Month: January 2025

by Evan Ren

Big Country Boys Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 30): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 30.

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

Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive. 

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hoops
by Evan Ren

Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 30): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 30.

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

Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his or her email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Cisco sweeps doubleheader on Hawley’s home floor

HAWLEY — It was a big night for the Cisco basketball program on Tuesday, with a varsity doubleheader sweep of area rival Hawley on its home floor. 

The Cisco girls opened the evening with a 62-31 win over the Lady Cats to secure the District 10-2A championship. Things were a bit tougher for the Cisco boys, who earned their first win at Hawley in three years with a 55-43 victory in the nightcap. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: Lady Eagles lone local school to post a win on Tuesday

With the regular season quickly drawing to a close, the Abilene High and Cooper basketball teams had critical District 4-5A games against Wichita Falls Legacy and Wichita Falls Memorial, respectively, on Tuesday night.

The Cougars were in desperate need of a win in both games for playoff purposes and came up short, with the Lady Cougars 46-31 loss officially eliminating them from playoff contention. The Cooper boys, meanwhile, found themselves leading at halftime against the Mavericks before falling 43-37. The loss leaves Cooper two games behind Memorial with three games to play.

In Wichita Falls, the Abilene High girls claimed a 39-28 win over Legacy, clinching second place in the district. The Abilene High boys, on the other hand, fell out of a three-way tie for first place with Wylie and Legacy with a 50-34 loss to the Leopards.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Clyde’s Underwood takes accolade after passing the 1,000 milestone a second time

It was a month of milestones for Clyde senior post Maddie Underwood, who takes our Big Country Preps Player of the Week with a combination of great numbers, along with team and career achievements. 

To begin with she charted a combined 42 points and 29 boards in wins over Grape Creek and Merkel. 

In the process, she helped the Lady Bulldogs (20-8, 8-2) lock up their first playoff berth in nine years and their first 20-win season in 10. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Jim Ned sweeps district doubleheader with Sweetwater

TUSCOLA — Jim Ned swept a varsity doubleheader on Friday at Bill Thornton Arena to maintain a hold on first place in both the girls and boys District 6-3A races. 

The first win was routine; the second nearly brought the house down. 

The girls took the opener 63-34. But in Game 2, the Sweetwater boys came within an eyelash of handing the Indians a loss on their home floor, falling to Jim Ned 52-50 before a raucous crowd that sat through four ties and five lead changes.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Eagles fend off second-half rally from Cooper; AHS girls roll to win

The Abilene High boys and girls basketball teams rode hot-shooting first quarters to wins on Friday as they swept crosstown rival Cooper in District 4-5A basketball at Eagle Gym.

The Lady Eagles opened the night with a 64-39 win as they moved to 16-14 on the year and 4-2 in district. The win also clinched a playoff berth for Abilene in its first year under coach Alfonzo Franklin.

The boys team followed that up by holding off a second half rally from the Cougars to earn a 60-53 win on a night where they didn’t have their normal shooting touch from behind the arc. Friday’s win moved AHS to 18-10 on the season and 3-1 in district while the Cougars fell to 8-14 overall and 0-4 in district — putting Cooper in a must-win situation on Tuesday.

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by Zach Duncan, Special to Big Country Preps

BREAKING NEWS: Ira’s Toby Goodwin announces retirement

Toby Goodwin never would have dreamt he would become a six-man football coach.

In fact, when Goodwin made his debut leading Ira’s football program in 1997 fresh out of college, it was only the second time he’d ever witnessed a six-man football game in person.

Goodwin never left Ira, amassing 237 victories in those 28 seasons. He also reached the pinnacle last baseball season when the Bulldogs captured the 1A state championship.

And now Goodwin has only one semester to add more coaching memories as he announced his retirement this week.

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Boys Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 23): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 23.

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

Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive. 

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Hoops
by Evan Ren

Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 23): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 23.

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

Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his or her email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Comanche sweeps Early in important district doubleheader on the road

EARLY — In a loud, difficult environment for road teams, both the Comanche girls and boys managed to overcome sluggish shooting a sweep a District 8-3A doubleheader at Early on Tuesday.

The Comanche girls opened the evening with a 47-37 win — fighting off multiple Early rallies in the process. The CHS boys claimed the nightcap 54-45, despite a slow start. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie boys, girls sweep rival Cooper to stay unbeaten in District 4-5A play

The Wylie boys and girls basketball teams maintained their perfect district records Tuesday night, dominating crosstown rival Cooper in a doubleheader sweep at Cougar Gym.

After the Lady Bulldogs opened the evening with a 52-14 win to move to 5-0 in District 5-4A action, the WHS boys pulled away for a 54-26 victory in the nightcap to improve their league record to 3-0.

The sweep kept the Wylie squads alone atop the 4-5A standings, where both the girls and boys lead second-place Abilene High, which earned a sweep of its own Tuesday at Wichita Falls Memorial.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Gorman junior takes this week’s accolade

Back-to-back double-doubles in two dominating efforts were enough to give Gorman junior Delila Crain our Big Country Player of the Week for the week ending Saturday, Jan. 18. 

Opening the week with an 83-7 rout of Bluff Dale, Crain posted 30 points and 10 boards to go with five assists, five deflections, six steals and four blocks. 

She followed that with 21 points, 12 boards, five deflections, four assists and three steals in a 58-27 win over Huckabay.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wichita Falls Legacy boys rally in final minute to stave off spirited Cooper upset bid

For 31 of 32 minutes, the Cooper boys basketball team did all the little things it needed to to give itself a chance to knock off a much larger Wichita Legacy squad Friday at Cougar Gym. 

But leading 27-26 with just under a minute remaining after rallying twice in the fourth quarter to regain a lead it had held most of the night, the Cougars couldn’t close out the Leopards, falling 30-27 in a game that was hard-fought throughout.

The Legacy win completed a doubleheader sweep for the visitors, who scored a 44-25 victory in the girls game earlier in the evening.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Brock sweeps Brownwood in Friday night doubleheader

BROCK — A hot shooting second half and a nasty case of the flu were enough to help Brock secure a District 6-4A sweep of Brownwood in the Brock High School Gym on Friday. 

The Brock girls opened the twin bill with a 64-41 win that saw the Lady Eagles close with a 41-21 second half.  The Brock boys took the nightcap, overpowering a Brownwood club that had nearly half of its roster returning from and one player still missing with the flu.  The Lions were simply no match for Brock on Friday, falling 82-38. 

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by Evan Ren

Evan Ren’s 2024 True Grit Team: The toughest, hardest-working players in the Big Country!

We all know a football player who almost never misses any practice time and practically lives in the weight room. He’s always early to arrive and late to leave. He’s coachable, but seldom needs direction because he always pays attention. 

You know who I’m talking about.

The guy who sets a good example for young players. The guy who never complains and, first and foremost, is tough mentally and physically. He may not be the best player on a team (though some of them are). But he’s definitely the guy who gets the most out of the talent he’s given. 

Welcome to the 2024 “True Grit” team — the one place in the Big Country where guys who fall into this category are recognized for it.

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by Evan Ren

All-Big Country Preps Superlatives: Player of the year, Offensive, Defensive and special teams MVPs, top newcomers and Coach of the Year

Here are our superlative award winners for the 2023 All-Big Country Preps football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BIG COUNTRY PREPS RISING STARS TEAM: The top football under classmen in the Big Country for 2024

Here are our selections for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps Rising Stars Team — an honor reserved for the area’s top freshman and sophomore football players. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

Continue reading “BIG COUNTRY PREPS RISING STARS TEAM: The top football under classmen in the Big Country for 2024” →

by Brandon McAuliffe

BREAKING: After 35 years of coaching, Sweetwater’s Lucas is hanging up his whistle

For the first time since 1980, Russell Lucas will not be on a sideline come the first Monday in August this fall after announcing his retirement on Wednesday.

That dates back to his time as a high school player and covers not just his playing career, but also more than three decades of coaching across all ranks.

With a career record of 161-85, including 21 playoff victories, and 10 district championships, the most impressive number from his career that sticks out to the father of three is: two.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Wylie sweeps Abilene High in 4-5A hoops in front of a packed house

With a 14-point lead at the end of the third quarter in front of a standing room only crowd, the Wylie boys basketball team looked like it was going to cruise to a win over crosstown rival Abilene High on Tuesday night at Bulldog Gym.

The Bulldogs then had to hold off a spirited comeback attempt by the Eagles, with Connel Colley’s 3-point attempt with just seconds remaining missing the mark, allowing Wylie to survive 55-52 in District 4-5A play.

It was the type of contest both Gregg Ruffin (Wylie) and Justin Reese (Abilene High) said their teams can expect in the five-team district that will only play eight games — making each matchup a crucial one.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jim Ned’s Grohman takes this week’s spotlight

The fact that Riley Grohman is our Player of the Week should surprise no one, considering she was named to our All-Big Country Preps team last year. But when you toss in her stats — an all-encompassing set of numbers — it makes even more sense. 

The senior guard was at the top of the stat sheet last week for the third-ranked Lady Indians, who swept Merkel (70-25) and Clyde (79-29) to improve to 24-2. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Abilene High splits weather-postponed doubleheader with Wichita Falls Legacy

After having their District 4-5A doubleheader against Wichita Falls Legacy pushed back a day by the winter storm that blew through Abilene on Thursday, The Abilene High basketball teams split a pair of thrillers Saturday at Eagle Gym.

The Lady Eagles suffered their first district loss, falling 39-38 in gut-wrenching fashion, before the boys rallied from a 10-point second-quarter deficit to top the Leopards 57-53 in the district opener for both teams.

Those results set up another big doubleheader Tuesday at Wylie, where the girls will wrap the first half of district play and the Eagles will look to stay atop the league standings in the early stages of 4-5A action.

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by Zach Duncan, Special to Big Country Preps

BREAKING: Haskell football coach, Big Country staple Mitch McLemore retiring after 33 years in profession

A coaching staple in the Big County is retiring after a 33-year career in the profession.

Mitch McLemore is stepping down from Haskell after a four-year run with the Indians that included three playoff appearances. McLemore has also spent time coaching in area towns Knox City, Big Spring and Stamford, where he helped win two state titles as the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator.

“I’m going to be 59 in March, and 50 of those years I’ve either been a coach’s son, player or doing this,” McLemore said. “Half a century of my life has been associated with athletics and education in some sort of form and fashion.”

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