Sports

Breckenridge High School has found its new girls varsity basketball head coach.

The interim tag will be dropped as Sidnee Martinez officially takes over the BHS girls basketball program.

The decision was made official by Breckenridge ISD during the board’s Tuesday, May 14 meeting.
Martinez will begin her 11th year in education in August and has previously served as an assistant coach and junior varsity head coach. She is also an assistant cross country coach and has served as the head tennis coach in the spring. 

The Breckenridge community gathered Thursday, May 16 to honor its varsity high school athletes with the All-Sports Banquet.

Breckenridge High School athletic director Casey Pearce hosted the event which saw each varsity head coach giving out awards to top players.

Before giving a closing speech, Pearce handed out awards voted on by the coaches as a group.

For the final Athletes of the Week for the 2023-2024 school year, the Breckenridge American selects Lane Bartoskewitz and Braye Cantrell. Both athletes are being recognized after being two of six athletes to represent Breckenridge High School at the 2024 UIL Track & Field Championships that took place May 2-4 in Austin.

The Buckaroos’ baseball season came to an end last week in Graham. They were swept 2-0 by Jacksboro in their bi-district playoff series in Graham.

Tigers 6, Bucks 1
Late defensive miscues and a struggle to get runners across home plate have put the Buckaroos’ backs against the wall in their bi-district playoff against Jacksboro.

Errors in the fifth and sixth allowed the Tigers to score five unearned runs Wednesday, May 1 and defeat the Bucks 6-1.

Six Breckenridge High School athletes represented the community Thursday, May 2 at the 2024 UIL Track & Field State Meet.

Braye Cantrell, Sawyer Wimberley, Karsyn Smalley, Ruthie Valdez, Lane Bartoskowitz and Haylie Mendoza each competed in the 3A portion of the meet at Mike A. Myers Track & Soccer Stadium.

Cantrell earned his trip to the meet with a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the 3A Region I-3A Track & Field Championships in the rain-delayed final Monday, April 22. He finished the state meet in ninth place with a time of 39.56.

The Buckaroos completed the district schedule Friday, April 26 with a 6-0 loss to the Eagles at Brock. The loss sets them up with a bi-district playoff with Jacksboro, the third-place finisher in District 7-3A.

Going into last week’s game, the Buckaroos were hoping to earn a share of the district championship and force the Eagles into a seeding game to determine the top two seeds. Facing a difficult pitching duo in the Eagles’ Jesse Rusinek and Cole Stanley the Buckaroos were held to two hits.

The Lady Bucks’ season came to an end Friday, April 26 following a two-game sweep in the bi-district playoff against Iowa Park in Graham.

The season ends with the Lady Bucks holding a 23-13-1 (12-2 district) record and the District 8-3A championship.

Lady Hawks 2, Lady Bucks 1
Game one was a marathon nine-inning game that ended in walk-off fashion with the Lady Hawks takes a 1-0 lead in the series.

The Buckaroos celebrated their seniors Tuesday, April 23 with their fifth shutout in a row and a 7-0 victory over Millsap. The win was senior-led with a complete game thrown by a senior pitcher and four of seven runs batted in by seniors.

The Bucks entered the game as a team that could finish no worse than second place in District 8-3A. The team looking to remain in a position to split a share of the district championship with Brock and having their best season since 2019 where the Bucks won 31 games while earning a trip to the regional semi-finals.

While the Lady Buckaroos earned a feat not achieved in 23 years, Breckenridge High School is recognizing pitcher Chloe Whitmire as the all-time strikeout leader in softball.

Defense has been the key for the Buckaroos baseball late in their district schedule. It was that defense and a clutch hit that led the Bucks to a 1-0 win Friday, April 19 over Peaster.

Buckaroos coach Jeremy West has said throughout the season that he believes that there are several players he can find a good pitcher for any game. Friday night that pitcher was Camden Escalon. He threw 6 1/3 innings and struck out 10 batters.