SPORTS
Girls Roundup
Prairie Valley vs Forestburg
The Forestburg Lady Horns earned their first district win on Tuesday night at Prairie Valley.
The Lady Horns won a low scoring game they controlled from the second quarter on 31-22.
Forestburg came into the game with a loss to Bellevue the previous week while Prairie Valley had won against Saint Jo before losing to the same Lady Eagle team.
The Lady Bulldogs came out in a 1-3-1 zone defense with the top defender providing constant pressure starting at around midcourt to whomever was handling the ball. The team would then try to trap the ball to force turnovers.
The Lady Horns ball handlers Braylee Briles and Faith Moore did a good job of handling the pressure and Forestburg as team did a good job of working the ball through the zone to open shots in the corner.
Moore knocked down two 3-pointers which gave the Lady Horns a small 7-4 lead after the first quarter.
Prairie Valley had trouble scoring against Forestburg’s 2-3 zone. Shots from the perimeter went in and out all night as the Lady Bulldogs had trouble scoring until the fourth quarter.
Prairie Valley did get to the free throw line some in the first half, but had trouble taking advantage, going 4-13.
The Lady Horns scored better in the second quarter. Moore made two more 3-pointers from the corner, which opened up some driving lanes for her and Briles.
Forestburg led 21-6 heading into the second half.
With the lead in hand in a low-scoring, low paced game and with the Lady Bulldogs making to sure to rotate to Moore with more urgency, the Lady Horns did not score much in the second half.
They didn’t need to as Prairie Valley’s shooting woes continued as well as the free throw attempts drying up.
Forestburg led 27-10 heading into the fourth quarter. The Lady Bulldogs had their best run of success, more than doubling its three quarter total, against the Lady Horns bench, but the lead was too much for one quarter.
Forestburg won 31-22.
Moore led the Lady Horns with a season high 18 points while Briles was second with six points.
For Prairie Valley Makaylee Gomez led the team with eight points while Emily Carpenter scored all seven of her points in the fourth quarter.
Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians picked up their second district win at home against Jacksboro.
The Lady Indians won 51-37 in a game where they really pulled away in the third quarter.
Nocona’s defense limited the Lady Tigers to single digit scores for the first three quarters. The Lady Indians were not scoring well either, but enough to be in control as they led 20-13 at halftime.
Nocona then almost doubled its score in the third quarter, scoring 17 points as three different players scored multiple baskets. The Lady Indians led 37-20 heading into the fourth quarter.
The pace took a turn in the final period as both teams scored well. It was Jacksboro that actually outscored Nocona 17-14, but the Lady Indians big lead made sure the Lady Tigers never got close.
Skyler Smith led the team with 12 points while Megyn Meekins and Karlee Brown joined her in double-figures with 10 points each.
Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Lady Bears lost a tough game against Midway on Dec. 17.
The Lady Falcons won 88-33 as the Lady Bears just could not keep up with the scoring.
Gold-Burg Coach Cheryl Cromleigh singled out Midway’s Kamryn Wyatt as being particularly hot from the perimeter as she scored 34 points against her team.
For the Lady Bears, Sadie Whitaker led the team with 15 points while sister Shadie was second with six points.
Bowie JV Maroon
The Bowie JV Maroon team won its first district game on Monday against Breckenridge.
The Lady Rabbits blew out the Lady Bucks 50-12.
Raquel Cole led all scorers with 15 points while Melanie Cantu joined her in double figures with 12 points.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend 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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