Category: Brownwood Lions

by Evan Ren

CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: C-City pitcher Kaci Rivera takes the top spot

It’s difficult to top back-to-back shutouts when searching for a Player of the Week, especially when one of the vanquished is a solid team from a higher classification.

That was the case last week for Colorado City softball pitcher Kaci Rivera, who held both Big Spring (7-0) and Borden County (6-0) to a goose egg, with 23 strikeouts in 14 innings of work. 

Our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week allowed only five total hits in the two games, to go with two walks. 

“Kaci has really started to show her dominance on the mound,” coach Krysten Marr said. “She is a fierce competitor on both sides of the ball and we are excited to see how she does going into district play.”

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Cooper blasts way to 22-10 softball win at Brownwood

BROWNWOOD — The Cooper softball team closed out nondistrict play with a 22-10 win over Brownwood on Friday, taking advantage of 18 hits and 11 Lady Lions errors to turn a two-run lead after three innings into a run-rule victory.

The Lady Cougars never trailed after scoring four runs in the first inning. But holding just a 7-5 lead after three, it wasn’t until after an eight-run fourth that they were able to finally pull away.

The victory improved coach Stacey Herring’s team to 12-6-2 on the year heading into Tuesday’s District 4-5A opener against Lubbock Cooper.

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Feb. 3)

Each Thursday night, Big Country Preps will publish area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders.

This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days. 

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by Evan Ren

UIL REALIGNMENT: Big Country football landscape will change dramatically

While icy road conditions may have changed the UIL’s method of delivering the news, the results of its biennial realignment still offered the usual mix of surprises on Thursday. 

Held via live feed over the internet, area coaches learned their fate on the web. 

Topping the list of stunners for area teams would be the shift of Brownwood from its centralized home in District 5-4A DI to the far west in District 2.  There, the Lions will join Big Spring, Lubbock Estacado, San Angelo Lake View and Andrews — the last of which will produce a 480-mile round trip.

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by Evan Ren

SIGNING DAY: Eakin, Jones among several high-profile area signees

What appeared to be a slow year for the Big Country on the signing front quickly blossomed into something memorable in 2022. 

With National Signing Day taking place on Wednesday, the Big Country Preps coverage area finished with multiple Division I signees, including several on the gridiron. 

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by Evan Ren

CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Merkel senior takes this week’s award

 

When selecting our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week, it’s not entirely about numbers, though that’s certainly a part of it. The quality of the competition counts, as does the importance of the game itself.

And when factoring in all of the above, nobody had a better overall week than Merkel senior Alyssa O’Malley, who has been among the area’s most consistent performers all season. 

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: Parker’s faster tempo agreeing with 18-7 Lions so far

The Brownwood Lions’ basketball team has hit to court running – literally – this season under new head coach Will Parker.

Brownwood is 18-7 overall and 2-0 in District 6-4A after league wins over Gatesville, 91-66 on Tuesday, and at Stephenville, 67-59 on Friday. This week the road gets tougher as Brownwood plays at Tuesday at Glen Rose (17-5, 1-1) and hosts Lampasas (19-10, 2-0) on Friday.

“It should be a dog fight for the playoff seedings,” Parker said of the District 6-4A race. “We had a good battle with Stephenville and beat them by eight points. Gatesville beat Stephenville by two, and Lampasas beat Glen Rose by three.

“Our game at Stephenville was physical and loud. It was a rivalry game, and they had a big crowd. Our seniors stepped up. We knew we had to outrebound them to limit their second-chance points, and we outrebounded them 49-44. And we two fewer turnovers than they had.”

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by Evan Ren

CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Strawn’s Rigdon nabs honor with 54-point effort

More often than not, our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week has led a winning effort of some sort. But we do make exceptions, and this week’s accolade is an example of that. 

In last week’s 69-68 loss to Huckabay, Strawn freshman (yes, freshman) Grayson “Chaka” Rigdon put forth an absolutely show-stopping performance, dropping 54 points on HHS to go with 14 rebounds, two assists and three steals. This came on the heels of a 24-point, 10-rebound night he had in a 64-41 loss to Lingleville. 

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Boys Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 20)

Each Thursday night, Big Country Preps will publish area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders.

This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days. 

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 20)

Each Thursday night, Big Country Preps will publish area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders.

This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days. 

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: Brownwood’s Goodwin prefers team wins over individual stats

Tessa Goodwin’s individual statistics aren’t as impressive as last season when the Brownwood forward made all-state, but the Class 4A Lady Lions are enjoying a better season and are in line to return to the playoffs.

And that’s just fine with Goodwin.

“I realized this year that other teams were going to have two or three players doubling up on me inside,” the 5-foot-10 senior said. “We’ve got some veteran 3-point shooters this year like Mady Pyle and Kassidy Wooten and Naysa Leach. If their doubling up on me, our 3-point shooters are open. That’s less of a hassle for me, and it helps the team.”

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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN’S 2021 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, takes pride in being coachable but seldom needs direction. 

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

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

Welcome to Big Country Preps’ “True Grit” team — a collection of area players nominated by their head coaches, who exemplify the character traits football mentors want throughout their roster. 

Not all of them are great players. In fact, many of them will never play a down of college football. But every single one of them is making the most of their high school football experience and has helped those around them do the same.

We are absolutely honored to present these young men to you — the toughest, hardest-working football players the Big Country had to offer in 2021. 

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by Evan Ren

CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Stamford’s Applin wins this week’s award

While scoring a lot of points is always an attention-getter, the Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week column puts a great deal of value in players who can contribute in a variety of ways. And today’s winner is a prime of example of that. 

Stamford junior guard Laylonna Applin takes our accolade after helping the Lady Bulldogs to a 5-0 record on the week, with wins over Burkburnett, Christoval, Class 4A No. 13 Sanger, the San Angelo Central JV and Veribest. The last for victories came in the Ballinger tournament, at which Applin was named MVP.

Yes, she did plenty of scoring, dropping in an eye-popping 134 points through five games. But Applin did a lot more than just put the ball in the hoop.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Boys Basketball Position Rankings: Posts

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.

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Boys Basketball Position Rankings: Guards

With boys basketball season beginning this week, it’s time to shine a spotlight on some of the players you’ll be reading about throughout the 2021-22 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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 5-4A Div. I Week 11 Report: Lambert, defense fuel Stephenville to rout of rival Brownwood

Stephenville 63, Brownwood 7 — The No. 2 Yellow Jackets completed a perfect run through district play and an undefeated regular season with a blowout win over the Lions.

After allowing a touchdown to Brownwood on its opening possession, Stephenville (10-0, 5-0) responded with nine consecutive touchdown drives to put the game out of reach quickly.

The Yellow Jackets finished the game with 633 yards, piling up 493 by halftime. Quarterback Ryder Lambert was at the heart of that, hitting 13 of 17 passes for 376 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for 53 yards and two more scores. Coy Eakin had four receptions for 148 yards and two TDs and added a third score rushing.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Girls Basketball Position Rankings: Forwards

After kicking off our girls basketball position rankings series with the guards on Tuesday, we now turn 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 with some others to watch for in 2021-22.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 5-4A Div. I Week 10 Report: Stephenville defense fuels come-from-behind win over Heritage

Stephenville 38, Midlothian Heritage — The Jaguars bottled up the explosive Yellow Jackets’ offense, holding SHS to just 253 total yards. But coach Sterling Doty’s  squad scored a pair of defensive touchdowns to survive a challenge from Heritage.

The Jaguars (6-3, 2-2) led 14-0 after the first quarter, but No. 2 Stephenville (9-0, 4-0) scored 31 unanswered points to take control of the game by the final period.

Quarterback Ryder Lambert passed for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the win, hitting Reece Elston (7-65 receiving) and Coy Eakin (4-18) with scoring passes. Tate Maruska led the Yellow Jacket rushing attack, going for 64 yards and a score on 10 carries.

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by Evan Ren

CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sweetwater QB Holsey snags this week’s accolade

It’s never a surprise to see Sweetwater senior quarterback Leo Holsey among the top performers in our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week column. 

Since his freshman year, the four-year starter has topped our weekly list multiple times, including this week after helping Sweetwater to a 61-37 win over Pecos on Friday. 

Holsey only threw 15 passes, but he connected on 12 of them for 364 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 75 yards and two more scores, giving him a direct hand in 439 yards and seven TDs. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 5-4A Div. I Week 9 Report: Anderson, Brownwood run wild in big district win over Alvarado

Brownwood 56, Alvarado 35 — The Lions picked up a huge victory for their playoff hopes, outscoring the Indians 14-7 in each of the final three quarters to turn a 14-all tie after one period into a three-touchdown win.

Running back Konlyn Anderson fueled the effort for Brownwood (3-5, 1-2), rushing for 230 yards and five touchdowns, while quarterback Chance Jones went 8-of-10 passing for 113 yards and two scores.

The Lions were outgained 492-423, but they forced three turnovers and turned each into touchdowns to snap a three-three game losing streak and pull into a fourth-place tie with Alvarado (2-6, 1-2) in the district standings.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Cisco to battle Coleman with top seed in the balance (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)

LAST WEEK: 35-11, .760
SEASON TOTAL: 322-74, .813

This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will send me south to historic Hufford Field in Coleman, where the Bluecats (6-0) will play host to perennial power Cisco (6-1) in what is essentially the District 4-2A Division I championship.

Opened way back in 1934, Hufford is one of the Big Country’s oldest and most unique venues and if you are looking for a game to go to on Friday, this one will not only offer some good football, but some nostalgia as well.

The immense rock wall surrounding the field was built in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration or WPA as the nation battled its way out of The Great Depression.

Hope to see you there.

Here are this week’s picks:  

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