“Damarrius Walker is a very talented young man,” Sweetwater coach Brian Hodnett said. “There isn’t much in track and field that he can’t do!
“We as a staff are excited to see how far he can go this year.”
So is the rest of the area as our Big Country Preps Player of the Week collects the award after scoring 44 points individually at the Hamlin Pied Piper Relays last week.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene Icebreaker Softball Tournament (241 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.
CISCO — After having swept through District 6-4A with an 8-0 mark, few who follow area basketball were expecting Glen Rose to struggle in its Region I-4A bi-district matchup with fourth-seeded Sweetwater on Monday night.
Nonetheless, the Tigers got all they wanted from a Mustang team that finished 5-5 in District 5. By night’s end, Glen Rose prevailed 49-40, but not before a boisterous crowd got its money’s worth at Ray Saunders Gym.
Sitting at 0-4 in District 5-4A play on Jan. 25, the Sweetwater boys basketball team found itself at a crossroads.
The Mustangs’ campaign, which began with a promising 17-6 run through nondistrict play, was headed toward a disappointing end without some necessary course correction.
Coach Evan Grantham’s squad needed to right the ship and quickly if it hoped to finish its season in the playoffs. Fortunately, it did just that.
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.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Sweetwater-Snyder basketball doubleheader (100 images)”
SNYDER — With both the Snyder and Sweetwater boys basketball teams riding waves of momentum into Friday’s District 5-4A showdown, fans packed the Snyder gymnasium expecting to see a thrilling encore to the first matchup between the teams, which saw the Tigers take a 40-38 win on a layup at the buzzer.
Unfortunately for those on the home side of the gym, the Mustangs had different plans.
Coming in on a two-game winning streak after an 0-4 district start, including a 61-60 victory over Levelland on Thursday, Sweetwater stifled Snyder for four full quarters, building a 23-point third-quarter lead on their way to a 40-27 win over their rival.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Jayton-Sweetwater boys basketball (50 images)”
SWEETWATER — The Jayton boys basketball team entered Friday’s game at Sweetwater ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 1A and sporting one of only a couple of undefeated records in the state.
After the Mustangs used a big third quarter fueled by the hot shooting hand of Stason Hernandez to get a 51-38 win at Mustang Gym, Jayton coach Ryan Bleiker felt a sense of relief.
The relief didn’t come from losing, but rather that his squad didn’t have to carry the burden of being undefeated anymore.
With the Wylie football team’s season on the line, facing a 40-30 deficit with less than six minutes remaining, the Bulldogs needed an epic comeback to rally past Colleyville Heritage on Friday at Grapevine’s Mustang-Panther Stadium.
Fortunately for coach Clay Martin’s squad, their senior quarterback has made a habit of leading those this year.
After throwing just his sixth interception on a fourth-down play midway through the final quarter, KJ Long was given new life when his defense forced and recovered a quick fumble. He made the most of it by leading a pair of quick scoring drives — the last to put the Bulldogs 43-40 with three seconds left on the clock — to fuel his team to a wild 50-40 area-round win and earn this week’s Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
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.
Snyder 28, Sweetwater 0 — The Tigers outgained the Mustangs 312-177 and and forced four turnovers to lock up a playoff spot with a four-touchdown win over the Mustangs.
Snyder (4-6, 2-2), which got three rushing scores from Esteban Cabrera (15-85 rushing), raced out to a 21-0 lead by halftime and completed the shutout in the second half, finishing with three sacks and four interceptions in the process.
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.
Wichita Falls Hirschi 53, Sweetwater 7 — The Huskies took care of business against the Mustangs, using a big second half to pull away for a blowout win.
Leading 21-7 at halftime, Hirschi (6-2, 2-1) outscored Sweetwater 32-0 over the final two periods to drop the Mustangs to 1-8 overall and 0-3 in league play.
Wichita Falls Hirschi 56, Snyder 14 — The injury-plagued Tigers were little match for the shorthanded Huskies, surrendering 244 yards rushing in a lopsided loss.
Behind a strong performance from running back Ken’Dron Worthy, who had 131 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries, Hirschi (5-2, 1-1) built a 35-7 halftime lead that it extended to 49-7 by the start of the fourth quarter. Javian Frazier also had a big night for the Huskies, rushing for 71 yards and three scores on seven attempts as HHS played without suspended stars A’Marion Peterson and Jamarion Carroll.
Snyder 35, Graham 21 — Easton Stewart passed for 289 yards and five touchdowns to fuel the Tigers to a two-touchdown win over a short-handed Steers squad.
Playing a Graham team that was without several key players due to suspensions resulting from last week’s brawl with Wichita Falls Hirschi, Snyder (3-5, 1-1) raced out to a 21-7 halftime lead and never let the Steers (4-4, 0-2) wrestle control away in the second half.
Midland Greenwood 35, Snyder 13 — The Rangers outgained the Tigers 455-276 in a comfortable win over the Tigers, outscoring SHS 13-0 in the second to put the game away.
Greenwood got a big game from quarterback Dylan Dominguez, who passed for 120 yards and one touchdown on just 3-of-4 passing, while rushing for 65 yards and three more scores. Running back Aaron Fikes (21-177, 1 TD rushing) and receiver Rance Purser (2-111, 1 TD receiving) also had strong performances as the Rangers (4-3 overall) improved to 1-0 in league play.
Lubbock Estacado 24, Sweetwater 7 — The Matadors stymied the Mustang offense, limiting SHS to a single touchdown in a three-score victory.
Sweetwater (1-5) opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run by Uriah Martinez, but Estacado responded with a seven-yard touchdown drive and a defensive score to take a 14-7 lead at half. The Matadors then outscored the Mustangs 10-0 in the second half, getting a touchdown run and a field goal to put the finishing touches on the win.