AISD Insights: Jan. 2024 Vol.2

The Abilene High boys’ basketball team improved to 5-0 in District 4-5A play Tuesday night with a 68-58 home win over Wylie. The Eagles are now 19-6 overall and 5-0 in the district after the win over the Bulldogs as they continue to lead the district, one game in front of Lubbock Cooper (15-9 and 4-1). The Eagles will return to action Friday at 7:30 p.m. when they take on crosstown rival Cooper at Cougar Gym in the final game of the first half of district play. The Cougars enter that contest at 9-15 overall and 2-3 in district play after a 55-39 loss Tuesday at Lubbock Cooper. The Cougars are fifth in the district standings, one-half game behind Wylie, which is in fourth place in the league at 3-3. Abilene High, which last won a district title in 2016 and missed the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, opens the second half of district play on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at third-place Lubbock Monterey (11-15 and 3-2) before returning to Eagle Gym to host last-place Lubbock High (6-21 and 0-5) on Friday, Jan. 26.

Fine Arts update: Musicals open next week at both Cooper and AHS. Cooper will present Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella Jan. 25-27 at the CHS Auditorium. Shows are scheduled for Jan. 25-26 at 7 p.m. and Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets to the show are $10 apiece (adults and children). … Abilene High will present Meredith Willson’s Music Man the same weekend at the AHS auditorium. Shows are scheduled for Jan. 25-26 at 7 p.m. and Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets to the show are $10 apiece (adults and children). … Abilene High freshman Hollie Nowlan had a painting selected for the 2024 Texas Art Education Association’s Youth Art Month Exhibition. The exhibition showcases Pre-K through 12th-grade works of art from across Texas. Student art from around the state will be exhibited at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin in March. We’ll have more on Nowlan and her piece on exhibit in the Feb. 2 AISD Newsletter.

The AISD Memorial Park honors the memory of deceased AISD students and staff who honorably served in the United States Armed Forces. The park is located on the grounds of Dyess Elementary School and includes a Veterans Memorial Wall commemorating the names of those who served. If you want to nominate a loved one who has passed away for memorialization on the district’s Veterans Memorial Wall, please click here to submit their information. If you’d like to search the AISD database for the 77 names that already have their names etched onto the wall, click here.

Abilene ISD Sports Roundup: The Cooper boys’ basketball team ends the first half of district play Friday night at home when they host crosstown rival Abilene High at 7:30 p.m. at Cougar Gym, and then opens the second half of district play next Tuesday (Jan. 23) at Wylie. The Cougars, who beat Wylie in overtime last month in the first game of district play, are 9-15 overall and 2-3 in league play, one-half game behind Wylie (3-3) for fourth place. …The Abilene High girls lost a 52-34 decision to Wylie at home Tuesday night as the Lady Eagles dropped to 15-12 overall and 3-4 in District 4-5A play. The Lady Eagles – looking to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2019 – are still in fourth place in the district, one game ahead of Cooper, which hosts Abilene High at 6 p.m. Friday at Cougar Gym. AHS knocked off Cooper, 43-34, last month at Eagle Gym. … The Cooper Lady Cougars are 11-16 overall and 2-5 in league play after an 89-45 loss Tuesday at defending Class 5A state runner-up Lubbock Cooper. The Lady Coogs play Abilene High at home Friday and then go to Wylie next Tuesday (Jan. 23) to take on the Lady Bulldogs. … On the soccer pitch, the Abilene High boys continued their hot start to the 2024 season after winning two of three matches last weekend at the Kyle Fritz Memorial Cup in Hurst. Abilene High (7-2) recovered from from a 3-1 loss to Richardson in the tournament opener to beat Arlington High (1-0) and Birdville (7-0). The Eagles followed those wins with a 2-1 win over Odessa Permian at Shotwell Stadium Wednesday night. … The Cooper boys are 3-5 on the season after beating Mansfield Legacy (10-0) and Fort Worth Western Hills (5-1) and losing to Fort Worth South Hills (4-0) at the Aledo Tournament. The Cougars will play at Granbury in a non-district match Friday at 6:30 p.m. … The Abilene High girls are finally back in action this weekend as they play in the Governor’s Cup in Georgetown. The Lady Eagles are 1-1-1 on the season and haven’t played since the AISD Tournament when they played two matches on Jan. 4. AHS will play Atascosita, Lucas Lovejoy, and Keller this weekend. … The Cooper girls are 4-2-1 after going 3-0-1 at the Castleberry Tournament last weekend. Cooper beat Ennis (1-0), Benbrook (3-1), and Lake Worth (4-0) before settling for a 1-1 tie against Castleberry. Cooper is off this weekend and won’t play again until next Monday (Jan. 22) when it hosts Snyder at 6 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium.