SPORTS
VOLLEYBALL YEAR IN REVIEW: Local teams in rebuilding mode
By ERIC VICCARO
[email protected]
Nocona High School’s impressive streak of qualifying for the regional round of the state tournament ended at seven during the 2014 season.
First-year Nocona head coach Tiffany Clay, who replaced Sandy Langford after Langford went to Glen Rose, knew the campaign was going to be challenging.
“Nocona has such a rich winning tradition in volleyball,” Clay said. “Therefore, coming into this year, I had lots of expectations – not only for my players, but myself and assistant coaches. We lost lots of dominant seniors the previous year.
“I knew coming into the season, we were going to have to work extra hard,” Clay continued. “Each one of my girls stepped up to the challenge and worked extremely hard to finish in the position they did.”
Nocona finished the season with the best record in Montague County, producing a 22-16 overall mark and 11-3 in District 3A-9. The Lady Indians were the lone team in the county to qualify for the postseason, falling to Pottsboro.
Four of the 15 girls on the Montague County all-county team wear orange-and-black – paced by libero Magye Fenoglio plus hitters Sherese Price and Madilynn Cable and all-around talent Katelynn Walker.
Bowie, which finished at .500 with a 20-20 record and 5-9 in 3A-9 also has four representatives in outside hitter Madison Little, setter/right-side specialist Kamryn Cantwell, libero Karsen Morgan and outside hitter Addy Cook.
“We were so close, but so far away,” Bowie head coach Jeanie Stark said.
Editor’s Note: Read more and see the complete all-county team in the weekend Bowie News in print and with your electronic subscription.
Bowie’s Madison Little was a first-team all-District 3A-9 performer for the Lady Rabbits this season. Little was Bowie’s leader in kills and she improved on her blocking as the 2014 season went along. Little is one of 15 girls on The Bowie News all-county team. (News photo by Eric Viccaro)
SPORTS
District awards for 1A released
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.
SPORTS
Forestburg coach retiring
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.
SPORTS
Bowie Sports Banquet
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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