Nocona
The Nocona Indians had a good first tournament of the season at Dodd City last week.
The Indians went 3-1 over the two days of the tournament while picking up some big wins against tough teams.
Nocona first played Thorndale which is a similarly ranked 2A team as the Indians. Nocona was able to leverage a dominant first and fourth quarter in able to pull out the back and forth 53-45 win.
The Indians next played Martinsville which ended up being their easiest game of the tournament. Nocona beat up on the 1A team and won by more than 40 points 69-27 to finish out the first day of the tournament.
The Indians next game was the first one on Saturday and proved to be the closest game of the tournament. Nocona faced another 1A team, but Dodd City was ranked among the top 10 in the state in its classification.
The Indians did not beat up on the smaller school as it was the Hornets that carried a 10 point lead into the fourth quarter.
Nocona came back and dominated the final period, but only pulled ahead at the buzzer when Charlie Fuller, who scored a team high and season high 21 points, made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. The Indians won 51-48 to pull off the comeback.
The championship game would be against another 1A team, but again it was not just any 1A team. Graford is the two-time defending state champion and features a tall and physical lineup not usually seen in 1A.
The first quarter was close, but Nocona had trouble scoring the final three quarters as the team failed to break double-digits. The Indians defense made sure the Rabbits had trouble as well, but Nocona was playing catchup for the whole game and was not gaining any ground.
In the end, Graford won the low-scoring game 38-27.

Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns faced some tough competition at their second tournament of the season last week at Chico.
The Longhorns went 2-2 overall playing against mostly bigger schools.
Forestburg first got matched up against tournament host Dragons and blew them out of the water. The Longhorns won 58-19 in their easiest game of the tournament.
Forestburg then went to play arguably the toughest game of the tournament against Windthorst. The Trojans won 64-34 against a Longhorn team that was overwhelmed.
The next game against private school Victory Christian was not much better. The Patriots won 46-27 against Forestburg.
The Longhorns ended the tournament against Valley View and played their most competitive game during the two days. It was close, but in the end Forestburg came out on top 45-37.

Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Bears got their first big test by playing in their first tournament at Saint Jo last week.
The Bears had a rough go of it playing against mostly bigger schools and went 1-4 overall, but ended with a big win.
Gold-Burg had a tough beginning to the tournament.
The Bears first played a good 2A Muenster team and lost 60-25. It was a similar story against private school Sacred Heart that won 75-42.
The game against 2A Lindsay was not as bad 49-31 as the team was starting to limit turnovers a bit more by playing more under control.
Gold-Burg would lose a close game to Texoma Christian 53-49 to then play a future district opponent.
Tournament host Saint Jo has dominated Gold-Burg during the two’s history, with the Bears winning only three games against the Panthers ever. The last time was in 2019 when Gold-Burg’s Tanner Parrish scored 57 points to help the Bears pull the upset.
On Saturday, it was the experience of the Gold-Burg’s team, which was playing better every game in the tournament, versus a still young Saint Jo team.
The Bears won the surprisingly one-sided game 45-27 to end their tournament on a great note.
Jayon Grace was named to the all-tournament team and Coach Christian Healer thought his team showed big improvement.

Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Bulldogs struggled at their second tournament of the season at Chico last week.
The young Bulldogs went 0-4 during the two days while also playing several bigger schools.
Prairie Valley first was paired with the similarly sized Electra to start the tournament. The Tigers won the one-sided game 51-19 against the Bulldogs.
Things did not get easier against private school Victory Christian. The Patriots won 54-23 to end the first day.
The beginning of day two was only a little better. Playing a tough 2A Windthorst program, Prairie Valley hung with the Trojans a bit more than it had in its previous two games. The game still was not close, but Windthorst won 52-34 as the Bulldogs scored the most points they would at the tournament.
It was not Prairie Valley’s best game though. That would be the Bulldogs final game against 1A Bryson. It was a back-and-forth, close and low-scoring match. In end the Cowboys won by one basket 31-28.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles had a positive first tournament at City View last week.
The Eagles went 3-1 overall during the two days of tournament play.
Bellevue first played the similarly sized Grandfield team from Oklahoma to start the tournament. The Eagles won by more than 20 points 57-36.
Bellevue was then presented with a tougher challenge playing 4A Hirschi. The Huskies won by double-digits, but the Eagles kept the margin respectable, losing 48-33.
Bellevue bounced back against 2A Olney. The Eagles won by a good margin against the Cubs 60-46 to start the second day of right.
Bellevue then ended the tournament on a great note by beating 2A Vernon. It was the closest game of the tournament for the Eagles, but Bellevue still won by double-digits as it won 51-40.

Missing scores
Missing scores from Saint Jo’s coach.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.