SPORTS
Bowie boys season ends to Peaster
The Bowie Jackrabbits lost to the third-ranked team in the state, Peaster, on Saturday in their bi-district playoff game.
The Jackrabbits lost 67-44 to the Greyhounds despite a mostly competitive first half.
Bowie came into the game with only one day of practice to get ready for Peaster’s full-court press defense after a week filled with snow and arctic temperatures meant no school.
The Jackrabbits seemed to be able to break through the Greyhounds press early on and set up their offense trying to attack the basket.
Peaster also was trying to get to the rim and were rewarded with eight free throw attempts. Bowie was trailing only 9-7 midway through the first quarter, but the Greyhounds went on an 8-2 run to end the quarter, extending their lead to 17-9.
The second quarter saw the Jackrabbits fire back great. Bowie scored seven points in the first minute and half of the quarter to cut the lead to 17-16.
Unfortunately everytime the Jackrabbits got this close, Peaster would make a basket to stay ahead. Still, Bowie was playing with the Greyhounds and were trailing 26-23 with 3:29 left to play before halftime.
Peaster played with a lot of depth due to its high energy defense, but one player stood out offensively. Senior Braxton Bosher seemed to make good things happen when he was in the game. When he sat, the Greyhounds seemed to have some tough few minutes before Bosher was subbed back in.
At this point he came back in and started scoring on tough isolation sequences. He scored 14 of his game high 21 points in the second quarter.
Also, the defense for Peaster started to affect Bowie. Just trying to get the ball in play was proving taxing and mistakes were starting to pile up.
The game sped up in the final few minutes. The Jackrabbits would try to score on a wild drive, miss and the Greyhounds would score in transition.
After being within three points and really competing with Peaster, the Greyhounds ended the second quarter on a 14-0 run, going ahead 40-23 at halftime.
All of that hope that somehow maybe Bowie could pull off the upset of the year seemed to extinguish in during that 3:29 before halftime.
There was still a full half to play and the Jackrabbits were not just going to roll over.
Bowie started knocking down open 3-pointers in the third quarter thanks to good ball movement. A.J. Whatley made three of the team’s five three pointers during the quarter as the team tried to get back into the game.
Unfortunately, the Jackrabbits just could not get enough stops. Peaster had five different players score during the quarter. Despite giving up so many 3-pointers, the Greyhounds scored enough to not let Bowie make up any ground as Peaster led 54-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
The hot shooting from the third did not come to the fourth quarter. The Jackrabbits struggled offensively, scoring only two baskets which made the final score worse since they could not stop the Greyhounds.
Bowie continued to play hard until the end, but the final result was clear to everyone before the final horn went off as Peaster would win 67-44.
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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