SPORTS
Bowie boys start season with 77-24 win; Lady Rabbits pick up first win in blowout win against Era 41-23
The Bowie Jackrabbit boy’s basketball team opened its season with a one-sided win against Ector at the Lipan Tip-off Showcase on Saturday.
The Jackrabbits took it to the Eagles 77-24.
Bowie came into the game after a week of practice trying to integrate some football players fresh off the gridiron, some of whom are returning starters.
While it was not the type of game that tested the Jackrabbits much, it is the type of early season blowout that is good for a team that is going to be trying to figure some things out.
Bowie returns six players from its varsity team last year that finished third in district and lost to state-power Brock in the bi-district round of the playoffs, with two of them being starters.
Brody Armstrong was an all-district pick last year and shared ball handling duties with A.J. Whatley at times. Both also had starting or big roles as sophomores and will be leaders to lean on this year.
Tucker Jones was the district’s newcomer of the year last year a sophomore. The athletic wing came off the bench last year and used his athletic gifts to impact the game in several ways.
Bayler Swint spent a lot of last year recovering from a leg injury and was never really able to find the footing he had his sophomore year. He hopes his size and skill inside and out can impact the team.
Brady Lawhorn was the third post player on varsity last year as a sophomore and makes up for his lack of height with athleticism and effort. Kynan DeMoss returns as a three-point gunner whose added physicality makes up for his lack of length.
Half of the team is made up of newcomers to the varsity level, but all are either juniors or seniors who have now been in Coach Andy Atkins system for two years now.
While the team is expected to be shorter than it was last year in the front line, several newcomers had some growth spurts and Atkins expects it will only be an issue if and when they play someone who is 6’6” or taller.
Lady Rabbits
The Bowie Lady Rabbits won easily against Era on Friday night to pick up their first win of the season.
The Lady Rabbits won 41-23, breaking the game open in the third quarter with their defense.
Bowie jumped out to a 15-5 lead after the first quarter and kept the Lady Hornets down double-digits in the second quarter with a lead up to 25-14 at halftime.
The third quarter saw the Lady Rabbits shut out Era on defense, allowing no points from the Lady Hornets. In return, Bowie got its biggest quarter from its leading scorer Maddie Mandela who scored 11 of her team high 23 points in the quarter to help the Lady Rabbits put the game away.
Bowie only scored once in the fourth quarter, but it did not matter in the end as the team coasted to the win 41-23.
Besides Mandela, Ziba Robbins finished in double-figures for the Lady Rabbits, scoring 10 points and grabbing a team high 10 rebounds for a double-double. Mandela also swiped a team high four steals.
The team made seven three-pointers, but only got to the free throw line twice in the game as the team maybe settled too much to hoisting long range shots.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl is this week on June 6-7 and graduating athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo are confirmed to be playing.
In total, seven athletes from Bowie, five from Nocona and three from Saint Jo are planning to play in the all-star games this week. Nocona also will have a pair of coaches participating as well.
The girl’s basketball game kicks off events on June 6, scheduled for 6 p.m. at Wichita Falls Memorial High School. In the game, the east team will have Nocona players Avery Crutsinger, Meg Meekins and Reagan Phipps playing while Kyler Spitzer and Clayton Brown coach them one last time.
On the west team, Saint Jo’s Payzlie Cervantes is confirmed to be playing.
The boy’s basketball game is scheduled to follow at 7:30 p.m. On the east team, Bowie’s Boston Farris and Nocona’s Jose Gomez Jr. will be playing.
On June 7, the volleyball games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. with the small school game. On the west team, Nocona’s Kaygan Stone and Saint Jo’s Taylor Patrick are confirmed to play. On the east team, Saint Jo’s Aubrey Morman will get to play her teammate.
There are no local athletes confirmed to be playing in the big school volleyball game.
The final event is the football game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. It is an all Bowie affair with six players confirmed to be playing for the east team: Justin Clark, Jorge De Leon, Hunter Fluitt and Braden Rhyne, Preacher Chambers and Moh Azouak.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona Independent School District officials looked inward for a new athletic director/head football coach, selecting Jeff Hill for the position.
Hill, who served last year as Nocona football’s offensive coordinator and also led the softball program to the playoffs for the first time in a while as its head coach, was upgraded to the role.
This came on the heels of former Athletic Director Blake Crutsinger, who served in the role the last four years, resigned in May.
For Hill, the choice to apply for the position was a no brainer. His one year in Nocona had impressed upon him and his wife that it was the place they would like to be long term.
“I’m looking for a town to raise my kids in and Nocona has treated my family really well,” Hill said. “There are some really good people. The kids work hard. Everything I am looking for in a hometown is right here in Nocona and I want to try and make it as best as it can be, especially through athletics.”
Before Nocona, Hill served as the athletic director at S&S Consolidated while also spending time at Hebron and Whitewright in his coaching career.
Hill expresses great respect for the departing Crutsinger and besides changing a few small things in how he personally wants to do things, he is not trying to come in with a sweeping restructuring of the whole athletic department.
The program had five of its six team sports make the playoffs, with volleyball playing in the regional final and the girl’s basketball team winning the state championship.
That along with two athletes competing at the state championship in cross country and track with one earning a gold medal, it was one of the more successful school years in athletic program history.
“Coach Crutsinger was awesome and did a great job so honestly just little tweaks, a little bit of structure and cohesion amongst the coaching staff between boys and girls,” Hill said. “I hope to keep the winning tradition going overall in the athletic department.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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