SPORTS
Lady Horns end season to Graford
The Forestburg Lady Horns return to the playoffs for the first time since 2018 was short-lived as they fell to a giant Graford team on Tuesday.
The Lady Horns lost 70-30 in a game where despite the score getting away from them early on they never stopped battling or enraging their opponents with their effort.
Forestburg came into the bi-district playoff game with the higher seed after finishing second in the district. The Lady Rabbits were a third seed, but not your normal third seed.
In a district with second ranked Newcastle on top and 14th ranked Throckmorton to battle for second place, state-ranked Graford were the favorites.
Featuring a huge and experienced backline, it overwhelmed the mostly younger Lady Horn team.
Midway through the first quarter Forestburg was competing well with the score tied at 5-5.
Only two minutes later, Graford started to flex its strengths and went on a 9-0 run to lead 14-5. The Lady Rabbits kept the run going until the end of the quarter, up 20-5 heading into the second quarter.
The Lady Horns were trying to press to keep up their energy, but Graford was quick to pass over the top and try to attack the back end before help could recover.
Even off of just defensive rebounds, the Lady Rabbits were looking to push the ball and run to get baskets in transition, taking advantage of Forestburg players trying to chase offensive rebounds.
The lead continued to grow as the game went along, though the Lady Horns never stopped coming. Despite getting blocked at the rim on some drives, Forestburg players started to try and use their bodies to draw fouls against the bigger foes and get free throw attempts.
It was not a constant parade to the free throw line, but it was enough to enrage Graford fans and annoy the players as the Lady Horns continued to rough it up like it was a two-point game.
The Lady Rabbits won 70-30.
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.
-
NEWS1 year ago2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona
-
NEWS6 months agoSuspect indicted, jailed in Tia Hutson murder
-
NEWS1 year agoSO investigating possible murder/suicide
-
NEWS1 year agoWreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16
-
NEWS10 months agoMurder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry, frustrated with no arrest
-
NEWS1 year ago
Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death
-
NEWS1 year agoBowie Police face three-hour standoff after possible domestic fight
-
NEWS1 year ago
Driver stopped by a man running into the street, robbed at knifepoint