SPORTS
Bowie boys fall to Jacksboro
The Bowie Jackrabbits dropped their third straight game on senior night Friday against Jacksboro.
The Tigers won 54-44 against the Jackrabbits as they just played better than Bowie all of the night.
The Jackrabbits were coming off a disappointing loss on the road at Iowa Park, a team Bowie narrowly beat in the first round of district play and also needs to hold off for the fourth spot in district.
Jacksboro was a spot back of the Hawks even, with one win in district. Still, the Jackrabbits knew it would be tough as Bowie only escaped with a 38-35 win the first time the two teams played earlier in January.
The Jackrabbits had prepared for a new look defenses were throwing at them, with teams trying to shadow and deny the ball to Bowie’s leading scorer Andrew Sandhoff. The Tigers also threw a press defense at the Jackrabbits, but Bowie was not bothered early on.
Still, the team was having trouble scoring out of the gate as the flow of the offense was disrupted and other shots were tough.
Rayder Mann made a couple of 3-pointers, but it was not enough to keep up with Jacksboro.
The Tigers offense came out playing great. While Bowie paid plenty of attention to the Tiger’s big post player, it was a team effort as Jacksboro had all five of its starters making at least one basket against the Jackrabbits zone defense. The Tigers also created second and third chances with their offensive rebounding early on.
Jacksboro led 18-8 after the first quarter.
Even with Bowie changing defenses to man-to-man, it did not make things easier. The Tigers were running several actions off of screens that made things tough.
The Jackrabbits were still struggling to find consistent ways to score. The team made two 3-pointers in the second quarter, but could not find ways to attack the paint more often against Jacksboro’s front line.
Bowie trailed 31-19 at halftime.
The Jackrabbits had to try something drastic to try and get back into the game. Bowie started employing a full-court press so it could maybe get some transition opportunities going from its defense.
It worked in a sense as the Jackrabbits found ways to attack the paint and not just drive and kick for 3-point shots.
Unfortunately, it was a double-edged sword as Jacksboro broke through the press several times and could equal a score with a quick basket of its own.
The Tigers lead grew and they led 48-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bowie’s defensive intensity grew down so much and the team was able to convert some turnovers into transition baskets as the Jackrabbits scored the most points in any other quarter.
Unfortunately, it would not have been enough even if Bowie had shut out Jacksboro in the final period. The Tigers from the start slowed their pace down and was trying to run clock to limit the amount of time the Jackrabbits had to come back.
Despite holding Jacksboro to only one basket and six points as the Tigers went only 4-12 from the free throw line, Bowie ran out of time.
Jacksboro won 54-44.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week 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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