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Boys Roundup
Nocona
The Nocona Indians got one more tough non-district challenge playing an Australian team at home on Saturday.
The Bendigo Braves won a close fought game 52-47 against the Indians who were without one starter.
Nocona has competed well in its challenging non-district schedule despite some glaring holes the team has lived with, as the Indians are ranked 14th in 2A in the recent Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.
Nocona is short overall and struggles to rebound, which came back to bite them against a Bendigo team where every player’s height was estimated to be at six feet or taller.
The Braves held a narrow 22-21 lead at halftime, but extended their lead more in the third quarter, outscoring the Indians 14-9 and taking a 36-30 lead into the fourth quarter.
Nocona outscored Bendigo and even took the lead 47-44 with 1:27 left in the game and was looking to close to stealing it in the end.
Unfortunately, the Braves closed the game on an 8-0 run to win the game 52-47, giving the Indians a painful lesson heading into district play.
Javier Gaytan led the team with 15 points while Brady McCasland was second with 12 points. Johnny Stone and Karson Kleinhans both had a game high four rebounds along with McCasland. Charlie Fuller and McCasland also dished out three assists each.
Gold-Burg vs Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns came back from double-digits to win in the fourth quarter at Gold-Burg on Friday night.
The Longhorns won 61-58 as both teams were searching for their first district wins.
Forestburg had lost games to Slidell and Midway in performances the team was not happy with since it is aiming for a playoff berth.
The Bears were coming off a disappointing performance at Saint Jo earlier in the week in which nothing seemed to go right as Gold-Burg hopes its experience can help it challenge for the playoffs as well.
Both teams started the game off shooting well and scoring at a high volume, with the Longhorns getting several second chance opportunities and getting a lead 21-15 after the first quarter.
The Bears sharpened up on defense as their press slowed down Forestburg in the second quarter while continuing to create chances to score in transition on offense.
Gold-Burg made up the deficit and led by one point 29-28 at halftime.
Things continued to go the Bears way in the third quarter. Gold-Burg made four 3-pointers and scored 20 points to up its lead to double-digits 49-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
Forestburg made some defensive adjustments, mainly switching to man-to-man which seemed to do the job as the Bears ball movement seemed to struggle at that point in the game.
This allowed the Longhorns the opportunity to come back thanks to a huge offensive surge. Their three leading scorers all contributed to the balanced scoring attack as Forestburg poured in 22 points.
It proved just enough to pull ahead and win 61-58.
Jesus Sanchez led all scorers with 25 points while making four 3-pointers for the Longhorns. Kyler Willett added 17 points in the paint while Jesse Wadsworth scored 11 points.
For Gold-Burg, Jayon Grace led the team with 23 points while Keelyn Case added 11 and Aidan Foster scored 10 points.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles let the game get away from them in the second half at Slidell on Friday night.
The Greyhounds pulled away to win 83-46, despite the Eagles hanging close in the first half.
Bellevue came into the game with an opening district win against Prairie Valley back before the holiday break. After a holiday tournament and a non-district warm-up game, the Eagles had no excuse of still being rusty.
In the first half it was a close game as Bellevue was playing with the defending district champs. Slidell led only 38-31 heading into halftime and the Eagles felt like the game was still within reach.
Unfortunately, the Greyhounds came out in the second half and pounced on some Bellevue mistakes thanks to upping their pressure defense. A bad third quarter where the Eagles were outscored 25-4 seemed to seal the game.
Bellevue played better in the fourth quarter, but not enough to make up any ground as Slidell won 83-46.
Missing scores
The Saint Jo coach answered some details about the Panthers non-district game against Petrolia on Friday, but did not provide the final score or any player statistics.
“We played a solid first half and came out after the break and got a little sloppy,” Coach Ryan Bruce said. “We had several defensive breakdowns and missed assignments which led to extra possessions and second chance points. Our lack of rebounding the basketball is what got us beat.”
The News also never received sent scores from Prairie Valley’s coach about the team’s district game against Midway on Friday.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians picked up dominant wins against Chico in their series against the Dragons last week.
The Indians won both games 11-0 by run-rule after five innings to get their first district wins of the season.
Nocona was coming off losing both games against Lindsay the previous week in its first district series and bounced back in a big way.
In the first game at home last week, the Indians scored six runs in the first inning and five in the third inning which proved to be all the offense they needed.
Kutter Cabrera led the team with three RBIs while Miller Jentry was second with two RBIs. The team finished with nine hits and drew eight walks.
On the mound, Walker Murphey pitched a shut out while striking out seven and allowing three hits. Defensively, the team committed one fielding error.
The second game saw Nocona score all of its runs in the first three innings, highlighted by scoring six runs in the second inning.
Murphey hit a three-run home run to lead the team while Brody Langford and Landon Fatheree each had two RBIs.
On the mound RJ Walker had a big day, throwing a perfect four innings which means he did not allow a hit or walk anyone. He also struck out eight batters, which put him over 100 career strikeouts in high school. The defense committed no fielding errors.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost their series against Bryson last week.
The first game was a close 3-0 loss, but the second game was 11-0, done after four and half innings due to run-rule.
The Panthers were coming off close losses to Perrin-Whitt from the previous week. They were hoping they could turn their fortune around playing another 1A program.
Unfortunately in the first game, the Cowboys got off to a good start, scoring three runs in the first inning, with two coming with two outs due to an error and a dropped third strike.
Saint Jo’s pitching and defense tightened up after that to not allow another run in the final six innings. Unfortunately, the Panthers had only two hits and four base runners all game as they lost the close game 3-0.
Charlie Evans and Rylan Forrest had the only two hits for Saint Jo in the game as the team struck out 18 times. Trent Gaston ended the game allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out five batters and walking two in six innings of work. The defense committed five fielding errors.
Unfortunately, things did not go as well several days later in game two. Bryson scored three runs in both the first and second innings before scoring five runs in the third inning. Saint Jo was not able to get a hit and drew two walks in the game.
The Panther defense committed six fielding errors which led to only three of the 11 runs given up were earned by the pitching staff who gave up five hits, walked six and hit four batters.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles played Perrin-Whitt last week in a series.
The Pirates won the first game 11-1 by run-rule and the second game score was not updated on Game Changer.
The Eagles were coming off one-sided losses to Bryson the previous week in their first district series and was hoping to play better.
Bellevue did get out to an early lead in the first inning. River Trail hit an RBI single in the top of the first inning to go up 1-0, which proved to be the highlight of the game.
Perrin-Whitt scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second inning, two in the fourth inning and five in the fifth inning to win 11-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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