SPORTS
Bowie rink hockey club wins at nationals
It was a family affair as the Bowie Rink Hockey Club’s world class ladies team won the 2023 Rink Hockey Nationals last week.
Hosted at Lubbock’s Sk806 Events Center on July 29-Aug. 4, it served as the culmination of the best teams in rink hockey across America.
The Bowie club is led by sisters and Bowie High School graduates Janae and Jasmine along with their mom Dara serving as backup goalie and father John Jones Sr. as the coach.
Brother John Jones Jr. also plays, but was on the 15U and 18U teams for the Cumberland Raiders, a club team from Maryland. He helped the 15U team to a third place finish and the 18U team won its age group championship.
The Bowie club had previously won the event in 2021, but was unable to defend the title due to a lack of competition in 2022.
The one wildcard for the team was their first team goalie, Francisca Labbe, was going to have to miss the tournament due to recently giving birth. Dara had to step in, hoping she could hold up for both the team and her family.
With teammates Javiera Ramos, Camilla Roldan and Francisca Caceres filling out the roster, the team had had a good year competing in tournaments this year.
The team had wins in two previous tournaments earlier in the year. They also had a second place finish in another one only because Janae suffered an injury to her face and was not allowed to play in the championship game causing them to forfeit. With these results the team was feeling confident and a little over prepared.
The first game was against a club from New Jersey who had what many people considered the best goalie in the tournament. Bowie felt confident they could score on her, but knew it would be tough. In the end, the game ended in a 4-4 tie.
The next game against United Florida did not go the team’s way as it lost a close one 3-2. It was a wake-up call for the team now, knowing it would have to take the harder road once bracket play started.
The last game in pool play was against the familiar and geographically close club team from Decatur. Bowie easily won 8-1 to finish pool play 1-1-1.
Tied for second place with the New Jersey club meant the two faced off again in bracket play, with the winner going on to play in the championship game.
It was another closely played game. The score was tied 3-3 heading into the final minute with overtime looming.
With time winding down, Bowie upped the pressure on defense. Janae stripped New Jersey’s defensemen, deked past the remaining defender, faked out the goalie and scored on a spinning back hand with 30 seconds remaining.
The goal ended up being the game-winner as Bowie won 4-3.
This set up a rematch against the United Florida team they had lost to during pool play. The United Florida team had not lost a game yet this tournament, but Bowie believed this time it would be different.
It would be as Jasmine came out and scored a hat trick in the first 16 minutes of the game, putting Bowie up 3-0 along with a lot of momentum.
From there, the team held on as United Florida made a spirited comeback in the second half, cutting the lead to one goal with 4:33 left in the game. Still, they did enough to secure the win 3-2 to earn its second straight national title.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. Full games from the tournament can be watched on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@RinkHockeyLive.
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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