Month: February 2025

by Zach Duncan, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: A special basketball season for Roscoe’s Arnwines

Roscoe girls basketball coach Shella Arnwine admits it can be difficult for her to convey into words what these past few months have meant to her family.

Arnwine’s Plowgirls are having one of their best seasons in recent memory. They’ve already beaten Sonora and Smyer in the Region I-2A Division II playoffs and will face No. 10 Clarendon in the regional semifinals.

When she’s not coaching, Arnwine sits in the stands and watches her younger son Jace start as a guard on Roscoe’s boys team, while her older son Jaiden serves as an assistant coach.
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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Softball Position Rankings: Utility Players

After recognizing the top pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders that the Big Country softball scene has to offer, we close our position rankings series with a celebration of versatility.

For the final installment in our five-part series, we take a look at the top utility players, ranking our top-10 multi-position standouts to watch in 2025. 

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these lists and encourage you to come back next week when we’ll feature the top baseball players in the Big Country.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Softball Position Rankings: Outfielders

After spending the first three days of our softball position rankings series in the dirt, we move the grass for Day 4.

For the penultimate installment of our five-part series, we take a look at the top outfielders in the Big Country, ranking our top 10 with others to watch in 2025.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Jim Ned eliminates Comanche behind big night from Grohman

COLEMAN — Four quarters of tough defense and 27 points from Abilene Christian signee Riley Grohman were enough to push the Jim Ned Lady Indians past Comanche, 51-32 in a 3A DI area round clash on Friday at Coleman High School. 

Addison Bradshaw added 14 points with two 3-pointers and Gracee Cooley added six more to help lift the Lady Indians (32-2) who will meet perennial power Shallowater in the Region I-3A semifinals next week. 

Along the way, Jim Ned limited Comanche’s All-Big Country Preps duo of J’Lee Salinas and Kinsey Glasgow to a combined six points. Destiny Jamison managed to pull up some of the slack with 17 points for the Maidens, who closed their season at 22-7.

“The girls did a great job,” Jim Ned coach Hunter Cooley said. “(Comanche) is pretty explosive and I thought that overall, our individual (defensive) assignments were really good and as team I thought we played really well defensively.”

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Imel’s 33-point outburst fuels Tolar to thrilling win over Wall

BROWNWOOD — As expected coming in to the Region I-3A Division II area-round matchup between Tolar and Wall, there wasn’t much separating the Lady Rattlers and Lady Hawks on Tuesday night at Warren Gym.

But only one of the teams had Senne Imel — a fact that proved the difference in a 53-48 Tolar win.

THS’ senior shooting guard poured in a game-high 33 points to lead the Lady Rattlers (24-10), who also got nine points from sophomore point guard Jaycee Jones in earning a trip to the region semifinals to take on 11th-ranked Idalou (27-9) next week at a time, date and place to be announced.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Softball Position Rankings: Infielders

After highlighting the top pitchers and catchers on the Big Country softball scene the past two nights, it’s time to turn our spotlight to the field.

For the third installment in our five-part position rankings series, we list our top-10 infielders in the area for the 2025 season.

We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Aspermont outlasts Gordon for thrilling win in wild Region II-1A DII area matchup

TUSCOLA — In a thrilling game of wild runs and momentum swings, it was the Aspermont Lady Hornets who had the last and most important one Thursday night, outlasting Gordon for a 43-42 win in a region II-1A Division II area-round matchup at Jim Ned’s Bill Thornton Arena.

AHS, which trailed by as many as seven points early in the third quarter, closed the game on a 9-4 run over the final 3½ minutes to rally for the victory in the hotly contested matchup that saw a pair of ties and five lead changes in the second half.

The gritty win earned the Lady Hornets (25-7) a trip to the region semifinals, where they’ll face off with with No. 18 Irion County (29-6) next week, while the young Lady Longhorns saw their season end at 22-12.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Haskell goes cold late, falls in area round to Crawford

EASTLAND — The Haskell girls basketball team entered Thursday’s Region II-2A Division II area-round game against Crawford expecting a low-scoring, defense-intensive game at Eastland High School.

What the Maidens weren’t prepared for was an 8-0 run in the first two minutes of the game that put the Lady Pirates on top and left Haskell chasing all night.

Despite rallying to take their first lead of the night on a shot by Kayce Coleman with 6:43 to play, the Maidens saw their season come to an end with a 34-28 loss.

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Feb. 13): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Feb. 13. 

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

Big Country Boys Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Feb. 13): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Feb. 13. 

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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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Softball Position Rankings: Catchers

After kicking off our softball position rankings series on Wednesday with the pitchers, we now shift our attention to their battery mates.

For the second installment in our five-part series, we rank the area’s top 10 catchers with others to watch for in 2025.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Yale Youngblood, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: Talented, red-hot Coahoma Bulldogettes eyeing deep playoff run

Photos courtesy of Alyssa Peterson

When the Coahoma girls basketball team takes on Slaton at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, the Bulldogs will be riding not just a bus, but virtually unprecedented momentum to Lamesa, site of the Region I-3A Division II area-round battle.

In fact, it’s even arguable that the word “virtually” should be added to the preceding sentence.

In the team’s playoff opener, the Bulldogettes blitzed Tornillo 78-0. No, that’s not a typo.

The victory, which was founded on a 12-0 record and first-place finish in District 3-3A play, was literally decided on the Bulldogs’ first made shot, a few seconds in. Two minutes later, coach Alyssa Peterson called off the team’s full-court-press defense. By the second half, the starters had given way to younger and less-experienced teammates.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Softball Position Rankings: Pitchers

With the softball season beginning this week, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact throughout the Big Country Preps coverage area in 2025.

For the first installment in a five-part series that will cover all position groups on the area softball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top pitchers, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this spring.

We hope you enjoy reading through our list.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Red-hot Hermleigh puts Baird away early

ABILENE — A quick start and a hailstorm of 3s was enough to carry Hermleigh to a 73-33 win over Baird on Tuesday in a Region II-1A DI bi-district game at McMurry University’s Kimbrell Arena.

Brooklyn O’Quin scored 16 points with three 3s and Kolbie Campbell added 12 more with three treys of her own to lift Hermleigh (31-5), which advances to face Hamlin in the area round.  Game time for that matchup is set for 6 p.m. Friday at the Snyder Coliseum.

Baird finished its season at 9-11, led by Raelyn Goodwin with 14 points and Katelyn Langford with nine. The Lady Bears found themselves trailing 16-4 at the end of the first quarter and never recovered — continually victimized by Hermleigh’s defensive pressure. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Abilene High boys pull away from Cooper for 62-23 win in District 4-5A finale

For a quarter and a half, the Cooper boys basketball team gave rival Abilene High a run for its money in the District 4-5A finale for both squads Tuesday at Cougar Gym.

But leading just 14-13 with 4:08 remaining in the second quarter, the Eagles closed the first half on a 9-2 run to ignite a spark that would never burn out in a dominating 62-23 win. 

The lopsided victory, which saw Abilene High (20-12 overall) close league play at 5-3, spoiled Senior Day for the Cougars, who closed out a tough campaign at 8-18 overall and 0-8 in district.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Eula girls hold off furious Westbrook rally to capture bi-district title

ABILENE — A year ago, while facing Westbrook in the Region II-1A championship game, the Eula Lady Pirates suffered a catastrophic fourth quarter shooting slump and saw a nine-point lead vanish in a 38-35 loss.

This year, the Lady Pirates came within an eyelash of suffering the same fate in the Region II-1A DI bi-district round — narrowly holding on to a 30-27 win over Westbrook on Tuesday at McMurry University. Trailing 21-5 at the break, Westbrook rallied to turn a would-be rout into a nail-biter in Kimbrell Arena, with Eula coming up with a handful of key plays down the stretch to preserve the win. 

Addison Goodman scored 15 points via five 3-pointers and Emma Damron added seven more to lead Eula (32-2) which now advances to face Munday (12-19) in the area round. 

Westbrook (28-3) was led by Raenee Rich with eight points and Hazel Lord with six.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Honeybees’ season ends with bi-district loss to Lubbock Estacado

The Stephenville Honeybees started off Tuesday’s Region I-4A Division I bi-district game against Lubbock Estacado by winning the leap for opening tip-off.

They then won the second and third attempts at it as well after the first two tries ended with players sprawled on the court at Moody Coliseum scrambling for the loose ball with nobody having claimed possession yet.

Once the Lady Matadors controlled the third try at starting the contest, Estacado quickly seized control and rolled to a 58-37 win.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Hamlin rallies past Knox City for first playoff win in over a decade

STAMFORD — In 2012, London hosted the Summer Olympics for the third time, NASA landed a rover on Mars and Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee.

It was also the last time the Hamlin girls basketball team had won a playoff game — prior to the Lady Pipers rallying in the fourth quarter for a 43-32 win over Knox City on Monday at Bulldog Gymnasium in a Region II-1A Division I bi-district matchup.

It was freshman Kinzlee Gruben’s 3-pointer off a turnover with 27 seconds left in the third quarter, with Hamlin down 28-24, that got the rally started.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Aspermont uses fast start to cruise to bi-district win over Crowell

STAMFORD — If there is a year for the Aspermont girls basketball team to get over the area-round hump of the postseason, this could be the year that the Lady Hornets break through.

AHS picked up its fifth consecutive win in the bi-district round of the playoffs on Monday night with a 57-31 rout of Crowell to open the Region II-1A Division II postseason, marking the second consecutive year that Aspermont opened the playoffs with a win over the Lady Wildcats.

Now, with the split divisions, the Lady Hornets will face someone other than Hermleigh or Highland as they look to make a return to the second week of the postseason for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Comanche’s Alex Terrell takes this week’s spotlight

While it wasn’t a perfect two-game stretch for the Comanche boys basketball team, the Indians did clinch a postseason berth last week and one of their players earned the spotlight. 

Comanche went 1-1 on the week, dropping a game against Tolar while securing a playoff spot Friday with a win over Breckenridge. In the meantime, senior guard Alex Terrell came up with two big efforts to capture our Big Country Preps Player of the Week. 

Terrell put up solid numbers on both nights, beginning with 20 points, five rebounds and two steals in the Tolar loss. Three nights later, he finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and four steals in a tough 32-26 win at Breck to clinch a postseason berth. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie boys take care of business in Senior Night win over rival Cooper

The Wylie boys basketball team closed out its home schedule with a thorough victory Friday, pulling away for a 58-42 win over crosstown rival Cooper on Senior Night.

Leading 11-8 after one quarter, the Bulldogs outscored the Cougars 13-3 in the second quarter to take a 24-11 lead into halftime and answered every Cooper run from there to improve 5-2 in District 4-5A play.

The victory, which moved WHS to 16-11 overall, kept the Bulldogs’ district title hopes intact heading into Tuesday’s regular-season finale at Wichita Falls Legacy (18-8, 6-1).

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Jim Ned boys lock up district title with tough win at Wall

WALL — With a chance to lock up the District 6-3A title on the line, the Jim Ned Indians had to clear a familiar hurdle to get there — their archrival Wall on the Hawks’ home floor.  

Wyatt Nickson scored 25 points and Dean Guffey tossed in nine more to lead Jim Ned (23-9, 11-1) which overcame a fourth-quarter Wall rally to get a 58-49 win. 

Led by Paxton Brake with 18 points and Lane Stansberry with 11, the Hawks slipped to 17-12 and 8-3.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Wyatt’s big first half helps Eagles close out home schedule with win over WF Memorial

The Abilene High boys basketball team entered Friday night’s game with Wichita Falls Memorial knowing that they were already locked into a bi-district game with No. 13 Amarillo High and, with nothing on the line, wanted to ensure that its four seniors got a win in their home finale.

Those seniors (Tyson Thompson, Eric Salazar, Carter Wyatt and Connel Colley) all started for the Eagles and played key roles as AHS snapped a two-game losing skid with a 39-37 win over the Mavericks at Eagle Gym.

Wyatt led the group with 10 points on Friday night, after having not scored more than three points in a contest this season.

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Boys Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Feb.6): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Feb. 6. 

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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by Evan Ren

Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Feb. 6): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Feb. 6. 

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 Daniel Youngblood

SIGNING DAY: Wylie baseball star Briscoe, standout OL Peck headline list of four signees

Tye Briscoe — and those who have followed his decorated baseball career — have known where he was going to play his college ball for going on three years now. On Wednesday, the talented pitcher and outfielder got to make it official.

Flanked by football players Sutton Peck (Abilene Christian University), Andre Gjerpe (Morehead State University) and Keegan Anderson (Independence College), who also locked in their college choices during Wylie’s Wednesday afternoon Signing Day ceremony, Briscoe signed with the University of Arkansas, making good on the commitment he made to the Razorbacks on Aug. 25, 2022.

And though there was little mystery or suspense to his recruitment process, the fire-balling and power-hitting lefty was happy to put pen to paper in front of friends, family and supporters at Bulldog Gym.

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by Daniel Youngblood

SIGNING DAY: Cooper receiver Alexander, softballers Fry and Ruiz make commitments official

Coming off a huge senior season as a rare two-way player for Cooper, Zavian Alexander announced Wednesday afternoon that he’ll be taking his talents to Central Texas for the next stage of his football journey.

Joined by CHS softballers Maddie Fry (Hardin-Simmons University) and Emma Ruiz (Nelson University) at a Signing Day ceremony at Cougar Gym, Alexander made his college decision official by confirming his commitment to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Alexander’s pledge to the Division III national power in Belton comes after putting up the second-most productive season ever by a Cooper receiver on his way to earning first-team all-District 2-5A Division II and second-team All-Big Country Preps recognition.

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by Daniel Youngblood

SIGNING DAY: Abilene High OL Turner stays local with commitment to McMurry

For the past three years, Jerrod Turner has been casting an imposing shadow from his spot as one of the bookends of the Abilene High offensive line. 

On Wednesday afternoon, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound left tackle made official his intentions to take that shadow a few miles south for the next few years.

Turner, a second-team all-District 2-5A Division I and honorable mention All-Big Country Preps pick as a senior, committed to McMurry University during a Signing Day ceremony at the Chuck Moser Fieldhouse, pledging to continue a football journey that saw him help pave the way for some of the Eagles’ most explosive offenses in recent memory the past two seasons.

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by Evan Ren

SIGNING DAY 2025: Top area athletes sign on the dotted line

National Signing Day is typically a busy one in the Big Country Preps’ coverage area and 2025 was no exception with several players inking and/or confirming their commitments to play at the next level. 

At various signing ceremonies held throughout the area, athletes celebrated their final choices to pursue a degree while competing collegiately. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie girls wrap up perfect district run; boys can’t complete rally in loss to Memorial

The No. 13 Wylie girls basketball team closed out an undefeated run through District 4-5A play in style Tuesday, defeating Wichita Falls Memorial 46-35 at Bulldog Gym to ride a 10-game win streak into the playoffs.

The Lady Bulldogs, who improved to 27-5 on the year, jumped on the Lady Mavericks early and controlled the game throughout in cruising to a perfect 8-0 record in league play.

The victory was the highlight of a doubleheader split for Wylie, which dropped the boys game in a thrilling matchup that almost saw the Bulldogs erase a 20-point deficit before falling 69-65.

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