SPORTS
Lady Panthers win area round playoff game against Avinger
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers won their area playoff game on Friday night against Avinger to keep their season alive for one more game.
The Lady Panthers easily took care of the Lady Indians 54-21, overwhelming the undermanned Avinger team as the game went along.
Saint Jo came into the game with a lot of momentum after beating Perrin-Whitt earlier in the week in the bi-district playoff game with little trouble.
The biggest thing coming into the game against the Lady Indians was how much was unknown. Coach Daniel Lindenborn was able to find only a little bit of film of his opponent during the two days of preparation and some were out of date.
It was only when the team showed up did the Lady Panthers see that not only was Avinger down one key player they had seen on film, but had only five players total.
Saint Jo knew from the film it would have to contain one explosively athletic player and another guard who could shoot 3-pointers well.
The fact the Lady Indians had several tall players also meant Saint Jo was outsized by average as well and made driving to the basket tough at times.
Still, the Lady Panthers had the exact style of play that is tough for a team with no substitutions.
Saint Jo plays a physical full-court press defense as its base and early on was having success creating turnovers in the backcourt for some transition offense opportunities.
It took a little bit for the Lady Panthers to start capitalizing on these chances, but were leading 14-4 after six minutes.
Avinger came back in the final two minutes, knocking in two 3-pointers and cutting the lead to 14-12 heading into the second quarter.
However that would be the most energetic the Lady Indians were in the game as scoring became tougher in the final three quarters against Saint Jo’s constant pressure.
The Lady Panthers scored enough while limiting Avinger to only five points to extend their lead to 25-17 at halftime.
The third quarter saw Saint Jo break the game open with its most successful offensive run in the game.
The Lady Panthers made three 3-pointers and had five players make at least one basket as they scored 18 points.
This seemed to demoralize the Lady Indians energy, which was already lacking due to fatigue as they scored only four points in response.
Saint Jo was in control up 43-21 heading into the final period. Not needing to do much with Avinger players throwing up desperate shots and a big lead in hand, the Lady Panthers coasted in the fourth quarter while giving up no points on defense.
Saint Jo won 54-21.
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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