Category: Girls basketball

by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Cisco sweeps doubleheader on Hawley’s home floor

HAWLEY — It was a big night for the Cisco basketball program on Tuesday, with a varsity doubleheader sweep of area rival Hawley on its home floor. 

The Cisco girls opened the evening with a 62-31 win over the Lady Cats to secure the District 10-2A championship. Things were a bit tougher for the Cisco boys, who earned their first win at Hawley in three years with a 55-43 victory in the nightcap. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Brandon McAuliffe

LOCAL HOOPS ROUNDUP: Lady Eagles lone local school to post a win on Tuesday

With the regular season quickly drawing to a close, the Abilene High and Cooper basketball teams had critical District 4-5A games against Wichita Falls Legacy and Wichita Falls Memorial, respectively, on Tuesday night.

The Cougars were in desperate need of a win in both games for playoff purposes and came up short, with the Lady Cougars 46-31 loss officially eliminating them from playoff contention. The Cooper boys, meanwhile, found themselves leading at halftime against the Mavericks before falling 43-37. The loss leaves Cooper two games behind Memorial with three games to play.

In Wichita Falls, the Abilene High girls claimed a 39-28 win over Legacy, clinching second place in the district. The Abilene High boys, on the other hand, fell out of a three-way tie for first place with Wylie and Legacy with a 50-34 loss to the Leopards.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Clyde’s Underwood takes accolade after passing the 1,000 milestone a second time

It was a month of milestones for Clyde senior post Maddie Underwood, who takes our Big Country Preps Player of the Week with a combination of great numbers, along with team and career achievements. 

To begin with she charted a combined 42 points and 29 boards in wins over Grape Creek and Merkel. 

In the process, she helped the Lady Bulldogs (20-8, 8-2) lock up their first playoff berth in nine years and their first 20-win season in 10. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Jim Ned sweeps district doubleheader with Sweetwater

TUSCOLA — Jim Ned swept a varsity doubleheader on Friday at Bill Thornton Arena to maintain a hold on first place in both the girls and boys District 6-3A races. 

The first win was routine; the second nearly brought the house down. 

The girls took the opener 63-34. But in Game 2, the Sweetwater boys came within an eyelash of handing the Indians a loss on their home floor, falling to Jim Ned 52-50 before a raucous crowd that sat through four ties and five lead changes.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Eagles fend off second-half rally from Cooper; AHS girls roll to win

The Abilene High boys and girls basketball teams rode hot-shooting first quarters to wins on Friday as they swept crosstown rival Cooper in District 4-5A basketball at Eagle Gym.

The Lady Eagles opened the night with a 64-39 win as they moved to 16-14 on the year and 4-2 in district. The win also clinched a playoff berth for Abilene in its first year under coach Alfonzo Franklin.

The boys team followed that up by holding off a second half rally from the Cougars to earn a 60-53 win on a night where they didn’t have their normal shooting touch from behind the arc. Friday’s win moved AHS to 18-10 on the season and 3-1 in district while the Cougars fell to 8-14 overall and 0-4 in district — putting Cooper in a must-win situation on Tuesday.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
Hoops
by Evan Ren

Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Jan. 23): Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 23.

This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his or her email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Comanche sweeps Early in important district doubleheader on the road

EARLY — In a loud, difficult environment for road teams, both the Comanche girls and boys managed to overcome sluggish shooting a sweep a District 8-3A doubleheader at Early on Tuesday.

The Comanche girls opened the evening with a 47-37 win — fighting off multiple Early rallies in the process. The CHS boys claimed the nightcap 54-45, despite a slow start. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Gorman junior takes this week’s accolade

Back-to-back double-doubles in two dominating efforts were enough to give Gorman junior Delila Crain our Big Country Player of the Week for the week ending Saturday, Jan. 18. 

Opening the week with an 83-7 rout of Bluff Dale, Crain posted 30 points and 10 boards to go with five assists, five deflections, six steals and four blocks. 

She followed that with 21 points, 12 boards, five deflections, four assists and three steals in a 58-27 win over Huckabay.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wichita Falls Legacy boys rally in final minute to stave off spirited Cooper upset bid

For 31 of 32 minutes, the Cooper boys basketball team did all the little things it needed to to give itself a chance to knock off a much larger Wichita Legacy squad Friday at Cougar Gym. 

But leading 27-26 with just under a minute remaining after rallying twice in the fourth quarter to regain a lead it had held most of the night, the Cougars couldn’t close out the Leopards, falling 30-27 in a game that was hard-fought throughout.

The Legacy win completed a doubleheader sweep for the visitors, who scored a 44-25 victory in the girls game earlier in the evening.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Brock sweeps Brownwood in Friday night doubleheader

BROCK — A hot shooting second half and a nasty case of the flu were enough to help Brock secure a District 6-4A sweep of Brownwood in the Brock High School Gym on Friday. 

The Brock girls opened the twin bill with a 64-41 win that saw the Lady Eagles close with a 41-21 second half.  The Brock boys took the nightcap, overpowering a Brownwood club that had nearly half of its roster returning from and one player still missing with the flu.  The Lions were simply no match for Brock on Friday, falling 82-38. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Wylie sweeps Abilene High in 4-5A hoops in front of a packed house

With a 14-point lead at the end of the third quarter in front of a standing room only crowd, the Wylie boys basketball team looked like it was going to cruise to a win over crosstown rival Abilene High on Tuesday night at Bulldog Gym.

The Bulldogs then had to hold off a spirited comeback attempt by the Eagles, with Connel Colley’s 3-point attempt with just seconds remaining missing the mark, allowing Wylie to survive 55-52 in District 4-5A play.

It was the type of contest both Gregg Ruffin (Wylie) and Justin Reese (Abilene High) said their teams can expect in the five-team district that will only play eight games — making each matchup a crucial one.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jim Ned’s Grohman takes this week’s spotlight

The fact that Riley Grohman is our Player of the Week should surprise no one, considering she was named to our All-Big Country Preps team last year. But when you toss in her stats — an all-encompassing set of numbers — it makes even more sense. 

The senior guard was at the top of the stat sheet last week for the third-ranked Lady Indians, who swept Merkel (70-25) and Clyde (79-29) to improve to 24-2. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Abilene High splits weather-postponed doubleheader with Wichita Falls Legacy

After having their District 4-5A doubleheader against Wichita Falls Legacy pushed back a day by the winter storm that blew through Abilene on Thursday, The Abilene High basketball teams split a pair of thrillers Saturday at Eagle Gym.

The Lady Eagles suffered their first district loss, falling 39-38 in gut-wrenching fashion, before the boys rallied from a 10-point second-quarter deficit to top the Leopards 57-53 in the district opener for both teams.

Those results set up another big doubleheader Tuesday at Wylie, where the girls will wrap the first half of district play and the Eagles will look to stay atop the league standings in the early stages of 4-5A action.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Abilene High girls improve to 2-0 in district with 52-44 win over rival Cooper

Coming off a wild 55-51 overtime win over Wichita Falls Memorial in their District 4-5A opener on Friday, the Abilene High Lady Eagles were given just a few days to recharge their emotional batteries before Tuesday’s Crosstown Showdown with rival Cooper.

But coach Alfonzo Franklin’s squad proved up to the task, riding a 15-5 first-quarter run to a 52-44 win at Cougar Gym to stay in lockstep with Wylie atop the league standings.

Samia Cooper led Abilene High with 13 points, while four other Lady Eagles had at least seven in a balanced scoring effort. Those contributions allowed AHS to stretch its lead to 18 early in the third quarter and a game-high 20 points early in the fourth, before Cooper made a late surge in the closing minutes.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Offensive outbursts help Wall sweep Clyde in 6-3A doubleheader

CLYDE — With logjams atop the District 6-3A basketball standings for both the boys and girls, the Wall Hawks earned a pair of crucial wins on Tuesday night, sweeping Clyde at Bulldog Gymnasium.

The Lady Hawks got 18 points from Kennedi Graves as they rolled to a 70-26 win in the opener, while Jager Thompson had 12 of his 15 points in the second half to lead Wall to a 46-33 win in the nightcap.

In both games, it was the second quarter that proved pivotal.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jim Ned’s Wyatt Nickson takes first honor of 2025


Wyatt Nickson was on fire over Christmas Break.

In fact, in six games the senior guard averaged 19.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 45 percent overall and 48 percent from the 3-point line.

“Wyatt has been putting in the extra work to make himself the best scorer possible,” coach Blake Allen said. “He has been on an absolute tear and he is fun to watch play basketball”

The Indians enter this week at 12-6.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie opens district with comfortable home win over crosstown rival Cooper

The Wylie girls basketball team kicked off District 4-5A play with a dominant effort Friday, taking control early and maintaining it throughout in a 58-26 win over crosstown rival Cooper at Bulldog Gym.

The Lady Bulldogs, who improved to 20-5 on the season, scored the game’s first eight points and were never seriously threatened in building a 40-15 lead by halftime.

The victory put coach Duane Hopper’s team in an early district tie with Abilene High, which edged Wichita Falls Memorial 55-51 in Friday’s other 4-5A matchup.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Fostel gets 600th win as Eula opens district play with win over Baird

EULA — The Eula Lady Pirates opened District 13-1A play with an 58-8 win over Baird on Friday night at Mary Mosley Gymnasium in a game that marked coach Josh Fostel’s 600th career win as a head coach.

Despite being honored postgame, Fostel was quick to turn around and credit the many players he’s had as both a boys and girls coach for helping him reach the milestone.

“I’ve never gotten to get a milestone at home, so this is special,” Fostel said. “I’ve gotten to 600 wins because I’ve been doing it a long time, but I’m at a really good place and I’ve had really good kids that have put in a lot of work.”

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Brandon McAuliffe

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Eula girls claim title with pair of top-10 wins

EULA — Since the Eula Holiday Classic expanded to 16 teams for both the boys and girls tournaments in 2005, neither of the Pirates programs had won the tournament title.

That changed on Saturday when the Lady Pirates, who entered the tournament ranked No. 3 in the state in Class 1A, knocked off 10th-ranked Hermleigh 50-41 in a spirited championship match at Mary Mosley Gymnasium.

The win capped off a day that saw Roscoe and Clyde fall in the third- and fifth-place games, respectively, while the Tolar Lady Rattlers won the consolation championship.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Abilene High girls hold off Stephenville in nailbiter

A deflected inbounds pass with just over two-tenths of a second left was all the Abilene High girls basketball team needed to end a season-long four-game losing streak as the Lady Eagles picked up a 44-42 win over Stephenville on Tuesday night at Eagle Gym.

Emily Jordan had a game-high 22 points for AHS to help the Lady Eagles even their record at 10-10 under first-year head coach Alfonzo Franklin.

After the game, Franklin said he was pleased with how his squad battled in a game that never saw either team lead by more than six points. Continue reading “GAME STORY: Abilene High girls hold off Stephenville in nailbiter” →

by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Forsan sophomore snags our final award of the 2024 calendar year

Our final Big Country Preps Player of the Week for 2024 earned it in several ways. 

Forsan sophomore Coy Evans, a multi-talented guard who plays way ahead of the learning curve, takes our accolade after helping the Buffaloes to a 3-1 record and a third-place finish in the Borden County Tournament over the Weekend. 

“He played very unselfish basketball,” Forsan coach Cory Richardson said. “He was getting other people involved and when we needed him to, he stepped up and scored.” 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wolfforth Frenship tops Wylie 49-32 to snap Lady Bulldogs win streak

Coming off a championship run at the Granbury tournament to improve to 13-2 on the year, the young Wylie girls basketball team ran into a difficult matchup Tuesday against Wolfforth Frenship.

The Lady Bulldogs struggled with the Lady Tigers’ length on both ends of the floor, allowing a combined 34 points — almost all of those in the paint — to the post tandem of Jada Jackson and Kedan Burch in a 49-32 loss at Bulldog Gym.

After a competitive first quarter, Wylie was outscored 33-18 the rest of the way, including an 8-0 Frenship run through the final period, to see a five-game winning streak snapped with the loss.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
Luft
by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Ira junior takes the spotlight with huge week

Ira junior Hudson Luft had a week that was nothing short of eye-popping — eye-popping enough to earn him our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the week ending Dec. 7. 

Luft takes it this time around with a performance that went as follows: 28 points, 10 boards vs. Spur, 18 points, eight steals vs. Eden, 46 points, four steals vs. Loraine, 21 points vs. Robert Lee, 30 points, six steals vs. Roscoe and 24 points vs Winters. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wall’s York takes second award of the year

With all the competition in the Big Country Preps coverage area, taking our Player of the Week award once is a big enough challenge. 

Wall quarterback Landon York has done it twice. 

York, who led Wall to a 56-21 win over Littlefield in the Region I-3A DII semifinals, takes his second award with a huge performance. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wall quarterback grabs the spotlight with huge performance

Only a year removed from running a ground-based flexbone option attack, the Wall Hawks have managed to put that approach in the distant past with a remarkable effort through the air in 2024. 

And who would have thought that making that difficult transition could have happened so quickly? 

Now, having committed to a full-blown spread attack under new coach Craig Slaughter, the Hawks have already accumulated nearly 3,000 passing yards, placing them near the top in that category among Big Country teams. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Girls Basketball Position Rankings: Posts

After focusing on the top guards and forwards the Big Country has to offer the past two nights, it’s time to shift our attention to the paint.

For the final installment in our three-part position rankings series, we list our top-10 post players for the 2024-25 season.

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these rankings, and make sure to come back next week when we’ll feature the top boys basketball players in the Big Country.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us
by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Girls Basketball Position Rankings: Forwards

After kicking off our girls basketball position rankings series with the guards on Wednesday, we now turn 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 with some others to watch for in 2024-25.

We hope you enjoy our list.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us