SPORTS
Nocona boys lose to athletic Gainesville
The Nocona Indians hosted an athletic Gainesville team on Tuesday night in a game when not much went in the basket for Nocona.
The Indians competed and made it a game, but just could not overcome the Leopards losing 51-45.
The first quarter was low scoring and back-and-forth as the physical defenses led to open shots not going in too much. The score was tied at 6-6 with three minutes left to play in the quarter.
Gainesville’s full-court press defense came alive during this stretch to force some turnovers and easy baskets in transition. The Leopards scored five points to go up 11-6 heading into the second quarter.
The press defense continued as Nocona struggled at times to break through, but the physical nature of the defense led to a lot of fouls against Gainesville. Still, nothing was easy for the Indians offensively.
The Leopards had the lead, but never enough to feel like Nocona could not comeback and retake it with good run. Still the Indians trailed 22-15 at halftime.
Nocona point guard Landry McCasland had taken some big shots trying to break the press in the first half. With district play starting next week, Coach Colby Schniederjan made the call to not play him in the second half since this game does not matter towards a playoff spot.
With backup point guard Lyndon Fenoglio still recovering from injury, younger players were called on in the second half to handle the tough ball handling duties, Adrian Diaz and Adam Meekins.
Things grew dire for Gainesville as well as the fouls started to add up in the third quarter.
The Indians came back to cut the lead to 28-25 late in the quarter, but the Leopards were able to create enough offense late to get back to comfortable lead 34-27 heading to the final quarter.
Even with starters fouling out, Gainesville’s lead stood solid as the lead almost got to double-digits. Nocona’s open shots and many free throws were not going in while the Leopards scored at a solid pace driving to the rim.
Down 42-33 with 3:30 to go, the Indians were still playing for the win as the intensity was picked up. After some shots were made, time outs were called and strategic substitutions were made by Nocona in an effort to win despite the time running low.
The Indians cut the lead to 50-45 with 15 seconds left.
After second the Leopards to the free throw line and them missing, Nocona was fouled and had a chance to cut the lead to three with a few seconds left.
Both free throws missed and Gainesville secured the ball. Fouled in the final seconds out of desperation, the Leopards made one of two to make the final score 51-45.
Jason Sparkman and Cesar Gutierrez each led the team with nine points.
Nocona plays its final non-district game at 7 p.m. at Hirschi on Jan. 13.
The Indians open up district at Holliday at 7:15 p.m. on Jan. 17.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the 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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