COMANCHE — In a year that will see Comanche have to replace most of its skill personnel, the Indians may have one saving grace that catapults them into the playoffs yet again: a large, experienced offensive line.
Yet “experienced” might be an understatement.
In fact, Comanche’s offensive front is stocked with five seniors — Christian Anaya (5-11, 238), Ethan Dease (5-11, 230), Miles Hatch (5-8, 230), Camilo Sanchez (5-10, 273) and Christian “The Badger” Sanchez (5-10, 195).
COMANCHE — Big plusses, big minuses and they’re all over the 2024 map for the Comanche Indians who are wondering which factors will have the biggest impact.
To begin with, several key players have graduated from CHS, including standouts Ayden Fishback (TE/DE), Dalton Salinas (OL/DL), Diego Gutierrez (WR/DB), Kyler Beaty (DB/WR) and Layden Welch QB/LB). And to make matters worse, All-Big Country Preps running back Sawyer Wilkerson has moved on to Stephenville.
The Indians, do, however, have possible compensation with 20 returning lettermen. They will also be supplementing their varsity roster with promotions from an excellent 9-1 JV team.
Football is just around the corner, and we at BigCountryPreps.com are committed to bringing you the information you need to prepare for your favorite team’s season.
We’ll be releasing our Big Country Preps Preseason Football Preview, the most comprehensive look at the upcoming Big Country football season anywhere, on Wednesday, Aug. 21. But you won’t have to wait until then to sate your gridiron appetite.
Leading up to the first day of fall football practice on Aug. 5, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2024 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
Today, we take a look at the Comanche Indians.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Comanche Indians … 12 days to two-a-days”
OTHER 2024 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS
Our All-Big Country Preps Softball and Baseball Teams, released Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, are in place to honor those who achieved the most on-field success in 2024. It is off the field, however, where character, grit, and work ethic are often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team that we wish to honor those players, male and female, who were (simply put) the hardest-working, best teammates in the area this spring.
This team isn’t about who the best baseball and softball players were.
The All-Hustle team honors effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches wish they had in every player and upon which championships are built.
It is for that reason that this team is largely selected by area coaches and described in their own words.
Big Country Preps is now honored to present these individuals to you — the best team players (boys and girls) that the the Big Country had to offer during the 2024 season.
The players below are listed in no particular order.
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: 2024 State LineMAN Challenge (165 images)”
Coming off a subpar performance in Game 1 of last week’s 2A bi-district series with Hawley, Cisco pitcher Hannah Rogers did something few expected: a complete about-face.
Rogers, who had been beaten up in an 11-4 loss on Friday afternoon that saw her allow 14 hits, quickly regained her form for Game 2 that evening. Limiting Hawley to seven hits, she led Cisco to a series-tying 5-2 win.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 25.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
ABILENE — The Brock boys track team claimed its fourth consecutive region title Monday, headlining a strong showing by area athletes at the rain-altered Region I-3A meet at Abilene Christian University’s Elmer Gray Stadium.
Led by Dylan Foster, who claimed gold medals in both hurdle events, earned bronze in the long jump and ran a leg on Brock’s gold medal-winning sprint relay team, the Eagles finished with 99 points, edging runner-up Holliday by 13 points and topping third-place Wall by 44 points.
The Brock boys scored in 10 events and claimed nine medals on their way to the team championship, capping a meet that saw athletes from the Big Country Preps coverage area combined to earn 32 medals and claim 23 automatic berths to the Class 3A state meet May 2 in Austin.
There is very little that Eula’s Halie Cauthen isn’t good at athletically. Already an Honorable Mention All-Big Country Preps basketball player, the EHS junior showed her full range of versatility last week with three big performances in three different sports.
To begin with, Cauthen opened the week by qualifying for the 1A state golf tournament as an individual at the regional tournament, closing with rounds of 103 and 105.
Then, after playing 54 holes of golf in three days, Cauthen rushed back to compete for the district championship in softball against Cross Plains.
With a game time of 7:30 p.m., she arrived from the golf tournament at 7:25 and went 4 for 4 with three triples, three RBIs and four runs scored to help Eula clinch the district title in a 10-1 victory.
But Cauthen wasn’t finished quite yet.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 18.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 18.
With the end of the regular season, this will be our FINAL softball leaders posting for 2024.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 11.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
While we normally try to share the love in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column, five district titles in one week isn’t easy to sidestep.
And while Wall’s Briggs Jones has already pulled down our award once this year, he earned a second with his showing at the District 6-3A meet in Clyde last week by sweeping the long jump (23-2), the triple jump (44-10.75), the 200 meters (21.92), the 100 meters (10.72) and assisting the 800 relay team to gold with a 1:29.68 split.
BRECKENRIDGE — Using a combination of clutch hitting and power, the Breckenridge Lady Buckaroos took sole possession of first place in District 8 on Friday with a 9-5 win over Comanche to break a tie between the two clubs atop the league standings.
Joni Jackson was 4-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, Reagan Robinson was 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs and Mia Castillo was 3-for-4 with a double, a homer and three RBIs to spearhead a 14-hit day for Breckenridge (20-9-1, 9-1),. which avenged a 12-6 loss to CHS on March 12.
Big Country strikeout leader Chloe Whitmire earned the win in the circle and helped the Lady Bucks avenge a 12-6 loss to CHS on March 12. Her complete game win saw her allow three earned runs on seven hits with 11 strikeouts — pushing her season total to 285 Ks in 159 innings.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 4.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 4.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through March 28.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through March 28.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Sometimes the mercy rule and cheat a player a bit, limiting their number of plate appearances or the number of innings they can pitch.
But in District 15-1A, there is an added mercy rule, beyond the standard 10-run lead after five innings. There, a 15-run lead after three frames is enough to end a game early, which left our Big Country Preps Player of the Week (Hermleigh’s Summer Smith) short of what may have been a staggering set of numbers.
Scoring and rebounding is only part of the story when it comes to basketball. Behind the scenes and beyond the view of the public, is where character is often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps Gym Rat Team that we salute the individuals who exude the most of it.
This team isn’t about who the best players are, though some of the area’s top players are on this list.
The Gym Rat team is about effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches love above all else and upon which championship foundations are built.
It is for that reason that our Gym Rat team is selected entirely by area coaches, described in their own words. And Big Country Preps is absolutely honored to present these individuals to you — the best “team players” (boys and girls) that the area had to offer during the 2023-24 season.
Players are listed in no particular order.
Enjoy.
Here is our 2024 All-Big Country Preps boys basketball Rising Stars team, comprised of the top freshmen and sophomores in the area. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Here is our 2024 All-Big Country Preps girls basketball Rising Stars team, comprised of the top freshmen and sophomores in the area. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Wall junior Briggs Jones may be on the verge of a major breakout season in area track and field.
Our Big Country Player of the Week not only won five medals at the coveted Angelo State Spring Break meet, but he broke two solo school records and helped break a third. It seldom gets much better than that.
Aside from setting school marks in the long jump at 23-9.5 (for gold) and the triple jump at 45-2 (for gold), Jones was part of the 800 relay team’s silver medal performance of 1:28.49 — another Wall school mark.
Big moments attract big-time players and our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, certainly made the most of his opportunity over the weekend.
After scoring nine points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing four assists in a state semifinal win over Fayetteville last Thursday, Jayton sophomore Colt Gentry, saved his best for last in a 60-53 win over Benjamin in the 1A boys state title game on Saturday.
Gentry charted a team-high 19 points to go with six boards, four assists, a steal and a block to help the Jaybirds to the state title and earn state tourney MVP honors in the process.
It was his second straight week of huge performances under pressure, the first of which helped the Jaybirds win the regional tournament.
As if the Big Country’s collection of softball catchers wasn’t already “scary-good,” the area can count a worrisome new addition to its ranks: Colorado City freshman Bryanna Munoz, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending March 2.
How’s this for frightening?
Munoz, who was in junior high only a year ago, was an absolute wrecking ball in last week’s Brownfield Tournament, hitting a combined .818 in the event with an 18 of 22 tally at the plate. But that’s not the half of it.
It may be a little too early to label Anson freshman softball pitcher Kayme Elrod as a star in the making. But our Big Country Preps Player of the Week is off to a pretty good start.
Last week her performance was nothing short of startling, both offensively and defensively.
In the circle, Elrod finished with a 5-0 record with a five-inning no hitter, a 0.77 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 27 innings of work.
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: AISD Icebreaker Softball Tournament Day 3 (94 images)”
ABILENE — Just three days after the Jim Ned girls used a stifling defense to eliminate high-powered Eastland in the area round, the Lady Indians repeated that effort in a 48-24 win over Comanche in a Region I-3A quarterfinal.
Gracie Cooley scored 16 points and Lexi Wishert added 13 more to pace Jim Ned (34-2) which now advances to face the winner of Idalou and Spearman in the Region I-3A Tournament.
Facing a Comanche team that had been held under 50 points in only three of its 34 prior games, the Lady Indians held the Maidens to a season-low 24 points by limiting standout scorers J’Lee Salinas and Kinsey Glasgow to a combined 12 points — more than 24 points below their combined seasonal average. It was eerily similar to Friday’s win over Eastland, in which Jim Ned held EHS’ standout Mya Wesley, the leading scorer in the Big Country at 24.2 points, to only eight.
Comanche finished its season at 31-4, with Salinas leading the Maidens with 10 points.
Merkel senior Kooper Darby picked the right time to post the best all-around game of his high school career.
Playing in his final basketball game as a Merkel Badger, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week tallied a career-high 44 points to go with 16 rebounds, five assists, five steals in a 79-42 win over San Angelo Grape Creek.
With the Badgers (17-16) missing the playoffs, Darby had a final opportunity to make an impact as a high schooler and he did — like a meteor.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
ABILENE — Already considered an underdog against high-flying Comanche, the Merkel Lady Badgers were facing even longer odds in Friday’s 3A area round game with the Maidens.
With four girls coming off a stomach illness, the Lady Badgers had neither the depth nor the stamina to cope with Comanche, which pressed and ran its way to a 71-43 win in the second game of an area round doubleheader at Hardin-Simmons University.
Jim Ned topped Eastland 65-33 in the first of the two games on Friday. Comanche (31-3) will now meet Jim Ned (33-2) in the Region I-3A quarterfinals at a site and time to be determined.
Sophomore J’Lee Salinas scored 28 points and junior Kinsey Glasgow added 21 more to lead Comanche, which claims its first area title in the 10-year tenure of coach Diana Salinas and the first overall in more than 15 years.
Merkel (23-13) was led by Amirah Navarrette with 12 points; Alexandria Farmer and Camryn Stone added eight each.
ANSON — Facing a dangerous Vernon team in the Region I-3A bi-district round, the Comanche Maidens needed to get off to good start to gain some early confidence and momentum after not playing a game for a full week.
As luck would have it, they had an insurance policy in their back pocket in junior guard Kinsey Glasgow, who poured in 32 points, including 16 in a red-hot first quarter to lift the Maidens to a 72-48 win at the Anson High School Gym.
Doing a bit of everything is a specialty of Cisco senior guard Cole Thompson, who takes our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award after a pair of big nights in an 88-53 win over Hamlin and a 57-51 loss to Albany last week.
Thompson opened on Tuesday with 29 points, five assists, four steals and three boards in the Hamlin win. He followed that with a near triple-double that saw him tally 16 points, 10 boards, eight assists and two steals against Albany on Friday.
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:
Due to illness, our Big Country Preps Wednesday Night Podcast has been cancelled. We now present the Best of the BCP Wednesday Night Podcast with an episode that originally aired a month ago with Comanche coach Diana Salinas.
Benjamin’s Grayson Rigdon has been posting such overwhelming numbers for so long, that people scarcely blink when upon hearing of his latest exploits.
So here we go again: Rigdon is our Big Country Preps Player of the Week after posting monstrous numbers in wins over Munday (81-60) and Electra (99-74).
In the Munday win, the junior guard tallied 41 points, nine assists and eight steals. Three nights later, he charted 51 points, six assists and 10 steals to help the Mustangs improve to 15-0 overall and 10-0 in district.
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: Eastland-Comanche girls basketball (51 images)”
COMANCHE — With high-flying, high-scoring Eastland coming to town on Tuesday, the 12th-ranked Comanche Maidens never even considered slowing tempo or limiting possessions.
They simply did what they always do — keeping their foot on the gas pedal to hand the Lady Mavs a 79-62 loss at the Comanche ISD Special Events Center.
J’Lee Salinas scored 22 points and Kinsey Glasgow added 21 more to pace the Maidens (27-3, 10-2 District 8-3A) who have forced a second-place tie with Eastland in the league race.
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.