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.
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.
LUBBOCK — Led by forward Jaelyn Rivera, who dropped a career-high 28 points on Tuesday, the Cooper boys basketball team opened District 4-5A play with a 63-51 over Lubbock High, improving to 14-7 with the victory.
Rivera accounted for 12 of the Cougars’ 25 field goals and went 4 of 5 from the free-throw line to lead a list of three Cooper players in double figures. Jalen Cherry hit four 3-pointers on his way to 16 points while Colin Reed finished with 10.
Continue reading “LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: Cooper, Wylie boys open District 4-5A play with victories”
Evan and Dan go over the 2021 All-Big Country Preps Football Team, plus Player of the Year, Offensive and Defensive MVPs, Coach of the Year and more!
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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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Lubbock Cooper-Cooper girls basketball (20 images)”
The Cooper and Wylie girls basketball teams both opened District 4-5A play with losses Friday, as the Lady Cougars fell 66-50 to No. 8 Lubbock Cooper and the Lady Bulldogs were beaten 58-40 by Lubbock Monterey.
Those results put district favorites Lubbock Cooper and Monterey in a first-place tie with Lubbock High, which downed Lubbock Coronado 49-42 Friday night, while Abilene Cooper, Wylie and Coronado are a game behind in a tough six-team district.
Cooper will travel to Monterey for a difficult road test and Wylie will play at Coronado when league play resumes on Tuesday.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stephenville-Cooper girls basketball (48 images)”
Trailing Stephenville 49-44 with less than 40 seconds remaining, the Cooper girls basketball team appeared to be headed for a hard-luck loss to the No. 21 team in Class 4A on Tuesday at Cougar Gym.
But in a game chock full of extended runs and wild momentum swings, the Lady Cougars had one more rally left in them.
CHS closed the game with six consecutive points — the final four on pressure-packed free throws by Karrigan Parrott — to claim a thrilling 50-49 win in its final nondistrict game before opening District 4-5A play against eighth-ranked Lubbock Cooper on Friday.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cooper-Sweetwater boys basketball (42 images)”
SWEETWATER — The Cooper boys basketball team outscored Sweetwater 40-20 over the middle two quarters Friday to overcome a slow start and pull away for a 70-49 nondistrict win over the Mustangs.
Playing an SHS team that was coming off a tournament championship in Anson, the Cougars led their Class 4A foe by just two points (15-13) after one quarter. But coach Bryan Conover’s squad used a 24-6 run through the second period to take a 20-point lead into halftime and was never threatened after that.
The victory moved Cooper to 11-7 on the year and improved the Coogs to 3-1 since returning from the Christmas break. CHS went 2-1 at the Snyder tournament earlier this week, defeating Snyder (45-36) and Fabens (59-32) before falling by seven to Amarillo Caprock.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Cooper boys basketball (43 images)”
For the second time in a week, the Cooper boys basketball team got off to a red-hot start in a game against crosstown rival Abilene High.
Unlike last week’s matchup in the Catclaw Classic, this time the Cougars were able to withstand multiple comeback attempts by the Eagles as Cooper knocked off AHS 56-46 on Friday night at Cougar Gym.
Jalen Cherry had a game-high 21 points for Cooper as the Cougars raced out to a 13-0 lead, never letting the Eagles get closer than six points the rest of the way. Cooper moved to 8-5 on the season with the win and avenged a tough one-point loss from last weekend.
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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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Catclaw Classic Day 3 (65 images w/ results)”
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking on the “Buy on SmugMug” link below a selected photo. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Catclaw Classic Day 2 (46 images w/ results)”
A week after playing in Abilene ISD’s Raising Cane’s Key City Classic, Wylie will host five schools — including Abilene High and Cooper — for its annual boys basketball tournament, the Catclaw Classic.
In addition to the Abilene’s three local schools, Canutillo, Fort Worth Chisholm Trail and Midland Christian will be in action at the Classic, which will have a round-robin format this year.
Here is the schedule for the tournament. Check back throughout the weekend for scores, game recaps and photos from the event.
The North Crowley Panthers completed a perfect run through the Cane’s Key City Classic on Saturday, topping Northwest Eaton 49-41 in the title game to add a championship to the third-place finish they earned in the tournament’s first year back in 2019.
That matchup closed the books on the local tournament, which also saw Lewisville the Colony top McKinney Boyd 46-41 in the third-place game, Round Rock defeat defending Classic champion Fort Worth Wyatt 72-55 in the fifth-place game and San Antonio Harlan take the consolation championship with a 64-49 win over Peaster.
Wylie, the only local team in action on the Classic’s final day, fell to Justin Northwest 50-41 in a consolation game to close out the event at 2-2. Abilene High and Cooper were slated on the bracket to meet in the championship bracket seventh-place game, but the coaches chose not to play that game since the teams have two matchups forthcoming.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Raising Cane’s Key City Classic Day 2 (72 images)”
The second day of the Raising Cane’s Key City Classic was a rough one for the two host schools, as Abilene High and Cooper both went 0-2 on Friday after winning on Thursday to earn a spot in the championship bracket.
Abilene High dropped its quarterfinal game to Lewisville The Colony 54-29 before falling in the fifth-place semifinals to Fort Worth Wyatt 82-41, while Cooper lost in those same rounds to McKinney Boyd (63-41) and Round Rock (55-52), respectively. The Eagles and Cougars were slated to play in the seventh-place game Saturday, but the coaches elected not to play that game since the two teams are already scheduled to play each other twice in the coming weeks.
Wylie, which dropped a play-in game to Fort Worth Nolan Catholic on Thursday to fall out of bracket play, rebounded with a pair of wins on the Classic’s second day, routing Abilene High’s JV 75-34 before topping Borger 56-46.
In action not involving Abilene teams, Northwest Eaton advanced to Saturday’s title game with a 47-44 win over The Colony. They’ll take on North Crowley, which defeated Boyd 38-37 in its semifinal to advance to the tournament championship.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Raising Cane’s Key City Classic Day 1 (94 images)”
The Abilene High and Cooper boys basketball teams both opened the Raising Cane’s Key City Classic with victories on Thursday to earn spots in the tournament’s championship bracket, while Wylie dropped its opener and will be playing consolations games for the remainder of the three-day event.
Abilene High bounced back from a slow start to top Borger 58-45, and Cooper used a late bucket to escape its first-round matchup against Keller Timber Creek with a 52-51 win to ensure that both of the Classic’s host schools will be playing in the winner’s bracket quarterfinals when play resumes on Friday.
The Eagles (1-4) and Cougars (5-0) will be joined in the championship bracket by McKinney Boyd, Round Rock, North Crowley, Northwest Eaton, Fort Worth Wyatt and Lewisville The Colony, which also earned wins on Thursday. Plainview, Borger, San Antonio Harlan, Fort Worth Nolan Catholic, Justin Northwest, Timber Creek, Midland Christian and Peaster will make up the consolation bracket field.
Wylie, which fell 41-38 to Nolan in a hard-fought play-in game, was eliminated from title contention in both brackets but will close out the tournament with games against other teams eliminated from consolation title consideration.
The Abilene High, Cooper and Wylie boys basketball teams will all be in action this week at the Raising Cane’s Key City Classic, scheduled for Thursday through Saturday on the campuses of AHS and CHS.
This will be the second playing of the local tournament since it was resurrected in 2019. All pre-district tournaments were canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Here is the bracket for the 2021 Key City Classic. Check back throughout the weekend for scores, game recaps and photos from each of the tournament’s three days.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Lubbock Estacado-Cooper boys basketball (38 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Cooper girls basketball (42 images)”
On the back of each member of the Cooper boys basketball team’s jersey, you’ll find a simple phrase: “Find a way.”
That rallying cry proved more than a trite directive Tuesday, when the Cougars rallied for an unlikely 57-53 victory over Class 4A No. 3 Lubbock Estacado in a nondistrict matchup at Cougar Gym.
Trailing 51-41 with less than 4½ minutes remaining in the game and struggling to handle the Matadors intense pressure defense, the Coogs found a way — first to take better care of the basketball and then to put it through the net enough to stun their talented visitors.
The Cooper girls basketball team overcame an early challenge from a hot-shooting Abilene High squad Tuesday to earn a 53-39 win over its crosstown rival at Cougar Gym.
The Lady Cougars trailed on three occasions in the first quarter as the Lady Eagles knocked down three of their eight 3-pointers in the opening period. But coach Arsenio Geter’s squad closed the first half on a 15-7 run to go to halftime with a seven-point lead and held off one last push by AHS in the third quarter before finally putting the Lady Eagles away in the fourth.
Guards Karrigan Parrott and Kyla Speights fueled the effort for the Lady Coogs, scoring 16 and 13 points, respectively, to put their team back above .500 at 5-4.
It’s not easy for defensive players to wrestle the spotlight away from those on offense. It’s just the nature of things.
But in the case of Stephenville linebacker Reese Young, he’s beginning to make a habit of it.
Young, who charted 22 tackles (14 solos) in SHS’ 21-17 regional semifinal win over Argyle last week is our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week for a second time this year.
The Jim Ned girls basketball team topped El Paso Mountain View 58-42 on Saturday at McMurry University’s Kimbrel Arena to complete a perfect run through the inaugural Pug Parris Classic and claim the tournament championship.
The No. 13 Lady Indians, who earned their spot in the title game with impressive wins over El Paso Ysleta (70-26), Lubbock Trinity Christian (69-32) and Wylie (47-36), raced out to a 17-8 first-quarter lead on Mountain View and were never threatened after in improving to 7-0 on the season.
Jim Ned’s run to the title completed a successful first run for the Pug Parris Classic, which was started by McMurry this year when the Hardin-Simmons University-hosted Polk-Key City Classic — believed to be the longest-running girls basketball tournament in the state — was not resumed.
Big numbers will generally get one strong consideration for our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. But when those numbers come against a team from a much larger classification, it quickly makes us take notice.
Class 2A Hico’s Grace Booth did exactly that last week in a 61-57 win over Class 4A Mineral Wells, dominating both ends of the floor to lead the Lady Tigers in their season opener.
Aside from the 40 points she poured in, Booth snagged 10 rebounds to chart a double-double. She also forced multiple turnovers (viewable on the video above), including three steals.
GRAPEVINE — The Cooper football team could never find its footing in its bi-district matchup with Colleyville Heritage on Friday, mustering just 111 yards of total offense in a 63-21 loss at Mustang-Panther Stadium.
The Cougars, who finished their season at 6-5, found themselves down 28-7 after a quarter, and they never got closer than two scores the rest of the way.
A 19-yard touchdown pass from Keegan Anderson to Cameron Herring pulled the Coogs within 28-14 with 9:55 remaining in the second quarter, but the Panthers scored just before halftime to go back up 21 and added the first touchdown of the second half to put the gam out of reach.
Wylie catcher Landon Williams and pitcher Brooks Gay signed letters of intent with the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and Abilene Christian University, respectively, on Wednesday to headline a list of four Bulldogs baseball players to make their college decisions official during a ceremony at the Wylie Performing Arts Center.
In addition to Williams and Gay, who will continue their careers at the Division I level, second baseman J.T. Thompson signed with Division II Lubbock Christian University and third baseman/designated hitter Garrett Graham signed with Midland College.
That quartet, each member of which played a key role in last year’s run to the Region I-5A semifinals, became the latest in a long line of Wylie baseball players to earn opportunities at the next level, following a group of eight seniors who signed to play collegiately last year.
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 2021-22.
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 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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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Crowley-Cooper football (62 images)”
The Cooper football team entered Friday night’s District 3-5A Division I game against Crowley knowing that anything other than a max points loss would put the Coogs in the postseason for the 15th consecutive season.
Mission accomplished.
Cooper held the ball for over 25 minutes on Friday night and beat the Eagles 28-13 at Shotwell Stadium, clinching the final playoff berth in the district.