Highland Girls Advance to State Basketball Finals Again

Highland's Sierra Allen takes a shot in an earlier game against Roscoe this year.

After convincing victories over Roby and Garden City in the Region II 1A-II playoffs at ACU in Abilene last week, Highland’s Lady Hornets are once again headed to the Frank Erwin Center in Austin for the State Finals, hoping this year to do what they were unable to do last year—win State.

The Lady Hornets easily won their Regional Semifinal game against Roby Friday, jumping out to a 12-0 lead over a young Lady Lions’ team and then cruising to an easy 60-29 victory.  The halftime score was 42-11.  Sierra Allen led the Lady Hornets with 15 points, followed by Schyler Kimbrell with 10.

Then in the Regional Finals Saturday afternoon, Highland once again faced Garden City, the same team that knocked the Plowgirls out of the playoffs this year and the same school that Highland beat in the Regional Finals last year.  The game was closer and harder fought than the Highland-Roby game, but the Lady Hornets still managed to prevail, downing the Lady ‘Kats 51-37.   Highland jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter, but Garden City fought back and at halftime Highland led by six 23-17.  At the end of three it was 38-29.  Madison Moseley led the Lady Hornets with 17 points while Schyler Kimbrell had 12.

Highland (28-3) now moves on to the State Semifinals and will play Calvert (24-1) at 1:30pm on Friday.  The game is scheduled to be simulcast on the FoxSportsSouthwest.com website.

If they win that game, they will move on to the State Finals to play the winner of the Lipan (36-1) - Nazareth (34-2) game at 7:00pm on Saturday in a game televised on Fox Sports Southwest.  

And, if they win that one, they’ll be State Champs.

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PLOWBOYS, PLOWGIRLS SHOW POTENTIAL AT HAMLIN LONG SLEEVE RELAYS

Jesus Leanos at the State Meet in Austin last spring.

Track season has begun for the Plowboys and Plowgirls, and several of them scored points at last Friday’s Long Sleeve Relays in Hamlin, a meet pitting schools from all classes with one another, e.g., Big Spring (girls), Snyder, Sweetwater, Jim Ned, Wylie, Merkel, Clyde, and Post, as well as Baird, Rotan, Roscoe, Hamlin, Hawley, Anson, and others. 

Top performers for the Plowboys included the 4 x 400 meter relay team made up of Max Nemir, Kevin Lavalais, Dillon Freeman, and Shelton Toliver.  They placed second to Anson’s 3:41 with a time of 3:44, and were better than Post’s and Snyder’s teams, which came in third and fourth respectively.

Kevin Lavalais was fourth in the 400 meter dash with a time of 55.38 seconds, Javier Leanos was fifth in both the 1600 (5:27) and the 3200 (12:01) meter runs, Max Nemir was sixth in the 300 meter hurdles (45.4), and Braiden Moore was sixth in the 800 meter run (2:19.6).

For the Plowgirls, Lyndi Wilkinson was sixth in the 400 meter dash at 1:08.5, and Alejandra Solis was fifth in the girls’ 3200 meter run (14:02.6).

In JV action, the Plowboys’ JV 4 x 400 meter relay team—Isaiah Gonzales, Gage White, Brayden Beal, and Jacob Lomas—came in sixth with a time of 4:06.6

The Plowboys’ next meet will be the Roby Invitational in Roby this Friday.

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ROSCOE COLLEGIATE’S ROBOTICS TEAM OFF TO SAN ANTONIO

Plowtech, Roscoe Collegiate's Robotics Team

Roscoe Collegiate’s BEST Robotics team, Plowtech, will leave at noon today for San Antonio, where they will be competing at the FIRST / Robotics Alamo Regional Meet at the Convention Center through this Saturday, March 1. 

The team, which consists of some seventeen students, will be accompanied by their coaches, Dan Boren and John Cox.

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ABILENE MAN CHARGED IN DRUG BUST ON US 84 NEAR COTTONWOOD CREEK

A 32-year-old Abilene man was arrested and charged with possession, manufacture, and delivery of a controlled substance after being pulled over by a DPS Trooper for a traffic violation in the eastbound lane of US 84 west of Roscoe last Wednesday.

The trooper pulled over the man’s 2013 Nissan Altima at around 3:15pm, became suspicious, and called for a canine unit.  A car search turned up sixteen packages of methamphetamine valued at $36,000 along with two packages of cocaine.

The driver was arrested and booked into Nolan County Jail.  He is currently free after posting $75,000 bond.  His name has not been released because of his connection with an ongoing investigation in Lubbock.

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WEATHER REPORT

The weather was springlike all week up until yesterday when a cold front blew in.  Skies were clear, and highs on Thursday and Friday were 66°F and 69° respectively, and on Saturday 79°.  Lows were around 40°, skies were clear, and winds were moderate to strong.  On Sunday, winds were from the north, and the high was only 62° with a low that night of 41°, and Monday was similar with a high of 61° and a low of 37°.

Yesterday, however, was a reminder that it is still February after all.  Skies were overcast, and north winds blew with gusts up to 26mph, and the high was only 52°.  Last night, the north winds howled with gusts up to 33mph, the mercury fell, wind chills dropped to as low as 10°, and this morning the temperature was down to 25° with a strong north wind.

Today’s forecast is a high in the upper thirties with a low tonight in the upper twenties with a 30% chance of precipitation (although that seems overly optimistic to me).  Tomorrow will be warmer, climbing into the upper fifties and falling only into the forties tomorrow night.  Friday will have a high in the mid seventies with clear skies and southwest winds, and we should get another warm Saturday with sunny skies and a high of about 80°.  Weekend lows should be in the low to upper forties.  

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