SPORTS
Baseball Roundup
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers picked up a big district win coming from behind to beat fellow 1A team Perrin-Whitt at home on Friday.
The Panthers held on to win 6-5 against the Pirates, who days earlier had come back from six runs down to score 12 runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
With Perrin-Whitt being the only other 1A team in the district, a loss would have meant Saint Jo had no shot at winning the district title. The way the team melted down in the first game earlier in the week was uncharacteristic and the Panthers wanted to prove that.
Unfortunately, Saint Jo fell behind in the top of the first inning as three walks and two doubles accounted for four runs from the Pirates, going up 4-0 before the Panthers had even hit yet.
Saint Jo got one run back. Mathew Everson led off and got on base thanks to an error on a groundball to the shortstop. He was out advancing to third base on a base hit from Trevor O’Neal. He would then steal second base before Collin Thomas drove him in with a double to cut the lead to 4-1.
Saint Jo made the call to change pitchers to O’Neal to start the second inning and despite giving up a leadoff single, he induced three groundouts to get out of the inning unscathed.
The score remained the same in the second and third inning despite both teams getting runners on base with chances to score.
It was not until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Panthers swung the momentum of the game.
With two outs, Caleb Hennessey got hit by a pitch. Kile Thurman and Logan Hoover followed with walks to load the bases before Durham came through with a double that drove in two runs.
A passed ball allowed another run to score to tie the game before Everson added one more with an RBI single to give Saint Jo the lead. Everson then stole second and third base before coming home to score thanks to an error at catcher to put the Panthers up 6-4.
After no base runners for either team in the fifth inning, the Pirates got two runners on base with two outs, but O’Neal induced a groundout at third base to get out of it.
It was the same for Saint Jo with its bats as Thurman hit a single and Durham drew a walk to get on with two outs. Unfortunately, a strikeout ended the scoring chance.
Thomas came in to pitch the final inning to pick up the save. It did not start great despite the first two batters hitting balls right to second base and left field. Unfortunately, back-to-back fielding errors allowed one run to score as Perrin-Whitt cut the lead to one down 6-5 and Saint Jo rattled.
After a talk from Coach Bob Bowden, the team then got a huge defensive play.
A line drive right up the middle was stopped as Thomas used quick reaction to catch it in the air before whirling around to throw the runner at second base out for a double-play.
It was a big emotional moment in the game, but the Pirates were not done yet. The next batter drew a walk and a groundball to the shortstop produced the third error of the inning.
Shortstop Durham got another chance the next batter as a groundball was hit to him and he threw him out at first base to secure the win for the Panthers 6-5.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians baseball team lost their second game against Lindsay on the road Friday night.
The Knights won 10-0 after five innings by run rule, though it was not as bad as the first game between the two teams earlier in the week.
Charlie Fuller got one base with a single to left field with one out in the top of the first inning. Unfortunately, it would be Nocona’s only hit of the game.
Walker Murphey hit a groundball and got on base thanks to an error at second base to put two runners on. Unfortunately, two strikeouts followed to end that scoring chance.
Wesley Murphey got the start on the mound and despite giving up a two out walk in the opening inning came away unscathed.
It looked Lindsay was primed to start scoring in the second inning as a single, hit batter and a fielding error loaded the bases up with no outs. Murphey got out of the jam by striking out the next two batters and inducing a groundout at shortstop.
Carson Peters led off for the Indians in the third inning and got on base thanks to another error from the Knights. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt before Fuller made contact that resulted in another error to put runners at second and third base with one out.
Unfortunately, the worst thing that could have happened did. The next batter hit a fly ball to the shortstop who then threw the ball home in time to tag the runner out for the inning ending double-play.
That ended up being the best chance at Nocona scoring and from there on out, the game flipped to Lindsay’s favor.
The Knights scored six runs in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a double, a single, a hit batter a walk and three fielding errors. Lindsay added one more in the fourth inning on another error before adding three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to three walks and two more fielding errors.
The Knights won 10-0.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians were able to beat Saint Jo at home on Thursday night in a tight contest.
The Indians won 55-48 against the Panthers in a game where both teams played hard, but made plenty of early season mistakes.
Nocona came into the game following a low-scoring win against Bells earlier in the week 35-30. For a young Indians team that only has a few players with varsity experience this year, every early season win builds confidence.
For Saint Jo, the Panthers were still without several returning starters since football is still going on. Despite that, new Coach Jacob Nocktonick is trying to build what he can with his group of basketball first players that include several key players even when the football team is integrated.
Despite Saint Jo being the smaller school, overall it had the height advantage in the front line since Nocona features only one player, Kasch Johnson, who is built like a post player. That is nothing new for the Indians, who featured a short team the previous year as Coach Brody Wilson emphasizes full-court pressure on defense and pushing the ball in transition in his system that makes up for a lack of height and size.
Initially Nocona’s pace and energy, grabbing several offensive rebounds, got it the lead 9-3. Eventually, the Panthers adjusted and trailed only 12-11 after the first quarter.
Saint Jo got the lead early in the second quarter. Post Trent Gaston took advantage of his size advantage, especially when the Indians had Johnson out, and led 17-12. Both teams had trouble scoring in a rough second quarter as open perimeter shots just were not going in and shots at the rim were tough to convert.
The Panthers led 23-20 heading into halftime.
Both teams had better offensive success pushing the ball when it could in the second half.
Saint Jo broke Nocona’s press and punished the Indians with quick baskets. Nocona ran whenever it could and seemed to put up an array of perimeter shots and drives, getting offensive rebounds it seemed at will to keep the pressure up and infuriate the Panthers coach.
The Indians got a big push from Landon Fatheree in the second half. After scoring eight points in the first half to lead the team, he scored 10 of his team’s 14 points in the third quarter.
Nocona got the lead back, but only led 34-33 heading into the final period.
The Indians had a comfortable lead up 44-36 when Saint Jo’s Gaston fouled out with 4:56 left in the game. Still, the Panthers did not give up and a minute later had whittled Nocona’s lead down to one basket 44-41 with 3:45.
The game stayed a one-possession game for the next two minutes as Saint Jo had several chances to tie or take the lead not go through.
Nocona made its free throws down the stretch to win with a little more comfort, with the final score being 55-48.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. To see more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870682&T=1
Nocona senior Meg Meekins signed her official letter of intent to play college basketball at Lubbock Christian University on Wednesday. Meekins, the daughter of Brandi and Lance, is a four-year starter on the volleyball and basketball court. She has earned several accolades like being named to the All State Teams for TGCA, TABC, Associated Press and was selected to the All Tournament Team at the UIL State Basketball Tournament in San Antonio last year.“The coaching staff and the community of the LCU program and just knowing you have a staff that coaches you, but also looks over you just like Coach (Kyle) Spitzer did here was a huge part in the recruiting process,” Meekins said. She plans to pursue a degree in either physical or occupational therapy.
For more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870680&T=1
The Bowie Lady Rabbits got more than they bargained for when they traveled to Bellevue on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rabbits escaped with the win 44-40, taking the lead with less than a minute to go after trailing whole game.
Bowie came into the game confident. The larger 3A school was supposed to play Windthorst, but had to reschedule because the Lady Trojans volleyball team was playing in the state tournament.
Finding a last minute replacement, the Lady Rabbits thought they would have an easy game playing the 1A program down the road. Little did they know.
Bellevue had a couple of players out with injury to limit its depth a bit and a new coach in Celsey Hoffman, but the Lady Eagles were coming off of nearly beating a Nocona team the previous week. While the Lady Indians were missing four starters who were still in volleyball, it still showed this was not a 1A team to take lightly.
Bellevue came out fast showing tough defensive pressure despite giving up size at nearly every position. Within a few minutes the Lady Eagles had used that pressure to force turnovers and convert those steals into transition opportunities.
Also, the energy showed in other areas as Bellevue seemed to grab every loose ball and fought for offensive rebounds despite lacking in height compared to Bowie.
After a little more than four minutes into the game the Lady Eagles led 15-0. The Lady Rabbits had barely been able to set up their offense or attempt a shot against the pressure.
Bowie Coach Matthew Miller had to reset his shell-shocked team during multiple timeouts. The young ballhandlers was reminded how the team was going to break the press defense so it could set up its offense.
Bellevue led 19-4 after the first quarter, led by Mary Grace Broussard and Brittany Gill who each scored six points.
The Lady Rabbits settled down and made some good progress in the second quarter. Their defense switched between man-to-man and 1-3-1 to keep the Lady Eagles off balance. With them taking care of the ball better, there were less chances for Bellevue in transition and the Lady Eagles offense struggled to consistently find ways to score against Bowie’s length.
The Lady Rabbits offense found some success as well. Five different players made at least one basket and the team made two 3-pointers.
While the game was physical from the start, now that Bowie knew what type of game it was in the team responded back. It was not pretty and only enough fouls were called to make the game watchable, but individual foul trouble affected Bellevue harder than the Lady Rabbits in the second quarter.
The Lady Eagles still led heading into halftime, but Bowie had gotten it down to single digits trailing 25-19.
The third quarter was more even between the two teams as both had trouble consistently scoring baskets. Bellevue made three baskets and a couple of free throws to keep ahead.
The Lady Rabbits got a big lift from Lanie Moore, who knocked in all three of her 3-pointers in the quarter, scoring nine of the team’s 12 points.
Bowie still trailed, but had cut the lead down to one point earlier in the quarter and one basket 34-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bellevue grew the lead to 38-32 early in the final period. The Lady Rabbits struggled to get anything going offensively and trailed 40-34 midway through the quarter.
Bowie’s Kendall Fallis made a 3-pointer in transition to cut the lead to one basket 40-37.
The score stayed there for the next several minutes even as the Lady Eagles had two starters, Karis Denson and Mattie Broussard, foul out of the game.
With a little more than a minute left, the Lady Rabbits drew up and out of bounds play that got Laney Segura an open shot in the corner. Despite not having made a basket all game, she sunk the 3-pointer to tie the game at 40-40 with a minute still to play.
Bowie had been in a pressure defense for the second half of the fourth quarter to prevent Bellevue from passively running clock. Still in the defense, the team next stole the in-bounds pass and Railey Martin made the undefended layup to give the Lady Rabbits their first lead of the game 42-40 with 48 seconds left.
The Lady Eagles could not tie the score on their next offensive possession. Bowie would made two more free throws to make the final 44-40.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870678&T=1
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