Sports

The 2023 summer edition of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football predicts a second-place finish for the Graham Steers in District 3-4A Division II.

Along with Steers, District 3-4A Division II features the Midland Greenwood Rangers, Snyder Tigers, Sweetwater Mustangs and Wichita Falls Hirschi Huskies. Hirschi is predicted for the first place spot with Midland Greenwood finishing third, Snyder finishing fourth and Sweetwater in fifth.

Newcastle High School will be offering a junior high skills camp and a setter clinic next month, as well as the opportunity for private lessons. The last day to sign up for both opportunities is today, Friday, July 7.

The skills camp will be for incoming 6th-8th graders and will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a lunch break from noon to 1 p.m., Wednesday, July 12 at the NHS gymnasium.

Campers will work on fundamentals, such as passing, setting, hitting, serving and offensive and defensive schemes. The cost of the camp is $40.

After going 3-0 in pool play during the state Texas 7on7 State Tournament, the Graham Steers were knocked out in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket by Anna.

The Steers earned their qualifying ticket to the state tournament after going 4-0 Saturday, May 20 at the Ponder SQT. The state tournament took place June 22-24 at Veterans Park in College Station.

Five players from the Graham Lady Blues’ softball team were recognized for their performance by the Texas Girls Coaches Association (TGCA) recently.

The Lady Blues’ season ended with a final 28-7 record, also becoming the eleventh team in the club’s history to make it to the third round of playoffs, regional quarterfinals.

The 86th annual Oil Bowl weekend took place last weekend in Wichita Falls with all-star games in football, volleyball and basketball taking place June 16-17.

This year’s event featured athletes from Graham High School in the volleyball and football games that took place Saturday, July 17.

Five players on the Graham Steers' baseball team were recognized for their performance with the recent announcement of the District 6-4A awards and Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association (THSBCA) All-State awards.

The Steers’ season ended with a final 15-8-1 record. The team earned two golden gloves as bi-district and area champions.

All-State, All-District

Senior Nolan Casbeer earned First Team All-District Infield. Casbeer also earned THSBCA's Second Team All-State Second Baseman.

The Graham Steers continued preparations for the state tournament by competing last weekend at the Celina 7on7 State Qualifying Tournament, ending the day with a 3-0 record.

The team competed in Pool C of the Saturday, June 10 tournament against Aubrey, Paris and Sulphur Springs.

To kick off the day, the Steers competed against Sulphur Springs, winning 32-13. The next game against Paris finished with the Steers winning 26-13. The team’s final game against Aubrey ended in a 24-18 win.

Graham High School athletes were honored during a spring sports banquet Wednesday, May 17.

Steers baseball players were recognized, but awards were not given due to the season still being in play.

Tennis
Jade Dospapas, Josh Gipson, Lucas Qualls, Regan Birdwell and John Upton were recognized for making the regional tournament.
Second-Team All-District: Lucas Qualls, Scott Grimes, Jaden Noyola. Sydney Jenson, Jayden Martin and Reagan Birdwell
Freshman of the Year: Jade Dospapas

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes All-Star Festival kicked off this week and will continue into this weekend with local participation from Graham in cheerleading, baseball, basketball, football, softball and volleyball.

Big Country FCA, which hosts the event, serves communities across a 37-county area. The festival held June 4-10 will take place in four different Big Country cities and features more than 350 of the area’s top student-athletes in one of seven sports categories.

The Graham Steers competed on their home turf last Saturday in the Graham 7on7 State Qualifying Tournament.

The team competed in Pool A against Decatur, Andrews and Bridgeport, finishing the Saturday, May 27 tournament with a 2-1 record.

To kick off the day, the Steers competed against Andrews, winning 48-0. The next game against Bridgeport finished with the Steers winning 40-6. The team’s final game against Decatur ended in an upsetting 19-20 loss.