Call it dominance. Call it revenge. Call it a transcendent performance from Summer Smith.
However you decide to label it, the Hermleigh softball team earned the right to be called Class 1A state champions Wednesday afternoon after overpowering D’Hanis for a 9-0 victory at the University of Texas’ McCombs Field.
It’s the Lady Cardinals’ first state softball championship, and it comes almost a year to the day since Hermleigh suffered a 6-2 defeat against the Cowgirls in last year’s title game.
Hermleigh is once again a victory away from its first state softball title.
The Lady Cardinals broke open a scoreless Class 1A state semifinal with a seven-run fifth inning, claiming a 9-3 victory over Dodd City on Tuesday afternoon at McCombs Field in Austin.
And once again, D’Hanis will be standing in Hermleigh’s way of a championship. The two teams will meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday in a rematch of last year’s 1A title game that the Cowgirls won 6-2.
Our final Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the 2022-23 school year could have gone any number of directions.
We finally settled on Goldthwaite junior Lainey Jernigan, who swept both the girls 2A hurdles titles at the state meet last week.
Jernigan won the 100 hurdles in 14.62 and the 300 hurdles in 44.12. And the good news for GHS fans is, she’s coming back to defend both crowns next year.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Gorman-Ira baseball region semifinal playoff (84 images)”
This time last year, the Gorman baseball team was licking its wounds from a pair of thorough drubbings at the hands of Ira in the Region I-1A quarterfinals.
What a difference a year makes.
After splitting a pair of games with the Bulldogs on Thursday at McMurry University, winning Game 1 by a 3-2 margin before falling 13-1 in Game 2, the Panthers dominated the rubber match Saturday at Abilene Christian High School, scoring an 11-1 run-rule win to earn a regional semifinals date with May next week.
The series victory — considered an upset by many — avenged last year’s sweep, which had been on the minds of the Gorman players and coaches ever since.
AUSTIN — The rain that hit most of Texas from Friday night into the wee hours of Saturday morning also affected the schedule at Mike A. Meyers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas for the final day of the UIL State Track & Field meet.
A delayed start to the day was met with no breaks between events, which caused a heavy day for area Class 1A participants to become even busier with less time for rest and recovery.
Entering the meet, the Big Country had 23 athletes that had posted qualifying marks that were in the top three of their respective events. Saturday’s action then netted the area 25 medals (2 gold, 15 silver, 8 bronze) and a state team championship for the second consecutive day as Roby claimed the girls title with 47 points.
Photo/video contributed by Gordon coach Mike Reed
The picture of Gordon’s Stryker Reed crossing the finish line in the 110-meter hurdles two weeks ago at regionals says it all.
As soon as Reed steps across the white stripe, he turns to his right to celebrate teammate Kaden Crowe also locking up his state berth with a second-place finish.
The two Longhorn freshmen are great friends away from the track and fierce competitors between the lines. Now they’ll get to race together one more time this season Saturday night at the Class 1A track meet in Austin.
SWEETWATER — This baseball season has been full of historic moments for the May Tigers.
It started with the first district championship in school history, and the Tigers added to that resume by sweeping Westbrook 12-1 and 15-5 in a Region I-1A quarterfinal Wednesday night at Sportsmans Park.
The best-of-three series win sends May to the regional semifinals for the first time in program history. There, the Tigers will be waiting for the winner of the Ira-Gorman series that begins on Friday at McMurry University.
Coming off a bi-district sweep of Plainview in which Reese Farrar and Rylee Moore both pitched five-inning one-hitters, it was going to be difficult for Wylie’s co-aces to repeat that performance against El Paso Parkland in the area round.
And yet, they did.
Farrar pitched her second one-hitter of the playoffs while Moore tossed a five-inning no-hitter to fuel the Lady Bulldogs past the Lady Matadors 20-1 and 10-0 and into the Region I-4A quarterfinals, where WHS (30-6) will face off with 36-1 El Paso Hanks this week.
In the process, coach Heather Collier’s dynamic pitching duo claimed our penultimate Big Country Preps Player of the Year award of the 2022-23 school year.
It’s difficult to trump a no-hitter, though Snyder’s Ava Aviles came close last week.
Aviles, who threw back-to-back two-hitters for Snyder softball, is our first runner-up to her classmate, Player of the Week Ty Davis and his first career no-hitter.
Davis earned a 13-2 five-inning win over Levelland last week, holding LHS hitless in the mercy rule win, finishing with five strikeouts.
“Ty has continued to improve on the mound and has given us some excellent innings this season, none bigger than last Tuesday with his no-hit performance,” Snyder coach Shane Stewart said. ” I am proud of him and looking forward to watching him mature as a pitcher and a young man.”
It’s not often that a Big Country baseball team charts two no-hitters in the same week. But when two pitchers with the same last name are charting the no-nos it’s about as common as the planets aligning.
That was the case last week with the Albany Lions, who in sweeping Haskell (15-0) and Stamford (11-1) saw Cole and Tyler Chapman (non-siblings) post back-to-back no-hitters.
Cole, a senior, blanked Haskell in four innings of work in a mercy rule win, fanning six. Three days later, Tyler got into the act in a five-inning run-rule win with 12 Ks.
They now share our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award — another rarity.
“We were very proud of our pitchers last week,” Albany coach David Fairchild said. “Both pitchers were in control and in command of their pitches.”
Bangs southpaw Abby Wolf has thrown so many no-hitters this year, that the subject barely raises an eyebrow. But in consecutive district wins over Coleman and Christoval last week, the sophomore managed to create a stir.
Missing a perfect game by one hit batsman in a 7-0 win over Coleman, she followed that with three perfect innings in a 15-0 route of Christoval.
In other words, Wolf tossed nine complete hitless innings last week, along the way walking none and fanning 13.
Due to UIL regulations, photo sales from state championship events are not permitted.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Jayton-Graford boys basketball state championship (104 images)”
SAN ANTONIO — Entering the Class 1A state championship game, neither top-ranked Graford or No. 2 Jayton had been beaten by a team in their own classification.
At the end of four quarters Saturday morning at the Alamodome, that was still true.
But after the teams had traded punches on their way to a stalemate in regulation, the Jackrabbits outscored the Jaybirds 8-3 in overtime to hold off Jayton for a 49-44 win and claim their second consecutive state title.
Ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, for most of the season, the Graford and Jayton boys basketball teams surprised no one by reaching the Class 1A state championship game.
But in pulling away to double-digit semifinal wins on Thursday, the Jackrabbits and Jaybirds set up a title game matchup that should prove quite a treat for small-school basketball fans.
Graford, the defending Class 1A state champion, brings with it to Saturday’s 8:30 a.m. clash a 36-3 record that features losses only to ranked larger school squads from North Hopkins, Lipan and Holliday. Jayton, at 37-2, has lost only to larger school playoff teams from Sweetwater and Reagan County.
Combined, the two have rolled through every Class 1A opponent put in front of them, adding just a little more intrigue to a matchup Jayton coach Ryan Bleiker called “a really exciting game.”
SAN ANTONIO — The Jayton Jaybirds were concerned about navigating their way through a trapping defense from Tilden McMullen County in Thursday’s Class 1A state semifinal. And as it turned out, their worries were legitimate after being forced into 14 giveways.
Jayton, however, had an answer — limiting the Cowboys to only 29.2 percent shooting (14-48) to negate the extra possessions in a 46-36 win at the Alamodome.
Nathaniel Williams scored a game-high 26 points and Sean Stanaland added eight more to lead Jayton (38-2), which will face top-ranked defending state champion Graford in the title game at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
SAN ANTONIO — The Benjamin Mustangs had the environment they wanted while making their debut at the UIL Boys Basketball State Championships against Graford on Thursday — an up-tempo, guard-oriented game with the ball often changing hands near the midcourt area.
There was just one problem: The Mustangs fell victim to too many of their own unforced errors to take advantage of the situation, falling to the defending state champions in a 66-42 state semifinal loss.
Christian Shea scored 18 points, Brad Lemley added 17 and Colin Roberts had 14 to lead Graford (34-3), which advances to face Jayton (38-2) for the Class 1A state title at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. Leading 41-35 heading into the final quarter, the Jackrabbits blew open what had been a competitive game with a 25-7 tally through the final eight minutes.
Benjamin closed its season at 21-2, led by a game-high 36 points from Grayson Rigdon.
SAN ANTONIO — In terms of style and experience, you’d be hard-pressed to find a wider variance than the Big Country’s two representatives — Jayton and Benjamin — at this year’s UIL Boys Basketball State Championships.
But while their approaches are radically different, the success rate of each is nearly the same.
For Jayton, the big stage is nothing new. The defensive-minded, balanced-scoring Jaybirds, who qualified for their eighth regional in nine seasons this year, are now making their third appearance at state since 2019. For coach Ryan Bleiker, this is his fourth trip to a state semi, having also guided Rule there in 2008.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Region I-1A Tournament, Jayton vs. Lorenzo and Happy (78 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Benjamin-Garden City basketball region championship (64 images)”
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
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LEVELLAND — With Lorenzo breathing down their necks for 32 straight minutes, the Jayton Jaybirds turned to an old friend to punch their ticket to San Antonio in Saturday’s Region I-1A championship game.
Defense, both timely and consistent, remained in the Jaybirds’ corner, lifting them to a 56-47 win at South Plains College.
Nathaniel Williams scored a game-high 26 points while Sean Stanaland and Griff Reel added seven apiece to lead Jayton (37-2) which will face Tilden McMullen County (37-2) at 10 a.m. on Thursday in the Class 1A State Semifinals in the Alamodome. The winner will face either Benjamin (21-1) or Graford (35-3) in Saturday’s state championship game at 8:30 a.m.
MANSFIELD — Huckabay boys basketball coach Dustin Hargrove knew coming into the Indians’ Region III-1A championship game with No. 1-ranked Graford on Saturday that his team would have a looming mountain to climb to get to the state tournament.
He was right.
And, just as had been the case the previous evening, when the Jackrabbits’ 6-foot-8 center Colin Roberts stood taller than anyone in the tournament semifinals — both literally and figuratively — the celebrated senior proved too much for yet another opponent to overcome.
Saturdays’ numbers told a compelling story of why Graford, the defending Class 1A state champion, is 35-3 and still playing and why Huckabay’s storybook 30-7 season came to an end on the court at Mansfield High School:
The Jackrabbits won the game, 43-34, and Roberts’ individual effort was, without question, the major reason why. He scored 24 points, grabbed nine rebounds and consistently plugged up the middle of the Graford zone defense, which rendered the game Indians’ offense frustrated possession after possession.
SNYDER — For the first time in school history, the Benjamin Mustangs are headed to the Class 1A boys basketball state tournament after they beat Garden City 59-52 on Saturday afternoon at The Coliseum.
Benjamin, ranked No. 19 in the state, followed up Friday’s upset of No. 4 Irion County by taking down the seventh-ranked Bearkats in the Region II-1A final.
Grayson Rigdon, who was named tournament MVP, scored 44 points in the win.
SAN ANTONIO — For two quarters, the Huckabay girls basketball team had the Nazareth Swiftettes right where it wanted them in the Class 1A state championship game Saturday morning at the Alamodome. But leading 14-9 at halftime, the Lady Indians went cold in the final 16 minutes of a tough 30-20 loss.
Nazareth used a 13-3 run through the third quarter to turn the halftime deficit into a five-point lead and held the Lady Indians to just three more points in the fourth to claim its 25th state title in its 31st state tournament appearance.
The loss ended Huckabay’s season at 40-3, denying the Lady Indians’ their first state championship. It was the second year in a row for coach Barry Gill’s squad to fall to the eventual state champion in San Antonio, after HHS lost to Ackerly Sands in the 2022 state semifinals.
SNYDER — It was just one of those days for the Munday Moguls on Friday in their Region II-1A semifinal matchup with No. 7 Garden City.
Making its first region tournament appearances since 2013, MHS could do no right in the first half and the Bearkats could do no wrong.
After allowing the game’s first 15 points and falling behind 38-8 by halftime, the 20th-ranked Moguls looked much more like themselves in the second half. But the damage was long since done by that point in a 54-34 loss.
SNYDER — Playing the defending Region II-1A champion and fourth-ranked Irion County Hornets in the opening game of their first regional tournament in program history, it was the No. 19 Benjamin Mustangs who looked like state tournament veterans Friday at The Coliseum.
BHS raced out to a quick 10-0 lead and answered every Irion County run from there to claim a 67-52 wire-to-wire victory over a Hornets squad that was widely considered to be the region favorite again this year.
The win, which might have come as a surprise to some, was no such thing for the Mustangs, who will play for their first state berth at 2 p.m. Saturday against No. 7 Garden City, which defeated Munday 54-34 in Friday’s other semifinal matchup.
LEVELLAND — Few expected unranked Happy to reach a regional tournament and perhaps even fewer gave the Cowboys a shot at topping second-ranked Jayton in Friday’s Region I-1A semifinal at South Plains College.
Whatever pregame doubts may have existed, Jayton quickly put a stop to all of them by gaining a permanent upperhand in the opening quarter on the way to a 61-42 win.
Ben Blankenship scored 14 points and Sean Stanaland added 12 more to lead Jayton (36-2), which will face No. 15 Lorenzo (26-10) for the regional title on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
MANSFIELD — Should the Graford Jackrabbits be fortunate enough to hang a second consecutive Class 1A state championship banner on the gymnasium wall this winter, they should probably assign the task to Colin Roberts. Friday night, he certainly stood tall enough to manage that feat and many others.
Despite missing a good stretch of the second half in foul trouble, the Jackrabbits’ 6-foot-8 talented center scored 20 points and collected 12 rebounds to lead Graford to a 61-37 win over upstart Gordon. As a result, the consensus “team to beat” heading into the Region III-1A semifinals, is likely the team to beat in Saturday’s final, when Graford meets Huckabay at 2 p.m. at Mansfield High School after the Indians defeated Dodd City 56-44 in overtime.
Gordon started four freshmen against the Jackrabbits, a collective David vs. the giant that is Roberts. And, while the Longhorns battled gamely for a quarter, Graford’s big man, along with ample assistance from teammate Brad Lemley (17 points and 12 rebounds, as well), proved too much for the region’s Cinderella. Graford outscored Gordon 49-25 over the final three periods to take another step at earning the big trophy that is awarded the state’s best team at the end of the season.
MANSFIELD — Payton Gill scored 18 points — 15 from outside the 3-point arc — and Huckabay shook off a slow start to outlast Dodd City 56-44 in overtime in the Region III-1A semifinals Friday night.
The Indians outscored the Hornets 14-2 in the extra session to earn a spot in the regional finals at 2 p.m. Saturday against powerful Graford, which blitzed Gordon 61-37 in the other semifinal game at Mansfield High School.
The triumph wasn’t as one-sided as the final score might indicate, though.
After four months of intense and entertaining action, the high school boys basketball season is nearing its end. But for six teams in the Big Country Preps coverage area, the most important games remain in front of them.
With Brock in the Region I-3A tournament and five area Class 1A teams — Jayton, Benjamin, Munday, Huckabay and Gordon — spread across three regions, there’s still plenty of meaningful basketball to be played.
And with two more wins, any of those six could be headed to San Antonio next week for the state tournament.
SAN ANTONIO — After returning all but two players from a squad that ended its season the Class 1A state semifinals last year, the top-ranked Huckabay girls basketball team entered that same round Thursday hoping to earn one more game in the Alamo City than it did a year ago.
Fueled by a 23-point effort by senior Rion Baccus, the Lady Indians accomplished exactly that with a workmanlike 47-35 win over Irion County.
Trailing 10-7 after a quarter, Huckabay outscored the the Lady Hornets in each of the final three periods to pull away for a 12-point win that pushed the Lady Indians into the Class 1A title game, where they’ll face off with state power Nazareth at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
As Huckabay’s excursion to San Antonio for the girls basketball state tournament began to take shape earlier this week, Tuesday was, per coach Barry Gill, a “fun, stress-free” day.
The Lady Indians saw a good portion of the historic Texas city, including the picturesque San Antonio River Walk, on which the team snaked around town that evening by boat, reveling in the eclectic mix of light, sound and savory aromas that marked every turn of the rudder. Among many reasons the Alamo City has evolved into one of Texas’ more popular destinations, the river ranks near the top.
So, coincidentally, does the Huckabay girls program.
Gill has been at the school two years. The conclusion of both has included a trip to the Alamodome, where the state’s four best teams in each classification vie to determine which one hoists the championship trophy.
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The first time Adrian Daniel coached in regional quarterfinal game at his alma mater, McMurry University, the Munday boys basketball team saw a 32-25 third-quarter lead evaporate in a 53-39 loss to Jayton in 2019.
Facing a similar situation Tuesday on the same floor, the Moguls got the job done against Aspermont.
Leading 25-13 after a half and, as fate would have it, 32-25 after three quarters, Daniel’s squad saw a 12-point advantage with 6:21 remaining trimmed to three with 45 seconds to play. But Munday made the stops and free throws it needed down the stretch to escape with a 50-46 win and advance to the regional tournament for the first time since 2013.
It’s always a good sign early in the season when you’re getting good pitching against quality competition. And in the case of the Big Spring Lady Steers, the numbers in the circle thus far are downright encouraging.
Courtesy of senior Alexcia Munoz, the Lady Steers are off to a 5-1 start, including a 4-0 mark from Munoz in last week’s Abilene Icebreaker tournament.
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SNYDER — After scoring the first nine points of the game, the 12th-ranked Hermleigh Lady Cardinals led Irion County for 28½ of the 32 minutes in their Region II-2A semifinal Friday at The Coliseum. But a late scoring drought for the Lady Cardinals opened a window, and the Lady Hornets flew through for a dramatic 36-33 win.
Hermleigh, which led 15-5 after a quarter and still held an eight-point lead (30-22) as late as the 4:15 mark of the third period, was outscored 14-3 over the final 12 minutes, resulting in a heartbreaking loss for coach Tommy Cross’ squad.
The Lady Cardinals’ only points of the fourth quarter came on a layup by senior Juli Munoz that gave HHS a 33-30 lead with about 6:45 to play in the game. But Irion County scored the final six points, escaping with the come-from-behind victory when Syreah Callaway’s game-tying 3-point attempt rimmed out just before the final buzzer.
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SNYDER — The Highland girls basketball team rebounded from a slow start and bevy of missed opportunities in the first three quarters Friday to force overtime in its Region II-1A semifinal matchup with sixth-ranked Veribest. But the Lady Hornets couldn’t quite close the deal in a 36-31 loss to the Lady Falcons at The Coliseum.
HHS, which trailed 10-4 at the end the first quarter, missed a load of layups and went just 1 of 6 from the free-throw line in the first half, twice missing the front end of one-and-one situations. Despite this, the Lady Hornets found themselves up on two occasions in the fourth quarter — the last at 27-25 with just over a minute remaining.
But Veribest, which led for the vast majority of contest, evened things up with a pair of late free throws and outscored Highland 9-4 in overtime to end the Lady Hornets’ season at 30-8.
ANSON — The Cross Plains Buffaloes started the postseason off with an upset win over Hermleigh on Tuesday night.
There would be no repeat of that magic in the area round with the Buffaloes giving up the first 14 points of the game on their way to a 53-35 loss to Aspermont at Tiger Gymnasium on Friday night.
The slow start was something that coach Dade Cosby’s team wasn’t able to overcome, but they never stopped fighting.
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Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Third-seeded Rising Star gave the District 13-1A runner-up Westbrook Wildcats all they wanted in Monday’s Region II-1A bi-district matchup at McMurry’s Kimbrell Arena, but ultimately, coach Homer Matlock’s team was just a little too much in a 49-40 victory.
Leading by one point after a quarter and two points at halftime, WHS used a 14-8 run through the third quarter to create the separation it needed to pull away for the win and advance to the area round, where it will face the winner between Knox City and Crowell later this week.
Junior guard Parker Matlock fueled the effort for Westbrook, tying a game high with 18 points, while Grayson Jeffrey hit three of the Wildcats’ seven 3-pointers to overcome a game effort by Rising Star.
Playing without seniors Brenson Halford and Tyler Stewart, who were seriously injured in a car accident near Lubbock on Feb. 11, the Hermleigh boys basketball team struggled to contain the Cross Plains duo of Noah Moses and Ryan Reed on Monday night in a 39-34 bi-district upset at McMurry University’s Kimbrell Arena.
Moses and Reed scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, to lead the fourth-seeded Buffaloes, who used a 10-8 run through the fourth quarter to protect a lead that had been trimmed to three points (29-26) heading into the final eight minutes.
In a game that was tight throughout, Cross Plains held the District 14-1A champion Cardinals under 10 points in three of the four quarters to advance to the Region II-1A area round, where it will face off with the winner of Aspermont and Electra later this week.
WINTERS — After a shocking bi-district loss ended the football season for May, the Tigers found themselves in a similar situation on Monday night at Blizzard Gym to start the postseason in basketball against Ira.
The fourth-place Bulldogs had May on the ropes in the third quarter, leading 42-39 with momentum, but the Tigers responded like a hungry squad.
May reeled off 12 consecutive points, spanning the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, and used the run to propel itself to a 68-50 win that was far less comfortable than the final score indicated.
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Continue reading “Roby-Highland girls basketball area round playoff (46 images)”