SPORTS
Bowie loses shoot-out at Burkburnett
The Bowie Jackrabbits traveled to Burkburnett to face the ever energetic and pressing Bulldogs on Tuesday.
It was a shootout and a track meet from the start as the teams combined for 178 points, but in the end Burkburnett came out on top 100-78.
The Jackrabbits came into the game fresh off of their hosted tournament. One of Bowie’s two wins came against the JV squad of the Bulldogs, but Tuesday it was going to play the varsity team.
Burkburnett plays an aggressive style of press defense that requires constant substitutions at almost every dead ball. The players on the floor feed their energy off the bench and the crowd as the Bulldogs look to push the pace of the game to its limit.
Coach Jonathon Horton and the team knew they had to be ready.
“We started the game better than we have started any game all year,” Horton said. “We were prepared to play. We understood the environment. We knew they had a good student section. We knew their gym had tradition. It was going to be loud. It was going to be a fun place to play.”
The teams went back and forth in the first quarter as Burkburnett held a small lead 25-22. In the second quarter, Bowie’s offense ticked below 20 points while the Bulldogs offense more than equaled their total from the first quarter. Burkburnett led 51-37 at halftime.
The Jackrabbits offense did better in the second half scoring 20 and 21 points in the third and fourth quarters. Unfortunately, they just could not catch the scorching Bulldogs, whose lead slowly grew even more. The final was 100-78.
Trevor Vann led Bowie with 25 points and five rebounds. Braden Armstrong scored 18 points, handed out six assists and grabbed four rebounds.
Boo Oakley scored 11 points and led the team with eight assists. Cade Thompson also finished in double figures scoring 11 points and grabbing four rebounds.
Offensively, it was easily the Jackrabbits best offensive showing. The team shot more than 50 percent from the field and from three-point range.
Bowie also worked the aggressive Bulldog defense against them, heading to the free throw line for 23 shots and knocking down 70 percent of them. Unfortunately, Burkburnett shot almost as well from the field though the Bulldogs had 16 more attempts.
The Jackrabbits next game is at Ponder at 7 p.m. on Dec. 17.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of weekend 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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