Month: January 2026

by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Cooper boys upset rival Abilene High to reset wild district race, reinvigorate playoff hopes

Over the past two years, the boys basketball coaches in District 4-5A have consistently talked about the competitive balance of the league and how no game or opponent can be overlooked because any of the district’s five teams can beat another on a given day.

Saturday’s crosstown matchup between Abilene High and Cooper was a great example of this principle in action.

The Cougars came in off losses in each of their first three district games, while the Eagles were unbeaten at 3-0. But at the end of 32 minutes, it was Cooper celebrating a massive 48-41 win on its home floor that revitalized its playoff hopes and set up what is certain to be a wild second half of league action starting next week.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Lady Cougars on verge of playoff berth after thrilling win over Abilene High

The District 4-5A showdown between Abilene High and Cooper had the look and feel of a playoff matchup Saturday afternoon at Cougar Gym.

Neither team created any separation until Cooper senior Amiya Mayes’ free throw with 5.55 seconds to play put the Lady Cougars up five as CHS held off an Abilene High squad that was looking for its first district win, 33-28, to all but lock up a playoff spot. It was Cooper’s first home win over Abilene High since a 60-36 victory on Dec. 16, 2022.

To officially clinch a playoff berth, the Lady Cougars will need to win one of their final two games (at Wichita Falls Memorial, versus Wichita Falls Legacy) or see Abilene High lose one of its final two games against Legacy or Wylie. It would be Cooper’s first playoff berth since the 2019-20 season.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Ballinger sweeps archrival Winters in varsity doubleheader

WINTERS  — Separated by only 16 miles along Highway 83, Ballinger and Winters have shared an athletic rivalry that predates the Great Depression.

The latest chapter in this intense matchup was written Friday night when BHS swept its neighbor in a varsity basketball doubleheader at the Winters High School Gym. 

The Ballinger girls opened the twin bill with a 51-26 win, after which the BHS boys took the nightcap, 68-54. 

Both wins were particularly important for Ballinger in District 8-2A, with the girls improving to 23-4 overall and 6-3 in the district race. 

The BHS boys, in the meantime, lifted their overall mark to 16-11 and remained in strong playoff contention by improving their district mark to 5-3.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: No. 18 Roscoe boys run away from Bangs to take firm control of District 8-2A title race

ROSCOE — Entering Friday’s matchup with Bangs just a game up on the Dragons for the District 8-2A lead, the 18th-ranked Roscoe boys basketball team all but settled the league’s championship race, blasting BHS 71-33 at home to take a two-game lead with four more to play.

The thorough victory was the Plowboys’ second of the year over Bangs, improving coach Russell Best’s team to 27-1 overall and 8-0 in district play. With the tiebreaker over BHS (14-13, 6-2) and a three-game edge over Coleman (15-13, 5-3) and Ballinger (16-11, 5-3), the Plowboys can officially clinch their second consecutive district title next week, when they travel to Ballinger on Tuesday and host Miles on Friday.

Roscoe put itself in that position with a dominant effort against the Dragons, wrapping up a doubleheader sweep after watching its girls team cruise to a 53-16 win in Friday’s early game. The Plowboys never trailed, opening the game on an 8-0 run before closing the first half with a 20-4 spurt to increase a 21-15 lead with 6:47 to play in the second quarter to 41-19 by the halftime break.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie boys use big third-quarter run to pull away from crosstown rival Cooper

Trailing 20-18 after a wild first quarter, the Wylie boys basketball team outscored Cooper 45-23 over the middle two periods to pull away in the second half for a 73-53 win Thursday at Bulldog Gym.

A 21-7 run through the third quarter proved the knockout blow for the Bulldogs, who hit nine 3-pointers in the game, which was twice postponed by the winter storm that hit Abilene last weekend.

Swade Sipe and King Lloyd combined for eight of those 3s, scoring 24 and 21 points, respectively, to help Wylie complete a doubleheader sweep after the Lady Bulldogs rolled past the Lady Cougars 69-18 in Thursday’s early game.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Abilene High boys post fiery win over WF Memorial, Lady Eagles fall short in bid for first district win

After being cooped up for several days due to Winter Storm Fern, the Abilene High basketball teams were finally able to return to the court on Thursday for a District 4-5A doubleheader against Wichita Falls Memorial.

The matchup was postponed on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the cancellation of school for Abilene ISD and then was in jeopardy on Thursday after Wichita Falls ISD canceled classes.

Memorial was given permission from WFISD superintendent Dr. Donny Lee to travel to Abilene and headed home with a split of the two games. The Lady Mavericks overcame a halftime deficit to beat AHS 49-37, while the Abilene High boys led wire to wire and used an electric fourth quarter to claim a 53-39 win.

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Hoops
by Evan Ren

Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 29): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 29. 

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 Jan. 29): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

 Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan.29. 

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 Zach Duncan, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: Gordon’s Reed honored to earn NFHS national track award

Mike Reed didn’t get into coaching to win awards.

But the Gordon athletic director was honored to receive a prestigious honor last week when the National Federation of High School Coaches Association named Reed the 2024-25 Coach of the Year for boys track and field.

Of the 24 coaches across the country that were honored, Reed was the only one hailing from Texas. And he said it meant a lot to him because Reed feels like he’s been a supporter for small schools during his time at Rule, Throckmorton and Gordon.

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by Zach Duncan, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: Special time for Cisco’s Hearne, Kilpatrick families

Leading Cisco’s girls and boys basketball teams are hard-working coaches’ kids.

But it’s a unique situation in Eastland County for the Hearne and Kilpatrick families as both standouts play for the other’s father.

On a typical Tuesday night, boys coach Kevin Hearne can watch his senior daughter Pearson play for about three quarters before turning his full attention to the Loboes.

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by Daniel Youngblood

THIS WEEK IN BOYS BASKETBALL: Big games in full supply despite weather-related schedule changes

Mother Nature did her best to bring the high school basketball season to a standstill, sending a winter storm that put most Big Country teams on the shelf for a week. But the action around that unexpected break gives us plenty to talk about in this week’s look at the area boys basketball scene.

With a number of excellent (and meaningful) games last week and some big matchups slated for the next few days, the area district races remain as intriguing as ever.

Let’s go ahead now and take a look at the biggest games the area slate has to offer this week and some of the outcomes last week that helped shape the weeks to come.

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by Daniel Youngblood

THIS WEEK IN GIRLS BASKETBALL: Chilly weather, schedule changes can’t cool red-hot district races

The winter storm that blew across most of the state over the weekend wreaked havoc on the area basketball schedule, forcing most of last Friday’s games to be pushed up a day and the bulk of this week’s early games to postponed all the way to Thursday. 

But icy weather — and the bevy of schedule changes that came with it — have done little to cool the area’s rapidly heating district races. 

We still had a number of thrilling and significant results last week and have a bunch of intriguing games to look forward to over the next few days. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the biggest of those in our weekly look at the Big Country girls basketball scene.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cisco junior earns this week’s accolade

You have to appreciate a player who can contribute big numbers in several different ways. And in the case of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, such players have an advantage when it comes to taking down our weekly award. 

This time around, it’s Cisco junior Owen Kilpatrick, who posted a triple-double in a 74-38 win over Abilene TLCA, finishing with 18 points, 21 rebounds and 12 assists. 

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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN’S 2025 TRUE GRIT TEAM: The toughest, hardest-working players in the Big Country!

Most high school football teams have that one player acknowledged by the coaching staff as the prime example of what a teammate should be. 

He’s the guy who seldom misses any practice time and is a regular in the weight room. He’s early to arrive. He’s late to leave and takes pride in being coachable, though he seldom needs direction. 

He always sets the right example for younger players. He doesn’t complain and, above all else, he’s tough enough to make all the aforementioned traits consistently possible. 

Know someone like that? Here is where they are honored. 

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by Evan Ren

2025 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 Evan Ren

2025 BIG COUNTRY PREPS RISING STARS TEAM: The top underclassmen in the Big Country

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2025 All-Big Country Preps Six-Man Football Team: Superlative Awards and First-Team Roster

Here are our first-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps six-man football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2025 All-Big Country Preps Six-Man Football Team: Second-Team Roster

Here are our second-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps six-man football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2025 All-Big Country Preps Six-Man Football Team: Third-Team Roster (w/ honorable mention)

Here are our third-team and honorable mention selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps six-man football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie girls, boys impressive in doubleheader sweep of Wichita Falls Memorial

Hosting Wichita Falls Memorial a day earlier than scheduled to beat the winter storm expected to hit Abilene on Friday, the Wylie girls and boys basketball teams both picked up key district wins Thursday at Bulldog Gym.

The Lady Bulldogs blasted the Lady Mavericks 46-18 in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader, taking sole possession of the District 4-5A lead in the process. And the Bulldogs used a big fourth quarter to pull away for a 57-45 win in the late game, evening their district record at 1-1 two nights after falling 61-53 at Abilene High.

The sweep improved the Wylie girls (24-5 overall) to 4-0 in league play at the midway point of their district schedule, while the boys improved to 10-11 with their fourth win in their last five games.

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hoops
by Evan Ren

Big Country Boys Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 22): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan.22. 

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. 22): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 22. 

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

GAME STORY: Shawver’s three fourth-quarter 3s lift Abilene High boys to big home win over Wylie

With his team down one early in the fourth quarter, Payton Shawver drained 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to fuel the Abilene High boys basketball team to a 61-53 home win over crosstown rival Wylie in a key District 4-5A game full of big runs, clutch shots and wild momentum swings Tuesday at Eagle Gym.

The three triples came as part of an 11-point fourth quarter for the talented senior, whose game-high 27 points sent a raucous AHS crowd home happy as the Eagles (15-10 overall) improved to 2-0 in district play.

Wylie, which erased a 10-point third-quarter deficit to take a 42-41 lead on John Chavez’s 3 with 6:21 remaining in the game, fell to 9-11 on the season and 0-1 in league action with the loss, which came as part of a doubleheader split as the Lady Bulldogs topped the Lady Eagles 65-19 in Tuesday’s early game.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Albany sweeps Hawley as Lady Lions pull off an upset

The Albany basketball teams pulled off a clean sweep of Hawley on Tuesday night in District 10-2A action at Lion Gymnasium as the girls squad won 37-27 before the Lions claimed a 60-42 win in the nightcap.

It marked the 16th win in a row for the Albany boys, who entered the state rankings at No. 25 this week, while the Lady Lions took advantage of other upsets in the district to move into a tie for fourth place and find themselves squarely in the hunt for a playoff berth.

Both teams will face Stamford in their next action with the Bearcats and Bulldogs set for a Friday matchup (weather permitting) before Albany heads to Stamford on Tuesday.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: French foreign exchange student takes this week’s accolade with quadruple-double

Ysée Le Borgne may feel like a fish out of water living in Ballinger, Texas. After all, the 16-year-old foreign exchange student and native of Lille, France is more than 5,000 miles and (needless to say), a major cultural shift away from her hometown. 

On the basketball court, however, the 6-foot sophomore guard is right at home — so much so that she earned our Big Country Preps Player of Week for the week ending Jan. 17 with a rare quadruple double. 

Le Borgne, who opened the week with a 24-point, 14-rebound double-double in a loss to Colorado City, showed the potential for a “quad” that night with seven steals, six pass deflections and four blocks. 

Three days later it happened in a 43-32 win over Coleman that saw Le Borne finish with 23 points, 12 boards, 10 steals and 10 pass deflections. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

THIS WEEK IN BOYS BASKETBALL: District races taking shape as title, playoff favorites begin to emerge

District races are heating up throughout the Big Country and the cream is quickly rising to the top in our area leagues.

Last week and helped provide some clarity in a number of district’s throughout the BCP coverage area, and this week will, no doubt, do the same.

Without further ado, let’s go ahead and dive into this week’s column and take a look at the biggest games on this week’s slate and some of the top results last week had to offer.

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by Evan Ren

THIS WEEK IN GIRLS BASKETBALL: This week’s top games, last week’s top results and our biggest surprise

As we arrive in mid-January, this year’s playoff picture is beginning to take shape with multiple games throughout the area have a direct impact on seeding. 

Tonight we take a look at some of those matchups, along with the top results from last week and the area’s biggest surprise. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Wylie girls use athleticism, strong shooting to post big win over Cornerstone Christian

Nine players on the Wylie girls basketball team were in the program two years ago when the Lady Bulldogs were facing Lubbock Monterey and the nation’s top recruit, Aaliyah Chavez.

That experience paid off on Friday night at Bulldog Gymnasium as Wylie claimed a 65-49 non-district win over San Antonio Cornerstone Christian, a squad that features Grand Canyon University signee Yasmeen Schmidt and a pair of juniors in Regina Mendoza and Makenzie Bailey that are being looked at by Division I programs.

Despite seeing Schmidt score 33 points, Wylie coach Duane Hopper said that his team learned a lot that can be beneficial once the playoffs start.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Putback at buzzer lifts Memorial to win over Cooper boys in District 4-5A opener

After struggling for most of the game to put the ball through the net, and spending the first 28 minutes trailing as a result, the Cooper boys basketball team rallied late in the fourth quarter to put itself in position to steal a district-opening win over Wichita Falls Memorial on Friday at Cougar Gym.

But the Mavericks scored seven second-chance points in the final three minutes — the last two on a putback by Nash Melton as time expired — to escape Abilene with a dramatic 38-36 win.

The buzzer-beater by Melton completed a doubleheader sweep for Memorial, which picked up a 54-29 win in the girls game earlier in the evening.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Salinas, Wilcox lead Maidens to crucial win over Tolar

TOLAR — With a piece of the girls District 8-3A lead at stake, it wasn’t difficult to project an intense matchup between visiting Comanche and the Tolar Lady Rattlers on Friday. 

And that is precisely what those in attendance were treated to with a 60-58 Comanche win in Game 1 of a varsity doubleheader at the Tolar High School Gymnasium. The Tolar boys took the nightcap, topping Comanche 64-19. 

J’Lee Salinas scored 24 points and Kaysi Wilcox added 20 more to lead the Comanche girls (14-9, 7-0 District 8-3A), who overcame deficits of seven points in the second quarter and six points in the third to get the win. 

Tolar (16-9, 5-2) was led by Macy Price with 22 points, Atley Kolb with 15 and Jaycee Jones with 11. 

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 15): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 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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Hoops
by Evan Ren

Big Country Boys Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 15): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan.15. 

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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