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Jackrabbits lose to Holliday 58-43

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Braden Rhyne finishes through Holliday’s Keitenn Bristow on this cut to the basket for Bowie on Friday night.

The Bowie Jackrabbits closed the first round of district play with a loss against Holliday on Friday night.
The Eagles won 58-43 against the Jackrabbits as Bowie struggled to play against the much bigger and longer Holliday team.
The Jackrabbits came into the game believing they had what it took to pull an upset against the only undefeated team in district. Bowie the previous week had beaten a more athletic and arguably talented Vernon team.
Three of the team’s four district wins had been won by one basket or less so the team was not scared of close games.
While the Jackrabbits had faced teams with freak athletes who were good players the previous two games against City View and Vernon, Holliday had the best one in the Wichita Falls area.
Keitenn Bristow is listed at 6 feet and 8 inches tall. He is skinny, but is not a weak, awkward stick as he plays more like a wing and guard despite his height. His athleticism and skill level are that of a Division I recruit and he came into the game averaging 26 points while shooting very efficient 60% from the field and 48% from 3-point range while grabbing nine rebounds.
Both teams played a 2-3 zone defense, but played it very different. The Jackrabbits were trying to clog the paint, worried about Holliday’s height advantage not just from Bristow, but else ware on the team’s front line as well and not too scared of the team’s perimeter shooting outside of Bristow.
The Eagles 2-3 defense was much more aggressive towards the perimeter, not trying to give Bowie too much room to shoot open 3-pointers which is the team’s leading scorer Andrew Sandhoff’s specialty.
Holliday defenders were aggressive coming out and with Bristow in the middle near the rim, it made trying to attack the rim an intimidating possibility.
Bowie decided to attack in the open space near the free throw line with Brady Lawhorn trying to draw defenders in before he used his vision to pass the ball to an open teammate.
What the Jackrabbits found was the open play was a pass to a player cutting to the basket by the baseline. Normally it would be a no-brainer proposition, but even with Bristow recovering late, his length and athleticism meant he could still block or affect the shot.
Still, Tucker Jones and later Braden Rhyne were able to score three baskets this way in the first quarter to keep the game close. With the defense still bothering Holliday a little bit, the Eagles led only 10-6 after the first quarter.
Bowie found other ways to score in the second quarter. The team found enough space to knock in two 3-pointers despite being hesitant to continue to attack the paint, especially from guards driving into the lane.
Lawhorn scored on a couple of floaters and Rhyne scored once more right over Bristow.
Unfortunately, Holliday was starting to figure out the Jackrabbits zone defense. From the beginning, the Eagles were having great success crashing the offensive glass with not just Bristow, but their whole front line.
The Eagles had some sequences where they just carved up Bowie’s defense with well-placed passes. With the team always more willing to give extra help on Bristow on or off the ball, there were some open shots Holliday made the Jackrabbits pay for.
The Eagles led 27-18 heading into halftime.
Bowie came out in the third quarter trying to claw its way back in. The offense continued what it was doing in the second quarter, finding a couple of 3-pointers while learning not to challenge Bristow at the rim anymore as the blocks started to add up.
The Jackrabbits cut it to five points midway through the quarter down 32-27 and hoped they could close the distance even more. Unfortunately, Holliday had an answer as the team went on a 9-2 run to end the third quarter.
The Eagles led by double-digits 41-29 heading into the fourth quarter.
It looked like early on Holliday was going to slow down the pace by holding the ball a little bit, so Bowie made sure to not let the Eagles do that.
The Jackrabbits changed to a man-to-man defense with switching principals and used pretty aggressive pressure to make sure Holliday could not just dribble near half court freely.
Unfortunately, this opened up more holes in Bowie’s defense than had been all game. The Jackrabbits had to foul on shots near the rim and the Eagles made 8-9 free throws and scored 17 points in the quarter as they pulled away.
Even with Bowie’s offense having its best run of the game, with six different players making at least one basket and the team making two 3-pointers, it was not enough to keep pace or try and come back.
Holliday won 58-43.

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

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Baseball Roundup

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With wins against Era last week, Nocona earned its second straight playoff appearance with a week left to play. (Courtesy photo)

Nocona
The Nocona Indians picked up wins against Era last week to secure their second straight playoff appearance with one more game to play.
The Indians beat the Hornets 12-5 and by run-rule 10-0 after four and half innings.
Nocona was coming off of a tough series against Muenster, losing both games, playing well in one but not the other.
The Indians knew they had a good chance to beat Era if they played up to their potential and they showed it from the first inning in game one.
Nocona rallied off seven runs in the first inning before the Hornets had even bat to put itself in a good situation to possibly end the game early.
The only downside was the Indians were not able to offensively keep up the pressure. Nocona added one run in the seventh inning, two in the sixth and two more in the seventh inning.
Era scored four of its five runs in the final inning to put a bit of a sour note on an Indians win that could have finished stronger as Nocona won 12-5.
Miller Jentry led the team with four RBIs while Walker Murphey and Jayce Lehde each drove in two runs. The team had 16 total hits and drew five walks.
On the mound, RJ Walker pitched three innings and allowed no runs on two hits while striking out seven. The defense committed three fielding errors.
While letting the Hornets off the hook in the first game, Nocona made up for it in game two.
The Indians scored seven runs in one inning again, this time it coming in the second inning. Nocona added three runs the next two innings and shut out Era to secure the win by run-rule after four and half innings. The Indians won 10-0.
Brody Langford and Murphey each drove in two runs each to lead the team. Nocona finished with 10 hits, with four going for extra base hits while Era committed three fielding errors.
On the mound, Walker pitched all five innings and allowed no runs on two hits while striking out eight and walking two. The defense committed two fielding errors.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost a tough game at Perrin-Whitt last week, with most of the damage coming in the sixth and final inning.
The Pirates scored eight runs in the sixth inning to win the game one inning early due to run-rule 16-6.
The Panthers were coming off an uplifting win against Bellevue that saw them come back several times the previous week on the road. Saint Jo had played Perrin-Whitt in late March and had lost both games in close fashion so the Panthers hoped this time would be a different outcome for them.
The Pirates scored four runs in the first two innings before Saint Jo answered with three runs scored in the third inning. Perrin-Whitt added one run in the same inning and three in the fourth inning.
The Panthers cut the lead down to two runs after scoring three more runs in the fifth inning, making the score 8-6 heading into the sixth inning.
Unfortunately, Saint Jo had an inning from hell, allowing eight runs on five singles, a triple, two walks and a hit batter. The final run scored ended the game early.
Perrin-Whitt won 16-6.
Charlie Barclay led the team with two RBIs while Devin Stewart, Trent Gaston, Charlie Evans and Rylan Forrester each drove in one run. Saint Jo finished with eight hits and drew seven walks.
Unfortunately, the Panthers gave up 12 hits and walked seven batters while committing two fielding errors.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles only played one game last week due to weather concerns later in the week and lost to Perrin-Whitt.
The Pirates won 15-0 after four innings, winning by run-rule in a game the Eagles hopes to forget.
Bellevue had one from Brycen Bancroft and River Trail drew the only walk in a game where not much went right. Eight fielding errors from the Eagles, eight walks issues and six hits added up really fast.

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

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Jackrabbits go 1-1 against Holliday

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Catcher Hayden Rodriguez shows the umpire he has the ball after tagging a runner out at home plate.

Bowie baseball went 1-1 last week against a Holliday program that is usually among the top in the district until this season.
The Jackrabbits won the first game 2-1, but lost two days later a frustrating game 10-7,
Bowie was coming off a series sweep against City View the team hoped would kickoff a string of wins to finish the regular season and get into the playoffs after losing the first three series of district play.
The Jackrabbits hosted the first game of the series last week and it proved to be a low-scoring pitchers duel.
Through five innings neither team scored any runs and hits were hard to come by for both teams. In the top of the sixth inning, Holliday got two runners on base with an error at second base and an intentional walk with two outs. Unfortunately, two wild pitches allowed a run to score for the Eagles to take the first lead of the game 1-0.
It went to the bottom of the seventh inning with Bowie down to its last three outs. The Jackrabbits led off with a walk as the team finished with seven walks in the game. Then Trae Seigler hit a single to put two runners on with no outs.
Lead base runner Edmond De Leon stole third base. An error on the throw allowed him to then proceed home to tie the game and for the next base runner to reach second base. Caden Belcher then laid down a sacrifice bunt. The throw was too high for the first basemen which allowed the baserunner, Braden Rhyne, to run home for the winning run on the fielding error.
Bowie won 2-1.
The Jackrabbits had only two hits in the game from Seigler and Belcher while drawing seven walks. Holliday’s two fielding errors both came in the seventh inning to help Bowie come from behind.
On the mound, Siegler pitched all seven innings, allowing one run (zero earned) on four hits while striking out nine and walking two. The defense committed two fielding errors.
The Jackrabbits knew they could win now, but the second game was far from the pitching duel of the first game.
The first two innings were scoreless when Bowie broke the tie in the third inning. Boston Farris hit an two-run inside the park home run to give the Jackrabbits a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, the goodwill from that play would be sucked out the next inning.
Holliday answered with five runs on two doubles, two singles and three walks while Bowie made two pitching changes in the inning while arguing about the strike zone.
The Jackrabbits cut the lead to one run after scoring two runs in the fourth inning. Belcher scored on the basepaths thanks to an error trying to pick off a runner. Hunter Rodriguez then hit a sacrifice fly ball to drive in another run to cut the lead to 5-4.
The Eagles answered in the same inning, drawing four walks to score one run to make it 6-4 heading into the fifth inning.
Holliday had another big offensive inning, scoring four runs on a double, two singles a walk and a hit batter to go up 10-4.
It stayed that way until the seventh inning where Bowie had to try and make another miracle happen. The Jackrabbits showed life, putting two runners in scoring position with two outs. Seigler then hit a two RBI triple. Two batters later, Austin Cheney hit a groundball to the shortstop that resulted in an error that allowed another run to come through and for the inning to keep going.
After another walk, Bowie had loaded the bases up and were now a big hit away from possibly tying up the game. Unfortunately, the next batter struck out looking, ending the game on sour note since many Jackrabbit fans had been complaining about the strike zone all night.
Holliday won 10-7.
Farris and Seigler led the team with two RBIs each with Farris hitting a home run and Seigler a triple. Bowie finished two six hits and drew eight walks.
On the mound, the Jackrabbits pitched four different players who combined for nine walks and one hit batter while giving up nine of the 10 runs in the game. The defense committed two fielding errors.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the second game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6874530&T=1

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Lady Rabbit season ends in heartbreak

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Catcher Chloe Kinney tagged out a runner at home plate and shows she held on to the ball in her glove.

The Bowie Lady Rabbits fell one game short of making the playoffs on Thursday night at Holliday.
The Lady Eagles three home runs proved to be too much to overcome as they won 11-6 to earn the district’s final playoff spot ahead of the Lady Rabbits.
Bowie came into the game with everything on the line and the confidence it could do it. After sweeping City View the previous week, the Lady Rabbits then beat a Holliday program it last won against in 2017 earlier in the week 8-4 to set up basically a one-game playoff between the teams. Whichever team won game two of the series on Thursday would earn the district’s fourth and final playoff spot.
The Lady Rabbits got on the board first in the opening inning. With two runners on base, KP Rutherford smashed a double to drive in one run and give Bowie a 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately, Holliday hit back hard in the bottom of the first inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, the Lady Eagles hit a grand slam to take the lead. Two batters later, an error at third base allowed another run to score as Holliday led 5-1.
The Lady Eagles added to it in the second inning. A fielder’s choice out with two runners on base allowed one run to score. Then the next batter hit a two-run home run as Holliday’s lead grew to 8-1heading into the third inning.
Bowie threatened, loading the bases with no outs in the third inning, but could not get runners home. Holliday then loaded the bases with one out and looked to add to its lead, but the Lady Rabbits showed some life, retiring the next two batters to get out of the tight jam with no runs allowed.
In the fourth inning, Bowie had Chloe Kinney come through, driving in a run with a single to cut the lead to 8-2. The Lady Eagles got the run back in the same inning with a solo home run, making the score 9-2.
The Lady Rabbits doubled their run total in the fifth inning. With two runners on base, Carcyn Moore grounded out but drove in a run.
Next batter Victoria Watson hit a single to drive in another runner, cutting the lead to 9-4. Bowie then followed with a quick one-two-three inning, retiring three batters on only six pitches as it looked like it had some momentum heading into the sixth inning.
It carried over with Rutherford blasting a two-run home run over the fence to cut the lead further down to 9-6 as it looked like the Lady Rabbits might be able to make a late run at tying or even winning the game.
Unfortunately, Holliday was able to get those two runs back in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two outs, an error at shortstop allowed one run to score and a single drove in another as the Lady Eagles led 11-6 heading into the final inning.
Bowie would need a huge and clutch offensive inning in its final three outs, but unfortunately could not get anything going.
All three batters were retired and the season ended for the Lady Rabbits.
Rutherford led the team with three RBIs, hitting a double and two-run home run.
The team finished with 12 hits, but just not enough were timely enough to get more runs home in a game where they needed it after Holliday hit three home runs. Bowie’s defense committed three fielding errors.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6874529&T=1

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