With our recent bad weather pushing an extra game into last week for the Coleman Bluecats, it gave senior guard Braxton Smith three chances to pile up big numbers.
And he did exactly that.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week opened with 19 points and nine steals in a win over Bangs last Monday. He followed that with 13 points, eight assists and 10 steals in a near-triple double in a win over Winters.
Eula’s Clayton Gray, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 4, earned the accolade on two fronts. Not only did he post big numbers in consecutive wins over Moran and Rising Star, but he also reached an impressive milestone in the process.
To begin with, the junior guard chalked up 29 points, six boards and four blocks in a win over Moran. He also tallied 43 points, eight boards and four steals in a win over Rising Star.
He entered last week as the leading scorer in the entire Big Country, putting up more than 37 points per game. So few will be surprised to hear that Benamin’s Grayson Ridgon has put up yet another performance worthy of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week Award.
Yet last week’s numbers were big, even by his standards.
Helping the Mustangs to consecutive routs of Harrold (100-36) and Crowell (93-53), the sophomore guard poured in 50 and 51 points respectively and even found time to snag a head-turning 20 rebounds in the Crowell win.
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: 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.
A limited number of minutes, if the numbers compute correctly, can figure strongly in our selection of Player of the Week.
That is the case with this week’s winner, Gavin Landenberger of Cisco, who opened the week with 29 points, five boards, three assists, and five steals in a win over Haskell last Tuesday.
However, what sealed the deal for the senior guard, was a 20-point, four-rebound, five-assist and five-steal game he charted in a win over Hamlin — numbers he posted in only 18 minutes of playing time.
WEATHERFORD — Crawford converted an eight-minute, second-quarter stretch into four unanswered touchdowns en route to a 34-13 win over Coleman in the area round of the Class 2A Division I playoffs Friday night.
Holding a 7-6 lead after a first quarter that saw both teams score on their initial possession, the Pirates struck in a variety of ways — and generally quickly — to stake a 34-6 halftime advantage and, essentially, to end the Bluecats’ season. Coleman, which placed second in District 5-2A Division I, wound up the year at 9-3. Crawford kept its perfect streak going and is 12-0 heading into the Region II-2A DI semifinals.
Cisco 55, Reagan County 0 — The Loboes dominated Reagan County, rolling up 555 yards in total offense, of which 378 were on the round.
Hunter Long and Trent Huston combined for 263 yards rushing and four touchdowns to lead Cisco (9-2), which led 42-0 at the break.
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.
After kicking off our boys basketball position rankings series on Tuesday 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 2022-23.
We hope you enjoy our list.
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 2022-23 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.
Coleman 47, Bangs 0 — The Bluecats nailed down the No. 2 playoff seed out of this league, outgaining the Dragons 455-77 in a dominating win.
Fueled by a 337-yard rushing effort, Coleman (8-2, 5-1) cruised to a 27-0 halftime lead and increased that to 41-0 by the start of the fourth quarter. Quarterback Jadin Jackson led the way, rushing for 141 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries while going 6-of-8 passing for 118 yards and two more scores.
After focusing on the top guards and forwards the Big Country has to offer the past two nights, it’s time to shift our attention to the paint.
For the final installment in our three-part position rankings series, we list our top-10 post players for the 2022-23 season.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these rankings, and make sure to come back next week when we’ll feature the top boys basketball players in the Big Country.
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 2022-23.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With the girls basketball season upon us, it’s time to take a look at the local and area players who will be making the biggest impact for their teams during the 2022-23 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions, we’ll be focusing on the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this season.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through our selections.
Bangs 34, Hamilton 27 — The Dragons picked up an important district win over the Bulldogs, scoring the final two touchdowns to rally from a 27-20 fourth-quarter deficit.
Bangs (6-3, 4-1) finished with 346 yards of total offense, getting 148 yards and three touchdowns rushing from Guy Powell and 119 yards and two scores passing from Kenny Cole. Powell was also the Dragons’ leading receiver, catching three passes for 71 yards and two more scores.
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: Coleman-Hawley volleyball (78 images)”
Coming off a big five-set win over Albany on Saturday that opened the door for a co-championship in District 6-2A, the Hawley Lady Cats barreled through that door on Tuesday, sweeping Coleman 25-19, 25-14, 25-16 on Senior Night to share the league title with the Lady Lions.
On a night that began by honoring their only two seniors, Kylie Chesser and Mikayla Neble, the Lady Cats took care of the visiting Bluekatts without too much trouble, claiming their sixth consecutive win to wrap up the regular season at 23-16 overall and 7-1 in district play.
Coach Amy Eckhoff’s squad, which will flip for seeding with Albany, will now enter the Class 2A playoffs as either No. 1 or 2 seed out of District 6-2A and take on either the third- or fourth-place team out of District 5 — a four-team league comprised of Water Valley, Sonora, Miles and Junction.
Tolar 57, Bangs 0 — Playing BHS with sole possession of first place in the district standings on the line, the Rattlers ran away from the Dragons in shutout win.
Tolar (8-0, 4-0) held a potent Bangs offense to just 191 yards, using a 29-point second quarter to break open what was a scoreless game to that point. the Rattlers followed the big second quarter with 14 points in each of the next two to pull away even further in the second half.
Bangs 42, San Saba 35 — Guy Powell rushed for 193 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries to lift Bangs to a crucial district win over the Armadillos.
San Saba managed 505 yards in total offense but hurt itself with nine penalties and a 10 percent success rate on third downs.
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: Tolar-Coleman football (43 images)”
San Saba 35, De Leon 21 — The Armadillos picked up a big district win, outscoring the Bearcats 14-0 in the second half to break open what was a back-and-forth affair early.
De Leon (4-3, 1-2) held leads at 7-0 and 14-7 thanks to touchdown runs by Kallen McIlvain, and the Bearcats rallied from their first deficit with a 31-yard scoring run by Heston Jobe that made it a 21-all game at halftime. But San Saba (5-2, 1-2) countered with the only two touchdowns of the second half, sealing the victory in the fourth quarter with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Lance Taylor to Levi Glover.
De Leon 44, Goldthwaite 19 — The Bearcats controlled the game from start to finish, racing out to a 20-7 halftime and cruising from there to a comfortable win over the Eagles.
De Leon (4-2, 1-0) piled 437 yards, 343 of those on those on the ground, to grab the momentum early and maintain it throughout the remainder of the game.