HAWLEY — After a wild first inning that saw Stamford third baseman Brayden Jimenez and Hawley left fielder Aiden Romo ejected for aggressive moves while running the bases, the Bulldogs found a way to claim a 3-1 win in a critical District 8-2A matchup on Tuesday night at Bearcat Field.
While those plays were the story early, it was Stamford’s Alek Hernandez who stole the show on the mound in a dominant complete game.
Mixing a variety of pitches, including an effective slurve, Hernandez scattered six hits and allowed just one run while walking two and getting six strikeouts as the Bulldogs took control of the race for the district championship.
After nursing a sore back which prevented him from jumping for a few weeks, Wall senior Briggs Jones made a return to the stage in a big way last week. 
While Stephenville’s Tristian Gentry is no stranger to this column, it’s usually via football that he lands in our Top 10 — especially after missing track last year due to injury.
Munday’s Caisen Lee isn’t the first freshman to whom we’ve given our Big Country Preps Player of the Week Award. But during the basketball playoffs, it is indeed a rare occurrence. 
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. 
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. 
Sunray 49, Hawley 40 — Sunray (12-0) edged Hawley (10-2) for the right to face Post (12-0) in the regional semifinals. 
Cisco 48, Olney 6 — The Loboes (6-4, 2-3) locked up the No. 4 seed with a lopsided win over Olney. 
STAMFORD — The District 4-2A DI title was decided on Friday, in soggy, slippery conditions at Bill Anderson Stadium. That didn’t prevent Stamford and Hawley from producing a physical, entertaining matchup in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week, with the Bulldogs walking away with a 38-22 win. 
The regular season ends Friday night (if you can believe it) and there’s no better way to close things up than with No. 5 Class 2A DI Hawley (9-0, 4-0) at No. 1 Stamford (9-0, 4-0). 
Corey Layne threw for 249 yards and five scores and rushed for 86 yards and two more scores to lead Anson to a huge win over Cisco. 
There’s a great deal of excitement brewing around the Tolar volleyball team heading into postseason play and with good reason. If the Lady Rattlers (28-9, 12-1 District 8-3A) manage to knock off Comanche on Tuesday, they will set a school record for wins in a season. 
Cory Layne Jr. threw for 284 yards and four scores to lead the Tigers to a lopsided win over the Cubs. 
CISCO — A dominating Hawley defensive effort, a sprinkling of Cisco mistakes and one key injury was enough to turn the Big Country Preps Game of the Week into a rout on Friday as the Bearcats handed CHS a 41-0 loss at Chesley Field. 
Stamford 43, Anson 0 — Christian Duran threw for 201 yards and two scores and Kason Vega rushed for 114 yards an another score to keep top-ranked Stamford (7-0, 2-0) unbeaten.
It isn’t often that a place-kicker nails down our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, but Comanche’s Alex Terrell has done exactly that with a pressure-packed performance in a 13-10 overtime win over Jim Ned in our Game of the Week last Friday. 
Stamford 41, Cisco 14 — Kaston Vega rushed for 83 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead Stamford to a win over Cisco in the district opener for both clubs. 
Overwhelming. If there were a one-word description for last week’s performance by six-foot Graham senior Lillian Noble, that would be it. 
Stamford 55, Henrietta 14 — Christian Duran rushed for 77 yards and three scores and threw for 96 yards and another TD to keep Stamford (5-0) unbeaten at the season’s midpoint.