Second Time Around

Been very interesting basketball season so far in Howard County. Looks good for Big Spring. The Steers and Lady Steers will more than likely make it to the playoffs. The Coahoma girls are a shoo-in and the boys have a better than average chance of advancing. I like the chances of the Howard College men, although they sit on the bubble right now.

Howard men and the Steers remind me of each other. both are undersized and both play tenacious defense. They both work the ball around and find the open teammate. They both have that "little big man" in the middle that thinks he's 7-foot tall. Bonny Undoh, 6-foot-5, sophomore from Amarillo Palo Duro, is the Howard enforcer. He's strong and aggressive and has a high field goal percentage, that's because he take's high percentage shots. Don't think you're going to get an easy dunk because he will challenge you and block your shot.

Isiah Holloway is the "little big man" in the Big Spring middle. This guy stands 5-11 at the most and he's a bona fide linebacker on the football field, going to play at the next level next year. Underneath he plays like a linebacker - aggressive and very vocal. He's wilted down many a bigger man. Also takes high percentage shots and makes them.

The Lady Steers are getting better every year under the tutelage of Eric Tuttle. Not the most talented group you want to see but they leave it all out there on the court and are fairly sound on the fundamentals. District 3-4A foe Levelland showed Big Spring what it's like to play against the best and what they have to do to get better.

New coach Joe Mireles has the District 5-3A Coahoma Bulldogettes playing well. The switch to coaching girls basketball seems to be working for Mireles. Coahoma is headed to its second 20-win season in the last three years, sitting atop of the district standings.

These young ladies play well together. They press the opponent, and they get lots of fast break points off their turnovers. Sophomore Isabella Cox runs the offense well and seniors Madison Rogers and Katelyn Rogers give a young team stability. Junior Shae Lang and freshman Baylor Wright are strong inside-out players and young post players Cayhill Lewis (Soph.) and Hannah Wells (Fresh.) are growing up fast.

The Coahoma boys appear to be in good shape. They are currently in third place in the district. Reagan County and Crane are the two front runners. The Bulldogs must defeat Stanton, Odessa Compass and Sonora a second time.

The Forsan Lady Buffaloes are on the bubble in the District 8-2A race. The "must win" games they need are against Colorado City and Roscoe. Forsan lost to Colorado City by four and Roscoe by seven in their first meetings.

The Forsan Buffaloes are also in the district chase. Coach Cory Richardson has a group of 5-10, 5-11 players that applies full court pressure. What they lack in height they make up in hustle.

ROUGH DAY FOR TANNEHILL

Sad to see the Tennessee Titans' season come to such an abrupt end. You don't see very many teams sack the opposing quarterback nine times and lose. It wasn't one of Tannehill's better days. Ironically, he started the game with an interception and ended the game with an interception. It's the third interception that puzzled me. The Titans took the opening second half drive and marched from their own 25-yard line to get a first and goal at the Cincinnati 7. The Titans ran every time with Derrick Henry and D'onta Foreman ripping off large chunks of yardage.

So what does Tennessee do on first and goal from the seven? Attempt a pass, a pass that was deflected at the line of scrimmage causing an interception. My question is why? You've been running the ball down their throats, why go to a passing play? If it ain't broke don't fix it.

This was a case of an offensive coordinator thinking too much. SWIMMERS END SEASON

The Big Spring High School swim team's season came to an end at the district meet last week in Lubbock. Sophomore Arley Cruz was Big Spring's top individual finisher, taking fifth place in the 100 meters backstroke in a time of 1:15.09.

Andrews swim teams won the meet. The Big Spring boys and girls finished in seventh place. Nice try for coach Randall Shaw and his teams.

BS LIFTERS WIN MEET

Big Spring Steers and Lady Steers won the team championship at the Coahoma Powerlifting meet last week.

In the boys division Karl Karabanoff won the 181-pound weight division. Auturo Ortiz (198) won his weight class.

On the girls side, Gisselee Holguin (132), Kialyn Roberts (148), Adali Hernandez (165) and Kogen Johnson (198) won their weight divisions.

Big Spring will host a meet Feb. 10 at the Big Spring Athletic Training Center.