SPORTS
Jackrabbits come up just short in opening district game at Peaster
A week after scoring the second most points in program history, the Bowie Jackrabbits lost their opening district game on the road at Peaster in a defensive struggle.
The Greyhounds hung on to win 10-9, doing all of their damage in the first quarter while the Jackrabbits came up just short of coming back in the final three quarters.
Bowie came into the game with something to prove. While the Jackrabbits and Peaster both came into district play with 3-1 records, the Greyhounds played what was perceived to be the better teams and were a preseason playoff pick within the district.
Bowie was picked to finish last and now that district was starting, it was time for the Jackrabbits to get exposed.
In the first quarter it looked like that was coming to fruition. Peaster hit on a some explosive pass plays down the field that set up a short touchdown run to start the game up 7-0. Later in the first quarter, the Greyhounds then hit on an impressive 35-yard field goal to take 10-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Bowie’s defense made the adjustments in its secondary on defense and ratcheted up the pressure on the quarterback.
While it did not completely shut down Peaster’s run game, it did make Greyhounds running back Kaden Albert earn every bit of his 101 yards on the ground and not let anyone else hurt the Jackrabbits.
Peaster only gained 46 yards of offense in the final three quarters.
The Bowie offense were finding some success running the ball, but not quite enough success to get out of third and long situations it kept finding itself in when something went wrong.
Twice the Jackrabbits entered the red zone in the second quarter. On one trip, Bowie was able to settle for a short 23-yard field goal from Nick Salazar.
The other trip saw a holding penalty back the team up too far for another field goal chance and the Jackrabbits turned the ball over on downs.
Bowie went into halftime trailing 10-3.
The Jackrabbits defense continued to keep Bowie in the game. In what has emerged as a trend, the Jackrabbit defense pitched its third second half shut out of the season in five games. It would be in four of the games, but the team allowed Dublin to score once in the second half in the previous week’s blow out win.
The Jackrabbits racked up seven sacks, with Noah Metzler leading the team with three while Preacher Chambers and Zac Harris each added two.
The team also forced and recovered two fumbles in the game. Metzler forced one and Tyson Jordan the other one while Hayden Rodriguez recovered both. As a team, Bowie finished with 30 tackles for loss in the game.
On offense, the Jackrabbits continued to struggle in the second half, but got a boost on their biggest play of the game. Running back Justin Clark proved to be a workhorse all game as he finished with team high 151 yards rushing. He also scored the team’s only touchdown when he found a lane on a sweep to the left for a 25-yard touchdown run.
Unfortunately, a special teams gaff would come back to bite Bowie later.
A high snap on the extra point led to a missed kick opportunity and the Jackrabbits trailed 10-9. With it still being the third quarter and the defense playing well, Bowie had time to not dwell on the missed opportunity. Unfortunately, that would be the Jackrabbits last good chance.
Bowie’s offense turned the ball over twice in the game on a fumble and an interception. The Greyhounds played tight and physical coverage which seemed to limit the Jackrabbits wide receiver screen passing game as Bowie was held to 75 yards passing.
Trying to make Peaster pay with passes down the field unfortunately did not produce the big plays Bowie needed to exploit the strategy, which Coach Tyler Price thought was the difference in the game.
“A couple of times we just didn’t make plays in the air,” Price said. “We had a couple of dropped passes. We didn’t win one-on-one matchups outside and those are things we have to get better at. When the ball comes to you, you have to make plays.”
It made the final score that much more crushing as the Jackrabbits fell 10-9.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians were able to beat Saint Jo at home on Thursday night in a tight contest.
The Indians won 55-48 against the Panthers in a game where both teams played hard, but made plenty of early season mistakes.
Nocona came into the game following a low-scoring win against Bells earlier in the week 35-30. For a young Indians team that only has a few players with varsity experience this year, every early season win builds confidence.
For Saint Jo, the Panthers were still without several returning starters since football is still going on. Despite that, new Coach Jacob Nocktonick is trying to build what he can with his group of basketball first players that include several key players even when the football team is integrated.
Despite Saint Jo being the smaller school, overall it had the height advantage in the front line since Nocona features only one player, Kasch Johnson, who is built like a post player. That is nothing new for the Indians, who featured a short team the previous year as Coach Brody Wilson emphasizes full-court pressure on defense and pushing the ball in transition in his system that makes up for a lack of height and size.
Initially Nocona’s pace and energy, grabbing several offensive rebounds, got it the lead 9-3. Eventually, the Panthers adjusted and trailed only 12-11 after the first quarter.
Saint Jo got the lead early in the second quarter. Post Trent Gaston took advantage of his size advantage, especially when the Indians had Johnson out, and led 17-12. Both teams had trouble scoring in a rough second quarter as open perimeter shots just were not going in and shots at the rim were tough to convert.
The Panthers led 23-20 heading into halftime.
Both teams had better offensive success pushing the ball when it could in the second half.
Saint Jo broke Nocona’s press and punished the Indians with quick baskets. Nocona ran whenever it could and seemed to put up an array of perimeter shots and drives, getting offensive rebounds it seemed at will to keep the pressure up and infuriate the Panthers coach.
The Indians got a big push from Landon Fatheree in the second half. After scoring eight points in the first half to lead the team, he scored 10 of his team’s 14 points in the third quarter.
Nocona got the lead back, but only led 34-33 heading into the final period.
The Indians had a comfortable lead up 44-36 when Saint Jo’s Gaston fouled out with 4:56 left in the game. Still, the Panthers did not give up and a minute later had whittled Nocona’s lead down to one basket 44-41 with 3:45.
The game stayed a one-possession game for the next two minutes as Saint Jo had several chances to tie or take the lead not go through.
Nocona made its free throws down the stretch to win with a little more comfort, with the final score being 55-48.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. To see more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870682&T=1
Nocona senior Meg Meekins signed her official letter of intent to play college basketball at Lubbock Christian University on Wednesday. Meekins, the daughter of Brandi and Lance, is a four-year starter on the volleyball and basketball court. She has earned several accolades like being named to the All State Teams for TGCA, TABC, Associated Press and was selected to the All Tournament Team at the UIL State Basketball Tournament in San Antonio last year.“The coaching staff and the community of the LCU program and just knowing you have a staff that coaches you, but also looks over you just like Coach (Kyle) Spitzer did here was a huge part in the recruiting process,” Meekins said. She plans to pursue a degree in either physical or occupational therapy.
For more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870680&T=1
The Bowie Lady Rabbits got more than they bargained for when they traveled to Bellevue on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rabbits escaped with the win 44-40, taking the lead with less than a minute to go after trailing whole game.
Bowie came into the game confident. The larger 3A school was supposed to play Windthorst, but had to reschedule because the Lady Trojans volleyball team was playing in the state tournament.
Finding a last minute replacement, the Lady Rabbits thought they would have an easy game playing the 1A program down the road. Little did they know.
Bellevue had a couple of players out with injury to limit its depth a bit and a new coach in Celsey Hoffman, but the Lady Eagles were coming off of nearly beating a Nocona team the previous week. While the Lady Indians were missing four starters who were still in volleyball, it still showed this was not a 1A team to take lightly.
Bellevue came out fast showing tough defensive pressure despite giving up size at nearly every position. Within a few minutes the Lady Eagles had used that pressure to force turnovers and convert those steals into transition opportunities.
Also, the energy showed in other areas as Bellevue seemed to grab every loose ball and fought for offensive rebounds despite lacking in height compared to Bowie.
After a little more than four minutes into the game the Lady Eagles led 15-0. The Lady Rabbits had barely been able to set up their offense or attempt a shot against the pressure.
Bowie Coach Matthew Miller had to reset his shell-shocked team during multiple timeouts. The young ballhandlers was reminded how the team was going to break the press defense so it could set up its offense.
Bellevue led 19-4 after the first quarter, led by Mary Grace Broussard and Brittany Gill who each scored six points.
The Lady Rabbits settled down and made some good progress in the second quarter. Their defense switched between man-to-man and 1-3-1 to keep the Lady Eagles off balance. With them taking care of the ball better, there were less chances for Bellevue in transition and the Lady Eagles offense struggled to consistently find ways to score against Bowie’s length.
The Lady Rabbits offense found some success as well. Five different players made at least one basket and the team made two 3-pointers.
While the game was physical from the start, now that Bowie knew what type of game it was in the team responded back. It was not pretty and only enough fouls were called to make the game watchable, but individual foul trouble affected Bellevue harder than the Lady Rabbits in the second quarter.
The Lady Eagles still led heading into halftime, but Bowie had gotten it down to single digits trailing 25-19.
The third quarter was more even between the two teams as both had trouble consistently scoring baskets. Bellevue made three baskets and a couple of free throws to keep ahead.
The Lady Rabbits got a big lift from Lanie Moore, who knocked in all three of her 3-pointers in the quarter, scoring nine of the team’s 12 points.
Bowie still trailed, but had cut the lead down to one point earlier in the quarter and one basket 34-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bellevue grew the lead to 38-32 early in the final period. The Lady Rabbits struggled to get anything going offensively and trailed 40-34 midway through the quarter.
Bowie’s Kendall Fallis made a 3-pointer in transition to cut the lead to one basket 40-37.
The score stayed there for the next several minutes even as the Lady Eagles had two starters, Karis Denson and Mattie Broussard, foul out of the game.
With a little more than a minute left, the Lady Rabbits drew up and out of bounds play that got Laney Segura an open shot in the corner. Despite not having made a basket all game, she sunk the 3-pointer to tie the game at 40-40 with a minute still to play.
Bowie had been in a pressure defense for the second half of the fourth quarter to prevent Bellevue from passively running clock. Still in the defense, the team next stole the in-bounds pass and Railey Martin made the undefended layup to give the Lady Rabbits their first lead of the game 42-40 with 48 seconds left.
The Lady Eagles could not tie the score on their next offensive possession. Bowie would made two more free throws to make the final 44-40.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870678&T=1
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