Sports

Though their season may be over, several Graham Steers were recognized with the best baseball players in the district. The District 6-4A all-district team was released this week after the Iowa Park Hawks were eliminated in the playoffs this past weekend, one win shy of qualifying for the UIL State Tournament. Junior pitcher Luke Stone was selected to the first-team squad. The left-hander led the team with eight wins on the bump and a 2.19 ERA in 54-1/3 innings of work this season with 89 strikeouts. Senior shortstop Tucker Horn also was named to the first-team.

The Graham Steers 7on7 squad will get a shot to defend its 2017 Division II 7on7 title after qualifying for the 2018 state tournament last Saturday. On May 26 in the Hurst DII State Qualifying Tournament, the team defeated Brock in the qualifying round to earn their trip to College Station next month. With the game tied in the closing seconds, quarterback Hunter Lanham dropped back and fired a heave to Daniel Gilbertson.

The Brandon Bailey 3-on-3 Tournament kicked off early Saturday morning on May 26, and concluded Saturday evening with the championship games held in the Newcastle gym. The sixth annual basketball tournament brought together hundreds of athletes from Graham, Newcastle, Haskell, Throckmorton, Olney, Wichita Falls, Tyler and many other places from around the state. There were nine different divisions featured Saturday-elementary, junior high boys, junior high girls, high school boys, high school girls, college boys, adult men and adult women.

Red Bull Cliff Diving returns to Possum Kingdom Lake Friday and Saturday. The event will take place at a remote location on the water at Hell’s Gate Cove. The only viewing is via kayak, stand up paddleboard, personal watercraft, or boat. There is no on-land viewing available for the event. The qualifying round takes place Friday, June 1 at 1:30 p.m. while the championship round takes place Saturday, June 2 at approximately 1:15 p.m. Admission is free and viewing is via water and all spectators must have a watercraft.

After going undefeated all last season on their way to the 7on7 Division II Championship in College Station, the Graham Steers began the 2018 7on7 season last weekend at the Gainesville Division II State Qualifying Tournament. Looking to defend their title from a year ago, the team began the day strong by defeating Godley, but fell in their final two games of the day. The team is having to replace several standouts on their championship team from a season ago due to graduation.

The Graham Lady Blues softball team pushed the top-ranked team in Class 4A like nobody else has done all season. Unfortunately, a two-out two-run single in the sixth inning doomed Graham falling, 2-1, in their best-of-three game series on Saturday at Vernon College. For the second consecutive season, the Lady Blues season ended in the Regional Semifinals. Seniors Aubree Beggs, Elizabeth Routon, Nicole King and Hallie Morgan each played in their final game in a Graham softball uniform.

Brayden Houser is one of the few. The senior is one of the few athletes from the six-man level to play college football at the next level. Houser signed his letter of intent to play football at the next level with Wayland Baptist University Thursday at Bryson High School in front of the entire school. There are roughly 8 million high school athletes in America and less than two-percent of those athletes have the honor to play sports at the next level. Bryson, Texas can say they have one of those now.

Members of the Lake Chapter of the Ex Texas Tech Students got a little information regarding the upcoming Texas Tech University athletic season. Tech Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt spoke to Graham residents Tuesday at the Sparrow Creek Ranch as part of the Lake Chapter Scholarship Event. Along with Hocutt, President and CEO of the Texas Tech Alumni Association, Dr. Bill Dean, also spoke to the audience. "This is my wife and I escape to during the summers," Hocutt said. "We come to Possum Kingdom Lake a lot to get away.

All good things must come to an end, and for the Bryson Cowboys baseball team, the end of their season came to an end Saturday in the regional quarterfinals. The Cowboys got behind early in the first, two ballgames and never could recover losing 2-0 in the series. Avaion 11, Bryson 1 The Eagles stormed out to an eight-run first inning that set the tone for the rest of the night in Game 1 of the series Friday in Graford. Avalon sent 12 hitters to the plate in the first frame.

For the third time in as many matchups in the playoffs, the Lady Blues softball team had to go to a decisive winner-take-all game. The do-or-die situation doesn't seem to bother Graham, as the team is a perfect 3-0 in Game 3's in the playoffs. After a loss in Game 2, sophomore pitcher Emma Southerland took the ball and performed like an upperclassman helping lead her team to a regional quarterfinal championship with a 3-0 win over Venus on Saturday. Southerland led the team by going 5 for 10 at the plate while seniors Aubree Beggs and Elizabeth Routon each had four hits in the series.