The Graham Steers ended their regular season on a high note with a victory over the Eagle Mountain Knights in a night to remember.
This game took place Friday, Nov. 7, and was meaningful to the community of Graham for more reasons than one.
This game was the first “Heart of Graham” game where the community came out in support of Coach John Tuggle and his family, whose wife passed away this year.
The Lady Blues are well on their way to regular season basketball play after finishing the second of their scrimmage matches against the Jacksboro Tigerettes.
While the Lady Blues weren’t able to pick up the victory, they fought hard and had some standout performances on the day.
The team kept things close throughout the contest but ultimately lost the matchup 33-25. The lineup also saw some changes in this matchup as players from the Lady Blues volleyball team just came over after their season ended.
The Newcastle Ladycats' season came to end, in a hard-fought area match against the Lady Hornets.
The Ladycats quickly fell down in set one trailing 9-4 as Newcastle called its first timeout. The team then started fighting back however to keep things at a five point deficit making it 15-10 Harrold.
Eventually, the Ladycats cut the Lady Hornets lead to one 16-15 but then Harrold rattled off several consecutive points on their following possession which led to Newcastle’s second timeout trailing 19-15.
Most of the fall sports regular seasons and postseasons for both Graham and Newcastle are coming to a close.
The Graham Leader is recognizing Reese Ribble of the Ladycats and Tyson Louder of the Steers for their performances down the stretch of their respective seasons.
Reese Ribble, Ladycats Cross Country
This year’s cross country season was a successful one for the community in Newcastle and the athletes as a whole.
The Newcastle Ladycats defeated the Strawn Lady Greyhounds in the opening round of the postseason to become bi-district champions.
This match was nothing short of a five set thriller. Despite the win, the team actually trailed in this matchup at points and head coach Ashley Archer was proud of the team for showing grit during times of adversity.
“I was very proud of the grit they showed in set four to come back and win 26-24,” Archer said. “Then they let that momentum carry them into the fifth set and never really let up after that.”
After the entire Newcastle Ladycats cross country team qualified for the state meet in Round Rock, one Ladycat managed to return home in 19th place out of all 1A girls participating.
During the state meet Friday, Oct. 31 in Round Rock, the Ladycats competed against 16 teams and finished 14th overall.
The Ladycats had five participating runners on their team. Allison Melton was once again the team’s top runner, finishing in the top 19th overall out of 145 runners.
The Lady Blues fought hard all season long to secure a playoff spot this year which they accomplished.
Unfortunately for the team, they were not able to pick up a win in their postseason opener losing in three sets to the Frenship Memorial Lady Panthers.
The loss Thursday, Oct. 30 closed out the Lady Blues volleyball season. Despite the loss, head coach Marci Faulk is proud of what the team accomplished this year and hopes they will cherish their memories of bonding and camaraderie for years to come.
The Newcastle Bobcats had a bye week this week but that doesn’t mean their grind stops. The team will be gearing up for their final game of the regular season this week against the Bryson Cowboys.
The team’s last matchup was against the Northside Indians Friday, Oct. 24. London Martinez and Rylan Hinojosa led the way in the passing game with 45 total passing yards between the two of them and three passing touchdowns.
Martinez also had 125 yards rushing on the night and Mikey Soito had three rushing touchdowns to add to the team’s dominant run game.
The Graham Steers had a tough night in this past week’s matchup against the Brock Eagles in district play, suffering their first loss in district against the Eagles by a final score of 28-7.
Despite playing a high caliber team like Brock with this close of a score, head coach Clay McChristian said the team should never be satisfied with this sort of outcome.
While the world of sports moves at a fast pace in the Graham community, it’s still important to acknowledge the hard work of athletes whose seasons have officially come to an end. One of those seasons was fall league play for Graham tennis.
The team’s fall season came to an end earlier in October in the district round of the playoffs. After much roster turnover from the previous seasons, it was an all around successful year for the team as they made the community proud.
