TUSCOLA — Jim Ned swept a varsity doubleheader on Friday at Bill Thornton Arena to maintain a hold on first place in both the girls and boys District 6-3A races.
The first win was routine; the second nearly brought the house down.
The girls took the opener 63-34. But in Game 2, the Sweetwater boys came within an eyelash of handing the Indians a loss on their home floor, falling to Jim Ned 52-50 before a raucous crowd that sat through four ties and five lead changes.
The Abilene High boys and girls basketball teams rode hot-shooting first quarters to wins on Friday as they swept crosstown rival Cooper in District 4-5A basketball at Eagle Gym.
The Lady Eagles opened the night with a 64-39 win as they moved to 16-14 on the year and 4-2 in district. The win also clinched a playoff berth for Abilene in its first year under coach Alfonzo Franklin.
The boys team followed that up by holding off a second half rally from the Cougars to earn a 60-53 win on a night where they didn’t have their normal shooting touch from behind the arc. Friday’s win moved AHS to 18-10 on the season and 3-1 in district while the Cougars fell to 8-14 overall and 0-4 in district — putting Cooper in a must-win situation on Tuesday.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 23.
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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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Comanche-Early basketball doubleheader (20 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wylie-Cooper basketball doubleheader (50 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Brownwood-Brock basketball doubleheader (30 images)”
EARLY — In a loud, difficult environment for road teams, both the Comanche girls and boys managed to overcome sluggish shooting a sweep a District 8-3A doubleheader at Early on Tuesday.
The Comanche girls opened the evening with a 47-37 win — fighting off multiple Early rallies in the process. The CHS boys claimed the nightcap 54-45, despite a slow start.
The Wylie boys and girls basketball teams maintained their perfect district records Tuesday night, dominating crosstown rival Cooper in a doubleheader sweep at Cougar Gym.
After the Lady Bulldogs opened the evening with a 52-14 win to move to 5-0 in District 5-4A action, the WHS boys pulled away for a 54-26 victory in the nightcap to improve their league record to 3-0.
The sweep kept the Wylie squads alone atop the 4-5A standings, where both the girls and boys lead second-place Abilene High, which earned a sweep of its own Tuesday at Wichita Falls Memorial.
Back-to-back double-doubles in two dominating efforts were enough to give Gorman junior Delila Crain our Big Country Player of the Week for the week ending Saturday, Jan. 18.
Opening the week with an 83-7 rout of Bluff Dale, Crain posted 30 points and 10 boards to go with five assists, five deflections, six steals and four blocks.
She followed that with 21 points, 12 boards, five deflections, four assists and three steals in a 58-27 win over Huckabay.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wichita Falls Legacy-Cooper basketball doubleheader (52 images)”
For 31 of 32 minutes, the Cooper boys basketball team did all the little things it needed to to give itself a chance to knock off a much larger Wichita Legacy squad Friday at Cougar Gym.
But leading 27-26 with just under a minute remaining after rallying twice in the fourth quarter to regain a lead it had held most of the night, the Cougars couldn’t close out the Leopards, falling 30-27 in a game that was hard-fought throughout.
The Legacy win completed a doubleheader sweep for the visitors, who scored a 44-25 victory in the girls game earlier in the evening.
BROCK — A hot shooting second half and a nasty case of the flu were enough to help Brock secure a District 6-4A sweep of Brownwood in the Brock High School Gym on Friday.
The Brock girls opened the twin bill with a 64-41 win that saw the Lady Eagles close with a 41-21 second half. The Brock boys took the nightcap, overpowering a Brownwood club that had nearly half of its roster returning from and one player still missing with the flu. The Lions were simply no match for Brock on Friday, falling 82-38.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Wylie basketball doubleheader (69 images)”
With a 14-point lead at the end of the third quarter in front of a standing room only crowd, the Wylie boys basketball team looked like it was going to cruise to a win over crosstown rival Abilene High on Tuesday night at Bulldog Gym.
The Bulldogs then had to hold off a spirited comeback attempt by the Eagles, with Connel Colley’s 3-point attempt with just seconds remaining missing the mark, allowing Wylie to survive 55-52 in District 4-5A play.
It was the type of contest both Gregg Ruffin (Wylie) and Justin Reese (Abilene High) said their teams can expect in the five-team district that will only play eight games — making each matchup a crucial one.
The fact that Riley Grohman is our Player of the Week should surprise no one, considering she was named to our All-Big Country Preps team last year. But when you toss in her stats — an all-encompassing set of numbers — it makes even more sense.
The senior guard was at the top of the stat sheet last week for the third-ranked Lady Indians, who swept Merkel (70-25) and Clyde (79-29) to improve to 24-2.
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After having their District 4-5A doubleheader against Wichita Falls Legacy pushed back a day by the winter storm that blew through Abilene on Thursday, The Abilene High basketball teams split a pair of thrillers Saturday at Eagle Gym.
The Lady Eagles suffered their first district loss, falling 39-38 in gut-wrenching fashion, before the boys rallied from a 10-point second-quarter deficit to top the Leopards 57-53 in the district opener for both teams.
Those results set up another big doubleheader Tuesday at Wylie, where the girls will wrap the first half of district play and the Eagles will look to stay atop the league standings in the early stages of 4-5A action.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wall-Clyde basketball doubleheader (72 images)”
CLYDE — With logjams atop the District 6-3A basketball standings for both the boys and girls, the Wall Hawks earned a pair of crucial wins on Tuesday night, sweeping Clyde at Bulldog Gymnasium.
The Lady Hawks got 18 points from Kennedi Graves as they rolled to a 70-26 win in the opener, while Jager Thompson had 12 of his 15 points in the second half to lead Wall to a 46-33 win in the nightcap.
In both games, it was the second quarter that proved pivotal.
Wyatt Nickson was on fire over Christmas Break.
In fact, in six games the senior guard averaged 19.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 45 percent overall and 48 percent from the 3-point line.
“Wyatt has been putting in the extra work to make himself the best scorer possible,” coach Blake Allen said. “He has been on an absolute tear and he is fun to watch play basketball”
The Indians enter this week at 12-6.
Here are the 2024 Eula Holiday Classic basketball tournament results: Continue reading “TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: 2024 Eula Holiday Classic results (Final)”
After watching the girls basketball team have to hang on for a win over Stephenville in the first game of the night, the Abilene High boys made sure their game would lack the same drama.
The Eagles had 10 different players contribute on the offensive end as they rode a fast start to a 67-35 win over Wall on Tuesday night at Eagle Gym .
Abilene High jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never trailed on its way to pushing its season record to 12-5. The fast start was exactly what coach Justin Reese was looking for as the Hawks had several football players seeing their first basketball action of the season.
Our final Big Country Preps Player of the Week for 2024 earned it in several ways.
Forsan sophomore Coy Evans, a multi-talented guard who plays way ahead of the learning curve, takes our accolade after helping the Buffaloes to a 3-1 record and a third-place finish in the Borden County Tournament over the Weekend.
“He played very unselfish basketball,” Forsan coach Cory Richardson said. “He was getting other people involved and when we needed him to, he stepped up and scored.”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Catclaw Classic Days 1 and 2 (66 images)”
The Wylie boys basketball team closed out the Catclaw Classic with a hard-fought win, holding off a late rally to defeat Canyon West Plains 45-38 on Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Gym.
Leading 22-15 at halftime, the Bulldogs saw the Wolves narrow the gap to a single point on a pair of occasions in the fourth quarter. But coach Gregg Ruffin’s squad answered the final West Plains push with back-to-back 3-pointers and made all four of their fourth-quarter free throws to create some separation down the stretch.
The victory gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 record at their annual tournament and improved Wylie’s overall mark to 8-6 for the season.
The Wylie boys basketball team opened the Catlaw Classic with mixed results Friday, falling to Fort Worth Chisholm Trail 49-40 in the afternoon before bouncing back to rout Midland Greenwood 80-35 in the nightcap.
After being outscored 30-17 in the second half of their opener, the Bulldogs dominated their second game from start to finish to take a 1-1 record into Saturday’s Catclaw finale against Canyon West Plains.
Coach Gregg Ruffin’s team, now 7-6 on the season overall, led Greenwood 41-19 by halftime and outscored the Rangers 18-7 in the third quarter to ensure that it would close Day 1 of its own tournament on a winning note.
Ira junior Hudson Luft had a week that was nothing short of eye-popping — eye-popping enough to earn him our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the week ending Dec. 7.
Luft takes it this time around with a performance that went as follows: 28 points, 10 boards vs. Spur, 18 points, eight steals vs. Eden, 46 points, four steals vs. Loraine, 21 points vs. Robert Lee, 30 points, six steals vs. Roscoe and 24 points vs Winters.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cane’s Key City Classic Day 3 (184 images)”
The 2024 edition of the Raising Cane’s Key City Classic wrapped up with a flourish of great games on Saturday at both Abilene High and Cooper.
The day started with Mineral Wells rallying in the final minute of regulation before taking an overtime win against El Paso Jefferson, saw South San Antonio claim a 44-41 win over Cleburne in double overtime and culminated with North Crowley improving to 2-1 in the championship game of the tournament over the past three years.
For full tournament results, click here.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cane’s Key City Classic Day 2 (97 images)”
On the second day of the 16-team Raising Cane’s Key City Classic, Brooks Reese hit an off-balance, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the Abilene High boys basketball team to the championship game with a thrilling 44-42 win over Richardson Pearce that saw the fans storm the court Friday night at Eagle Gym.
Across town, Cooper fell to Lubbock Cooper 46-35 in the quarterfinals before dropping their nightcap 52-34 to Cleburne. Mineral Wells, meanwhile, dropped a pair of games against Midland Legacy (60-36) and Carrollton Creekview (62-47).
For a full listing of Day 2 results and a complete tournament schedule, click here.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cane’s Key City Classic Day 1 (110 images)”
The Abilene High and Cooper boys basketball teams got off to winning starts on Day 1 of the Raising Cane’s Key City Classic, cruising to comfortable victories Thursday to kick off the annual tournament on a high note.
The Eagles downed Perryton 54-37 in there opener to earn a matchup with El Paso Coronado at noon on Friday, while the Cougars smothered El Paso Jefferson in a 34-20 win to advance to play Lubbock Cooper at 1:30 p.m. on Day 2.
Mineral Wells, the only other area team in the event’s 16-team field, dropped its first game 52-30 to Clebrune and will take on Midland Legacy at 9 a.m. Friday. For a full listing of Day 1 results and a complete tournament schedule, click here.
Here are the 2024 Raising Cane’s Key City Classic boys basketball tournament matchups and results: Continue reading “TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: 2024 Raising Cane’s Key City Classic schedule, results”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Lubbock Monterey-Wylie boys basketball (40 images)”
After outscoring Lubbock Monterey 48-21 over the middle two quarters Tuesday to take a 55-36 lead into the final period, the Wylie boys basketball team appeared poised to cruise into Thanksgiving with a comfortable win over a former district rival.
As it would turn out, though, the Bulldogs would need a pair of clutch free throws and a big steal in the waning seconds to rally themselves for a thrilling 65-64 win at Bulldog Gym.
Led by Elijah Smothers, who scored nine of his team-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, the Plainsmen methodically erased a 22-point deficit over the games’ final 10 minutes and 15 seconds. But after watching the visitors take a one-point lead on a floater with 22.6 seconds remaining, Wylie’s Isaiah Carrillo was fouled with just under seven seconds left and sank two high-pressure free throws to give his team an edge it would protect with a steal on the other end.
Only a year removed from running a ground-based flexbone option attack, the Wall Hawks have managed to put that approach in the distant past with a remarkable effort through the air in 2024.
And who would have thought that making that difficult transition could have happened so quickly?
Now, having committed to a full-blown spread attack under new coach Craig Slaughter, the Hawks have already accumulated nearly 3,000 passing yards, placing them near the top in that category among Big Country teams.
After highlighting the Big Country’s top guards and forwards the past two nights, we now take a look at the area’s best big men.
For the final installment in our three-part boys basketball position rankings series, we rank the Big Country’s top 10 post players for the 2024-25 season.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through our rankings, and make sure to check back for all our boys and girls basketball coverage this season.
After kicking off our boys basketball position rankings series on Wednesday with the guards, we now shift our attention to the forwards.
For the second installment in our three-part series, we rank the area’s top-10 players at that position for 2024-25.
We hope you enjoy our list.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-San Angelo Central basketball (46 images)”
With boys basketball season in full swing, it’s time to shine a spotlight on some of the players you’ll be reading about throughout the 2024-25 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions on the area boys basketball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this winter.
We hope you enjoy reading through our list.
Abilene High boys basketball coach Justin Reese said anytime the Eagles face off with San Angelo Central, strange things happen.
Those strange things happened at the end of the third quarter on Tuesday night as Payton Shawver’s slam dunk preceded a half-court buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Eric Salazar to end the third quarter.
The flurry, which tied the game at 47, wasn’t enough for the Eagles as AHS dropped its home opener 68-61 to the Bobcats at Eagle Gym.
The fall national signing period opened Wednesday, and a number of athletes throughout the Big Country Preps coverage area either made their college decisions official at signing day ceremonies or have announced plans to do so in the near future.
Here’s a list of those area seniors and where they’ll be competing next season:
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: FCA men’s basketball all-star game (70 images)”