Sitting at 0-4 in District 5-4A play on Jan. 25, the Sweetwater boys basketball team found itself at a crossroads.
The Mustangs’ campaign, which began with a promising 17-6 run through nondistrict play, was headed toward a disappointing end without some necessary course correction.
Coach Evan Grantham’s squad needed to right the ship and quickly if it hoped to finish its season in the playoffs. Fortunately, it did just that.
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Continue reading “Lubbock Cooper-Wylie boys basketball play-in game (64 images)”
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Continue reading “Roby-Highland girls basketball area round playoff (46 images)”
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COLORADO CITY — Leading Lubbock Cooper 40-37 after the first three quarters of its District 4-5A play-in game, the Wylie boys basketball ran out of steam in the fourth Friday.
After outscoring the Pirates 32-25 over the middle two periods to pull ahead by as many as five points in the third quarter, The Bulldogs were outscored 17-6 over the final eight minutes to see their season end with a 54-46 loss at the Colorado High School gymnasium.
Wylie closed its campaign at 13-19, capping a roller coaster of a year that saw the Bulldogs go from a 1-4 start to district to finish 5-7 in league play and force Friday’s winner-take-all rubber match with the Pirates.
COLORADO CITY — The 14th-ranked Highland girls basketball team overcame a slow offensive start with a sterling defensive effort Friday, limiting Roby to just six total field goals in a 31-16 area round win.
The Lady Hornets held the Lady Lions to three points in three of the four quarters and rallied from a 3-2 deficit at the end of one period to take a double-digit lead early in the second half.
Senior standout Taylor Allen fueled the winning effort for Highland, scoring 19 points to outscore Roby herself in leading the Lady Hornets into the Region II-1A quarterfinals, where they’ll face District 14-1A rival Westbrook next week.
After recognizing the top pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders that the Big Country softball scene has to offer, we close our position ranking 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 with some others to watch in 2023.
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.
EULA — For a half, the Breckenridge girls basketball team gave No. 2 Jim Ned all it could handle Thursday in a Region I-3A area round matchup at Mary Mosley Gymnasium.
But a Lady Indians squad not accustomed to playing in tight games rose up to meet the challenge in the second half, using an 11-6 run through the third quarter to create some cushion in a 42-30 win.
The victory — just Jim Ned’s seventh this year by less than 14 points — earned the Lady Indians (33-1 on the season) a region quarterfinal matchup next week with District 6-3A mate Ballinger, which knocked off Wichita Falls City View 56-46 on Thursday.
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 2023.
We hope you enjoy our list.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Cooper boys basketball (72 images)”
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 2023 season.
We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.
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Abilene High traveled to Cougar Gym on Tuesday needing a win in its District 4-5A finale to keep its playoff hopes alive. Cooper needed a victory to clinch the league’s No. 2 playoff seed.
In the end, the Cougars were just too much for the Eagles in a 52-36 Senior Night victory.
CHS, which capped the regular season at 18-12 overall and 8-4 in district play, raced out to a 14-7 lead after a quarter and outscored AHS in each of the following three periods to close out the regular season with an impressive crosstown win.
After kicking off our softball position rankings series on Monday 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 2023.
We hope you enjoy our list.
TUSCOLA — The 10th-ranked Stephenville girls basketball team got its postseason started with a dominating performance Monday, using its patented pressure defense to fluster Snyder in a 66-30 bi-district win at Jim Ned’s Bill Thornton Arena.
The Honeybees shut the Lady Tigers out in the first quarter and built a 25-4 lead by halftime, ending the competitive phase of the game before the start of the third period.
The victory earned coach Jason Hodges’ team a highly anticipated area-round date with No. 11 Sanger (28-5), which routed Springtown 81-17 in its bi-district game on Monday. That matchup is slated for 6 p.m. Thursday in Weatherford.
With softball season kicking off 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 2023.
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.
At 29-6 and ranked 14th in Class 3A heading into the playoffs, the Brock girls basketball team has a lot to like about its present.
After finishing second to No. 6 Peaster in District 8-3A, the Lady Eagles will open the postseason Monday night with a bi-district matchup against Wichita Falls City View (22-10) in hopes of making a run in a brutal Region I-3A bracket.
But as laser focused as BHS coach Alex Stephenson and his team are on accomplishing the goals they’ve set for this season, it’s hard not to peak ahead to a future that could be even brighter. With a nine-player roster that features three freshmen and three sophomores to go with their three seniors, the Lady Eagles have much to look forward to as well.
We’ve reached the final week of the boys basketball regular season and some districts have already had their champions and playoff representatives decided. But that’s not to say that the final slate of games on Tuesday won’t be packed with intrigue.
With a couple winner-take-all championship games and several matchups that will be critical in deciding playoff qualifiers and seeding, there’s still a lot of great boys basketball to be watched, if you know where to find it.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest games this week, as well as some of last week’s most important results:
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wylie-Abilene High boys basketball (76 images)”
In District 4-5A boys basketball, anything can happen — and it usually does.
That was was the case again Friday night, when an Abilene High squad that had lost five of its previous six games cooled off the red-hot Wylie Bulldogs with a 48-44 Senior Night win to reignite its dimming playoff hopes heading into its final game Tuesday.
That victory was part of an upset-filled night in 4-5A that saw Lubbock Cooper top Abilene Cooper 44-41 and Lubbock Coronado down district champion Lubbock Monterey 77-62 to create ties for second and fourth place in the league standings heading into the final day of games on Tuesday.
AHS (12-16 overall, 4-7 in district) remains outside of the playoff picture for now, but with Friday’s win, the sixth-place Eagles trail Wylie (13-18, 5-7) and Lubbock Cooper (17-14, 5-6) by just one game in the win column heading into their regular-season finale against archrival Abilene Cooper.
Wylie seniors Reese Borho and Jadyn Fernandez waited seven extra days to celebrate their college signings due to the winter storm that blew through Texas last week, but the two finally got to do so Wednesday during a Signing Day ceremony at the Wylie Performing Arts Center.
Surrounded by friends, family, coaches and teammates, Borho formally announced his signing to play baseball at Abilene Christian University, while Fernandez made her commitment to play softball for Wayland Baptist University official.
It was a special day for both players, ending a stressful recruiting process in time for each to focus on their final seasons in purple in gold.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Lubbock Cooper-Wylie basketball doubleheader (88 images)”
Photos by Dayton Wood, HubCityPreps.com
LUBBOCK — Trailing 50-48 with 12.8 seconds remaining, the Cooper boys basketball team put the game in Jaelyn Rivera’s hands. And as he has done so many times before, the standout forward came through for the Cougars.
The senior took a pass just beyond the midcourt line with time winding down, dribbled to the 3-point line, shook two defenders and drained the game-winning shot with 1.8 seconds remaining to lift Cooper to a dramatic 51-50 road win.
The Wylie boys basketball team entered Tuesday’s home matchup with Lubbock Cooper tied with the Pirates in the win column and needing a victory to maintain its hopes of claiming playoff spot out of District 4-5A.
Fueled by a packed Senior Night crowd, the Bulldogs played like a team on a mission.
After allowing the first bucket of the game, Wylie responded with a 16-2 run and never trailed again in blasting Cooper 75-55.
The win, the Bulldogs’ fourth in their last six games, improved coach Gregg Ruffin’s team to 13-17 overall and 5-6 in District 4-5A — a half-game ahead of the Pirates (16-14, 4-6) and 1½ games ahead of Abilene High (11-16, 3-7) for the fourth spot in the league standings.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cisco-Hawley basketball doubleheader (118 images)”
HAWLEY — Hosting Cisco with sole possession of the District 10-2A lead on the line, the Hawley boys basketball team rode a dominant first half to a 65-51 win Monday at Bearcat Gym.
The Bearcats outscored the Loboes 31-13 in the first 16 minutes and stretched their lead to 19 points on two occasions in the third quarter before holding off a furious Cisco rally over the final quarter and a half.
The victory, which followed a 60-41 Cisco win in the girls game, improved the Bearcats (10-4 overall) to 8-1 in 10-2A play, while the Loboes fell to 19-6 on the season and 7-2 in district action. That gives Hawley a one-game lead on CHS and Albany (11-3, 7-2) with three league games remaining.
Six Cooper athletes made their college commitments public Monday during a Signing Day ceremony at Cougar Gym that was rescheduled from last week due to the winter storm that whipped through Abilene and most of the state.
Surrounded by family, friends, teammates and coaches, five CHS football players — quarterback/athlete Chris Warren, receivers Malik Jackson, D’Andre Ralston and Cam Herron and defensive back Michael Ramis — joined girls basketball standout Karrigan Parrott in announcing the universities for which they will continue their athletic careers collegiately.
Warren and Ralston are both headed to Hardin-Simmons, while Ramis will also stay local and compete at McMurry. Herron will join that trio in the Division III ranks at Trinity in San Antonio, while Ramis will play NAIA football for Arizona Christian University.
Parrott, the lone girls athlete to participate in Monday’s ceremony after fellow basketball player Kyla Speights (Texas Wesleyan) and volleyballer Skyla Stark (Hill College) announced commitments earlier, will head east to compete at the next level for DIII Texas-Dallas in Richardson.
While winter weather did a number on the Big Country basketball schedule last week, most scheduled games have finally been played, adding some clarity to the stretch run of our district championship and playoff races.
There’s still plenty of intrigue remaining on the boys side, however, so keep reading for a look at the area’s top matchups this week:
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Lubbock High-Cooper basketball doubleheader (84 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Sweetwater-Snyder basketball doubleheader (100 images)”
Facing off with Lubbock High in a game they needed to win to maintain any hope of reaching the playoffs, the Cooper Lady Cougars put forth their best effort of the year Saturday afternoon at Cougar Gym.
Playing with the sense of urgency one might expect in a must-win game, coach Brandon Hudson’s squad scored 45 first-half points and stretched 21-point halftime lead to 30 in the third quarter before closing out a 67-48 Senior Day victory.
The win improved Cooper to 20-13 overall and 4-7 in District 4-5A play, pulling the Lady Cougars within a game of LHS (21-13, 5-6) with one game remaining on the district schedule. That sets up another must-win Tuesday at Lubbock Coronado, and potentially another after that should the fourth-place Lady Westerners fall as expected to top-ranked Lubbock Monterey.
SNYDER — With both the Snyder and Sweetwater boys basketball teams riding waves of momentum into Friday’s District 5-4A showdown, fans packed the Snyder gymnasium expecting to see a thrilling encore to the first matchup between the teams, which saw the Tigers take a 40-38 win on a layup at the buzzer.
Unfortunately for those on the home side of the gym, the Mustangs had different plans.
Coming in on a two-game winning streak after an 0-4 district start, including a 61-60 victory over Levelland on Thursday, Sweetwater stifled Snyder for four full quarters, building a 23-point third-quarter lead on their way to a 40-27 win over their rival.
Because of the winter storm that hit the state earlier this week, National Signing Day came and went without fanfare this year. But with a clear weather forecast on Friday, five Abilene High football players were celebrated for the college decisions they made official with their Letters of Intent on Wednesday.
Three Eagles defensive backs — safety Noah Hatcher (Midwestern State) and cornerbacks Kwame Collins and Jayson Henley (both Angelo State) — all signed to play scholarship football at the Division II level, while linebacker Kenneth Johnson (McMurry) and receiver Tim Outlaw (Hardin-Simmons) committed to play Division III football locally.
That group was supported by family, friends, coaches and teammates during Signing Day ceremony at the AHS fieldhouse that served as an opportunity to show younger players in the Eagles football program what can happen with hard work and dedication.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Lubbock Coronado-Abilene High boys basketball (48 images)”
Playing Lubbock Coronado in a game delayed two days by inclement weather, the Abilene High boys basketball team saw a sluggish start doom its hopes of a District 4-5A upset Thursday in a 68-54 loss at Eagle Gym.
The Eagles trailed 9-2 less than three minutes into the game and never fully recovered in falling to 11-15 overall and 3-6 in league play.
After the Mustangs’ lead reached a game-high 21 points (37-16) late in the second quarter, AHS rallied to pull within 10 in the third. But that was as close as coach Justin Reese’s squad would get as Coronado pushed its lead back to 20 points by the 1:27 mark of the third and was never threatened again.
Sharing the court with one of the area’s best forwards in Jaelyn Rivera and a pair of talented guards in Kam Gray and Jordan Willis, Cooper senior Maxwell Falade knows he’s a role player.
But in watching the Cougars play, you realize pretty quickly just how important that role is.
While Falade’s name may not jump off the stat sheet the way some of his teammates’ do, his energy and effort on both ends of the court are critical to his team’s success. And if you ask coach Bryan Conover what makes him such a special person and valuable player, you had better be ready for a lengthy response.
The winter weather expected to hit the Big Country this week can’t cool off the area boys basketball playoff races, which continue to heat up as we approach the final three weeks of the regular season.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest matchups in store for this week as well as a look back at some of last week’s most important games:
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Coleman-Colorado City basketball doubleheader (178 images)”
COLORADO CITY — Leading Colorado City just 22-20 at halftime Friday, the Coleman boys basketball team opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run and protected that cushion the rest of the way for a 49-41 win to close the first half of District 8-2A play with a perfect 5-0 record.
That surge out of halftime was part of a 15-6 third-quarter run for the Bluecats that turned a tie game in the final minute of the second quarter into an 11-point lead by the start of the fourth.
The Wolves never got closer than seven points in the the final eight minutes, seeing their district record fall to 3-2 with the loss.
With an 11-15 overall record and a 3-4 mark in District 4-5A play, the Wylie boys basketball team has faced its share of adversity this season.
In fact, due to an extended playoff run by the school’s football team that delayed the arrival of several key players and a handful of instances where others missed time to illness or injury, few teams have played more lineups or experienced more roster upheaval.
But after a tumultuous start that saw the Bulldogs drop six of their first seven games and 11 of their first 14, coach Gregg Ruffin’s young squad seems to finally be rounding into form.