Merkel’s Alyssa O’Malley is no stranger to our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week column.
If she’s not in the weekly mix during the basketball season as one of the area’s top players, she’s competing for our top spot during the spring in track and field.
Her latest exploit: How about four area championships in solo events, despite having a painful foot injury?
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking on the “Buy on SmugMug” link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hamlin-Haskell softball (58 images)”
HASKELL — Coming off a 10-0 district loss to defending state champion Stamford last week, the upstart Hamlin Lady Pipers faced a difficult situation on Tuesday with a road date against an established program at Haskell.
To the winner: a spot behind Stamford and an inside track for a high playoff seed. To the loser: A pressure-filled climb to make up lost ground.
Score one for the Lady Pipers (14-3, 2-1 District 7-2A), who notched a 13-6 win over Haskell — a result some in the area may find surprising, given Hamlin’s struggles in recent years.
It’s difficult to top back-to-back shutouts when searching for a Player of the Week, especially when one of the vanquished is a solid team from a higher classification.
That was the case last week for Colorado City softball pitcher Kaci Rivera, who held both Big Spring (7-0) and Borden County (6-0) to a goose egg, with 23 strikeouts in 14 innings of work.
Our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week allowed only five total hits in the two games, to go with two walks.
“Kaci has really started to show her dominance on the mound,” coach Krysten Marr said. “She is a fierce competitor on both sides of the ball and we are excited to see how she does going into district play.”
Here are the updated Big Country boys basketball playoff pairings, results through March 5:
Continue reading “Big Country boys basketball playoff pairings, results (March 5)”
Below are the final regular season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball in 2022.
This database has been continually updated for our subscribers throughout the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
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)”
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 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.
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.
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.
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: Hamlin-Abilene TLCA boys basketball (34 images)”
Roscoe 61, Hamlin 0 — The Plowboys completed an undefeated run through district play with a shutout win over the Pied Pipers, outgaining Hamlin 543-97 in a lopsided affair.
Roscoe (9-1, 4-0) led 52-0 by halftime before cruising in the second half their ninth consecutive victory.
Jax Watts and Antonio Aguayo both had huge games for the Plowboys connecting on four touchdown passes in the victory. Watts finished 17-of-18 passing for 436 yards and six scores, while Aguayo had nine catches for 288 yards and four TDs to go with 50 rushing yards on just three carries.
Roscoe 46, Lockney 6 — The Plowboys locked up their first district championship since 2015 with a dominating effort against what had been a hot Longhorns squad coming in.
Roscoe, which snapped a seven-game losing streak for Lockney (7-2, 2-1), led 38-0 by halftime and did all of its scoring before the Longhorns found the end zone late to avoid the shutout.
Quarterback Jax Watts had a big day throwing for the Plowboys (7-1, 3-0), hitting 17 of 19 throws for 242 yards and three touchdowns. Jake Gonzales added 161 yards and two rushing touchdowns on just 12 carries as RHS outgained Lockney 470-136.
It’s never a surprise to see Sweetwater senior quarterback Leo Holsey among the top performers in our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week column.
Since his freshman year, the four-year starter has topped our weekly list multiple times, including this week after helping Sweetwater to a 61-37 win over Pecos on Friday.
Holsey only threw 15 passes, but he connected on 12 of them for 364 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 75 yards and two more scores, giving him a direct hand in 439 yards and seven TDs.
Roscoe 58, Crosbyton 8 — The Plowboys continued their charge toward the district championship, blasting the Chiefs to improve to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in league play.
Roscoe, which shares the league lead with Lockney (7-1, 2-0), outgained Crosbyton (4-5, 1-2) by a 403-26 margin, building a 34-8 lead by halftime.
Jax Watts had a nice day throwing the ball, completing 13 of 19 passes for 191 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions, Throwing touchdown passes to Antonio Aguayo (5-93, 1 TD receiving), Ivan McCann (6-58, 2 TDs) and Seth Wilcox (2-40, 1 TD). Jake Gonzales led the Plowboy rushing attack, running for 105 yards and two scores.
LAST WEEK: 35-11, .760
SEASON TOTAL: 322-74, .813
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will send me south to historic Hufford Field in Coleman, where the Bluecats (6-0) will play host to perennial power Cisco (6-1) in what is essentially the District 4-2A Division I championship.
Opened way back in 1934, Hufford is one of the Big Country’s oldest and most unique venues and if you are looking for a game to go to on Friday, this one will not only offer some good football, but some nostalgia as well.
The immense rock wall surrounding the field was built in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration or WPA as the nation battled its way out of The Great Depression.
Hope to see you there.
Here are this week’s picks:
Crosbyton 20, Hamlin 0 — The Chiefs picked up a key district win over the Pied Pipers, shutting out coach Chris Evans’ squad to improve to 4-4 on the year and 1-1 in district play.
In a five-team league that features quality outfits from Roscoe (6-1, 1-0), Ralls (5-3, 1-1) and Lockney (6-1, 1-0), this victory likely earned Crosbyton the fourth and final playoff seed over Hamlin, which fell to 0-8 overall and 0-2 in league play.
The Pied Pipers trailed just 6-0 at halftime, but the Chiefs went up two scores with a touchdown in the third quarter and put the game on ice with one more TD in the final period.
LAST WEEK: 40-7, .851
SEASON TOTAL: 287-63, .820
Week 8? Are you kidding?
I ask the same question, or some variant of it virtually every year. We just finished with two-a-days. How can we possibly be this deep in the season so quickly?
Yet hear we are. A cold weather snap approaching. Thanksgiving right around the corner —as are the playoffs.
This week’s Game of the Week will see me traveling north to Ralls where the surprising Roscoe Plowboys, off to their best start in years, will be in a showdown for the district lead.
The column hit at 85 percent accuracy last week and is now up to 82 percent on the year. So we’ll see if we can keep the momentum going through the home stretch.
Let’s have a look at this week’s picks:
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games, in addition to the results of Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.
For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week and close Thursday morning.
Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
