All 16 area athletes got the chance to play in the 87th Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl Classic on Friday and Saturday.
For the vast majority of the athletes it was not only the last time to represent their school weeks after graduation, it also was the last time many will play organized sports.
The basketball games started the weekend off Friday night. In the girl’s game, Nocona’s Skyler Smith and Bellevue’s Cirstin Allen played for the east team. The west team had Bowie’s Ziba Robbins and Prairie Valley’s Makaylee Gomez.
The west’s overall depth led to the team prevailing 73-56 as Robbins scored 13 points while Gomez scored five points. Smith finished with 14 points while Allen scored three points.
For Smith and Robbins, it was only the final high school game for each. Both are signed to play basketball in college, with Smith playing at East Texas Baptist University and Robbins at local Midwestern State University.
For Gomez and Allen, representing their schools one last time and proving they belong in a game with the area’s best players despite being from a 1A school was a good experience for both.
The boy’s game saw the two area’s players on the same east team. Nocona’s Javier Gaytan and Prairie Valley’s Tyson Easterling got some run in their final high school game.
The west won the high scoring shootout 91-70. Gaytan finished with 11 points while Easterling scored two points. Despite being on the losing end, both had fun one last time playing with the area’s best.
On Saturday, there were two volleyball games. The first game saw players from schools that were 2A and smaller play in a game while the second was for players from schools 3A and bigger. Nocona Coach Kara Lucherk coached east team in both games.
In the first game, Prairie Valley’s Kasi Phillips and Gold-Burg’s Jimena Garcia played for the west team. Bren Fenoglio from Nocona played for her old coach on the east team.
The west team easily won in straight sets as all three players expressed both sadness it was over and that they had fun.
The big school volleyball game was more of the same though it was the east team that won that game. Bowie’s Olivia Gill was sad in the outcome with her being on the west team, but was happy to put on her jersey one last time and get several chances to spike the ball over the net.
The football game saw six players from Bowie and Nocona suit up for the east team. While their team scored first, the west eventually came back to win 14-7, with an opposing player intercepting a pass in the end zone in the final minute to wrap the game up.
From Bowie, Troy Kesey was asked to block from his tight end position more than go out for passes and did his job. Seth Mann used his speed to provide continuous pursuit while playing defensive end.
From Nocona, Brady McCasland and Cooper Waldrip got to play new positions at cornerback for the first time. Charlie Fuller saw a few reps at wide receiver, but mostly played on defense at cornerback in small doses as well.
With all five athletes playing football for the final time, the novelty of playing in the game despite smaller roles than they were used to was fun for them.
Nocona’s Johnny Stone played only a couple of reps at his usual linebacker spot on defense, but he has more in his future. He is signed to play football at Nelson University this fall.

To see pictures of the athletes, pick up the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.