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(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Running past Abilene Cooper defenders, Ty Thompson looks to set up a shot Friday, Jan. 3. -
(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Bryce Martin (2) jumps to make a shot as the time counts down to zero at the end of the quarter. Martin and the Steers attempted to close the scoring gap in the third and fourth quarters Friday, Jan. 3 against Abilene Cooper. -
(THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Nikolas Wankowicz uses his height to his advantage by jumping over an Abilene Cooper player to make a layup shot during the home game Friday, Jan. 3. The team fought hard in the second half of the game but fell to the Cougars.
The beginning of the home matchup against Abilene Cooper could have been the end of the effort for the Steers, but they continued to fight and lessen the scoring gap seen throughout the game.
Though the game ultimately ended in a 46-54 loss Friday, Jan. 3, the Steers never gave up and continued to be a force across the court.
Despite having only 10 points on the Cougars’ 28 going into the second half, the Graham team exploded on the court while also working to block key plays. The Steers outscored the Abilene Cooper team in the final two quarters with 17 and 19 points, respectively.
The first quarter saw little scoring from both teams, ending with a 4-12 score and Graham down. The Cougars brought the heat for the Graham team in the second quarter, scoring 16 points, the majority of which were 3-pointers.
With the Steers down 18 points moving into the third quarter, the team brought a ferocity to lessen the scoring gap and look for victory on their home court. After scoring a point in the beginning of the quarter, the Steers held the Cougars while scoring big plays.
During the third quarter alone, Bryce Martin, Cooper Corley, Brodie Martin, Ty Thompson and Nikolas Wankowicz scored 17 points overall, which served as a wakeup call for the team.
As the third quarter continued to see a scoring gap with the Steers down 27-43, the effort from the Graham team did not stop there.
Following a timeout with almost four minutes left on the clock, Thompson scored a layup shot and brought the gap to the closest it had been the entire game, and would be for the remainder, at 40-47.
As the clock ticked down, the Steers looked to extend their time remaining by causing penalties to stop the clock. Despite their efforts, the game ultimately ended with a final score of 46-54, with Thompson picking up the last shot of the game.
Corely led the Steers in scoring with 14 points, followed by Thompson who had 12 points, Brodie Martin who had nine points, Wankowicz who had seven points and Bryce Martin who had four points.
Following an open game the Steers travel to open district play against Brock at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10. Before the Steers varsity game will be the JV team at 4:30 p.m. followed by the freshman team at 5:45 p.m.
