Graham athletes represent at annual Oil Bowl Classic

The FCA All-Star Festival wasn’t the only platform Graham athletes had to shine this past weekend. Several more Graham athletes traveled up to Wichita Falls for the 88th annual Oil Bowl Classic. 

The two day event, which took place at Wichita Falls Legacy and Memorial High Schools, featured sports events such as boys and girls basketball, girls volleyball and a closing football match. 

For the Lady Blues, their platforms to shine came in the basketball and volleyball events.
 
The first game with Graham representation took place at Friday, June 6 at Wichita Falls Legacy High School.

Rebecca McGregor was able to showcase her skills for her hometown once again for the  East Texas Team. 

However, this was also a special moment for the coach representing her. Kyle Wood, who didn’t coach the Lady Blues last season but stood in support of McGregor, was representing Graham one last time before moving on to become the principal of Petersburg. 

Wood made sure to give some closing remarks about Graham during the game. 

“It’s just a great community,” Wood said. “Extremely hardworking kids and a high quality town.” 

McGregor was a bit conservative offensively throughout the contest, not taking many shots. 

However, she made her presence felt defensively, forcing multiple deflections and also grabbing a few steals to help ensure a dominant 63-38 win for the East Texas all stars. 

Even more Graham athletes showcased their skills Saturday, June 7 during the large school girls volleyball game. 

Braylee Mayes was Graham’s lone representative for the West Texas Team while her fellow teammates Georgia Martin and Lillian Noble represented the East Texas Team. 

Each of these athletes had multiple instances to shine on the bright stage for their hometown one final time in their athletic careers before moving on to college. 

Martin was a tone setter for east team. She set up multiple passes and kill attempts for her teammates while also being effective at the service line and controlling the tempo of sets. 

She also had multiple close saves defensively to keep her team in rallies. 

Noble was a prominent powerhouse on offense for team east as well, picking up multiple kills attempts, often set up by her teammate Martin, fully showcasing their chemistry on the court from this season and during their time in the program. 

Mayes was an absolute show stopper. She showed her composure on the big stage and it was a big moment maker for the west team in their eventual sweep over east team 2-0. 

Not only did she contribute in all aspects of the match, but she also picked up the two set-winning plays for her team. 

Those plays were a clutch block at the top of the net which landed in team easts zone for a kill, and then in set two, she followed this up with an absolute missile from the center of the net to seal the set and match win for her team. 

“It’s really fun, it felt pretty good,” Mayes said. “It’s fun coming and playing with other people.” 

Mayes said that while it’s bittersweet to have this be the last volleyball game each of the girls will represent the Lady Blues in, she’s looking forward to seeing what those around her achieve. 

“It’s definitely sad, but at the same time it’s exciting to see everyone move on and what they’re going to accomplish,” Mayes said.

The next steps in their journeys will lead Mayes to The University of Arkansas, Martin to Texas Tech University and Noble to Oklahoma Baptist University.