SPORTS
Lady Indians win 79-23
The Nocona Lady Indians started off the second round of district play with another one-sided win, this time at home against Petrolia.
The Lady Indians won 79-23 against the Lady Pirates, keeping up their ruthless streak of dominating all comers in district.
Nocona had breezed through the first round, beating the five other teams by an average margin of 51 points.
A young Petrolia team, which had suffered one of the worst beatings the first time around losing 77-10, was coming into the game on a two-game win streak and hoping to grab the final playoff seed in the district.
The good times were over at Nocona on Tuesday and the Lady Pirates had to try and survive their beating at the hands of the Lady Indians one more time.
Nocona jumped out early in the first quarter, using full-court pressure defense and trapping to create chances for his team in transition thanks to active hands and jumping passing lanes.
The Lady Indians led 29-4 after the first quarter and thankfully Coach Kyle Spitzer dialed back the defense from pressing.
Defenders were still aggressively playing man-to-man once any ball handler crossed half court and were looking for steal chances, but Petrolia had at least a chance of setting up its offense in the half court.
It mostly affected Nocona’s offense as the team took a noticeable step back in the second quarter while scoring 14 points, but the lead kept on growing thanks to the defense still getting stops.
The Lady Indians offense came alive to start the second half, hitting more open shots than they had in the second quarter and executing better as they scored 24 points.
Nocona then cooled off in the fourth quarter with the pace slowed down and the team able to pour it on for only so much with the lead already being as high as it was.
The Lady Indians won 79-23.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend 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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