Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns were able to brush off a loss to Savoy early last week by winning their district opener on Saturday against Bellevue.
The Longhorns won 65-54 against the Eagles, coming back from double-digits in the third quarter to win.
Forestburg entered the game a little worried. The Longhorns last game before last week came all the way back on Dec. 20. Forestburg’s first game back from the holiday break was on Jan. 7 against Savoy.
Trying to shake off the holiday rust in one non-district game, the Longhorns were a bit sluggish due to trying to get back into shape in the days leading up to the game.
The Cardinals led 17-8 and Forestburg was playing catchup throughout. Despite competing better as the game wore on, the Longhorns could not take over the lead from Savoy.
The Cardinals held on to win 46-43.
Coach Curtis Enis was hoping a few more good days of practice would help the team prepare for the start of district play against a young Bellevue team that is an expected playoff team.
Then the snow came on Thursday and Friday which knocked off two potential days of practice and Forestburg went into Saturday’s rescheduled game feeling a little underprepared.
The Eagles had played a tournament as well as a game the previous week to shake off the rust and had been preparing for the game for about a week.
It showed in the opening minutes when Forestburg fell behind 10-1 midway through the first quarter.
The Longhorns got a bit together to tie the score at 10-10 by the end of the first quarter, but were not firing on all cylinders.
While Jesus Sanchez had a hot hand on offense to help Forestburg from falling too far behind, Bellevue’s offense was scorching hot. On top of making four 3-pointers, that opened up the lane to attack the rim against the Longhorns tight man-to-man defense.
Bellevue scored 24 points and led 34-23 at halftime.
The third quarter did not seem to change much. The Eagles made four more 3-pointers and were still giving the Longhorns fits on defense. Forestburg trailed by as many as 12 points during the quarter.
Thankfully, Wadsworth and Sanchez combined to score 17 of the team’s 19 points and the lead was narrowed down to single-digits 50-42 heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter seemed to be where the Longhorns defense seemed to truly commit to chasing Bellevue shooters off the 3-point line. This funneled the Eagle players to the rim where good contests and an increased in defensive intensity seemed to stifle Bellevue’s offense.
This left the door open for a Forestburg team that had scored well all game, but really turned it on in the fourth quarter.
Sanchez, who finished with a game high 39 points, scored 19 of his team’s 23 points in the final period.
What was an excitingly close game midway through the fourth quarter ended up seeing the Longhorns pull away by double-digits as they won 65-54.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers had a great week, winning two games, including their opening district game, by double-digit scores.
The Panthers beat Christ Academy 53-32 and before winning at Gold-Burg 57-32 on Saturday to start off district play.
Saint Jo was playing the Warriors for the second time this season and were hoping to win by a lot like it had the first time the teams played in a tournament.
The Panthers started off well, going up 29-11 at halftime. Christ Academy had a better second half offensively, but it was not enough to make up any of the deficit. Saint Jo won 53-32.
It was a good feel good win for Saint Jo heading into the start of district play at Gold-Burg. The game was rescheduled to Saturday due to the snow last week, but it did not seem to effect the Panthers much.
Saint Jo raced out to a 26-8 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Even with the scoring pace slowing down the rest of the game, the Panthers defense still allowed them to outscore the Bears in every quarter until the last one.
Saint Jo won 57-32.

Nocona
The Nocona Indians lost a tough district game at home on Saturday against state-ranked Seymour.
The Panthers won 46-32 against the Indians in a game where Nocona just did not do enough to pull the upset at home.
The Indians had extra time to prepare for the game with a bye earlier in the week, so that even when the snow came to delay the game and limit practice time it did not hurt as much. Nocona was 2-1 in district and hoping it could give top 10 state-ranked Seymour its first district loss.
The game started and while the Indians did not allow the Panthers to go crazy on offense, Nocona had trouble getting easy shots.
The Indians trailed 26-12 at halftime.
Nocona equaled that first half total in the third quarter, but it was not enough to make up much ground since the Indians could not fully stop Seymour.
The Indians could not catch fire in the fourth quarter to make up the double-digit deficit as the Panthers won 46-32.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles started off district on Saturday and let a prime opportunity slip away.
The Eagles allowed Forestburg to come back from double-digits to eventually win 65-54.
Bellevue was coming into the game prepared. The Eagles had played in a tough tournament in Windthorst and a game against Eula the previous week to shake off the rust from the holiday break. Bellevue had a bye earlier in the week to have extra time to prepare for the opening district game against one of the top teams.
The snow through a wrench into the preparation later in the week, but it was a problem every team had to work through.
The Eagles came out firing, going up 10-1 against the Longhorns, led by Ryan Jones who scored eight of the points. Forestburg came back to tie the score at 10-10 heading into the second quarter, but Bellevue really started to get hot, especially from the 3-point line.
The Eagles scored 24 points in the second period. While Bryce Ramsey and Jones each made two 3-pointers each, this opened up driving lanes for their teammates as five players made at least one basket. Bellevue led 34-23 at halftime.
The Eagles slowed down only a little bit in the third quarter. Ramsey made three 3-pointers in the period and Bellevue led by as many as 12 points at one point. Forestburg cut the lead down to eight points 50-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
Then the Eagles went cold offensively. The 3-point shot attempts were harder to come by. The drives to the rim, which had been there all game, were now being contested well and few free throw attempts were being awarded to either team all game.
On the other side, the Longhorns had their leading scorer get hot as Jesus Sanchez scored 19 of his team’s 23 points.
On the other side, Bellevue scored only four points in the quarter.
“In the fourth quarter Forestburg got really hot shooting and that really changed the momentum into their favor,” Coach Colby Broussard said. “I felt it was then that we started to try and carry our team individually and that hurt us.”
Forestburg pulled away to win 65-54.

Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Bears lost their opening district game at home on Saturday against a tough Saint Jo team.
The Panthers won 57-32, thanks in large part to a one-sided first quarter.
The Bears came into the game knowing they were the underdogs, but hoping they could surprise a Saint Jo team that came into the game confident. Gold-Burg had played tougher teams recently in the Bridgeport tournament following the holiday break and were more up to speed than it had been in other seasons.
Still, the Panthers came out of the gate hot, scoring 26 points in the first quarter and the Bears could not keep up, down 26-8.
While Gold-Burg did play better in the final three quarters, the Bears only really started to cut into the lead in the fourth quarter when the game was well and won. Still, Gold-Burg outscored Saint Jo 11-3 to finish the game on a good note.
The Panthers won 57-32.

Prairie Valley
The Prairie Valley Bulldogs lost their opening district game on the road at Midway on Saturday.
The Falcons won 77-53 against the Bulldogs, who scored much better in the second half than the first.
Prairie Valley came into the game feeling like the underdogs, being undersized in the post compared to Midway.
The Bulldogs could not allow itself to come out with anything less than their best and in the first half it was not the case. Prairie Valley scored six points in both quarters while the Falcons scored 20 or more points to build a big lead.
The Bulldogs picked it up offensively after halftime, scoring 16 and 25 points in the final two periods and actually outscored Midway in the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately, the defense was never able to stop the Falcons to allow Prairie Valley to get back into the game.
Midway won 77-53.

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For more pictures from the Forestburg vs Bellevue game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6872189&T=1