Sports

Perhaps it was the adrenaline of playing for a bi-district championship, perhaps it was the energy and noise from the crowd or perhaps it was simply a culmination of all the hard work they put in throughout the regular season.

Whatever the reason, the Graham Lady Blues came out, and apart from one tough set, absolutely dominated the Sweetwater Lady Mustangs and earned the title of Bi-District Champions. The Lady Blues won Monday, Oct. 30 in four sets by scores of 25-4, 25-9, 23-25 and 25-11.

One hundred and fifty two points. That’s how many combined points Newcastle and Gold-Burg scored in their district matchup Friday, Oct. 27 in a game where the Bobcats came out on top 78-74.

Seventy-eight points sets a new season-high total for Newcastle in a year where this is the fourth time the team has eclipsed the 70-point mark. The Bobcats scored 72 in the season-opener against Rule, 75 against Victory Christian Academy and 74 in the district-opener against Strawn.

The Graham Steers have played 10 straight weeks of football without any breaks in between.

For a time Friday, it looked like that gauntlet of a schedule caught up to them, but the Steers (9-1, 3-1) pulled the right strings in all parts of the game to pull out a win over the Greenwood Rangers 44-26.

The Rangers (2-7, 1-2) came into the game with a lackluster record both on the season and in district but made the game a fight right from the start.

Newcastle’s cross country team competed at the regionals race Monday, Oct. 23 in Grand Prairie and one member of the team advanced to the state meet that will be held in the beginning of November.

Junior Mattie Dollar finished in the top 10 of her meet in seventh place to earn a trip to the state meet Friday, Nov. 3 at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock.

The other two members of the team, senior Lenaya Gonzalez and freshman Raelynn Bennett, each finished in nearly the top half of all racers but will not move forward.

As the calendar nears the end of October and student-athletes prepare for the start of winter sports like basketball and soccer among others, football and volleyball are still very present around the community.

This week, Tara Dawson, of the Graham Lady Blues volleyball team, and Isaac King, of the Newcastle Bobcats football team, earned selections as Athletes of the Week for their performances during the period of Thursday, Oct. 19 through Wednesday, Oct. 25.

Tara Dawson, outside hitter, Graham volleyball

With both their positions in the district standings already locked up, the Graham Lady Blues traveled to Stephenville for the regular season finale with the Honeybees.

The Lady Blues fought hard against the No. 1 team in the district but ultimately ended up getting swept in three sets by scores of 18-25, 14-25 and 14-25. Graham finished the regular season with a 22-15 record overall while going an even 4-4 in district to claim third place.

The Lady Blues volleyball team honored two seniors — one on the court and one off the court — Friday, Oct. 20 with a sweeping win over the visiting Brownwood Lady Lions.

On the court, senior Olga Morales led her team to a straight set sweep of the visiting Lady Lions by scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-5. Off the court, senior Allie Posey provided the support and leadership her team has gotten used to all season from the team manager.

Playing games against district opponents often provides unexpected challenges no matter the records of each team. But the Newcastle Bobcats made things look relatively easy in their district-opening 74-24 win Friday, Oct. 20 against the Strawn Greyhounds.

The game wasn’t over by halftime but still finished early as Newcastle opened up its 50-point lead before the end of the third quarter. In six-man football, a game automatically ends when one team goes up by 45 points or more.

The Graham Steers golf team continued to get work in this fall season when they competed Thursday, Oct. 19 at the Squaw Creek Golf Course near Weatherford.

Teams from around central and north central Texas came to Squaw Creek to participate in the event. The official golf season occurs during the slate of spring sports around the state, but teams compete in events during the fall to keep their abilities up.

The regular season may be winding down for teams around the state, but Graham continues to do anything but let up. The Steers traveled Friday, Oct. 20 to Sweetwater and came home with a 58-14 blowout of the Mustangs.

The Steers (8-1 overall, 2-1 district) took a little bit of time to build up the steam and get things rolling, but once they did it was all over for the home team Mustangs (5-3 overall, 1-1 district).