MERKEL — The Hermleigh girls basketball team has been a perennial contender for the state tournament in Duane Hopper’s first four years at the program’s helm.
Monday night, the Lady Cardinals started their run towards a third tournament berth in Hopper’s fifth year with a 75-18 win over Baird at Merkel’s Badger Gymnasium.
During Hopper’s tenure, the Lady Cardinals have lost to Nazareth in the state semifinals twice and had two more appearances in the regional final.
Claire Graham is focused on enjoying the moment.
As Jim Ned’s lone senior, she knows more than most about the challenges that lay ahead in a difficult Region I-3A.
But Graham also is aware of the keys to district and postseason success. The Lady Indians’ leadership is a main reason why they’ll head to the playoffs with a 30-1 record and No. 5 state ranking.
Here are the updated Big Country girls basketball playoff pairings, results through March 5
Continue reading “Big Country girls basketball playoff pairings, results (March 5)”
Below are the final regular season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball in 2022.
This database has been continually updated for our subscribers throughout the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
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: Cooper-Wylie basketball doubleheader (60 images)”
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: San Angelo Central-Abilene High basketball (66 images)”
The Wylie girls basketball team overcame a slow start to pull away for a 49-27 win over Cooper on Tuesday, clinching third place in District 4-5A with its fifth win in seven games.
The Lady Bulldogs, who opened league play at 0-3, finished with a flourish, routing their crosstown rival at home one night after locking up a playoff berth with a 38-35 win at Lubbock High.
Sophomores Micayla Reed and Indiah Maroney both had 14 points in Tuesday’s victory, helping to make Kenyah Maroney’s Senior Night a victorious one.
BRECKENRIDGE — Having already escaped with a narrow 39-38 win at City View on Jan. 14, Breckenridge girls coach Bryan Goehring fully expected a slugfest in Tuesday’s rematch with the final playoff seed on the line.
He got precisely that, in a come-from-behind 36-31 win to claim the No. 4 seed in District 7-3A.
Destiny Jamison scored nine points while Jady Gonzales and Camila Palacios added eight each to lead Breckenridge (20-14, 6-6) which will be facing District 8 champion Peaster (31-4) in the bi-district round.
Battling through four ties and seven lead changes, the Lady Buckaroos overcame their final deficit with a 7-0 run over the final three minutes. This, after blowing a 29-23 lead which they held with 6:05 to play.
A hard-fought, emotionally draining 58-56 weather-delayed, road win over Midland High on Monday night meant the Abilene High boys basketball team still had partial control over its playoff destiny.
The win, though, took a toll on the Eagles, who fell behind 14-0 to San Angelo Central on Tuesday night at Eagle Gym, creating a hole that Justin Reese’s squad couldn’t dig out of.
Central used the fast start and controlled the game the whole night on its way to a 65-48 win that, when coupled with Odessa Permian’s 39-37 win over Midland Legacy, clinched the final playoff berth in District 2-6A.
LUBBOCK — The Cooper boys basketball team dropped a tough one at Lubbock Coronado on Monday, losing to the Mustangs 50-47 to fall out of a three-way tie for first place in District 4-5A.
The Cougars, who were tied with Lubbock Monterey and Wylie entering the day, moved to 17-10 overall and 4-3 in league play with their third loss in four games.
The setback leaves coach Bryan Conover’s team a game back of the district co-leaders, in a tie with Lubbock Cooper for third heading into Tuesday’s game against crosstown rival Wylie.
Photos courtesy of Katie Perkins, HubCityPreps.com
LUBBOCK — The Wylie girls basketball team went on the road and picked up a huge win Monday, outlasting Lubbock High 38-35 to clinch a playoff berth in District 4-5A.
The game, which was postponed from Friday due to the snow storm that hit Texas last week, came down to the final minutes. But a layup by sophomore post Indiah Maroney with 1:15 to play broke a 35-all tie and proved to be the game-winning shot as the Lady Bulldogs improved to 14-17 overall and 4-5 in league play.
The victory secured a season sweep of Lubbock High, which came into the game tied with Wylie and Lubbock Coronado for third in the district standings. Monday’s outcome, when combined with Coronado’s 57-42 win over Cooper, puts the Lady Bulldogs in a two-way tie for third heading into their regular season finale against crosstown rival Cooper.
When Cross Plains’ Cadence Wedeking has the range zeroed in, the scorer’s table may want to have a spare pencil handy just in case.
Our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week had one of “those nights” last week in a 69-20 win over Moran, connecting with five 3-pointers and finishing with 33 points. It was the third time this season the sophomore guard had connected from beyond the arc five times in one game.
We’ve reached the final week of the girls basketball regular season, and just one more district game remains for a lot of teams. But there’s still much to be decided in a number of area districts.
We’ve still got games that will help decide district championships and others that will determine who will be participating and who will be watching from home when the playoffs begin next week.
If you like high stakes basketball, buckle up, because you’ll get plenty this week. Without further ado, let’s take a look what’s in store.
Entering the year with just one senior on her roster and almost twice as many newcomers as lettermen, Wylie girls basketball coach Amy Powell knew this season would be a process.
The fourth-year Lady Bulldogs mentor knew there would be growing pains. She was just hoping her squad would make enough progress by district time to challenge for a playoff spot in a tough District 4-5A race.
After an 0-3 start to league play, things were looking bleak for the Lady Bulldogs. But with a 3-2 record since, including competitive losses to top-20 teams from Lubbock Monterey and Lubbock Cooper, WHS enters the final week of the regular season in control of its own postseason destiny and playing its best basketball of the year.
With the Big Country Chevy Dealers Fellowship of Christian Athletes All-Star Festival entering its 23rd year, event organizers are faced with the unique dilemma of needing new coaches.
The FCA staffs in Abilene, Brownwood and San Angelo have found a creative solution for this year’s festival, which is scheduled for June 2-11: to give area assistant coaches their moment in the spotlight.
This provides a neat opportunity for both the coaches and their players, who are excited to see their assistant coaches have a chance to lead a squad.
As the winter sports start to hit the playoffs, it means another thing: it’s time to start finding out who the Fellowship of Christian Athletes all-stars are.
The 23rd annual Big Country Chevy Dealers FCA All-Star Festival will take place with eight events over nine days in four different cities from June 2-11.
Here’s a look at this year’s participants.
TUSCOLA — In a weather-delayed doubleheader that was equally important for both sides, Merkel paid Jim Ned a visit on Saturday with playoff seeding in the balance.
Jim Ned was not a generous host, handing their guests back-to-back lopsided losses — 77-23 in the girls game and 54-37 in the boys contest.
STEPHENVILLE — Every high school basketball player loves scoring points. And most spend a large amount of time honing their ability to do exactly that. The challenge for coaches, is to get the teenagers to realize it is defense that determines the degree of team success they will experience.
That message has been received in Stephenville, where its girls basketball team is creating enough defensive stops to compete for its second straight district championship and third in four years.
There’s something special brewing in Roscoe, and girls basketball coach Shella Arnwine is the first to admit that.
The Plowgirls are now 23-6 after knocking off Forsan Tuesday night and sealing the program’s first district championship in more than a decade.
However, these impressive accomplishments only tell part of Roscoe’s story.
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.
While many coaches across the area and state were scrambling Thursday after being thrown a curveball by the University Interscholastic League, the leaders of Abilene’s three largest programs enjoyed a relatively peaceful realignment day, free of any major surprises.
Having learned in December that Abilene High would be dropping to Class 5A Division I and Cooper would be moving to 5A DII, all AHS coach Mike Fullen and his Cooper counterpart, Aaron Roan, were waiting on was to find out their district. And both landed in leagues they expected.
Abilene High was sent to District 2-5A DI with Amarillo High, Amarillo Caprock, Amarillo Tascosa, Lubbock Cooper, Lubbock Coronado and Lubbock Monterey, while Cooper joins Wylie in District 2-5A DII, along with Amarillo Palo Duro, Lubbock High, Plainview and Wichita Falls Rider.
Fullen, Roan and Wylie’s Clay Martin all ended the day happy with their placement and relieved that their weather-impacted realignment went about smoothly as it could have.
While icy road conditions may have changed the UIL’s method of delivering the news, the results of its biennial realignment still offered the usual mix of surprises on Thursday.
Held via live feed over the internet, area coaches learned their fate on the web.
Topping the list of stunners for area teams would be the shift of Brownwood from its centralized home in District 5-4A DI to the far west in District 2. There, the Lions will join Big Spring, Lubbock Estacado, San Angelo Lake View and Andrews — the last of which will produce a 480-mile round trip.
What appeared to be a slow year for the Big Country on the signing front quickly blossomed into something memorable in 2022.
With National Signing Day taking place on Wednesday, the Big Country Preps coverage area finished with multiple Division I signees, including several on the gridiron.
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: Lubbock Cooper-Wylie girls basketball (26 images)”
The Cooper boys got back on track Tuesday, snapping a mini two-game losing streak with a 58-35 home win over Lubbock High.
The Cougars led the Westerners 14-7 after a quarter, before outscoring LHS 31-16 over the middle two periods to all but put the game away.
The victory, when combined with Wylie’s 53-51 loss to Lubbock Cooper and Lubbock Monterey’s 73-72 triple-overtime loss to Lubbock Coronado, pulled coach Bryan Conover’s squad (17-9 overall, 4-2 in district) into a four-way tie for first place in District 4-5A with Wylie, Monterey and Lubbock Cooper.
Trailing Odessa High 27-10 less than four minutes into the second quarter, the Abilene High boys basketball team rallied to pull within three late in the third Tuesday at Eagle Gym. But the Bronchos answered with seven quick points to go back up double digits and the Eagles never threatened again in a 70-59 loss.
Extended runs were the name of the game for OHS, which built its big early lead by scoring 23 of 26 points over the first and second quarters after falling behind 7-4 to open the game.
Then after Abilene High narrowed the gap in the third, the Bronchos used a 23-10 run to go back up 16 with about five minutes remaining in the contest.
For more than 26 minutes Tuesday, the Wylie girls basketball team played right with No. 8 Lubbock Cooper. But the Lady Pirates outscored the Lady Bulldogs 11-2 over the final 5:51 to pull away for 45-34 win at Bulldog Gym.
Wylie, which came in having won three of its last four games, bottled up a potent Cooper offense for most of the night. But six-point efforts in the first and fourth quarters kept coach Amy Powell’s squad from being able to pull off upset.
Instead, the Lady Bulldogs fell to 13-17 overall and 3-5 in District 4-5A play, setting up a big game at Lubbock High on Friday, weather permitting.
WALL — The combination of 11 Wall 3-pointers and a raucous home crowd were too much for Jim Ned to overcome in an important District 6-3A road game on Tuesday.
Everson Armstrong scored 26 points and buried six shots from beyond the arc to lead Wall (18-10, 9-1) to a 50-42 win in the nightcap of a varsity doubleheader at WHS.
Haskell’s Delaney Hanson admits sports have only been a portion of her high school career.
But what a four years it has been on the hardwood for the Maidens’ 6-foot post who plays like a guard.
While college lingers on the horizon, Hanson is squarely focused on leading Haskell to a playoff berth in a rugged District 10-2A race. Hanson enters Friday’s critical home game against Cisco averaging 16.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and two blocks.
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: Early-Brock basketball doubleheader (105 images)”
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: Lubbock Coronado-Wylie girls basketball (50 images)”
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: May-Eula basketball doubleheader (85 images)”
Entering the night tied with Lubbock Monterey and Wylie atop the District 4-5A standings, the Cooper boys had a chance to gain a leg up on the Plainsmen when they visited Cougar Gym on Friday.
But after rallying from a double-digit deficit in the third quarter to take a 53-52 lead with 3:14 remaining, the Cougars were outscored 13-5 the rest of the way in a tough 65-58 loss.
It was the second consecutive loss for Cooper, which fell 60-39 at Lubbock Cooper on Tuesday after coming into the week one of just two District 4-5A teams without a loss through three league games.
Mycala Reed’s 3-pointer with just over a minute remaining broke a 48-all tie and proved to be the game-winner for Wylie in a key 51-48 win over Lubbock Coronado on Friday at Bulldog Gym.
The Lady Bulldogs, who led by nine at half, found themselves down five (48-43) with 3:10 remaining in the game. But a corner 3 from Caroline Steadman pulled WHS back within two, before Kenyah Maroney tied the game with a layup.
That — and a couple of big stops on the defensive end — set up Reed’s big shot, which sent the crowd into a frenzy and ultimately pulled the Lady Bulldogs right back into the thick of the District 4-5A playoff race.
EULA — Cayden Franklin led a trio of Eula players in double digits with 16 points and the Pirates pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 62-46 win over May in District 13-1A play on Friday night at Mary Mosley Gymnasium.
It marked the Pirates 60th consecutive win in district play, a milestone first-year head coach Shae Sanford was happy to hit.
“It’s a pretty special tradition around here and I’m honored to get to be a part of it,” he said. “Hopefully we can extend it another five games this year and keep battling after that.”
BROCK — With both clubs chasing Peaster for a possible league title and a No. 2 seed also in the balance, the Brock and Early boys arrived for Friday’s District 8-3A matchup knowing full well what was at stake.
And so did the crowd at BHS, as the Eagles rallied from a six-point first-half deficit to top Early 45-34 in an atmosphere the rivaled playoff intensity. Tyce Gentry scored 15 points and Sawyer Strosnider added 10 more to lead Brock (20-8, 8-1), which remains one game behind Peaster in the league title hunt.
The win capped a varsity doubleheader sweep for BHS, which also took the girls game 52-26 earlier in the evening.
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.
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: Forsan-Winters basketball doubleheader (102 images)”
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: Brady-Clyde basketball doubleheader (96 images)”
WINTERS — Playing for sole possession of second place in a hyper-competitive District 8-2A race, the Winters boys basketball team protected its home court against Forsan on Tuesday, outscoring the Buffaloes 15-10 in the fourth quarter to preserve a 46-38 victory at Blizzard Gym.
Winters, now 16-11 overall and 3-1 in league play, never trailed after after the 7:25 mark of the first quarter. But the victory was anything but easy.
After racing out to an early 9-2 lead and pushing that to 17-10 after a quarter, the Blizzards had their advantage cut to a single point in the second and fourth quarters and erased completely for a brief stint in the third. But coach Colton Holmes’ squad answered each Forsan run with one of its own to stay within a game of district leader Colorado City, which defeated Miles on Tuesday to stay perfect in 8-2A play at 4-0.
CLYDE — The boys and girls basketball teams from both Clyde and Brady entered Tuesday’s showdown knowing they were facing a must-win situation to remain in the hunt for a playoff berth in the District 6-3A races.
While one game separated the squads in both the boys and girls standings, Tuesday’s results had a major impact on the standings as Clyde swept the doubleheader.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the night with a dominant 60-30 win, before the boys squad, under interim coach Don Heseman, pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 58-52 win.
CISCO — Stamford girls basketball coach Joe Crabb fully expected the Cisco Lady Loboes to hit his team with their best shot on Tuesday night and he had his 14th-ranked Lady Bulldogs ready for it.
Laylonna Applin scored 21 points with three 3-pointers to lead Stamford (27-0, 9-0 District 10-2A), in a workmanlike 55-45 win in Game 1 of a varsity doubleheader. The Cisco boys took Game 2 with a 63-30 win in the nightcap.
At 16-10 with five district games remaining, the Big Spring girls basketball team is on pace for its first winning season since going 17-15 in 2018-19. With four more wins, the Lady Steers would secure their first 20-win campaign since 2011-12.
Heading into Tuesday’s clash with No. 12 Levelland, the lone District 3-4A opponent to defeat Big Spring this season, Eric Tuttle’s squad is in the midst of a transformative season for the Big Spring program.
And at the heart of it, the second-year Lady Steers coach said, is a seven-player senior class led by standouts Tristan Smith and Ryen Terrazas.
More often than not, our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week has led a winning effort of some sort. But we do make exceptions, and this week’s accolade is an example of that.
In last week’s 69-68 loss to Huckabay, Strawn freshman (yes, freshman) Grayson “Chaka” Rigdon put forth an absolutely show-stopping performance, dropping 54 points on HHS to go with 14 rebounds, two assists and three steals. This came on the heels of a 24-point, 10-rebound night he had in a 64-41 loss to Lingleville.