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Highlighting the best games of 2 018

Fri, 01/04/2019 - 10:19 am
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    Allison Lee takes the handoff from Claire Jones in the 4x 2 00 relay at the U I L State Track and Field Meet in May. The relay team making it to state was one of the Top 10 best area sports feats of this year. Leader photo by David Flynn
sports@grahamleader.com

With the calendar set to turn over to a new year in a few days, The Graham Leader takes a look back at some of the best games from this past year. 2018 proved to be another successful athletic period for our area teams. Several of the games of 2018 went down to the wire while some contests were one-sided affairs that led to a string of wins to follow. One thing is for sure, if 2019 is able to live up to the games we saw in 2018 then the new year will bring lots of thrilling finishes.

10. In its inaugural season, 2018 was a successful season for both the Lady Blues and Steers soccer teams. Both head coaches admitted having soccer back at the high school level in Graham is a benefit for the entire community. After impressing in their scrimmages the Steers put everything together to earn their first win in school history on Jan. 6 in the Alvarado Tournament. Goals scored by Jeb Curry, David Lopez, Alonso Arvizu, Sergio Rivera and Will Busey ultimately led to a 8-4 victory over Kemp. “We started strong then got lazy, but we figured out what we were doing wrong and came away with a historic win,” Steers head coach Tim Wankowicz said. The Lady Blues followed the boys with their first-ever win a few weeks after.

9. The 2018 Graham Steers football team delivered a complete knockout early in route to a dominating 42-14 win over Iowa Park on Oct. 12. The matchup was expected to be for a possible district championship by many pundits and publications as the Steers and Hawks were the top-two teams in 2017. Graham sophomore quarterback Hunter Lanham threw for 199 yards and two TDs in the first half with stud running back Chase Gilmore accounting for 166 yards and a pair scores. The Steers led 28-0 at halftime thanks in large part to a strong defensive effort led by young sophomore J.J. Lee, Corey Ballew, Raider Horn and Zach Martin. Daniel Gilbertson also ran for a pair of scores early on.

8. An early season non-district volleyball match against Brownwood proved to be one of the best volleyball games in recent memory. With the Lady Blues facing matchpoint in the fifth and final set, Graham rallied from a 14-13 hole by finishing the set on three consecutive points. Junior Alex Husen led the attack with 16 kills and four blocks while multi-sport athlete Emma Ranger helped with 14 kills. “I was super thrilled with my younger kids, because they handled the big moment,” said head coach Marci Faulk following ...

For the rest of the story please see the Dec. 29, 2018 issue of The Graham Leader.