Category: Eula Pirates

by Daniel Youngblood

DANIEL YOUNGBLOOD: This week in Big Country boys basketball (Feb. 17-23)

The high school boys basketball playoffs are finally here, and the Big Country will be well represented as always.

After a long and entertaining regular season, we’ve reached the “win or go home” stage, where the ultimate prize is a trip to the Alamodome for a spot in the UIL state tournament.

There will be added urgency to every game, with a heightened sense of celebration/relief with each win and tears after every loss. But this is the time of year that all of these coaches and kids have been working toward — and we as fans of high school basketball have been waiting for.

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Preps Player of the Week: Cisco’s Adame is the Man of the Hour

When Cisco’s Izzy Adame gets the hot hand, there are few players in the Big Country capable of putting up more points in a short time than this senior guard. 

Last week was a prime example of this, when he helped the Loboes to a 70-48 win over Dublin with 31 points, seven 3-pointers and six rebounds. 

Three nights later, he hurt Coleman in an 86-68 victory that saw him drop 30 points on the Bluecats with six boards and four more treys.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DANIEL YOUNGBLOOD: This week in Big Country boys basketball (Feb. 10-16)

With just one more game re—maining on the regular-season boys basketball schedule, most district championships have already been decided and many teams have already locked up their playoff spots and seeding.

But as is always the case this time of year, a few league title and district playoff races have come down to the final week, which means Tuesday’s slate of games will have an enormous importance for those teams.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest matchups this final week has to offer and review some of the developments last week that put us in this position, shall we?

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Preps Player of the Week: Forsan’s Richardson takes the top spot

Kobe Richardson

He has spent much of this season hidden by West Texas obscurity.

But with the way Forsan’s Kobe Richardson has been playing, he’s becoming noticeable, even while playing in an isolated corner of Howard County.

Last week, the senior guard was magnificent, beginning with a 40-point, eight-rebound night in a tough 60-56 win at Miles that saw him chart nine steals, four blocks and an 18-of-18 tally at the free-throw line.

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by Evan Ren

FEATURE: After 40 years, Eula scorekeeper a highly respected fixture

EULA — The first time Mary Mosley sat as the official scorekeeper of a Eula high school basketball game, “Laverne and Shirley” was the top-rated show on television, Jimmy Carter was the President of the United States and a gallon of gasoline could be purchased for 65 cents. 

Yes, it was a long time ago — 40 years, to be exact — but an eternity for the many who perform this task on a temporary basis to simply help out their school districts. 

Mosley, through her love of the game and of kids, has virtually grown into a Eula institution.  Still going strong at the age of 83, she continues to work every Pirate game — home and away — with no end in sight.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Eula sweeps doubleheader at Baird (two videos, two box scores & photo gallery with 60 images included)

BAIRD — With two key back-court players — Mathew Ladesma and Kade Goble — out with injuries , Baird coach Jeff Campbell knew full well that the visiting Eula Pirates would do everything in their power to exploit that weakness in Tuesday’s district match-up. 

The problem was, doing something to stop them.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 28: Evan, Daniel talk Eula hoops with coach Josh Fostel

Eula boys basketball coach and athletic director Josh Fostel has built the Pirates into a perennial contender, taking them to the state championship game in 2007 and winning a title in 2011.

This week, Fostel took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about his time with the program, Eula’s annual Holiday Classic and this year’s squad for the Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss some of the more intriguing district races and interesting upcoming matchups of the Big Country boys and girls basketball season.

by Daniel Youngblood

DANIEL YOUNGBLOOD: This week in boys basketball (Dec. 30-Jan. 5)

A second straight holiday week brings a light schedule for area boys basketball teams, but as the calendar turns from 2018 to 2019, all games played become more and more important.

Many Big Country teams have either already started district play or do so this week. And those that won’t be playing league games Friday will be preparing to do so in short order. If you’re a high school basketball fan, there’s a lot to like about this time of year.

Here’s a look at what you can look forward to this week in the Big Country and what you might have missed last week.

Top Upcoming Matchups: It’s tough to call any game played in the first week of January a must-win, but that could be the situation the Abilene High Eagles find themselves in Friday when they host San Angelo Central at 7:30 p.m.

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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN: This week in girls basketball (Dec. 30-Jan. 5)

With New Year’s Day still approaching, area hoops schedules will remain spotty for a few more days. But there’s ample hoops action approaching for us to take our weekly look at what’s ahead — and what we’ve just left behind. 

Top Upcoming Matchups: Friday will see the Big Country dive headlong into district play, and with that, some old rivalries will quickly come to the forefront. 

Topping that list, will be matchups between 11th-ranked Cisco (19-2) and a solid team from Eastland (15-7) on Friday. The Lady Mavericks will bring some momentum into this game with their archrival, having won their last two games in the Eula tournament, including a 54-41 victory over a good Merkel team.   

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by Daniel Youngblood

Haskell girls pull away from Lady Pirates for Eula Holiday Classic title

Trailing the tournament hosts 16-13 at halftime of the Eula Holiday Classic girls title game, the Haskell Maidens outscored the Lady Pirates 23-7 over the final two quarters Saturday to claim the championship with a 36-23 victory.

Haskell, which improved to 19-1 with the win, got 10 points from freshman Melody Martinez, nine from Landry Hanson and eight from Delaney Hanson in beating its third consecutive ranked opponent and claiming its second tournament title of the season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Merkel rally falls short against Holliday in Eula Holiday Classic third-place game

The Merkel boys rallied a couple of times in the fourth quarter to pull within two possessions of a stout Holliday squad, but ultimately the Eagles were too much for the Badgers in a 46-35 win in the Eula Holiday Classic third-place game.

Trailing 28-15 at halftime and 33-25 heading into the final period, coach B.C. Lee’s team trimmed the deficit to five points (36-31) at the 6:43 mark and to six (41-35) with 2:36 to play. But Holliday answered both runs with one of their own to finish 3-1 at the Classic and improve to 9-4 on the season.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

Eula Holiday Classic girls roundup Day 2

The championship game of the Eula Holiday Classic this year is going to be quite the doozy.

Eula, which entered the tournament ranked 15th in Class 1A, will be taking on Class 2A’s fourth-ranked Haskell after the two squads posted semifinal wins on Friday.

The Lady Pirates, who defeated Tolar 56-46 in the quarterfinals Thursday night, downed Christoval 52-41 in Friday’s semifinals to earn their spot in the title game, while the Maidens topped Class 3A No. 17 Colorado City (51-42) and Class 1A No. 12 Hermleigh (57-41) on Friday advance. Eula and Haskell will meet at 5:20 p.m. Saturday to decide the tournament’s championship.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

Eula Holiday Classic boys roundup Day 2

The second day of the Eula Holiday Classic saw several Big Country boys teams fall short of their championship aspirations on Friday afternoon.

The host Pirates, Colorado City and Jim Ned all lost in the quarterfinals, while Merkel fell in the semifinals.

The Badgers, who beat Childress 65-61 in the quarterfinals Thursday before losing 41-32 to Tolar in Friday’s semifinals, will now face Holliday in the third-place game at 4 p.m. Saturday and are guaranteed the best finish of any area boys team. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

Eula Holiday Classic girls roundup Day 1

The Eula girls basketball team picked up a pair of wins over Clyde and Tolar on Thursday to move into this afternoon’s semifinals of the annual Eula Holiday Classic.

Eula had an opening round 46-34 win over Clyde before closing the opening day’s action by knocking off the Lady Rattlers 56-46.

The Lady Pirates will be joined in the semifinals by Christoval, a 50-49 quarterfinal winner over Eastland.

Eastland started the tournament with a 15-point win over Ballinger (41-26) before the narrow loss.

Christoval scored eight points in the final minute — including a buzzer-beater to win — to rally from a seven-point deficit to win.

Eastland coach Patrick Blount was disappointed in the final score, but said it didn’t change anything that his team had done all day.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

Eula Holiday Classic boys roundup Day 1

The opening day of the annual Eula Holiday Classic got off to a high-scoring start on Thursday with several close games and others that were more lopsided.

Holliday, Childress, Martins Mill and Jim Ned were the top-scoring squads in the first round of the tournament, advancing to the championship side of the 16-team tournament.

The Eagles rolled to an easy 90-32 win over Breckenridge in the day’s fourth game, while the Bobcats followed up with an 89-37 mauling of Brady.

Martins Mill had no issues in posting an 83-36 win over Early in the final game of the opening round.

While not putting up as many points as those three, Jim Ned had the most stifling defensive effort of the day in a 76-30 win over Christoval.

The host Pirates opened the day’s action with a 43-30 win over Eastland and then fell 47-46 Thursday night in the quarterfinals in a thriller against Tolar. The Rattlers were in the quarterfinals after a 60-36 win over Clyde earlier in the day.

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by Daniel Youngblood

This week in boys basketball (Dec. 23-29)

Top Upcoming Matchups: With teams enjoying a mandatory five-day break for the holidays, we’ve got a back-loaded schedule this week. But that’s not to say it’s an uninteresting one.

In fact, with holiday tournaments scheduled throughout the state, including a few right here in the Big Country, it is anything but.

Headlining that list are the Eula Holiday Classic, Brownwood’s Texas Bank Holiday Classic and the Anson Lions Club Holiday Tournament, which combined will feature more than 20 Big Country boys basketball teams. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 26: Evan, Daniel talk Jim Ned hoops with Hunter Cooley

A former high school standout at Hawley and college All-American at Abilene Christian University who has led both the boys and girls basketball programs at Jim Ned, Hunter Cooley has been a part of the Big Country hoops scene for decades now.

This week, he took some time to talk a little basketball with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood, touching the strength of this year’s Jim Ned girls team, his coaching career and his thoughts on the current state of the game in this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel bid farewell to the De Leon and Hamlin football teams and preview this week’s state semifinal games for Albany and Brock.

by Evan Ren

Big Country Preps Player of the Week: Hamlin’s Sepeda snags the accolade

Big Country Preps Player of the Week isn’t strictly about numbers. 

Sometimes, drama can be the deciding factor. And in that regard, Hamlin’s Jackson Sepeda takes home this week’s Oscar after helping Hamlin to an incredible 21-18 win over heavily favored Wellington — one of the biggest upsets the Big Country has seen in the last decade. 

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by Maverick16

No. 4 Haskell girls rally past Eula 35-29

HASKELL — Down 22-20 to start the fourth quarter, the fourth-ranked Haskell Maidens scored 15 points over the final eight minutes to knock off the upset-minded Eula Lady Pirates in a 35-29 victory at the legendary Tee Pee.

Leading the way for the Maidens (7-1) was freshmen Melody Martinez, whose five-point outburst late in the fourth quarter helped put away Eula for good. C’Era Taylor, meanwhile, had a team-high eight points and two rebounds for Haskell.

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by Maverick16

No. 15 Eula girls pick up big win over 12th-ranked Gorman

After falling 47-37 to Goldthwaite on Saturday, the No. 15 Eula girls basketball team needed to rebound for a Top-15 matchup Tuesday night against the surging Gorman Lady Panthers. To say the Lady Pirates were able to rebound is an understatement.

Behind a double-double performance from center Abby Matties and the hot hand of Kailey Fenton, Eula was able to overcome a slow start to defeat No. 12 Gorman 47-23.

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by Evan Ren

Evan Ren’s 2018-19 Big Country Boys Hoops Preview

While several of the area’s best athletes are still tied up playing football, the boys basketball season technically gets underway Friday night.

Of course, as the football playoffs get rolling and more and more teams are eliminated, the basketball talent pool will grow on a weekly basis, and by mid December, we’ll be in full hoops mode. 

Regardless, boys basketball season is officially here, so it’s time to take a peek at what this season will offer with our area teams, Class 1A through 4A. 

Who has the best shot at getting to state? Who are the legitimate contenders and what are the teams that we should be careful not to ignore?

Let’s find out. 

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by Maverick16

Eula girls roll Hamlin in season opener

In an early-season girls basketball matchup featuring a pair of top-25 teams on Tuesday, the Eula Lady Pirates proved why they are considered one of the best Class 1A teams in the Big Country.

Behind and 18-point, seven-rebound effort by post Abbey Matties and an 11-point night by Anna Masonheimer, the eighth-ranked Lady Pirates (1-0) shut down the 22nd-ranked Hamlin Lady Pipers in a 63-23 victory.

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by Evan Ren

Evan Ren’s 2018-19 Big Country Girls Hoops Preview

The quickest way to get basketball season to begin is to tee up a football. 

It might as well set off a time warp. 

If you don’t believe me, consider this while you’re watching a Week 10 football game around the area this evening: High school girls basketball officially begins tonight and the boys will tip off next week. 

Excuse me, but weren’t two-a-days over like …. just last week? Unbelievable.

Regardless, the girls start Friday night and that means it’s time to take a look around the Big Country for some of the top teams the area will have to offer in 2018-19. 

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