SPORTS
Jackrabbits upset Holliday 7-6
The Bowie Jackrabbits walk-off win against state-ranked Holliday on Tuesday was a good bounce back after falling to Jacksboro the day before.
The Jackrabbits lost to the Tigers 11-4 on Monday before turning around and beating the Eagles at home on Tuesday 7-6.
Holliday was not only the district favorites, but also were ranked number eight in the state in 3A in this week’s coaches poll with only one loss all season.
The game did not seem to start off great as the Eagles leadoff drew a walk. Pitcher Kawlyer Swearingin bounced back though as the next three batters were grounded or flew out.
Bowie batters made contact early, but failed to get the ball anywhere the Holliday was not as the first inning ended scoreless.
The Jackrabbits allowed nothing from the Eagles hitters in the second. On offense, Bowie put together a two-out rally starting with Kynan DeMoss hitting a double. After Logan Hutson hit a single to move him to third base, an error allowed him to score to make the score 1-0.
The Eagles answered in the third inning. A dropped third strike followed by two singles scored two runs. After a double steal, a squeeze bunt play allowed one more run to score as Holliday’s lead was at 3-1.
The Jackrabbits had no answers as all three batters grounded out in the infield on only four pitches to move the game into the fourth inning.
The Eagles added another run thanks to a leadoff walk. Bowie forced two outs, but a ground out had moved the base runner to second base. A two out double allowed the runner to score to extend Holliday’s lead to 4-1.
A single followed and it looked like the Eagles might add more, but Swearingin struck out the next batter to get out of the jam. The Jackrabbit’s batters again had trouble hitting to where Holliday players weren’t as all three batters were sat down.
Parker Price came in to pitch in the fifth inning. After forcing an out, the Eagles loaded the bases thanks to two singles and a hit batter. With the momentum going Holliday’s way, it looked like it might be the big inning the Eagles would need to break open the game.
Instead Bowie’s defense stepped up. A hit to third base allowed the Jackrabbits to get the force out at home for the second out. Bowie catcher Melton was then able to pick off the runner at third base during the next at bat for the third out, leaving all three runners stranded.
That kind of sequence was just what Bowie needed to get some momentum going, which carried over to its bats.
DeMoss and Price led off with back-to-back singles. After two groundouts, Sanders came through with a single to drive in one run.
Cade Thompson then hit a double to score another runner followed by Melton driving in two runners on a single to give the Jackrabbits the 5-4 lead.
Holliday looked like it was going to respond with its leadoff batter hitting a single. The defense came through again though, pulling off a double play to clear the base paths. Price then struck out the next batter for the third out.
Bowie had a chance to add to its lead in the sixth inning. Swearingin led off with a single and DeMoss followed up by getting hit by a pitch. Unfortunately, the next three batters failed to move the Jackrabbit runners any as the game moved to the final inning.
The Eagles were not going to make this easy though. They led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Following a strike out, a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position.
Sanders came in to pitch and forced a ground ball to third base. Bowie got the out at first base, but failed to get the third out at home due to miscommunication. This allowed both base runners to score as Holliday now led 6-5.
The costly mental error looked like it might cost more runs as a double, a walk and a hit batter followed to load the bases. Thankfully, Bowie was able to get the force out at home for the third out.
The Jackrabbits would need to come back while also bouncing back mentally from a blown defensive sequence that would have ended the game.
Sanders led off with a single. A ground out moved him to second. Melton then hit an infield single. Following a steal from Melton, Richey was then hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Swearingin came through with a single to drive in one run to tie the score. It was then DeMoss who hit a line drive to left field to end the game with the walk-off RBI. His teammates swarmed him in right field as Bowie won 7-6.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians were able to beat Saint Jo at home on Thursday night in a tight contest.
The Indians won 55-48 against the Panthers in a game where both teams played hard, but made plenty of early season mistakes.
Nocona came into the game following a low-scoring win against Bells earlier in the week 35-30. For a young Indians team that only has a few players with varsity experience this year, every early season win builds confidence.
For Saint Jo, the Panthers were still without several returning starters since football is still going on. Despite that, new Coach Jacob Nocktonick is trying to build what he can with his group of basketball first players that include several key players even when the football team is integrated.
Despite Saint Jo being the smaller school, overall it had the height advantage in the front line since Nocona features only one player, Kasch Johnson, who is built like a post player. That is nothing new for the Indians, who featured a short team the previous year as Coach Brody Wilson emphasizes full-court pressure on defense and pushing the ball in transition in his system that makes up for a lack of height and size.
Initially Nocona’s pace and energy, grabbing several offensive rebounds, got it the lead 9-3. Eventually, the Panthers adjusted and trailed only 12-11 after the first quarter.
Saint Jo got the lead early in the second quarter. Post Trent Gaston took advantage of his size advantage, especially when the Indians had Johnson out, and led 17-12. Both teams had trouble scoring in a rough second quarter as open perimeter shots just were not going in and shots at the rim were tough to convert.
The Panthers led 23-20 heading into halftime.
Both teams had better offensive success pushing the ball when it could in the second half.
Saint Jo broke Nocona’s press and punished the Indians with quick baskets. Nocona ran whenever it could and seemed to put up an array of perimeter shots and drives, getting offensive rebounds it seemed at will to keep the pressure up and infuriate the Panthers coach.
The Indians got a big push from Landon Fatheree in the second half. After scoring eight points in the first half to lead the team, he scored 10 of his team’s 14 points in the third quarter.
Nocona got the lead back, but only led 34-33 heading into the final period.
The Indians had a comfortable lead up 44-36 when Saint Jo’s Gaston fouled out with 4:56 left in the game. Still, the Panthers did not give up and a minute later had whittled Nocona’s lead down to one basket 44-41 with 3:45.
The game stayed a one-possession game for the next two minutes as Saint Jo had several chances to tie or take the lead not go through.
Nocona made its free throws down the stretch to win with a little more comfort, with the final score being 55-48.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. To see more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870682&T=1
Nocona senior Meg Meekins signed her official letter of intent to play college basketball at Lubbock Christian University on Wednesday. Meekins, the daughter of Brandi and Lance, is a four-year starter on the volleyball and basketball court. She has earned several accolades like being named to the All State Teams for TGCA, TABC, Associated Press and was selected to the All Tournament Team at the UIL State Basketball Tournament in San Antonio last year.“The coaching staff and the community of the LCU program and just knowing you have a staff that coaches you, but also looks over you just like Coach (Kyle) Spitzer did here was a huge part in the recruiting process,” Meekins said. She plans to pursue a degree in either physical or occupational therapy.
For more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870680&T=1
The Bowie Lady Rabbits got more than they bargained for when they traveled to Bellevue on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rabbits escaped with the win 44-40, taking the lead with less than a minute to go after trailing whole game.
Bowie came into the game confident. The larger 3A school was supposed to play Windthorst, but had to reschedule because the Lady Trojans volleyball team was playing in the state tournament.
Finding a last minute replacement, the Lady Rabbits thought they would have an easy game playing the 1A program down the road. Little did they know.
Bellevue had a couple of players out with injury to limit its depth a bit and a new coach in Celsey Hoffman, but the Lady Eagles were coming off of nearly beating a Nocona team the previous week. While the Lady Indians were missing four starters who were still in volleyball, it still showed this was not a 1A team to take lightly.
Bellevue came out fast showing tough defensive pressure despite giving up size at nearly every position. Within a few minutes the Lady Eagles had used that pressure to force turnovers and convert those steals into transition opportunities.
Also, the energy showed in other areas as Bellevue seemed to grab every loose ball and fought for offensive rebounds despite lacking in height compared to Bowie.
After a little more than four minutes into the game the Lady Eagles led 15-0. The Lady Rabbits had barely been able to set up their offense or attempt a shot against the pressure.
Bowie Coach Matthew Miller had to reset his shell-shocked team during multiple timeouts. The young ballhandlers was reminded how the team was going to break the press defense so it could set up its offense.
Bellevue led 19-4 after the first quarter, led by Mary Grace Broussard and Brittany Gill who each scored six points.
The Lady Rabbits settled down and made some good progress in the second quarter. Their defense switched between man-to-man and 1-3-1 to keep the Lady Eagles off balance. With them taking care of the ball better, there were less chances for Bellevue in transition and the Lady Eagles offense struggled to consistently find ways to score against Bowie’s length.
The Lady Rabbits offense found some success as well. Five different players made at least one basket and the team made two 3-pointers.
While the game was physical from the start, now that Bowie knew what type of game it was in the team responded back. It was not pretty and only enough fouls were called to make the game watchable, but individual foul trouble affected Bellevue harder than the Lady Rabbits in the second quarter.
The Lady Eagles still led heading into halftime, but Bowie had gotten it down to single digits trailing 25-19.
The third quarter was more even between the two teams as both had trouble consistently scoring baskets. Bellevue made three baskets and a couple of free throws to keep ahead.
The Lady Rabbits got a big lift from Lanie Moore, who knocked in all three of her 3-pointers in the quarter, scoring nine of the team’s 12 points.
Bowie still trailed, but had cut the lead down to one point earlier in the quarter and one basket 34-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bellevue grew the lead to 38-32 early in the final period. The Lady Rabbits struggled to get anything going offensively and trailed 40-34 midway through the quarter.
Bowie’s Kendall Fallis made a 3-pointer in transition to cut the lead to one basket 40-37.
The score stayed there for the next several minutes even as the Lady Eagles had two starters, Karis Denson and Mattie Broussard, foul out of the game.
With a little more than a minute left, the Lady Rabbits drew up and out of bounds play that got Laney Segura an open shot in the corner. Despite not having made a basket all game, she sunk the 3-pointer to tie the game at 40-40 with a minute still to play.
Bowie had been in a pressure defense for the second half of the fourth quarter to prevent Bellevue from passively running clock. Still in the defense, the team next stole the in-bounds pass and Railey Martin made the undefended layup to give the Lady Rabbits their first lead of the game 42-40 with 48 seconds left.
The Lady Eagles could not tie the score on their next offensive possession. Bowie would made two more free throws to make the final 44-40.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870678&T=1
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