Sports

The Lady Blues kicked off the week with a trip to Shotwell Stadium for a matchup against the Abilene Cooper Lady Cougars that ended in a tie. 

However, the Lady Blues had plenty of positives to walk away with as they continue into their schedule. 

Head coach Casey Weil said that it will be valuable for Graham to get a couple of rest days after this matchup since they have had a high volume of matches to start the season and that fatigue affected their play on the field against Abilene Cooper. 

The Steers played their first home game of district against the Brownwood Lions and left the hometown crowd happy. The Steers came away with a 59-35 victory. 

Head coach Quinton Fossett said the keys to victory in this game were staying aggressive on the offensive end while also remaining focused and being able to add to the lead in the latter half of the game. 

“Putting pressure on the paint, being constantly in attack mode, that’s why Graham basketball is successful,” Fossett said. “Getting that first district win, we feel like the race is on now.” 

As cold weather continues around the state, local athletes continue their efforts to make their schools and communities proud. 

This week, The Graham Leader is recognizing Taylor Lauster of the Lady Blues and Cooper Corley of the Steers as Athletes of the Week. 

Taylor Lauster, Lady Blues Soccer

The Lady Blues have been off to a strong start this season in spite of a rigorous early schedule. The team currently sits at 7-1-4 playing in a number of early tournaments as well as non tournament matchups. 

The Lady Blues entered into their first district home game against the Brownwood Lady Lions but were not able to pick up the victory and fell to the Lady Lions 35-16. 

Just like the Lady Blues contest against Brock, head coach Baylee Atkins said that the team needs to continue to try and improve their scoring ability as they advance in their schedule. 

“It’s the same thing, we have to score,” Atkins said. “We held them (Brownwood) to 10 points in the second half and two in the fourth quarter but we couldn’t convert.” 

The Graham Steers opened their district schedule and despite their fight, fell to the Brock Eagles 61-37. 

Despite the loss, head coach Quinton Fossett’s confidence in his unit has not waivered one bit and he was proud of the team’s effort against a team like Brock. 

“We came into Brock, and we won a half 28-27. That’s the bottom line,” Fossett said. “They’re a good team. To come in here and win a half, that’s good. We got better coming in here and doing that.” 

The Graham Lady Blues traveled to Brock high school for a district matchup against the Brock Lady Eagles and despite their fight, ended up falling to the Lady Eagles 77-24. 

Head coach Baylee Atkins said she believes the number one thing the team needs to work on as they head further into district play is consistency on the offensive side of the ball. 

The Newcastle Ladycats played a district matchup against the Bryson Cowgirls this past weekend and made a statement picking up a dominant victory 51-21. 

Head coach Ryan Dollar said that the key to victory in this matchup was executing on the defensive side of the ball which led to easy scoring opportunities on the other side of the floor. 

After a slow start to the game, the Ladycats were able to find their rhythm. 

The Graham Steers wrapped up their final non-district game against the Abilene Hawks and they made sure to go into the heart of their season with momentum. 

The Steers walked out of the contest with an 82-34 victory. 

Head coach Quinton Fossett said after the game that this win was a culmination of the hot streak Graham has been on as of late. 

“(Of) the last 10 games, we’ve won eight. We’re exactly where we want to be going into district,” Fossett said. “We feel like we’re playing our best basketball and it's going to be five weeks of a dogfight.”

The Newcastle Ladycats played their district opener against the Perrin-Whitt Lady Pirates and were able to come away with a thrilling victory. Newcastle took down the Lady Pirates in a one point win 37-36.

Head coach Ryan Dollar said after the game that it was encouraging to get a win over an opponent like Perrin-Whitt that has given the Ladycats trouble in the past. 

The Newcastle Bobcats played a final home matchup of non-district play against Bellevue but came up short, dropping the match to the Eagles 64-36. 

Head coach James King spoke to the team after the game and said they will need to continue to find ways to fight back as the season progresses. 

“We just have to find ways to bounce back,” King said. “We had some good looks, they just weren’t falling.”