SPORTS

Nocona falls to Lindsay in the playoffs

Published

2 years ago

11/12/2022

The Nocona Lady Indians season came to an end on Tuesday night against Lindsay in the regional quarterfinals round.
The Lady Knights won 3-1, with their size and experience overwhelming the Lady Indians.
Nocona came into the match cooking, riding a 15-game winning streak and showing a lot of growth after having a lot of ups and downs in the first month of the season. In that first month, Nocona ran into this Lindsay team twice and lost both times.
The Lady Knights took control of the opening set early. Lindsay led 14-6 and it grew to double-digits 20-10 with its looking rough.
Nocona then went on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 22-20 and show the Lady Knights they were not going to have an easy time.
Still, Lindsay was able to recover and closed out the first set winning the final three points 25-20 to take 1-0 lead.
Despite having that great run to close the first set, the Lady Indians did not have any of that momentum in set two. Again the Lady Knights jumped out on top with the lead slowly growing from 13-7, 16-9 and 19-11. Nocona did not have a comeback moment like in the first set as Lindsay won comfortably 25-16 to take a 2-0 lead.
The third set proved to be the most competitive of the match. The Lady Knights still had the lead and control for most of it, but they were not pulling away as the set went on.
Lindsay led 7-3 and 12-8, but Nocona hung around and closed the lead to 21-19.
The Lady Indians would tie the score up at 21-21 and from there it was back and forth for the next 14 points.
Nocona received a scare when Skyler Smith went down holding her ankle as her team went up 24-23.
After a pause in the action and getting helped up by trainers, she was walking under own power with no noticeable limp and decided to stay in the match.
It went back and forth with both teams having several chances to close out the set, but in the end the Lady Indians were able to win 29-27 to cut the lead to 2-1 and extend the match.
Whether it was the last gasp from a gritty Lady Indians team or if it was the start of a come-back decided in the fifth set, everyone would find out in set four.
Unfortunately, that same gritty magic in the third set was nowhere for the Lady Indians. Lindsay extended its lead to 10-5 and there would be no comeback moment in this set.
At that point the team picture banner that was hanging in front of the stands had started to fall. After getting hung back up, it failed beyond repair later on when the Lady Knights pulled ahead 19-10, with it getting bundled up as the end of the match was nearing.
Lindsay won 25-15 to win the set and the match 3-1 to go to the regional tournament.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

SPORTS

District awards for 1A released

Published

3 hours ago

05/18/2024

bowienews

Bellevue’s Bryce Ramsey was named his district’s newcomer of the year.

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

Published

3 hours ago

05/18/2024

bowienews

Forestburg boys basketball coach Eldon Van Hooser helped lead the program to its first playoff win in nine years in his last year coaching.

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

Published

3 days ago

05/15/2024

bowienews

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.