We’re down to the final scheduled date of the boys basketball regular season, but there’s still plenty to be decided on the Big Country hoops scene.
Included on Tuesday’s slate are a number of matchups with district title implications and several others that will either decide or help decide playoff berths.
Here’s a peek at some of the biggest games on tap this week, as well as a look back at some of last week’s most influential results:
The 15th-ranked Eula Pirates (22-3) needed sweep of Baird and Cross Plains to finish the first half of district play at 5-0 and they did just that with the help of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
Senior forward Clayton Gray posted big numbers in both contests, beginning with a double-double of 32 points and 14 boards in the Baird win.
As a fan of high school basketball, I generally have no trouble finding area matchups I find interesting. Browsing this week’s slate, I had more trouble finding games that weren’t.
As we continue to barrel toward the boys basketball playoffs, we’ll see a number of Big Country district races take shape this week as league leads will be on the line in a number of marquee matchups.
If, like me, you enjoy hoops action, there should be plenty to pique your interest on both Tuesday and Friday. Here’s a look at the week to come:
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 25.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 25.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
As always, the Big Country has its share of intriguing matchups this week.
Here’s a quick peek at next week’s marquee games on the girls’ side long with the most important results from a week ago.
We’ll see you on the road!
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 and takes pride in being coachable, though he seldom needs direction.
He always sets the right example for younger players. He doesn’t complain and above all else, he’s tough enough to make all the aforementioned traits consistently 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 and Big Country Preps staff, who exemplify the character traits football mentors want throughout their roster.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 11.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 11.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
While our Big Country Preps Player of the Week returns from its annual holiday break, there is nothing new about our first winner of the 2024 calendar year.
Benjamin junior Grayson Rigdon, generally considered one of the top six-man level athletes in Texas high school history, has claimed our accolade with back-to- back monster performances.
For starters, the Mustangs opened the week with an 82-47 rout of Crowell, during which Rigdon tallied 43 points, 13 boards, seven steals and four assists.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Class 1A girls team from the outer reaches of our coverage area land our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. But Gordon’s Caitlyn Parsons put an end to the drought with a huge performance in the Mesquite Pit Classic in Poolville.
Helping the Lady Longhorns to a 4-1 mark in the event, Parson tallied a combined 70 points, 50 boards, 16 steals, five assists, 11 blocks and one charge through five games to earn all-tournament honors and lead GHS to a third-place finish. She also had 10 points in a loss to San Saba earlier in the week.
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: Ballinger-Coleman boys basketball (37 images)”
BALLINGER — With 4:14 to play in the final game of the opening day of the Ballinger Bearcat Invitational, the Coleman boys basketball team had its hands full against the hosts at Joe Forester Gymnasium.
The Bluecats had seen Ballinger close a deficit of double digits in the fourth quarter to 54-51 before pulling away over the final three minutes for a 65-53 win on Thursday night.
Coleman was paced offensively by Hunter Lackey’s game-high 24 points as the senior knocked down 11 shots from the field in the 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: Marlin-Coleman football playoff (48 images)”
STEPHENVILLE — Trailing 30-6 midway through the third quarter of its Region II-2A Division I area-round matchup against Marlin, the Coleman football appeared to be headed for an anticlimactic finish to its season.
A furious second-half rally ensured that wouldn’t be the case, but the Bluecats still were left in tears after finishing on the wrong end of a 30-28 margin Thursday at Tarleton Memorial Stadium.
Coleman closed the game with three unanswered touchdowns, getting successful two-point conversion passes after each of the first two. But Jadin Jackson’s run following the third was stopped inches short of the goal line with 5:42 remaining on the clock, and the Bluecats saw their final full possession end with their fourth interception of the game, allowing the Bulldogs to escape with the narrow win.
LAST WEEK: 36-5, .878
SEASON TOTAL: 513-103, .832
As we enter Week 13, the Big Country Preps coverage area still has 33 teams from 1A through 5A with a playoff pulse, including a handful with decent shot at a state championship.
However, as we all know, things begin to get much tougher when you get to the area round and unless I miss my guess, we’ll see around 15-17 of our area teams eliminated by Saturday.
The good news is, we should have 16-18 clubs playing over the Thanksgiving holiday, which is a pretty solid number for what will be the 14th week of the season.
So without further ado, let’s dive in.
Here’s this week’s playoff forecast:
Big numbers are always great to have when we decide the winner of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. Solid numbers across multiple tasks are even better.
That was the case with this week’s spotlight player, Buck Powell, of Hico, who helped the Tigers to a 47-14 rout of Maud in the Class 2A DII bi-district round on Friday.
With a new season of boys high school basketball poised to begin, it’s time to take a look at what the Big Country will produce on the court.
Below you will find our top teams in each classification in the Big Country Preps coverage area, from Big Spring in the West, to Brock in the east and from Brady in the south to Munday in the north.
Our rankings of the top teams in each class are given, along with a season outlook, cataloguing our expectations for each club.
Here’s our preview. We’ll see you on the road.
Coleman 42, Bangs 0 — Brayden Torres passed for 183 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 91 yards and two more scores to lead the Bluecats to a blowout win over the Dragons.
Coleman (8-2, 5-1), which also got a 58-yard touchdown run and a TD reception from Hunter Lackey, scored 21 points in each of the first two periods, ending the competitive phase of the game before halftime.
LAST WEEK: 47-5, .903
SEASON TOTAL: 438-91, .827
With the column hitting at more than 90 percent accuracy last week, we now close the regular season on the upswing and with something uncommon: A local Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
While our weekly picks column generally highlights the top area game outside of the Abilene city limits, this week seems to call for us to stay at home with rivals Wylie (6-3, 3-1) and Cooper (4-5, 3-1) fighting for sole possession of the No. 2 seed in District 2-5A Division II.
NOTE: This will be our final installment of Big Country Volleyball Statistical Leaders for the 2023 season
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
LAST WEEK: 44-7, .862
SEASON TOTAL: 391-86, .820
It really didn’t take long for people to start talking about the Hawley – Stamford matchup in 2023. In fact, this one was on our calendar as a possible Game of the Week before the season even started.
Who will win? That depends on who you speak with. Our Twitter poll is split virtually down the middle and even the computers see this one as a near tossup.
Stamford (7-0, 4-0 District 4-2A DII) enters this game scarcely challenged, rolling over the opposition by an average tally of 45-8. Hawley (6-2, 4-0), on the other hand, comes in with some battle scars after a brutal schedule featuring Jim Ned, Lubbock Roosevelt and Albany.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
San Saba 40, Goldthwaite 35 — Ethan Gonzales ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns and Lane Millier added 85 yards and a score on the ground and 92 yards and another TD through the air to lift the Armadillos to a thrilling win over the Eagles.
Behind that duo and Skylar Romero, who had a 52-yard touchdown catch, San Saba (3-6, 2-3) rallied from a 28-14 third-quarter hole and a 35-28 fourth-quarter deficit to outlast Goldthwaite for the win.
LAST WEEK: 40-8, .833
SEASON TOTAL: 347-79, .814
As Week 9 of the 2023Texas High School football season gets underway, there are multiple high-profile games that would qualify as our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
But we’re settling for a rare Thursday night matchup at Tarleton State University where seventh-ranked 4A DI Stephenville (5-2, 1-0) will play host to fourth-ranked China Spring (6-2, 2-0) in a game will give the victor sole possession of first place in District 5.
Picking who wins it may come down to throwing darts, but I do believe China Spring has one key advantage.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Bangs 41, San Saba 38 — Kenny Cole rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns to go with 56 passing yards to lead the Dragons to a key district win over the Armadillos.
Bangs (2-5, 1-2), which rushed for 366 yards as a team, also got strong games from Ethan Ethridge (20-75, 2 TDs rushing) and Skyler Minshew (4-58, 1 TD rushing; 2-34 receiving) in rallying from a 38-35 deficit in the fourth quarter.
LAST WEEK: 41-7, .854
SEASON TOTAL: 307-71, .812
Big Country Preps makes a point of sharing the love and we look for opportunities to take our Game of the Week to as many different places that make sense each year.
Yet since our inaugural season in 2018, a rebuilding Hico football team missed our spotlight game for five straight seasons.
That drought ends this week when BCP visits Hico for the first time as the Tigers (5-2, 2-1 District 10-2A DII) host Dawson (5-1, 2-0) in a crucial matchup with high seed implications.
Goldthwaite 42, Bangs 14 — Ethan Deeds passed for 136 yards and two touchdowns — both to Luke Sanderson — and rushed for 93 yards and two more scores as the Eagles pounded out 259 yards on the ground to pull away from the Dragons for a lopsided victory in a near must-win game for both teams.
Sanderson finished with 99 yards receiving on eight catches to supplement a rushing attack that also got 75 yards from Max Storm, 43 from Marcus Stevens and 41 from Erick Lozoya. Behind that nucleus, Goldthwaite (3-4, 1-2) increased a 7-0 halftime lead to 21-0 by the midway point of the third quarter and held from there for the win.
TOLAR — Isaac Blessing rushed for 127 yards, passed for 146 more and accounted for five touchdowns to lead Tolar to a 43-0 trouncing of Coleman in a District 5-2A Division I battle that helped define the league’s playoff hierarchy in the early stages.
Both teams entered the contest with high hopes of contending for the district title, but the Rattlers took control of this fight early and landed telling blows throughout. Thus, Tolar improved to 5-1 on the year and 2-0 in district. The Bluecats fell to 5-2 and 2-1.
Blessing was the main reason why.
LAST WEEK: 37-3, .925
SEASON TOTAL: 266-64, .806
Contrast in styles games make for excellent entertainment and are usually high on our list of potential Big Country Preps Games of the Week.
Friday we have such a matchup when Clyde (5-0) travels to Vernon (5-0) in the District 3-3A DI opener for both clubs. Clyde and its power spread offense capable of running or throwing the ball well, against a run-based multiple attack used by Vernon that seems almost out of the 1950s.
Both clubs are good at what they do. Both are physical and both are fully aware of how important this league opener is. In fact, this may end up ranking as one of the more physical Games of the Week we’ll see in 2023.
Coleman 40, San Saba 26 — Jadin Jackson rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns and received for 85 yards, while Brayden Torres had another productive passing day to fuel the Bluecats to a victory over the Armadillos.
Torres, who added 33 yards on the ground, hit 10 of 14 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns — finding Hunter Lackey three times for 91 yards and all three scores — as the Bluecats (5-1, 2-0) extended an 18-12 halftime lead to 26-12 by the start of the fourth quarter.
LAST WEEK: 46-12, .793
SEASON TOTAL: 229-61, .789
More often than not, Big Country Preps makes an appearance at the annual Stephenville-Brownwood matchup. Because more often than not, it produces a game worthy of one of Texas’ top rivalries.
This year is no exception as Stephenville travels to famous Gordon Wood Stadium for the Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
San Saba 32, Hamilton 28 — Ethan Gonzales ran for 215 yards and three touchdowns while Lane Miller added a pair of rushing scores of his own to lead the Armadillos to an upset win over the Bulldogs in the district opener for both squads.
San Saba (2-3, 1-0) got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 19-6 halftime lead and increasing that to 32-14 by the end of the third quarter, before holding off a late rally in the final period.
LAST WEEK: 44-11, .800
SEASON TOTAL: 183-49, .788
Some weeks are just loaded with competitive area games and Week 5 of the 2023 season falls squarely into that category.
This week’s menu features six or seven games that under normal circumstances, would qualify for our Big Country Preps Game of the Week. This forces us to push some great matchups aside to select our spotlight game.
This week, we go with a battle of unbeatens — Class 3A Division I Clyde (4-0) at Class 4A Div. II Sweetwater (4-0) — at the famed Mustang Bowl at SHS.
There are big games and then there are those that border on insanity.
Moran running back Ellis Hise, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending Sept. 16, fell squarely into the latter category on Saturday with a performance that was absolutely nuts.
Helping the Bulldogs to a thrilling 68-67 win over Mullin in one of the top six-man games the Big Country has seen this year, Hise rushed for 287 yards and six touchdowns on only 26 carries. But that’s just the beginning.
TUSCOLA — Jim Ned coach Matt Fanning is one of those guys who barely flinches when someone mentions his accomplishments. So it should come as no surprise that he had to be told early in the season that he was approaching the school record for career wins by a football coach.
That milestone fell in Friday’s 38-12 win over Rockdale, which allowed Fanning to surpass Brad McCoy on the all-time Jim Ned win list with a 54-13 overall record.
Coleman 26, Llano 20 — Brayden Torres passed for 232 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 60 yards and another score to fuel the Bluecats to an upset win over the Class 3A Division I Yellowjackets.
Playing its second consecutive game without quarterback Jadin Jackson, Coleman (3-1) raced out to 14-6 halftime lead and withstood a third-quarter Llano rally to win the game with the only touchdown of the fourth quarter.
When it comes to individual performances, there are big games and there are big games.
And then there’s what Cooper junior Daniel Bray did against San Angelo Central last week in leading the Cougars to their first win of the season.
The explosive tailback, who had been limited some in the first two weeks by a nagging ankle injury and the growing pains of a young offensive line, broke out in a historic way in that 53-45 victory over the Bobcats. By the time the game was over, he had rushed for a school-record 366 yards and seven touchdowns on just 21 carries, making a case for our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award that was too compelling to pass over — even in a week with a number of other monster performances.
Coleman 30, Brady 14 — Brent Bouldin rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bluecats to their second consecutive win.
Brayden Torres added 73 rushing yards and a TD and passed for 44 yards for Coleman (2-1), which outscored Brady 16-8 in the second half to pull away for the 16-point win.
After two weeks, few teams are grabbing the attention of Big Country football fans more than the Clyde Bulldogs (2-0), who have opened with consecutive wins over Cisco and Eastland.
And topping the list of last week’s area performers is Clyde senior quarterback Blake Carr, who posted some eye-popping numbers in last week’s 34-21 win at EHS.
De Leon 42, Cross Plains 7 — Heston Jobe hit 15 of 21 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns while adding 66 yards and two more scores on the ground to lift the Bearcats to a comfortable win over the Buffaloes.
Jake Cooper also had a big game, rushing for 152 yards and three scores on 22 carries while adding six catches for 70 yards for De Leon (2-0), which raced out to a 35-7 lead by halftime.
After a summer-long effort to produce our football preview, it is good to be back in our school year routine — a big part of which is our Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
That said, we are proud to hand our first accolade for 2023-24 to Snyder senior quarterback Easton Stewart, who led the Tigers to a 42-0 season-opening win over Slaton last week.
San Saba 40, Florence 3 — The Armadillos piled up 365 yards rushing, getting big days on the ground from running back Ethan Gonzales (18-133, 2 TDs) and quarterback Lane Miller (13-122, 2 TDs) in their blowout win over the Buffaloes.
Miller also passed for 56 yards with a scoring strike to Gonzales as San Saba built a 19-0 first-quarter lead. Up 19-3 at halftime, the ‘Dillos outscored Florence 21-0 over the final two quarters to put the game away.
Over the past two seasons, Coleman’s Jadin Jackson has established himself as one of the most electrifying athletes in the Big Country.
A dual-threat quarterback on offense and a playmaking safety on the opposite side of the ball, the standout senior has helped lead the Bluecats to a combined 20-4 record in his two varsity seasons.
Now entering his final high school campaign, Jackson is hoping to have his best season yet — to fuel Coleman to new heights and prove to college coaches he has something to offer at the next level.
Fresh off their best two-year stretch since 2015-16, the Coleman Bluecats will have some holes to fill in 2023.
Lost among the nine lettermen who graduated last year were star running back/linebacker Ryland Gentry, two-way line standout David Navarro and explosive receiver/cornerback Braxton Smith — and with that trio went a boatload of production and leadership.
But if you think coach John Elder and his Bluecats are bracing for a step back this fall after posting a combined 20-4 record over the past two seasons, you can think again. With a strong nucleus of senior returners, including dual-threat quarterback Jadin Jackson, Coleman is expecting another talented team and hoping for another deep playoff run.
Day 3 of Big Country Preps’ 2023 Photo Tour is now in the books, with five more days of shooting yet to come from practice fields throughout the area.
Here are but a few of the images collected Wednesday:
Continue reading “Scenes from Big Country Preps Photo Tour Day 3”