In this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast, Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood discuss the inaugural All-Big Country Preps boys and girls basketball teams, giving insight into the selection process and sharing their opinions the superlative award winners and first-tema selections.
To read more on this year’s selections, click the links below:
Following a basketball program on the surface can only provide one with so much insight. Behind the scenes, however, is where character is often measured. And it is with our Gym Rat Team that we wish to tip our caps to those individuals who exuded the most of it.
This team isn’t about who the best players are, though some of the area’s top players did make this list.
The Gym Rat team is about effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches love above all else and that championship foundations are built upon.
It is for that reason that our Gym Rat team is selected entirely by area coaches, described in their own words. And Big Country Preps is absolutely honored to present these individuals to you — the best “team players” (boys and girls) that the area had to offer during the 2018-19 season.
Players are listed in no particular order.
Here are the superlative award winners for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps boys basketball team. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Here are our first-team selections for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps boys basketball team. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Here are our third-team selections for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps girls basketball team. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Here are our second-team selections for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps boys basketball team. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Here are our third-team selections for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps girls basketball team. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Here are our third-team selections for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps boys basketball team. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Here are our third-team selections for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps girls basketball team. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
No-hitters are fairly common in fastpitch softball, but they are to be respected, nonetheless — especially when someone throws two of them in one week.
Chyanne Ellett, Brownwood’s senior ace who has been among the area’s top hurlers since her freshman year, accomplished the feat last week in a 5-0 win over Chisholm trail and a 1-0 loss to Granbury that saw GHS pitcher Alison Been match Ellett’s no-no with one of her own.
Softball and baseball are officially here. And cold weather or not, we’re already seeing performances worthy of consideration here.
Case in point: Eastland’s Brynna Foster, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 23.
Foster, who is only a junior, tossed four shutouts in last week’s Stephenville tournament to help the Lady Mavs improve to 10-2.
The Snyder boys basketball team is in the midst of one of the most dramatic turnarounds the Big Country has seen in quite some time, and at the helm of the ship is coach Lee Scott, a former Snyder Tiger himself.
Recently, Scott took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about the dream season his squad is enjoying, what it means to him as a Snyder graduate and how far this group can go in the playoffs for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.
Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel take a look at the area boys and girls basketball playoff picture, recapping the previous week’s results and spotlighting some of the most intriguing upcoming matchups..
Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking the small shopping cart emblem beneath the lower right corner of the gallery.
STAMFORD — The curtains fell on the ‘Showtime Steers’ on Monday night … but not without a fight.
The Big Spring boys basketball team trimmed a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to 11 with 3:07 to play before ultimately running out of steam in an 85-69 loss to No. 25 Burkburnett in a Region I-4A bi-district playoff at Bulldog Gym.
The loss ended the Steers season at 18-14, marking a stark turnaround from last year’s 5-25 campaign.
Here are the updated Big Country boys basketball playoff pairings:
Continue reading “Big Country boys basketball playoff pairings, results (March 2)”
With just one more game re—maining on the regular-season boys basketball schedule, most district championships have already been decided and many teams have already locked up their playoff spots and seeding.
But as is always the case this time of year, a few league title and district playoff races have come down to the final week, which means Tuesday’s slate of games will have an enormous importance for those teams.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest matchups this final week has to offer and review some of the developments last week that put us in this position, shall we?
Here are the updated Big Country girls basketball playoff pairings:
Continue reading “Big Country girls basketball playoff pairings, results (Feb. 23)”
For months, it had been speculated on where De Leon quarterback Kevin Yeager would spend his collegiate days playing football.
That became official on Wednesday, when he signed with Incarnate Word, as one of the top area athletes to commit to college programs on National Signing Day.
“It was a great day for the Yeagers and I’m super proud for Kevin earning this opportunity to play at the next level ,” De Leon coach David Yeager said of his son. “I’m really proud of the career he’s had at De Leon and I’m looking forward to the next chapter at Incarnate Word.”
In a week that saw multiple performances worthy of Big Country Preps Player of the Week honors, it was the magnitude of one win, in particular, that shifted the award to Eastland senior guard Hailee Stacy.
Stacy averaged 26 points and 9.5 rebounds for the week, including 19 points and eight boards in a 56-42 win over highly touted Cisco to force a first-place tie in the district race.
She followed that with a 33-point, 11-rebound performance in a 71-26 win over Comanche.
It’s hard to believe, but there only three dates remaining on the boys basketball schedule.
After Tuesday and Friday, most local and area teams will have just one game remaining to either fight their way into the playoffs or improve their seeding with a big win.
That makes all games this week important, whether teams are playing for their playoff lives/positioning or to spoil those of their opponents. We’ve got a great slate of games coming up, so let’s take a look forward to the biggest of those and back at the biggest developments last week brought.
With the playoffs rapidly approaching, most girls districts have but five nights of league action remaining.
This will be quickly followed by a night or two of tie-breaking games and the always-interesting playoff warm-ups, after which the massive UIL playoff brackets will be unveiled.
This will all culminate in the state tournament on Feb. 28 through March 2 in the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Here are our third-team selections for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Big Country Preps Player of the Week isn’t strictly about numbers.
Sometimes, drama can be the deciding factor. And in that regard, Hamlin’s Jackson Sepeda takes home this week’s Oscar after helping Hamlin to an incredible 21-18 win over heavily favored Wellington — one of the biggest upsets the Big Country has seen in the last decade.
One of the longest tenured and winningest coaches in Big Country history, Denney Faith has experienced more than his share of success in his three decades in Albany. So it should surprise no one that this area coaching legend has his Lions in the region semifinals once again despite an uncharacteristic 0-5 start to this season.
Faith took some time this week to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about his team’s turnaround, this week’s playoff opponent and what has kept him in Albany all these years for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.
Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel say goodbye to the team’s lost during last week’s area round of the football playoffs and look ahead to this week’s action.
Big Spring athletic director/head football coach Mitch McLemore has been reassigned.
McLemore, who posted a 3-19 overall mark with the Steers through two seasons, coached Big Spring to records of 0-10 and 3-9, respectively, upon arriving from Junction in 2017. He inherited a team that had gone 0-9 in 2016.
Continue reading “BREAKING NEWS: McLemore reassigned in Big Spring”
Aside from having what might be the single greatest hairdo in Big Country history (next to mine, of course), Hawley running back Colton Marshall closed a remarkable season on Friday, with yet another remarkable game.
Rushing 36 times in a heartbreaking 37-36 loss to Sundown in the Region I-2A Division I area round, Marshall charted 213 yards and five touchdowns.
With that performance, he finished the season with 282 carries for 1,935 yards and 27 scores, helping the Bearcats to a 10-2 record and earning our Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
Celina 31, Stephenville 21 — Five turnovers proved more than Stephenville could overcome Friday in a Region II-4A Division I area-round loss to Celina at Fort Worth Brewer’s Bear Stadium.
Stephenville, which was hurt by two interceptions and three lost fumbles, was outscored 10-0 in the second half in seeing its season end at 7-4.
The Yellow Jackets’ only lead came at 21-14 with five minutes remaining in the second quarter, when Krece Nowak had his second of two rushing touchdowns. But the Bobcats (7-4) answered in the final minute of the period to tie the game 21-all at halftime, before securing the upset with 10 fourth-quarter points.
PLAINVIEW — Nobody expected coach Mitch McLemore’s squad to be in Friday’s Region I-4A Division I area round after back-to-back winless campaigns in 2016-17.
When the UIL’s biennial realignment came about in February, Big Spring was placed in a four-team district guaranteeing the Steers a playoff berth.
After wins over Sweetwater (33-7) and Pecos (39-20) in the first four weeks of the year, the Steers appeared to have turned a corner before losing six straight to end the year — including all three district games to enter the playoffs as the fourth seed out of District 2.
Then came the bi-district upset of District 1 champion Clint (28-22) and a matchup Friday against Hereford, an overtime winner last week against Springtown.
The Steers’ season came to an end Friday as the Herd knocked Big Spring off 57-13 at Bulldog Stadium.
LAST WEEK: 31-6, .837
SEASON TOTAL: 415-91, .820
Normally our playoff forecast is released on Thursdays. But, in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, we’re pushing it out a day early.
I don’t mind saying, it has been a good year for the column, picking at nearly 84 percent in Week 12 and holding at 82 percent on the year.
The Haskell Indians got off to rough start this season, dropping three of four games during nondistrict play, losing each of those games by at least 28 points. But things started clicking for coach Brian Hodnett’s team during district play, which saw the Indians take good Cross Plains and Albany teams to the wire and defeat Roscoe and Baird to claim the fourth playoff seed out of District 7-2A Division II.
Haskell (4-6) took advantage of that opportunity, coming from behind to defeat District 8 champion Eldorado 26-22 in the bi-district round, snapping a nine-year playoff victory drought. Earlier this week, Hodnett took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about the Eldorado win, this season and what he expects to see in Friday’s area-round matchup against Wheeler for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.
Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel break down the most significant — and shocking — developments of the first week of the high school football playoffs.
When Cooper sophomore Noah Garcia was last seen at Shotwell Stadium, he was leaving the Cougars’ regular-season finale against Amarillo High on a stretcher.
The 5-foot-7, 160-pound running back had just taken a hard hit near the line of scrimmage and spent several minutes face down on the turf awaiting and receiving medical care.
But the thumbs up he gave the crowd as he was wheeled away from worried coaches, teammates and family members seemed to offer assurance that he would be back at some point to help the team he’d been so good for to that point. Little did anyone know that would occur just one week later.
Not only was Garcia back for the Coogs’ playoff opener at El Paso Eastwood, he was good enough in their 49-41 bi-district victory to earn Big Country Preps Player of the Week honors for the first time this season.
Stephenville 47, Dunbar 31 — Krece Nowak rushed for 218 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries and Kade Renfro threw for 250 yards and a score to lift Stephenville to an easy bi-district win over Dunbar.
The Yellow Jackets had built a 34-0 lead by halftime and were never seriously threatened while improving to 7-3. Stephenville will square off with Celina (6-4) in the 4A Division I area round.
Dunbar finished its season at 5-5.
LAST WEEK: 33-6, .846
SEASON TOTAL: 384-85, .818
There is no Big Country Preps Game of the Week once postseason begins. From this point forward, they are all the Game of the Week.
I’ve said pretty much the same thing for more than a decade.
But, as always, that won’t prevent us from taking a look around the area each week to spot some of the more intriguing matchups as the playoffs progress.
So … let’s dive in, shall we?
Earlier this season I described Coahoma’s Zack Schneider as a 1970s fullback, masquerading as a quarterback.
Accurate or not, for the second time this year we describe him as something else: Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
Schneider earned the accolade after rushing for 311 yards and five touchdowns on 24 carries in the Bulldogs’ 39-22 win over Lubbock Roosevelt on Friday to secure District 2-3A Division II’s No. 4 playoff seed.
Lake View 35, Big Spring 20 — After weeks of battling through a tough schedule as underdogs, Big Spring finally had the opportunity to play as a favorite on Friday, only to suffer an upset loss.
Four turnovers were the problem for Big Spring, which saw 402 yards in total offense go to waste as Lake View (2-8, 1-3) snapped a seven-game losing streak.
While several of the area’s best athletes are still tied up playing football, the boys basketball season technically gets underway Friday night.
Of course, as the football playoffs get rolling and more and more teams are eliminated, the basketball talent pool will grow on a weekly basis, and by mid December, we’ll be in full hoops mode.
Regardless, boys basketball season is officially here, so it’s time to take a peek at what this season will offer with our area teams, Class 1A through 4A.
Who has the best shot at getting to state? Who are the legitimate contenders and what are the teams that we should be careful not to ignore?
Let’s find out.
LAST WEEK: 28-3, .903
SEASON TOTAL: 351-79, .816
Our possible choices for Big Country Preps Game of the Week made our final selection difficult this time around, with two high-profile winner-take-all district title games on the menu.
Our final pick: Jim Ned (7-2, 3-1) at Eastland (7-2, 3-1) — a matchup with a bit less at stake (the No. 2 seed in District 3-3A Division I), but one we feel will be the area’s most competitive of our top six games.
With the final Friday night of high school football’s regular season upon us, it’s time to take a quick look at the playoff picture, before the proverbial second season begins.
We’ll go through them, district by district, in rapid succession.
Why waste time? Let’s jump into it.
Seminole 34, Big Spring 20 — Seminole (5-3, 2-0) pounded out 325 yards rushing, largely via committee to clinch one of the top two seeds in the district race. They will move on to face Andrews next week for the league title.
Ethan Cortez led Big Spring, hitting 18 of 34 throws for 167 yards and two scores. The Steers will face Lake View in their regular season finale to determine the No. 3 and 4 seeds heading into the playoffs.
The quickest way to get basketball season to begin is to tee up a football.
It might as well set off a time warp.
If you don’t believe me, consider this while you’re watching a Week 10 football game around the area this evening: High school girls basketball officially begins tonight and the boys will tip off next week.
Excuse me, but weren’t two-a-days over like …. just last week? Unbelievable.
Regardless, the girls start Friday night and that means it’s time to take a look around the Big Country for some of the top teams the area will have to offer in 2018-19.
LAST WEEK: 38-5, .833
SEASON TOTAL: 323-76, .810
Dublin (7-1, 2-1) at Comanche (5-3, 3-0) — This game has been circled on the calendar for weeks and had been viewed as a possible winner-take-all matchup in District 6-3A Division II.
That is, until Jacksboro threw everything into question with a 42-29 win at Dublin last week.