Qualifying for the May 6 Fort Stockton municipal election ended last Friday, and with the impending departure of longtime mayor Chris Alexander, no less than four individuals filed to run for the open mayoral seat. 

Two mayor candidates – James Warnock and Paul Casias – are current city council members, while James Clarence Wilson and former city council member Pam Pepper Palileo also filed. Casias is the current Mayor Pro Tem. 

And a freshman shall lead them. 

Buena Vista Freshman Caden Valdez scored 26 points for the Buena Vista Longhorns in Tuesday night’s Class 1A bi-district championship at the Bill and Virginia Williams Special Events Center, leading the Longhorns to a 60-49 win over the Balmorhea Bears.  

A slow start for Buena Vista gave Balmorhea confidence and an early six-point advantage in the first period before the Longhorns (22-9 overall) made it a four-point game after the eight minutes of play. 

Fort Stockton’s varsity defeated the Prowlers junior varsity team 10-2 in their final game of pool play during the Third Annual Comanche Classic on Feb. 16. The Prowlers varsity program also defeated Lamesa 6-2 and Reagan County 15-1 to attain a 3-0 record on Thursday.

Fort Stockton will advance to the 2 p.m. semifinal game on Saturday, Feb. 18 in the championship bracket against the runner-up of Pool B, which plays today.

Pool B teams include Pecos, McCamey, Presidio, and Clint.