Sports

With the varsity Steers having started their powerlifting season the week prior, this week it was the Lady Blues and JV boys’ turn to get in some lifting competition.

The two teams participated in an event Thursday, Jan. 18 at the Weatherford Ninth Grade Center, to start their respective seasons.

In these first competitions, it’s an opportunity for the individual athletes to work on their craft while going up against other lifters to see how they stack up. This past week, the Lady Blues had three participants while the JV boys had two lifters compete.

A little over a month ago, longtime football coach and athletic director Kenny Davidson announced his retirement following the completion of the 2023-2024 school year.

Since then, the search has been on for Davidson’s replacement. Wednesday night at their board meeting, the Graham ISD Board of Trustees ended the search by approving Clay McChristian to be the next athletic director and head football coach at Graham High School.

Graham’s basketball teams both began their district schedules this past week. The Steers and the Lady Blues played home games against Brownwood and then hit the road for contests against Glen Rose.

The teams earned their first district wins against the Lions before taking losses to the Tigers on the road. But there are still many games to play and lots of opportunities for wins.

Coming off back-to-back home games, the Graham Steers traveled to Glen Rose for their second district game and a match-up with the Tigers.

It’s never easy to go up against the top-ranked team in your class as the Graham Lady Blues found out when they traveled to Glen Rose for a district matchup Tuesday, Jan. 16.

The Lady Tigers are ranked No. 1 in Class 4A according to MaxPreps and they showed why as the Lady Blues took an 80-16 loss.

Glen Rose are the favorites to win the district and currently sit in first place with a 3-0 record thus far. Meanwhile, Graham is holding onto third place in the district with a 1-2 start as the teams near the midway point of the district schedule.

Graham High School student-athletes were honored Monday, Jan. 15 at the fall sports banquet held in the GHS gymnasium.

Coaches, athletes and parents enjoyed a meal before the program began where coaches and staff presented awards and recognitions to their students. In addition, a silent auction was held with items from each athletic program being sold to raise money for the school.

Head football coach and athletic director Kenny Davidson, who’s retiring at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, was also honored for his service to the school.

In just their second game of the district schedule, the Graham Lady Blues earned a strong victory Friday, Jan. 12 with their 39-30 finish over the visiting Brownwood Lady Lions.

With the win, the Lady Blues moved to 1-1 in district play while the Lady Lions fell to 1-2. Though there’s still much of the season left to play, Graham sits in third place in district while Brownwood stands in fourth.

With most winter sports well underway, the Steers varsity powerlifting team began its season at a competition in Weatherford.

In a team event featuring Weatherford, Peaster, Graham and Mineral Wells, the Steers took third place  Thursday, Jan. 11 with the rest of the teams in that exact order. Weatherford finished in first with 66 points, Peaster got second with 64 points, Graham took third with 23 points and Mineral Wells came in fourth with 15 points.

After wrapping up non-district play with a 13-12 record, the Graham Steers were eager to put their abilities to the test against district opponents.

The team was up to the task and more as the Steers opened district play by defeating the Brownwood Lions 76-38 in front of a home crowd Friday, Jan. 12.

The Steers got the game started in one of the most dominant performances they’ve had all season. Brownwood won the tip-off and scored almost immediately to go up 2-0. But then the Lions didn’t score again until there were just 10 seconds left in the first quarter.

Before the weather really took a turn for the worst this past weekend, the Steers soccer team played a few games at a tournament in Palestine.

Graham faced some stiff challenges in all four of their games and came home with a 1-3 record. The Steers dealt with injuries and illnesses throughout the week and it made facing tough teams that much tougher.