SPORTS
Basketball Roundup
Nocona
Both Nocona teams definitively wrapped up district titles for the second straight year at Olney on Tuesday night.
The Lady Indians won unthinkably by the score of 73-2 while the Indians won 54-30.
The Nocona girls had already wrapped up the district title no matter if it lost on Tuesday. Still, the Lady Indians wanted to keep playing well with playoffs on the horizon.
While already winning in dominant fashion in every district game, including holding the Lady Cubs to single-digits the first game, Nocona took it one step closer.
Through three quarters Olney had not scored a point. The Lady Cubs had two free throw attempts in the fourth quarter, but missed both.
With the final seconds ticking away, Olney avoided the shut out on its final possession of the game where it made one basket.
Nocona won 73-2.
The Lady Indians start their playoff journey at 8 p.m. on Feb. 12 at Mineral Wells against Anson.
The Nocona Indians knew a win at sixth place Olney should not be too much trouble, though they wanted to avoid any on-court dust ups like the first game.
The Indians limited the Cubs to only 10 points in the first half while scoring well and leading 29-10.
Olney bounced back in the third quarter, more than doubling its first half total and outscoring Nocona, though only by three points.
The Indians took care of the ball better in the fourth quarter and picked up their energy again to finish well in the final period. Nocona outscored the Cubs 14-6 as it won 54-30.
Saint Jo vs Prairie Valley girls
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers wrapped up their regular season with a win at Prairie Valley on Tuesday night.
The Lady Panthers won 68-27 against the Lady Bulldogs.
Saint Jo had guaranteed a district title its previous game against Forestburg. For Prairie Valley, it was the last game no matter the outcome.
The swarming Lady Panther press defense was everywhere against the young and low depth Lady Bulldogs.
Saint Jo executed like it wanted to in almost every way, working the ball inside against Prairie Valley’s zone instead of just settling for 3-pointers and scoring more efficiently than average.
The Lady Panthers were able to get a lot of younger players some varsity time in the second half and Coach Daniel Lindenborn thought they did a great job.
For the Lady Bulldogs, Linzie Priddy led the team with 14 points. Senior Makaylee Gomez, in her last game, scored nine points. Natalee Young grabbed a team high nine rebounds.
Saint Jo vs Prairie Valley boys
The Saint Jo Panthers beat Prairie Valley on the road Tuesday night to stay in third place in the district standings.
The Panthers won 61-43 against the Bulldogs.
Saint Jo was coming off a disappointing loss to second place Forestburg, but bounced back.
It was a high-scoring first quarter as Prairie Valley scored 19 points. The Panthers full-court press picked up the intensity and it limited the Bulldogs for the rest of the game to only single-digit point totals in the final three quarters.
Saint Jo slowly started to pull way, especially in the second half as it won.
Missing scores
The Forestburg teams had a bye-game.
The Gold-Burg girls team had to cancel its season for having too few players. The Bellevue Lady Eagles were scheduled to play them on Tuesday.
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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