SPORTS
Bowie, Nocona play in Buckle Up for Lane tournament
Bowie took part in Nocona’s hosted Buckle Up for Lane Tournament last weekend and both teams did well enough to make it into the gold bracket on Saturday.
The Lady Rabbits had a chance to play for third place, but came up short while the Lady Indians went into the consolation bracket.
In pool play, Bowie’s group was one team short compared to everyone else. The Lady Rabbits won a tough three-set match against Windthorst to start the tournament, but would next lose a three-set match to Lindsay. The Lady Rabbits then beat district opponent City View easily enough to finish pool play.
With the top three teams in the pool (Bowie, Windthorst, Lindsay) all losing matches against one another, it came down to defensive points to decide which two would go on to the gold bracket. The Lady Rabbits finished four points better than Lindsay to earn the final spot in their pool.
Nocona started pool play with easy straight set wins against Bryson and Valley View. The Lady Indians lost a tough three-set match against Archer City before rebounding to beat Jacksboro easily to earn a spot in the gold bracket as well.
Bowie’s first match in bracket play was against a team it has seen a lot of in the first month of the season Alvord. The Lady Rabbits won easily in straight sets to move on.
Nocona was not so lucky as the team played Windthorst. The Lady Indians lost both sets by narrow margins to the Lady Trojans to be sent to the consolation side of the bracket.
Bowie next played district foe Henrietta and lost both sets to fall short of the championship match. The Lady Rabbits did play one more match for third place in a rematch against fellow pool team Windthorst.
Unlike the first match however, the Lady Trojans came out on top this time, winning in straight sets that were both close as Bowie finished fourth overall.
Nocona played Ponder in the consolation side. It went to three sets as each one could have gone either way. In the end it was the Lady Lions who came out on top in a close third set, giving them a ticket to play for the consolation championship while the Lady Indians tournament was over.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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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