SPORTS
Lady Panthers take on Nocona junior varsity
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers had a challenge playing the Nocona junior varsity squad on Saturday with only five players.
The Lady Indians JV won the low scoring game 24-12 against the smaller and fewer Lady Panthers.
With only five players Saint Jo had to worry about foul trouble and also fatigue. It was a low scoring game overall, but especially in the first half. Nocona knocked in a 3-pointer early, but only made one free throw the rest of the quarter.
Saint Jo had trouble getting the ball in close against the Lady Indians zone defense. Before the first quarter ended, Kayden Skidmore did make a 3-pointer to put the Lady Panthers on the board as they trailed 4-3 heading into the second quarter.
Saint Jo struggled to make the open shots it was able to find against Nocona’s zone. The Lady Indians were able to make two baskets at the rim during the quarter to increase their lead to 8-3 at halftime.
An early 3-point shot to start the third quarter signaled Nocona’s best scoring quarter of the game. A couple of close shots along with some made free throws more than doubled the Lady Indians score from the first half.
The Lady Panthers continued to struggle making shots from the field, but did a better job of getting to the free throw line. Saint Jo attempted six free throws in the quarter, with Kaitline Harris making three of them for the team. Nocona was in command 17-6, but the Lady Panthers were still in range to come back if they could make some shots.
That run never came for Saint Jo. The Lady Indians scored a couple of baskets while making a free throw to take a pretty commanding lead 22-6 with 3:23 left in the game.
Saint Jo’s Shaden Johnson then made back-to-back 3-pointers in the final minutes to double the Lady Panthers score while Nocona made one more basket, making the final score 24-12.
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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