Saint Jo boys
The Saint Jo Panthers played their first games of the season on Nov. 25-26 with their full team now that football has come to an end.
The Panthers had good results despite limited practice time with the full squad, getting wins against Petrolia 47-38 and Trenton 60-58 at home.
The first game against the Pirates saw Saint Jo jump out to a 28-13 lead. The Panther offense cooled off in the second half, scoring 19 points total. Petrolia picked things up, more than doubling its first half total in the third quarter with 16 points.
Saint Jo’s defense clamped back down in the fourth quarter and made all of its free throws in the period to get the win with some breathing room 47-38.
Barrett Johnson led the team with 17 points and Trent Gaston was right behind him with 16 points while Lee Yeley, fresh from the football field, added eight points.
The next day the game against the Tigers proved to be much closer throughout. The Panthers led 15-9 after the first quarter, but both team’s offenses got hot in the second quarter, both scoring 17 points. Saint Jo led 32-26 at halftime.
Trenton heated up in the third quarter, scoring 21 points. The Panthers lost their lead, but were able to score just enough to stick around. Landon Shannon scored seven of the team’s 14 points as the Tigers led 47-46 heading into the fourth quarter.
The final period saw Saint Jo take back the lead while cooling off Trenton’s offense, limiting the Tigers to 11 points. The Panthers were just able to take the lead and hold it despite going only 2-9 in during the fourth quarter.
Still, those two made free throws made all the difference as Saint Jo won the close game 60-58.
Johnson carried the Panthers with 26 points. Gaston was second with eight points and Shannon, finished with eight as well.

Bowie boys
The Bowie Jackrabbits lost a tough game on Nov. 25 at Bells before the holiday break.
The Panthers won 43-37 against the Jackrabbits as Bowie was playing catchup for most of the game.
The Jackrabbits were coming off a blowout win against a not quite full Graham team, but found Bells much more potent from the beginning of the game.
The Panthers knocked in five 3-pointers in the first quarter, which allowed them to get the early lead 17-9.
Bowie’s defense adjusted and were able to limit Bells to just two more 3-pointers in the entire game and single-digit scoring in the second and third quarters.
The Jackrabbit offense never fully opened up, scoring eight points in the second quarter and game high 12 points in the third quarter, though it could have been more as Bowie went 2-8 from the free throw line during the third.
The Jackrabbits cut the lead to 31-29 heading into the final period.
Bowie was able to keep it close, but Bells went 4-6 from the free throw line to help it win with some breathing room 43-38.
Rayder Mann led the team with 11 points while Gaige Goodman and Bradly Horton were second with nine points each.

Nocona boys
The Nocona Indians played two tough games that went both ways on Nov. 25-26 before the holiday break.
The Indians beat Howe 48-34 and lost at Munday 52-44.
Nocona got out to big lead in the first game against the Bulldogs. The Indians led 29-10 at halftime and were sitting pretty. Howe had a big third quarter to cut the lead down to single-digits 36-27 heading into the fourth quarter.
Nocona’s defense got back on track, limiting the Bulldogs to seven points in the final period as it won comfortably 48-34. Landon Fatheree led the team with 21 points and four rebounds. Karson Kleinhans was second with 15 points while having a team high five assists and four steals. Brody Langford added eight points and Kasch Johnson had four steals.
Against Munday the next day the roles were reversed. Nocona fell behind in the first quarter 17-6 and were struggling to play catchup the rest of the way.
Even with the Indians outscoring the Moguls in the second and fourth quarters, it was not enough to make up the lead.
Nocona cut it to single-digits, but lost 52-44.
Fatheree led the team with 23 points, six rebounds and six steals. Kleinhans was second with 11 points, five rebounds and five steals. Walker Murphey also grabbed five rebounds. Johnson scored seven points.

Saint Jo girls
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers had a good first tournament last week playing at Lady Jay Shootout in Jayton.
The Lady Panthers went 3-1 and won the silver bracket overall.
Saint Jo first beat up on Albany 76-7. Cervantes led the team with 29 points, Jordyn O’Neal was second with 16 and Taylor Patrick had 11 points.
The second game was against the tournament host Jayton and the Lady Panthers lost the close game 53-48. Cervantes led the team with 18 points and Krista Reeves was second with 12 points.
Saint Jo bounced back with a low-scoring win against O’Donnell 31-24. Cervantes led the team with 15 points and O’Neal was second with eight points.
The Lady Panthers ended the tournament with a good 45-39 win against Colorado City. Cervantes had a team high 24 points while Aubrey Morman had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Bellevue girls
The Bellevue Lady Eagles were able to pick up a win against Zephyr last week.
The Lady Eagles won with ease 46-14 against the Lady Bulldogs.
Bellevue was led by Brittany Gill who had 11 points and Tristan Shook who had nine points.
New Coach Celsey Hoffman thought her team played true to its style and strengths in a game they owned from the jump.
With the team losing its one senior contributor for the season due to injury, Hoffman knows now is the time for her team to adjust to the absence both on and off the floor.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.