Photo courtesy of Tommy Hays.
While much of the Big Country may be unfamiliar with Brock senior Tessa Cowan, Dublin and Peaster became well acquainted with our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week last week in their respective 18-3 and 13-1 losses.
Finishing a combined 5 of 7 through the two wins, Cowan went yard three times to go with a double, a walk and 10 RBIs.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene Invitational baseball tournament (65 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Midland Legacy-Abilene High softball (60 images)”
Leading Midland Legacy 3-2 with one out in the seventh, the Abilene High softball team appeared poised to improve to 2-0 in District 2-6A play Saturday at the AHS softball field.
But back-to-back hits put a pair of base runners on for Maci Johnson, whose second home run of the day fueled the Lady Rebels to a dramatic 5-4 win.
Johnson, who put Legacy up 2-0 in the fifth with her first bomb, turned on another Diana Silva offering in the seventh, delivering what would prove to be the knockout blow in a back-and-forth affair.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Ballinger-Merkel softball (29 images)”
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Evan and Dan talk state and regional basketball
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stamford-Cooper softball (68 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Brady-Jim Ned baseball (32 images)”
TUSCOLA — The Jim Ned baseball team has won countless games the past few seasons on the strength of stellar pitching and dependable defense.
That trend continued on Tuesday night in the Indians’ District 6-3A opener as Jim Ned knocked off Brady 2-0 at Indian Field behind a dominant performance on the mound by Blaine Palmer.
The senior allowed just two hits, one in the sixth inning and another in the seventh, and had 16 strikeouts while giving up just a single walk. He needed just 93 pitches to throw the complete-game shutout.
A four-run first inning was all Citlaly Gutierrez needed to pitch the Stamford softball team to a 5-2 nondistrict win over Cooper on Tuesday at Cougar Diamond.
Taking advantage of the early run support, the future University of Texas hurler limited a tough Lady Cougar lineup to just one earned run on three hits and a trio of walks, striking out nine Cooper hitters to eclipse the 900-strikeout mark for her career.
Cooper battled the standout pitcher, putting runners on base in six of the seven innings and getting the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh. But Gutierrez got slugger Kaleigha Kemp to strike out to close out a complete-game victory.
MERKEL — It took a few innings for highly touted Merkel to get it bats going in Tuesday’s District 6-3A opener with Ballinger.
But once the Lady Badgers got started, the complexion of the game turned on a dime — flipping a would-be pitchers’ duel into a 12-2 win via the mercy rule in six innings for MHS.
Eve Rodriguez with 3 for 3 with three RBIs and Jaycee Tumlinson was 3 for 4 with an RBI to lead Merkel (11-1, 1-0), which pounded out 17 hits en route to the win — 16 of which came in the final four innings.
Somehow or another, Merkel continues to produce quality girls hurdlers – Carly Szabo and Kaydi Pursley, among others.
The latest example: senior Alyssa O’Malley, who is already picking up where she left off a year ago when she posted the second-fasted time in the area.
Last week she took silver in the 100-meter hurdles (15.59), gold in the 300 hurdles (47.75), gold in the high jump (5-4) and gold with the 1,600 relay team at the Ballinger track meet to take our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week for the week ending March 5.
A fast-paced search for a new Athletic Director for the Abilene Independent School District has come to an end with the selection of Jim Garfield to the post.
Garfield, 58, comes to AISD after serving as the Assistant Athletics Director for Lubbock ISD and will replace Phil Blue who is retiring at the end of the school year. Blue announced his retirement at the end of January.
He had been with LISD since early 2017.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Brock-Wichita Falls City View boys basketball playoff (80 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hermleigh-Irion County boys basketball playoff (40 images)”
LUBBOCK — Four quarters weren’t enough to decide a winner between the Brock and Wichita Falls City View boys basketball teams Saturday in the Region I-3A title game at Lubbock Christian University’s Rip Griffin Center.
And even after four extra minutes, the gap between the two squads was razor thin.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, the one bucket that separated them from the Mustangs at the end of a 46-44 heartbreaker was the difference between closing their season at the state tournament and not.
SNYDER — While trophies with golden basketballs on top of them are nice, the Hermleigh boys basketball team set a goal this year of a different trophy.
They wanted an “ugly brown trophy” instead.
While it’s not the state championship trophy, the Cardinals accomplished their goal despite seeing their season come to an end at the Western Texas College Coliseum with a 68-37 loss to No. 9 Irion County in the Region II-2A final on Saturday afternoon.
The UIL gives out trophies with plaques emblazoned with the organization’s logo and the team’s finish in the regional tournament to the finalists.
SAN ANTONIO — A quick glance at the stat sheet of Saturday’s Class 2A girls state championship game told the story.
After falling to Gruver 50-38 in the Alamodome, the Stamford Lady Bulldogs could quickly pinpoint two keys that hurt them more than anything else.
SAN ANTONIO — In the end, it all came down to Ackerly Sands’ trapping defense in its 60-33 win over Robert Lee in the girls Class 1A state title game Saturday at the Alamodome.
Despite shooting a lower percentage than Robert Lee (.417 to .386) and being outrebounded by a whopping 16 boards, the Lady Mustangs had all the compensation they needed with their relentless defensive pressure.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Celeste-Cisco boys basketball playoff (76 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hermleigh-Water Valley boys basketball playoff (66 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Celina softball (73 images)”
McKINNEY — Inbounding the ball in with just over two seconds left in regulation against Celeste in a Region II-2A semifinal, the Cisco boys basketball team had a potential game-winning play unfold almost perfectly.
Cisco coach Kevin Hearne likened the play call to what would be seen on the gridiron in the fall. With forward Trent Bailey playing quarterback and Kasen Conring running around as a decoy for Dawson Hearne, Bailey chose to heave a Hail Mary pass to Tre Brackeen under the basket.
Brackeen’s shot from close range rimmed out to send the game to overtime before the Blue Devils ultimately pulled away for a 73-63 double overtime win Friday night at McKinney North High School.
SNYDER — Playing in its first region tournament in program history, the Hermleigh Cardinals looked like a team well accustomed to deep playoff runs Friday in its Region II-1A semifinal matchup with No. 16 Water Valley.
Coach Sammy Winters’ squad, which finished the regular season unranked in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 1A poll, scored the game’s first eight points and never trailed after in cruising to a 45-32 win over the Wildcats at the Western Texas College Coliseum.
The Cardinals, now 28-8 on the year, led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter before holding off a late Water Valley run to extend their dream season into the II-1A championship game, where they’ll will face No. 9 Irion County (32-3) on Saturday with a state tournament berth on the line.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Saba Lady Dillos were handed a puzzle in the Alamodome on Friday — a puzzle which nobody has managed to figure out in 2022.
And it was there, in the Class 2A girls state semifinals, where San Saba saw its season come to a close in a 69-29 loss to still unbeaten Gruver.
Bailey Maupin scored 22 points while Camryn Armes and Kimber Whitehead added 11 and 10 respectively to lead Gruver (32-0), which advances to face Stamford in Saturday’s 2A state championship game.
SAN ANTONIO — With 7:24 to play, everything looked great for Stamford in Friday’s Class 2A state semifinal with Martin’s Mill. The Lady Bulldogs led 57-34 and all that stood between them and the 2A state championship game was a short stretch of clean basketball.
Then it happened: Martin’s Mill exploded for 30 points in the final seven-minutes in an insane comeback attempt that nearly saw the Lady Mustangs pull off a miracle.
Stamford survived the onslaught with a 68-64 win at the Alamodome that had coach Joe Crabb breathing a sigh of relief during the post-game news conference.
SAN ANTONIO — Entering Thursday’s Class 1A state semifinal with Ackerly Sands, Huckabay girls coach Barry Gill was quite clear on what his team had to do to advance. And at the top of the list was finding a way to deal with Sands’ three-quarter court zone trap.
Unfortunately for the Lady Indians, they weren’t able to solve the puzzle in time to avert a 56-29 loss in the Alamodome.
Victimized by Sands’ relentless pressure, the Lady Indians were forced to 32 turnovers in 32 minutes, allowing Sands to take nearly 30 more shots (55-26) on the day.
SAN ANTONIO — In a matchup of teams better known for their defense, Thursday’s Class 1A girls state semifinal between Robert Lee and Neches produced the trench war that many expected.
In the end, Robert Lee walked away the survivor, edging Neches 46-44 in a game that featured six ties, four lead changes and a combined 26 steals.
Kailey Freeman scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Paige Immel added seven crucial points down the stretch to lead Robert Lee (35-2) which will face Ackerly Sands in the 1A state championship game on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. in the Alamodome.
Hired in June as the San Saba girls basketball coach, Chris Jost knew he had a tough act to follow.
Taking over the program from Alicia Cummings, who left for Mason after leading the Lady Dillos to a 269-70 record over 10 seasons, Jost was inheriting an outfit that was accustomed to winning and expected success.
Fortunately, those same things were true of Jost, who brought with him to Central Texas 420 career wins, six district championships, six regional quarterfinals appearances, two region finals appearances and a state tournament berth over a 20-year career.
Thus far, the pairing has been undeniably successful. Set to close out their first year together at the Class 2A state tournament in San Antonio, both the Lady Dillos and their coach have worked together to make what could have been a difficult transition a seamless one.
When Stamford standout Tylee Jo Bevel tore her ACL in June, she thought her high school basketball career was over.
Nursing an injury that often takes a full year of recovery time, Bevel had surgery in July expecting to be spectator for her final high school campaign. Fate, though, would have very different plans.
Not only has Bevel been able to get back on the court, she’s been an integral part of a spectacular run to the Lady Bulldogs’ first state tournament appearance. And as her team prepares for Friday’s Class 2A state semifinal matchup with Martin’s Mill, the 6-foot forward is beyond thankful to have gotten the opportunity to write a suitable ending for her decorated Stamford career.
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Evan and Dan visit with San Saba girls coach Chris Jost about the Lady Dillos’ upcoming trip to state.
SAN ANTONIO — Four shots … the Big Country has four shots to leave a permanent mark in the UIL history books.
Bringing home a girls state basketball championship is a rare opportunity for most schools. But the Big Country is sending four clubs with a chance for this achievement in 2022. And not surprisingly, all four come at the small school levels, which have long been area strongholds.
Stamford and San Saba have reached the state equivalent to the Final Four in Class 2A, while Huckabay and Robert Lee have reached the same point in Class 1A.
All four will converge in the Alamodome over the next two days — one win away from playing for a state championship.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stamford-Abilene High softball (46 images)”
The Hermleigh boys basketball team gutted out a 49-44 win over area power Eula on Tuesday to claim its first-ever trip to the regional tournament.
After controlling the first half at McMurry’s Kimbrel Arena, the Cardinals found themselves down six early in the second when the Pirates opened the third quarter on a 16-3 run. But coach Sam Winters’ squad calmly regrouped and outscored Eula 22-11 the rest of of the way to earn a region semifinals date with No. 16 Water Valley on Friday at Snyder’s WTC Coliseum.
Locked in a tie game at 36-all with seven minutes remaining, Hermleigh finished off the Pirates with a 13-8 run to get past the defending state runner-up.
After nine games on the road and a canceled tournament, Jenna Bane made her home debut as Abilene High’s softball coach against Stamford on Tuesday night.
It was a debut she’s likely never going to forget.
The Lady Eagles were no-hit by SHS’ standout pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez, striking out 22 times. But Kinzley Cantu’s ninth-inning fly ball to right scored Aubriana Camacho to break a scoreless tie and lift AHS to a hard-fought 1-0 walk-off win over the defending Class 2A state champion Lady Bulldogs.
BRONTE — Just two years removed from suffering through a 7-23 season, nobody in the Coleman camp was complaining about a 52-34 regional quarterfinal loss to Christoval on Tuesday —least of all CHS coach Cameron Lowman, who has labored to build the program back up.
The Bluecats even led the area power for most of the opening period before Christoval took the game over with a 20-10 second quarter and a 17-7 third.