SPORTS
Volleyball Roundup
Forestburg
The Forestburg Lady Horns came away with a silver bracket championship win at Saint Jo’s tournament.
The Lady Horns went 3-2 overall, rebounding from a tough pool play to win some tough games during bracket play.
Forestburg had a tough pool, losing against state-ranked Graford and Dodd City. However the Lady Horns picked up a win against Vernon Northside so it was not all bad after day one.
This put them in the silver bracket. Against Ector and then Savoy both matches were competitive and emotional roller coasters. Playing Savoy in the championship game, Forestburg was even down by eight points in the final set. Eventually, the Lady Horns turned things around to win the match and the championship.
Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians quickly rushed to beat Bridgeport on Friday so they could concentrate on homecoming.
The Lady Indians won in straight sets 3-0 against the Lady Blues, with neither set taking very long nor being too competitive.
Nocona won with set scores being 25-9, 25-13 and 25-10.
On defense Aubree Kleinhans led the team with six digs while Gracie Brown was second with five. Both Bren Fenoglio and Bailey Waters each had three blocks.
Meg Meekins led the team with 13 kills and six service aces while Kleinhans was second with five service aces. Skyler Smith had a team high 14 assists and eight kills while Meekins was second with eight assists.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers had a good hosted tournament last week, competing with and beating some tough teams.
The Lady Panthers went 4-1 overall, losing their only sets in their loss at the end of the tournament.
In pool play Saint Jo picked up straight sets win against Graham’s JV, Savoy and a Chico team that made the Lady Panthers at least have to try.
This put Saint Jo in the gold bracket where it matched up against a state-ranked 1A team, Dodd City, a team it could see in the playoffs at some point. The Lady Panthers won a close first set 25-23 before pulling away in set two to win 25-15 and in straight sets.
Saint Jo had another challenge ahead, with another state-ranked 1A team Harrold up next with the winner playing the championship game.
The teams played the previous week with Harrold coming out on top. It was the same result this time as the Lady Panthers lost 25-17 and 25-18.
Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs had a tough tournament at Saint Jo last week.
The Lady Bulldogs went 2-3 overall while playing in the silver bracket, but ended strong with a remarkable comeback.
Prairie Valley opened the tournament with a competitive win against Ector the team wrapped up in straight sets. It would be the last wins of the day. The Lady Bulldogs lost to Victory Christian and state-ranked Harrold in straight sets to finish 1-2.
Sent to the silver bracket on day two, Prairie Valley lost an up and down match to Savoy in three sets. The Lady Bulldogs had one final match in the tournament which would be a rematch against Ector.
After winning the first set, Prairie Valley looked dead in the water down 17-1 to start set two. Somehow, some way the Lady Bulldogs came all the way back to grab the win 27-25 and the match 2-0.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Lady Eagles had one final test last week with a tournament at Saint Jo against several good teams.
The Lady Eagles went 1-4 overall, but with the team picking up their first win of the season only a week ago that is a good result.
In pool play the team suffered one-sided losses against Collinsville and state-ranked Harrold. Still, the day was saved with a three-set, competitive win against Ector raising the team’s spirits some.
Still, the team played in the silver bracket on day two and had a rematch against Ector. This time around the Lady Eagles were not so fortunate, losing in straight sets, though only losing the second set by the narrowest of margins.
Bellevue then played Vernon Northside to end the tournament and the result was a loss in straight sets.
Missing Scores
Gold-Burg did not play a game late last week.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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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