(Photo courtesy of Charla Shults)
The Pampa Harvesters will be led by 10 seniors this upcoming season as they look to return to the 4A playoffs for another deep run. Last year, the Harvesters fell in the Regional Semi-Final after leading Krum by 10 points at half. Krum went on to beat Randall in the following round.
“We ended up finishing third (in district) last year behind Randall and West Plains, both of whom were ranked in the Top 10 in the state,” Head Coach Braydon Barker said.
“We had a big win against Canyon to clinch the 3-seed, and in the Bi-District Round we beat Ft. Stockton in overtime. In the second round we beat El Paso, and in the third round we played Krum, who was ranked No. 5 in the state.
“We had a 10-point lead at half, but just weren’t able to hold on. It was a tough loss but we really competed well.”
This was the best season the Harvesters had since 2020. But this time it was in a tougher district, arguably one of the best districts in the state.
“Finishing in the Top 3 in the district we are in is tough,” Barker said. “It was definitely a good season.”
The Harvesters graduated four players with Julian Alonzo, Bryce Lynn, Isaiah Fernandez and Kyler Peet.
The Harvesters return seven varsity players, including three starters with seniors Tristan Bagwell, Jose Alonzo and Dalton Booth. They will join fellow seniors Parker Webb, Cam Johnston, Conner Hall, Dase Scott, Keegan Upton, Trill Young and Shubh Doshi. Sophomores Aaron Martinez and Talon Garcia will round out the varsity squad.
“It was big for us to make that playoff run last year,” Barker said. “They got a lot of experience in some really big games last year to bring to this year. They got to play against several ranked teams. That Krum game was an awesome atmosphere they got to play in. I’m hoping that can propel us to an even better season this year.
The Harvesters will play several 5A schools in non-district, including Plainview and Caprock, as well as 3A’s Bushland and Childress.
“We are also playing Frenship Memorial and going to the New Home and Childress tournaments,” Barker said. “I like those tournaments because you get to see a lot of those Lubbock schools, like Slayton (ranked No. 3) in the New Home Tournament. Then in Childress you get a lot of the Wichita Falls teams. We get to get a preview of our region going to those tournaments.”
The Harvesters’ District 4-4A is a monster of a district with West Plains, Canyon, Randall, Dumas, Perryton, Borger and Hereford. Many pundits have West Plains pegged to win the District.
“It’ll be tough as always,” Barker said. “West Plains is probably picked to win it. Randall lost eight seniors last year but their JV was solid. They are a wild card, they’ve been really good but will look different.
“Canyon pretty much returns everybody. Hereford lost almost everybody. Then you have Dumas, Borger and Perryton, pretty much all can beat you on any certain night. So we have to handle those when we play them. But I really think we can compete for a District championship.”
Barker noted this will probably be the biggest team in size that he has had in his nine years in Pampa.
“This team will be big,” Barker said. “We will have some different lineups out there and can be very long and athletic. We will have some paint touches and probably feed the inside a little bit more than we have in the past. That should open our perimeter game.”
The Harvesters open the season at Caprock on Nov. 18. Their first home game will be against Frenship Memorial on Nov. 21.