With our recent bad weather pushing an extra game into last week for the Coleman Bluecats, it gave senior guard Braxton Smith three chances to pile up big numbers.
And he did exactly that.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week opened with 19 points and nine steals in a win over Bangs last Monday. He followed that with 13 points, eight assists and 10 steals in a near-triple double in a win over Winters.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stamford-Cisco girls basketball tiebreaker (64 images)”
CLYDE — Having split their two regular season meetings and ending in a first-place tie, it was time for the Cisco and Stamford girls basketball teams to settle the issue on Friday in a District 10-2A tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed.
By night’s end, it was Stamford leaving the Clyde gym with the league title, behind a 28-point effort from Laylonna Applin in a 58-52 win. Deavine Hoadley tossed in 11 points and Lainee Lefevere added 10 more to help the Lady Bulldogs improve to 29-4 overall.
Cisco (25-7) was led by Brooklyn Hurtado with 14 points and Brayley Brunson with 10. The Lady Loboes were hurt by 15 Stamford steals and more than 20 turnovers, yet still managed to give themselves a shot at winning the game in the fourth quarter.
Eula’s Clayton Gray, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 4, earned the accolade on two fronts. Not only did he post big numbers in consecutive wins over Moran and Rising Star, but he also reached an impressive milestone in the process.
To begin with, the junior guard chalked up 29 points, six boards and four blocks in a win over Moran. He also tallied 43 points, eight boards and four steals in a win over Rising Star.
If you haven’t heard of Cisco’s Gavin Landenberger yet, that’s understandable. He and his talented brother, Aiden, were move-ins from Mississippi late last year and weren’t eligible to play varsity ball at CHS.
Now freely able to play, the siblings are making up for lost time and Gavin is currently making enough noise to draw attention from the entire area.
Named as our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, the senior guard absolutely went off last week, beginning with a 28-point night in a win over Albany. He followed that three days later with 32 points in a come-from-behind win at Stamford. The latter saw him hit four straight-3-pointers in an 18-point third quarter.
Graduation hit Stamford’s girls basketball team pretty hard after a historical run to the Class 2A state championship game.
But coach Joe Crabb knew that with point guard Laylonna Applin still suiting up, the Lady Bulldogs would always have a chance.
Applin has continued being the heart and soul of Stamford’s team her senior season, averaging 19.7 points, four assists and 6.2 steals per game.
A limited number of minutes, if the numbers compute correctly, can figure strongly in our selection of Player of the Week.
That is the case with this week’s winner, Gavin Landenberger of Cisco, who opened the week with 29 points, five boards, three assists, and five steals in a win over Haskell last Tuesday.
However, what sealed the deal for the senior guard, was a 20-point, four-rebound, five-assist and five-steal game he charted in a win over Hamlin — numbers he posted in only 18 minutes of playing time.
Cisco 55, Reagan County 0 — The Loboes dominated Reagan County, rolling up 555 yards in total offense, of which 378 were on the round.
Hunter Long and Trent Huston combined for 263 yards rushing and four touchdowns to lead Cisco (9-2), which led 42-0 at the break.
BROWNWOOD — Not until the game’s final minute did the Stamford Bulldogs have the lead in Friday’s 2A DI bi-district game with Forsan at Gordon Wood Stadium.
It lasted for a grand total of 16 seconds.
Trailing 14-13 with under a minute to play, Forsan got the last word with a 63-yard touchdown strike from Cade Wallis to Brooks Wright and a subsequent two-point conversion run by Kevin Kilgora with 0:37 showing on the clock. The Buffaloes (9-2) then held on for a 21-14 win, advancing to face New Deal next Thursday in the area round.
Continue reading “GAME STORY: Forsan survives wild finish to eliminate Stamford, 21-14”
After highlighting the Big Country’s top guards and forwards the past two nights, we now take a look at the area’s best big men.
For the final installment in our three-part boys basketball position rankings series, we rank the Big Country’s top 10 post players.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through our rankings, and make sure to check back for all our boys and girls basketball coverage this season.
After kicking off our boys basketball position rankings series on Tuesday with the guards, we now shift 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 for 2022-23.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With boys basketball season beginning this week, it’s time to shine a spotlight on some of the players you’ll be reading about throughout the 2022-23 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions on the area boys basketball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this winter.
We hope you enjoy reading through our list.
Stamford 45, Colorado City 0 — The SHS defense limited Colorado City to only 133 yards in total offense as the Bulldogs solidified their hold on the No. 3 seed.
Stamford finished with 398 yards in total offense, including 281 yards on the ground through seven different ball carriers.
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 2022-23 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.
After kicking off our girls basketball position rankings series with the guards on Tuesday, 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 2022-23.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With the girls basketball season upon us, it’s time to take a look at the local and area players who will be making the biggest impact for their teams during the 2022-23 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions, we’ll be focusing on the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this season.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through our selections.
Cisco 41, Anson 6 — Trent Huston rushed for 187 yards and five scores on only 16 carries as Cisco topped Anson. 
Leading 21-6 at the break, the Loboes blew the game open with three unanswered touchdowns in the second half.
With some people projecting Zephr as an underdog in last week’s game with Sidney, very few people were expecting ZHS to provide us with the Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
Nonetheless, here we are.
Zephyr senior running back Jayden Millican takes the spotlight after rushing for 285 yards and six touchdowns in a 68-20 win over over Sidney. But he wasn’t finished there.
Colorado City 38, Winters 8 — Mayson Monroe threw for 181 yards and two scores and Aedan Brisen rushed for 161 yards and another TD to lift C-City (1-7, 1-3) to its first win
of the year, snapping a 10-game losing streak that dated by to last season.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cisco-Stamford football (33 images)”
After an 0-1 start in district play with a loss at Wall, the Clyde Lady Bulldogs were facing some pressure last week in tough league matchups against Jim Ned and San Angelo TLCA.
Clyde responded with a pair of wins and our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, junior setter Abby Carr was at the forefront of that effort.
Charting 38 assists, 19 kills and four aces, Carr was not only setting up the offense, but when rotating to the front line, she also did a pretty fair job of finishing it.
Stamford 22, Olney 13 — Christian Duran rushed for 92 yards and one TD and Hayden Henager
rushed for 66 yards and another touchdown unbeaten Stamford (6-0) handed Olney (4-1) its first loss
of the season.
The Cubs had a narrow 287-266 edge in yardage, but Stamford forced five turnovers to earn the win on the road.