Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians closed out their non-district schedule with a win against 5A Aledo on Tuesday night.
The Lady Indians won 52-41 against the Lady Cats while also having another individual milestone reached as junior Skyler Smith scored her 1,000 point during the game.
Despite Nocona not having lost a game this season, playing a 5A Aledo team is always going to be tough for a 2A team.
Not surprisingly, the Lady Cats had the size advantage at almost every position on the court and had more depth, but it was not the first nor the last time it will be the case for Nocona.
Both teams played tough man-to-man defense. The Lady Indians had trouble getting by their individual defenders to get clean looks at the rim, but got enough penetration to kick out for open shots on the perimeter.
Aledo tried to use its size to get close shots around the rim in any way it could, through drives and post ups alike.
Nocona sold out on defense to bring extra help at the rim, with girls swiping at the ball for turnovers and to force extra passes outside. The Lady Cats were hesitant to take these open corner 3-pointers.
The Lady Indians tried to push the ball off their defensive stops, but Aledo’s tall players made attempts tougher than usual unless they were perfect.
Nocona caught Aledo sleeping three times in the first half right after the Lady Cats scored a basket, scoring on full-court outlet passes.
The first quarter saw Nocona lead only 14-11, but the Lady Indian defense picked up the aggressiveness in the second quarter.
Aledo only made one basket, one of only the three made 3-pointers in the game, which allowed Nocona to stretch its lead to double-digits 26-14 at halftime.
The Lady Cats seemed more willing to take some open shots outside of paint, even if many were not 3-pointers, in the second half which opened up some more things.
Nocona battled rebounding the ball, but even with textbook box outs, some balls naturally bounced to the taller players from Aledo where the Lady Cats got some second and third chances.
Still, the Lady Indians controlled the game by making open 3-pointers and drawing free throws. Nocona led 42-27 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Indians tried to slow down the pace as fatigue seemed to also be setting in a bit.
Aledo scored at a similar pace, but Nocona was scoring just enough, led by leading scorer Megyn Meekins who scored nine of the team’s 10 points in the final period.
This kept the Lady Cats from mounting a serious come back as the time winded down even when they tried to switch to a press defense in the final minutes.
Nocona won 52-41.

Saint Jo vs Gold-Burg
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers beat Gold-Burg on the road Tuesday night.
The Lady Panthers won 62-30 against the Lady Bears.
Saint Jo wanted to play fast by pressing with its defense and shooting any open 3-pointer it could against Gold-Burg’s 2-3 zone defense.
After leading 13-7 after the first quarter, the Lady Panthers picked up the intensity and never let up for the rest of the game.
Kyler Dunn led the team with 26 points while Payzlie Cervantes was not far behind her with 22 points.
For Gold-Burg, Madison Fulmer led the team with nine points while Sierra Weaver, Sadie and Shadie Whitaker each scored five points.

Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs lost a tough one against state-ranked Slidell on Tuesday.
The Lady Greyhounds won 61-14 against the Lady Bulldogs, giving them their first district loss of the season.
Prairie Valley was coming off of playing a holiday tournament to shake off the rust from the break last week, but playing one of the top teams in the state Slidell would have been tough in any context.
Makaylee Gomez led the team with seven points while sister Carmen scored three. Linzie Priddy and Karagan Ritchie each scored two points each.

Forestburg
The Forestburg Lady Horns lost a tough first game back from the holiday break against Midway on Tuesday.
The Lady Falcons won 65-30 against the Lady Horns.
Midway had one played finish the game with 11 made 3-pointers, which was too much for the young Forestburg team to overcome.
Madisen Deason and Allie Cisneros each had 11 points to lead the team. Deason also had a team high 11 rebounds and three steals. KK Willett also pulled double-digit rebound as she had 10.

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