an error, but it was not enough as the game was called after that inning, the Lady Hornets winning 10-3.
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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