Steers secure playoffs spot with win over Ram

While there are still games to be played all around the district, the Graham Steers took a big step in figuring out their postseason plans with a win over the Mineral Wells Rams.

After the Steers easily dealt with the Rams at home a few weeks ago, they traveled to Mineral Wells this past Tuesday, Feb. 6 and shot their way to a 56-50 win. The victory moved Graham to 4-3 in district, and as of this writing, they sit in second place in the district.

The Steers have one game remaining next Tuesday, Feb. 13 against Stephenville, who currently sits in third place in the district. Depending on the Yellow Jackets’ result against Mineral Wells Friday, Feb. 9, when Graham and Stephenville match up, they’ll be fighting for second and third place.

In a critical matchup, the Steers were led to the win by their seniors. The upperclassmen played pivotal roles in helping Graham come out of opposing territory with the victory.

It took a few minutes for the Steers to get going, however, as they didn’t record their first points until nearly halfway through the first quarter. Senior Tyson Weaver knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing for the team’s first bucket of the game.

Graham faced an early 9-3 deficit but thanks to senior Keion Shead and junior Ty Thompson they fought back to trail 13-12 at the end of the first quarter. Shead knocked down his first 3-pointer of the game off an assist from senior Samuel Rodgers near the end of the period.

Starting the second quarter, Shead was the recipient of another pass from Rodgers that he turned into another 3-pointer from the wing. A few plays later, Shead returned the favor as he passed to Rodgers who hit his first 3-pointer to put the team up 18-13.

The two seniors weren’t done there. Shead nailed his third shot from behind the arc after Rodgers set him up again. The duo helped the team on a 14-5 run, in which the two seniors contributed 12 of the points with their deep shots. Graham led 21-16 at that point in the game.

With the momentum building, the Steers rode their offense to a 28-23 halftime lead over the Rams.

Third quarters have been a bit of a struggle for Graham all season. But they came out quickly again, as Thompson stole the ball, made the Ram player fall trying to stop him and easily scored the fastbreak layup.

The lead didn’t last long as Mineral Wells pulled back into it and retook the lead with 3:26 to go in the third quarter. The Rams’ lead got to 36-32 before sophomore Tyler Allen drained a 3-pointer and Weaver hit another one a few plays later to give the Steers the 38-36 lead.

Just before the buzzer, Thompson missed a mid-range shot but Rodgers was in perfect position to snag the miss out of the air and quickly put it back up for two points before he hit the ground and the buzzer sounded. Graham went into the fourth quarter leading 40-36.

The final period began with 3-pointers from both teams, as Rodgers knocked down his second of the game on an inside-out pass from junior Cash Bowen. The Steers earned some technical free throws a couple minutes later after things got chippy and a Ram got too physical.

As Mineral Wells trailed, they started to foul more which helped Graham get into the bonus with just under three minutes remaining. The rest of the way, the Steers took 12 free throws and converted on 10 of them to ice the game and secure themselves the win.

Shead led the way in scoring for the team with 18 points on 71% shooting from the field with a perfect 5-of-5 on free throws. Weaver finished in double figures with 14 points with a couple 3-pointers and 8-of-10 free throws. Thompson ended with 9 points and 11 rebounds while Rodgers had 8 points, three rebounds and three assists.

JV Red Results

The JV Red Steers earned a hard-fought 76-73 victory in double overtime over the Mineral Wells JV Rams. The Steers fought from behind in the end of regulation to tie the game 55-55. They did the same in the first overtime period to tie it up 69-69 to force the second one.

Cooper Corley finished with a game-high 25 points, Jagger Nees finished with 16 points and the game-winning free throws, Thomason Burkett scored 16 points and Travis Alveraz had 13 points. Cooper Wilde, Gabe Shook and Nik Wankowicz each finished with 2 points apiece.