Month: January 2023

by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Wylie records sweep of Abilene High in crosstown hoops

The Wylie boys basketball team knew that it needed the student body to be rowdy in Tuesday’s District 4-5A showdown against crosstown rival Abilene High.

After a relatively quiet first quarter, the students got loud and then made a world of difference in the second half as the Bulldogs took a 54-45 win at Bulldog Gym to close out their first half of district play.

Wylie coach Gregg Ruffin was effusive in his praise of the student body and the difference it made in the game.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cisco’s Landenberger captures this week’s award

A limited number of minutes, if the numbers compute correctly, can figure strongly in our selection of Player of the Week. 

That is the case with this week’s winner, Gavin Landenberger of Cisco, who opened the week with 29 points, five boards, three assists, and five steals in a win over Haskell last Tuesday.

However, what sealed the deal for the senior guard, was a 20-point, four-rebound, five-assist and five-steal game he charted in a win over Hamlin — numbers he posted in only 18 minutes of playing time.

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by Daniel Youngblood

THIS WEEK IN BOYS BASKETBALL: Rivalry matchups headline Tuesday, Friday slate

As we continue to roll toward February, we’re learning more each week about our area’s teams and district races. That trend should certainly continue this week, which features a number of rivalry games among its key matchups.

Here’s what we have on the Big Country boys basketball slate for Tuesday on Friday. 

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by Evan Ren

THIS WEEK IN GIRLS BASKETBALL: Wall, Jim Ned to headline big Tuesday night; Cisco, Stamford to collide on Friday

We’ve hit mid-January and already, district races are heating up with several teams fighting for their playoff lives. 

This week Big Country Preps will again be hitting the road with an eye on key matchups. Here’s a look at what’s on tap Tuesday and Friday.

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Steady Abilene High senior Breckenridge a calming force for young Eagles

With a game that’s more substance than style, and a quiet, calm demeanor, Abilene High senior Jake Breckenridge has a way of fading into the background at times. 

If you’re not paying attention, it can be easy to miss the many contributions he makes to Eagles basketball on a daily basis.

But if you ask coach Justin Reese, few (if any) players are more important to AHS’ success than Breckenridge, whose steady leadership and production have helped a young team grow up quickly this season.

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by Zach Duncan, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: Cisco’s Fox a top threat from beyond the arc, but is an underrated defender

Justice Fox enjoys letting it rip from 3-point range. 

But the Cisco senior’s favorite part of the sport doesn’t have anything to do with shooting the basketball. 

The 5-foot-8 shooting guard takes a lot of pride in her defense for the Lady Loboes, who are ranked No. 19 in the latest TABC rankings. 

“I love offense, but I honestly would have to say defense is what I like better,” Fox said. “I just love getting to help my team with the defensive side of the game. I usually guard some really good athletes, and when I guard them well, it just makes me feel confident on how I defend.” 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Cooper boys outlast Lubbock Coronado for big district victory

Last week, while hosting Lubbock Monterey in a big District 4-5A matchup, the Cooper boys basketball team couldn’t execute well enough down the stretch to escape a tough home loss. Facing similar circumstances seven days later against Lubbock Coronado, the Cougars found a way.

Coach Bryan Conover’s squad rallied from a 42-39 fourth-quarter deficit Friday at Cougar Gym, going on a 4-0 run over the final 43 seconds to hand the Mustangs a 49-46 loss. 

The thrilling victory pulled Cooper even with Coronado in the district standings at 3-1 — a half-game behind district leader Monterey, which was idle Friday.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Anson girls, Albany boys take key District 10-2A wins

ANSON — Locked in a tight battle after the first quarter, the Anson girls exploded in the second and rode the momentum all the way to a 55-35 win over Albany as the two squads closed out the first half of District 10-2A play on Friday night.

Meagan McWhirter had a big night for the Lady Tigers, scoring a game-high 18 points, as Anson improved to 15-8 overall but, more importantly, 3-3 in league play.

Anson is tied for third place in the district after the first round of games, which is critical with the Lady Tigers having just three more home games the rest of the year.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Cisco routs youthful Hamlin twice to sweep varsity doubleheader and remain in district title contention

CISCO — With very young, inexperienced Hamlin basketball teams coming to town on Friday, the Cisco girls and boys took advantage of the opportunity to strengthen their positions in District 10-2A with a pair of lopsided wins. 

The Lady Loboes opened the evening with a 67-20 win over HHS, after which the Cisco boys handed the young Pied Pipers a 90-25 blowout in Game 2 of a varsity doubleheader. 

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 12): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 12.

This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Boys Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 12): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 12.

This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

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by Daniel Youngblood

SIGNING DAY: Abilene High volleyball standouts Hernandez, Dolton make college choices official

After helping lead the Abilene High volleyball team to its first playoff berth since 2015 and first region tournament appearance since 2007, two of the Lady Eagles’ top players are set to take their talents to the collegiate level.

Middle blocker Jadyn Hernandez and setter Alexis Dolton both made their college choices official during a signing day ceremony Wednesday at the AHS gym, with Hernandez committing to compete locally for Hardin-Simmons and Dolton pledging to play at Vernon College.

Those announcements, which came on the heels of a transformative season for the AHS volleyball team, mark well-earned opportunities for a pair of players who were instrumental in putting the Lady Eagles back on the map, coach Caroline Cleveland said.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Abilene High boys rally for key district win over Lubbock Cooper

Needing a home win over Lubbock Cooper to get back into the thick of the District 4-5A playoff race, the Abilene High boys basketball team didn’t get off the start it wanted to Tuesday at Eagle Gym.

But after going to halftime down 23-13, the Eagles used a 27-point third quarter to wrestle momentum away from the visiting Pirates and held Cooper off from there for a 55-50 victory.

The win pulled AHS (10-11 overall) back to .500 in league play at 2-2, moving coach Justin Reese’s team into the fourth spot in the district standings — a half-game back of crosstown rival Abilene Cooper for third. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Jim Ned sweeps important varsity doubleheader at Merkel

MERKEL —With first place in the balance on both sides of Tuesday’s varsity doubleheader in Merkel, the Jim Ned girls and boys basketball teams walked into one of the toughest places to play in the Big Country and walked out with a convincing two-game sweep. 

The Jim Ned girls (23-1, 6-0 District 6-3A) took the opener in dominating fashion, beating Merkel 52-21. Shortly thereafter, the Jim Ned boys took the nightcap with a 52-38 win to improve to 15-10 and 4-0. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Eula Lady Pirates hammer Cross Plains in District 13-1A showdown

EULA — Mary Mosley Gymnasium has earned a reputation of being a tough place to play, much like The Teepee was at Haskell until Haskell ISD opened a new gym recently.

With the Eula boys basketball team playing a nondistrict road game on Tuesday night, the Lady Pirates saw a smaller than usual crowd for their District 13-1A game against fifth-ranked Cross Plains.

But while it lacked in size, the crowd was loud and rambunctious, helping pave the way for a 46-27 win.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cross Plains’ Taylor takes the first award of 2023

While many of us were enjoying our holiday break, Cross Plains’ Torri Taylor was busy filling up stat sheets. Put more accurately, the junior forward was producing the numbers on the floor, to help the Lady Buffs to a 3-0 mark while school was out. 

Aside from pouring in an average of 19.6 points per game, she snagged an average tally of 12 rebounds per night while dishing out 3.6 assists to go with 4.0 steals. 

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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN: This week in Big Country girls basketball (Jan. 8-14)

With area basketball settling into district play, we begin our annual Sunday evening reports on boy and girls action, listing the top upcoming matchups of the current week and the top results from the week before.

Big Country Preps will also be posting area standings, stat leaders, game coverage and features in the coming weeks so by all means, stay tuned. 

Let’s dive in: 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DANIEL YOUNGBLOOD: This week in Big Country boys basketball (Jan. 8-14)

It’s the second week of January, and basketball district races are heating up throughout the Big Country. The few area boys basketball teams that haven’t started league play will be doing so this week.

With so many important games being played, it’s time to begin our weekly look at what’s going on on the Big Country boys basketball scene. In highlighting the top matchups of the coming week and the top results of the previous one, we’ll let you know the games and teams we’re keeping an eye on — and some you might want to as well.

We hope you enjoy our first installment of This Week in Boys Basketball.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Anson, Haskell split varsity doubleheader at AHS

ANSON — Two of the Big Country’s oldest rivals clashed on Friday when Haskell paid a visit to Anson, resulting in a split of a District 10-2A girls-boys varsity doubleheader. 

The Haskell girls took the opener with a come-from-behind 50-41 win, after which the Anson boys earned a measure of payback, dropping Haskell 36-26 in the nightcap.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Monterey scores final six points to outlast Cooper boys in defensive struggle

On a night when buckets were hard to come by for both teams, the Lubbock Monterey Plainsmen finished with one more than their Cooper counterparts Friday, scoring the final six points in a hard-fought 40-37 win at Cougar Gym.

Cooper, which needed almost four minutes to score to its first points of the game, held a 22-18 lead at halftime and rallied from a third-quarter deficit to go up 37-34 on a Jordan Willis layup with 3:47 to play. But those would be the Cougars’ final points of the night, allowing the visiting Plainsmen to close the night on a run and escape with a three-point victory.

After a turnover spoiled CHS’ penultimate possession, the Coogs had one final chance when Monterey missed the front end of a one-and-one up 40-37 with just over four seconds remaining in the game. But Jaelyn Rivera’s halfcourt shot at the buzzer banged off the rim and out, eliciting an gasp from those in attendance. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Mustangs use big third quarter to hold off feisty Jaybirds

SWEETWATER — The Jayton boys basketball team entered Friday’s game at Sweetwater ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 1A and sporting one of only a couple of undefeated records in the state.

After the Mustangs used a big third quarter fueled by the hot shooting hand of Stason Hernandez to get a 51-38 win at Mustang Gym, Jayton coach Ryan Bleiker felt a sense of relief.

The relief didn’t come from losing, but rather that his squad didn’t have to carry the burden of being undefeated anymore.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Abilene High boys rout Lubbock High, AHS girls can’t rally from early hole

When you’re a young team, basketball can be intimidating if shots aren’t falling for you.

If they are falling? Then it’s contagious and can lead to an avalanche of scoring for a squad.

In a District 4-5A game on Tuesday night at Eagle Gym, the Abilene High boys team had shots falling like crazy, and it led to a 69-29 win over Lubbock High in which nine players scored for coach Justin Reese’s squad, led by Chris Motl’s game-high 14 points.

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