Highland Girls Win Regional, Advance to State

Sierra Allen makes a jumper against the Plowgirls in a game played earlier this year. She led Highland in scoring with 22 points in the regional finals against Garden City.

After winning three playoff games last week, the Highland Lady Hornets (31-4) are bound for Austin and the Class 1A-II state basketball tournament.

They play in a semifinal game at the Frank Erwin Center on Friday at 1:30pm against top-ranked Saltillo (31-5).  The winner of that game will face the winner of the Whitharral-Leakey game at 7:00pm on Saturday for the state championship. 

To get to the state tournament, the Lady Hornets, who were unranked despite coasting through district play, had to defeat three ranked teams.  They took care of No. 16 Water Valley 40-32 in Ballinger on Tuesday, No. 18 Baird 55-37 in Abilene on Friday, and No. 13 Garden City 47-29, also in Abilene, on Saturday.  In defeating Garden City, they won the Region II-A championship and also avenged an earlier season loss to the Lady Kats. 

The game against Garden City was close at the outset.  The score was even at 11-11 before Highland  scored six straight points to end the first quarter ahead 17-11.  Then in the second quarter, Highland’s defense took over, holding the Lady Kats to just one point for the entire quarter.  The halftime score was 25-12.

Highland scored the first five points of the second half to go up 30-12 and by the end of the quarter led 34-22.  They then outscored Garden City 13-7 in the final quarter to win the game by 18 points, 47-29.

Sierra Allen led the Lady Hornets in scoring with 22 points while Madison Moseley had 14, Sydny Helbert 6, Beth Richburg 4, Stephanie Ashford 2, and Hannah Allen 1.    

This is the Lady Hornets' first trip to the state tournament.  We wish them the best of luck and hope they can win it all! 

Note: The game will be broadcast live on the web at Fox Sports Southwest.  For details, click here.

--o--

BODY FOUND ON I-20 IN JULY IDENTIFIED

The results of DNA testing are in from the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas.  They indicate that the body found in July in the median strip of I-20 near the TA Truck Stop outside Sweetwater was that of Gabriel Salinas, 64.

When alive, Salinas was known to many people in Roscoe and often referred to as “Santa Claus” because of his white beard.  He could often be seen outside of Stripes or the Shell station next to I-20.  Police had suspected it might be him because his pickup was found in a nearby parking lot, but they couldn’t be sure because his body wasn’t found for a long time and was badly decomposed. 

Salinas was born on March 29, 1948, and his last known permanent address was in Gruver, Texas, although he worked and lived in different places.  The positive identification was possible after police obtained a DNA sample that matched his from his brother in Hereford.    

The cause of Salinas’ death could not be determined because of the state of the remains, but with the positive identification of the body, the case is now closed.

--o--

PLOWBOTS OFF TO HUB CITY REGIONAL COMPETITION AT TEXAS TECH

Plowbots prepare for the Hub City Meet.

The Plowbots, Roscoe Collegiate High’s robotics team, leave today for the regional meet in Lubbock and will be involved through Saturday.  They won honors at the meet last year and hope to do the same again this year.

They will be competing against 48 other teams.  Most are from Texas but not all.  There are also teams from Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and from three different states in Mexico.

--o--

TRACK SEASON UNDERWAY, PLOWBOYS AT HAMLIN MEET

Plowboys and Plowgirls participated in the Long Sleeve Relays in Hamlin last week.  They competed against eighteen other high school teams of various classes, including Odessa, Abilene Wylie, Snyder, Sweetwater, and Clyde. 

Olivia Saddler came in fourth in the girls’ 100 meter hurdles with a time of 17.66 seconds.

Jesus Leanos was fifth in the boys' 3200 meter run (11:17) and sixth in the 1600 meters (5:14), while Eduardo Gallegos was sixth in the 400 meter dash (56.98).

The next meet is at Rotan on Saturday.

--o--

WEATHER REPORT

The old adage, “If you don’t like the weather around here, wait until tomorrow,” has never been truer than in the past three days.  Sunday was sunny and warm with an afternoon temperature of 73°F.  

Then a cold front blew in that night, and Monday was cold, overcast, and grey with high winds and an afternoon high of 36°.  Gusts of northwest wind went up to 45mph and blew some of the shingles off the roof of my house, and sharp breezes carried small bits of sleet that pelted my face.  The wind chill was below 25° all afternoon and got as low as 21°.  It seemed that winter had returned with a vengeance and we were in for an extended cold spell.

But by yesterday morning the clouds and high winds were gone, the sun was out, and the afternoon temperature of 61° seemed even warmer because there was hardly any breeze.

All that crazy, cold weather came and went in a day.  The storm brought with it a chance of precipitation, and areas around Roscoe got snow, but here there was nothing.

The forecast is for sunny skies with highs in the fifties and lows in the thirties through Saturday.  Sunday and the days following should be a bit warmer with highs in the sixties and seventies.  There is no rain in the forecast.

--o--