The Bowie Jackrabbits started off district play with an exciting overtime win against Iowa Park at home on Tuesday night.
The Jackrabbits won 49-47 thanks to a last second layup from Tucker Jones.
Bowie was coming into the game after playing some close games the previous week against Whitesboro and Alvord, losing one and winning the other.
The Jackrabbits came out swinging, making two 3-pointers against the Hawks 2-3 zone and leading 8-2 after the first two minutes.
Iowa Park settled down and the aggressive long arms of its players on the perimeter disrupted Bowie’s half-court sets and the Jackrabbits could not get easy looks to score for the rest of the quarter.
The Hawks were looking to drive to the basket and shoot shots 10 feet or closer. Neither team has traditionally tall post players on offense or defense, meaning Iowa Park could finish against the lack of rim protection if a player shook his defender enough after receiving a weaving handoff.
The Hawks led 12-8 after the first quarter as the Jackrabbits just could not score.
Bowie switched to a 3-2 zone defense to change it up, but Iowa Park hunted and made corner 3-pointers that were open in the configuration. Also, the zone seemed to allow the Hawks to fly in for offensive rebounds as they seemed to gather second and third chances through hustle plays.
The Jackrabbit offense was still struggling to score in the half court setting and trailed 20-14 with less than two minutes to go before halftime. Bowie then got two quick baskets in transition following a time out, one off a turnover and the other by just pushing the ball, cutting the deficit down to 20-18 at halftime.
The Jackrabbits success in pushing the ball late was then doubled-down on for the second half and Bowie started to grab control. Even if it wasn’t off of a defensive turnover, the Jackrabbits started to find easier shots by pushing the ball thanks to the Hawks committing so hard to getting offensive rebounds.
Bowie scored a game high 14 points in the third quarter, with Andrew Sandhoff scoring eight of his team’s points. The Jackrabbits led 32-27 after the third quarter and were in full control.
The defense stepped up even more in the fourth, allowing only two points until the last two minutes of regulation, which allowed Bowie to put the brakes on its offense and run clock up 35-29.
Following a timeout, the Hawks came out with a ferocious full-court press which the Jackrabbits did not seem ready to handle at all.
Iowa Park forced several turnovers which allowed the team to score fast and the Hawks somehow took the lead 36-35 with 42 seconds left.
Bowie worked the time down until Sandhoff shot an open 3-pointer from the right center area that put the Jackrabbits up 38-36 with 13 seconds left.
Iowa Park missed its shot and Bowie secured the rebound with four seconds left as the Hawks committed a foul.
Iowa Park would need to foul three more times to get into the bonus where it could then send the Jackrabbits to the free throw line in the hopes of getting the ball back, but there was little time for that.
After another foul from the Hawks which whittled the time down to three seconds, the next inbounds play saw Bowie take a time out. An Iowa Park player went down for a little bit right before, but no foul call was made.
When play was resumed, the player went down again and an offensive foul was called on the Jackrabbits which not only turned the ball over, but gave the Hawks the ball right under Bowie’s basket.
Iowa Park capitalized and scored on a quick hitting out of bounds play at the rim that tied the game up at 38-38 and sent it to overtime.
The Jackrabbits were able to shake off the bad final minutes of regulation and came out running again at the start of the extra period. Bowie was one basket up and in control again 46-44 with a minute left to play.
The Hawks then made a clutch 3-pointer, only the second one the team had made all game, to go up 47-46 with 30 seconds left.
Jackrabbit Coach Ryan Dykes then called a time out with 17 seconds left to draw up a play.
Bowie players almost lost the ball twice during the possession, but then Boston Farris found Tucker Jones in the post, who seeled off his defender with a spin move on the catch and scored while getting fouled with three seconds left.
Jones made the free throw to put Bowie up 49-47. Iowa Park would then throw the ball away while trying to throw it down the court on the inbounds play and the Jackrabbits hung on to win.

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