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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Glen Rose-Stephenville basketball doubleheader (45 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wichita Falls Legacy-Cooper boys basketball (42 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wall-Clyde basketball doubleheader (68 images)”
STEPHENVILLE — With area rival Glen Rose paying them a visit on Tuesday, the Stephenville Honey Bees and Yellow Jackets made the most of the annual occasion by sweeping a varsity doubleheader at Gandy Gymnasium.
In the case of the Honey Bees (20-12, 5-5) their 30-19 win changed nothing in the way of playoff seeding. SHS remains a No. 2 seed and will face Wolfforth Frenship next week in the bi-district round. For the Stephenville boys, however, Tuesday’s 63-37 victory kept the Yellow Jackets (28-3, 6-2) in the hunt for a possible District 6-4A title.
The ‘Jackets will play host to league-leading Brock (22-9, 7-1) on Friday with a chance of grabbing a piece of the district lead.
The Glen Rose girls fell to 20-16 and 5-5; while its boys team slipped out of a first-place tie with Brock to 20-10 and 6-2. The Tigers, however, can still land in a three-way tie for first in the event of a Stephenville win over Brock.
Jaden Carrillo only had one field goal in the Cooper boys basketball team’s must-win matchup with Wichita Falls Legacy on Tuesday at Cougar Gym. But it was the most important bucket of the game in a dramatic 34-33 win for the Cougars.
With his team trailing by a point after a J’Quan Carroll free throw broke a 33-all tie with just under 17 seconds remaining in the game, the senior guard was given the keys to the offense when play resumed out of a timeout on the Coogs’ final possession. With time ticking down, he drove around and past Legacy’s Jerimiah Smith, going all the way to the rim for a go-head layup with 2.9 seconds to play.
That proved to be the game-winner for Cooper (13-13 overall, 2-4 in district), which rallied from a 27-13 third-quarter deficit to score the victory, pulling within a half-game of Legacy (9-19, 3-4) and Wichita Falls Memorial (14-17, 3-4) for third in District 4-5A and within a game of Wylie (12-13, 3-3) for second.
CISCO — With the playoffs being split into Division I and Division II, not all-late season basketball games have the high-stakes feel that they’ve had in the past.
That wasn’t the case on Tuesday night at Ray Saunders Gymnasium, where Stamford visited Cisco for a crucial District 10-2A matchup.
The hosts jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first half but couldn’t hold off a fourth-quarter rally as Stamford all but clinched the district runner-up spot with a 50-44 win.
Comanche senior J’Lee Salinas is no stranger to BCP accolades, having already won our Player of the Week award as well as being named to our All-Big Country Preps team.
Well, she’s done it again after helping Comanche sweep district mates Millsap and Peaster — taking our Player of the Week award for the week ending Feb. 7.
Salinas had a solid week with a double-double in a win against Millsap (83-27), finishing with 24 points,10 rebounds, four assists and six steals.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Wylie boys basketball (60 images)”
The boys basketball regular season is nearing its end, and district championship and playoff pictures across the area are coming into view.
Most leagues now have clear favorites in both their title and playoff races, but several remain unresolved with just two or three games left to play.
With just a couple of weeks of games remaining, let’s dive in and take a look at this week’s biggest games and last week’s most significant developments.
The Abilene High boys basketball team clinched at least a share of its first district championship since 2016 on Friday, grinding out a thrilling 57-52 win over crosstown rival Wylie to improve to 5-1 in District 4-5A play.
The tough road victory, combined with Wichita Falls Legacy’s win over rival Wichita Falls Memorial on Friday, gives the Eagles (18-11 overall) a two-game lead over both of those squads and a 2½-game lead over Wylie with two games remaining.
AHS can claim the title outright — something the Wylie girls did with a 75-10 win over the Lady Eagles in Friday’s early game — with a victory in either of its final two games against Memorial and Cooper.
CLYDE — Friday night marked the first step in a return to normalcy for the Clyde athletic program, which is still reeling from Sunday’s tragedy that took the lives of junior Kyler Dailey and his older sister Brileigh, a 2025 graduate, as the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs hosted Wall for a District 6-3A doubleheader at Bulldog Gym.
On a night where emotions were high and the two schools saw both of their teams come together in prayer in a silent gym between games, it was Wall that headed back south with a pair of district championships.
The Lady Hawks quickly showed why they are the top-ranked team in the state in Class 3A with a 65-17 win to finish an undefeated run through district play, while the Wall boys squad held off a valiant second-half rally by Clyde in a 59-44 win — a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Feb. 12.
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.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wichita Falls Legacy-Abilene High boys basketball (40 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Brownwood-Stephenville basketball doubleheader (45 images)”
Of all the Big Country area collegiate signees in the 2025-26 school year, what would the odds be for two of them to be from a tiny school from the six-man ranks? And what would the odds be that both would sign to participate in two sports?
What are the odds that they would have the same last name yet be of no relation? And what would the odds be that both would play in the prestigeous Military Appreciation Bowl in Frisco on Dec. 21 (featuring several of the top players in the country)?
Would the planets have to be aligned for both of them to be among the top academic athletes in the Big Country? Or for them both to sign with separate military academies to participate as two-sport athletes at the DI level?
STEPHENVILLE — With archrival Brownwood paying Stephenville a visit on Tuesday the storylines in both ends of a varsity doubleheader at Gandy Gym were quite similar: A heavily-favored, district title contender facing a stubborn rival still battling for a playoff spot.
There were few surprises.
In the opener, the Brownwood girls (ranked eighth by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches) used clutch shooting and steady defense to put Stephenville away, 46-32. The SHS boys returned the favor in the nightcap, taking advantage of Brownwood turnovers and foul trouble to hand the Lions a 79-43 loss.
With the win, the Brownwood girls (27-4, 7-1 District 6-4A) remained within a game of league-leading Brock, which the Lady Lions will meet on Feb. 10. The Stephenville boys (26-3, 4-2) remained within two games of first-place Glen Rose.
Coming off a rough performance Saturday in a 48-41 loss to crosstown rival Cooper, the Abilene High boys basketball team bounced back in a major way Tuesday, dominating Wichita Falls Legacy from start to finish in a 54-34 win at Eagle Gym.
The Eagles limited the Leopards to just 11 points before halftime, taking a 16-point lead into the break before stretching that advantage to a game-high 25 points early in the fourth quarter.
The dominating effort, which followed a 49-19 Legacy win in the girls game, improved Abilene High to 17-11 on the year and kept the Eagles alone in first place in the District 4-5A standings at 4-1.
Here are the standings for all Class 2A-5A boys basketball districts involving Big Country schools through Jan. 31:
Continue reading “Big Country Boys Basketball Standings (through Jan. 31)”
With weather postponements forcing Tolar to play three games last week, there was positive in an otherwise hectic week: It gave one of THS’ athletes the opportunity to showcase a remarkable run of consistency.
Tolar sophomore Atley Kolb takes our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the Week ending Jan. 31, after posting three straight double-doubles in as many days to help the Lady Rattlers in wins over Millsap (57-25), Eastland (59-25) and Breckenridge (74-19).
Kolb posted 10 points and 13 rebounds against Millsap; 21 points and 11 boards against Eastland and 12 points and 10 boards in the Breckenridge win.
While football programs see most of the attention for the University Interscholastic League’s biennial realignment focused on them, the big event also has ramifications for volleyball and basketball teams at the same time.
Monday morning, those coaches also learned their fates for the next two years and had a wide range of reactions — from relief to shock to seeing their expectations met.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Cooper boys basketball (68 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Bangs-Roscoe basketball doubleheader (78 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cooper-Wylie basketball doubleheader (57 images)”
17Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Last week’s winter storm made for a wild week of action, condensing a week’s worth of games into three day’s time. And the results were as unpredictable as you might expect given the circumstances.
We saw several district championship and playoff races shaken up by upsets and others take shape as the cream continued its rise to the top.
As we do here weekly, it’s time to take survey of the Big Country boys basketball landscape. We hope you enjoy this look at the biggest developments from last week and the biggest games this week’s slate has to offer.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Ballinger-Winters basketball doubleheader (45 images)”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wichita Falls Memorial-Wylie basketball doubleheader (56 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wylie-Abilene High basketball doubleheader (60 images)”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
