Sports

The Graham Lady Blues varsity softball team concluded their summer league season in Holliday this past week. Their final slate of games marks a stretch of development and learning through adversity. 

The team from Graham opened their summer schedule Wednesday, June 4, against City View and Vernon. The team started off strong sweeping both of those opponents winning 7-2 and 12-0 respectively. 

However, after this hot start, that’s where difficulties in scheduling and performance started to kick in. 

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Graham athletics in terms of filling out coaching vacancies. 

Graham High School recently brought in Matt Chapman as well as Quinton Fossett as the next Steer’s head basketball coach. 

Graham ISD is bringing in the newest member of the Graham community in Rick Barber as their next strength and conditioning coach. 

Steers head football coach and athletic director Clay McChristian gave some thoughts on what led to Barber’s hire.

Every year, the Texas High School Coaches Association selects athletes from all around the state to be honored as athletes for their Super Elite teams. 

This year, four athletes from both Graham and Newcastle earned the prestigious honor and are representing their communities. 

According to the THSCA, the super elite team awards are nominated by professionals within the organization, and recognizes a student athlete for their accomplishments on the field or court over the past year. 

The Graham Lady Blues and Newcastle Ladycats volleyball teams crossed the halfway point of their summer league schedule Monday. 

They entered the second half of their schedule with some hometown flavor this past week. 

On top of just their regular slate of games this past week, the Lady Blues opened the evening Monday, June 16, with a special fish fry just outside the main gym.

Two stands were placed in the main parking lot of the high school and cars would roll up to order and receive deliveries of fried fish and sides as a fundraiser.

The Graham Steers varsity team showed out in a big way for week three of summer league basketball, sweeping both games they played in dramatic fashion for their most complete week. 

The night opened up with a fresh slate of games Tuesday, June 17 at the Breckenridge ISD Athletic Center. 

The Newcastle Bobcats were unable to be in attendance tonight but they will pick up their schedule next week for the final roundup of summer league games. 

The awards and recognition just doesn’t stop coming in for the Graham Steers varsity baseball team. Their latest accomplishment was placing in the top 20 of the Diamond Pro Texas High School Baseball ranking. 

In an announcement posted Monday, June 9, to the Graham Steers Baseball Facebook page, it was revealed that the team placed 11th in the division two standings for 4A rankings. 

The THSB ranked teams based on their division one and division two standings in the 4A division as a whole. 

Just shortly after the Graham Steers baseball team was awarded with their all-district awards, one particular member of the team received one of the highest honors achievable. 

Catcher Tripp Mahaney, a rising senior for the program, was awarded first team all state honors for his play this season by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association (THSBCA). 

Mahaney was just one of only two catchers selected for first team honors, sharing his recognition alongside Diego Tagliaferro of the Aubrey Chaparrals. 

Graham athletics filled arguably its biggest hole this past week in its vacancy of a Steers basketball head coach. The athletic department filled that void with the hiring of their newest front man Quinton Fossett. 

Fossett comes from Italy High School previously where he served as the head basketball coach of the program while also lending his services to the football and track and field programs. 

Specifically in basketball, Fossett led the basketball team to back-to-back playoff appearances with an area finalist finish in the 2024-2025 season. 

The Graham Steers and Newcastle Bobcats once again headed out to Breckenridge for another week of summer league basketball. The fresh slate of games took place this past Tuesday. 

The Breckenridge ISD Athletic Center opened its doors again Tuesday, June 10. 

This week, the Steers played the Olney Cubs and the Munday Moguls. Meanwhile, the Bobcats played the Clyde Bulldogs and the Breckenridge Buckaroos, respectively. 

The Graham Lady Blues and Newcastle Ladycats volleyball teams were the latest to enter their own version of summer league tournament for their high school athletes. They picked things up again after their opener one week prior. 

The unique nature about summer league volleyball is that it is played with a very different structure from other summer leagues, focusing less on win-loss records and more about straightforward player development and getting team members touches.