Sports

The Graham Steers earned a big win at an opportune moment Tuesday, Feb. 7 at Graham High School. After holding the Rams without a field goal for over 17 minutes and taking a 31-point lead at halftime, the reserve players came in and finished a 58-45 win to clinch a playoff berth.

After giving up a 3-pointer and free throw in the first two minutes and two seconds of the game, the Steers did not concede another point for 17 minutes and two seconds.

After struggling to score for three quarters Tuesday night, the Lady Blues 2022-2023 season ended with a 36-26 senior night loss to Mineral Wells.

Both teams entered the game looking for a shot at a playoff berth. A win for the Lady Rams secured a fourth-place finish, while the Lady Blues were looking for a win to force a seeding game with the Lady Rams to break a tie in the district standings.

Steers and Lady Blues soccer opened the district season Monday, Feb. 6 at Graham High School. Both teams suffered losses against Wichita Falls High School to open the schedule.

Against the Lady Coyotes, the Lady Blues struggled to contend with the speed of their visitors while defending in the Lady Blues’ defensive third during a 7-1 loss. The Lady Blues gave up three goals in the first 14 minutes of the first half before settling down on defense. The Lady Coyotes scored a fourth goal with three minutes left in the first half.

The Graham Steers basketball team entered the weekend looking for an opportunity to contend for a second-place finish in the district with two wins or clinch a playoff berth with one win. Neither was achieved as the Steers suffered losses Friday, Feb. 3 at Glen Rose and Saturday, Feb. 4 against Brownwood.

The Lady Blues and Lady Tigers met Friday, Feb. 3 after an extended time off last week as both schools missed much of the week due to icy road conditions. The Lady Blues struggled to make shots in the 71-9 loss, while the Lady Tigers showed why they are ranked as the state’s top 4A team.

The Lady Blues have begun playing preseason scrimmages with the team completing their fourth scrimmage Monday in preparation for the 2023 softball season. While the team has shown potential with earning nine or more hits in four games, the team has struggled to turn those hits into runs.

Originally scheduled to host Rider and Springtown Saturday, the Lady Blues moved the scrimmages to Graford due to wet field conditions after rain and ice came through the area throughout last week. The team took their home field for their first unofficial game action Monday night against Wylie.

After announcing that Graham Youth Baseball and the Graham Girls Softball League consolidated their boards into one last week, the Graham Sports Authority opened registration for both sports Tuesday on its website.

Graham Youth Cheer opened its registration in late January and will run through Friday, March 24.

Baseball/softball Registration

Editors note: The Saturday, Feb. 4 edition of The Graham Leader references a scheduled soccer game at home against Waxahachie Life. That game was canceled Friday morning. Steers and Lady Blues soccer will play Monday, Feb. 6 when they open the district schedule at home against Wichita Falls High School. Lady Blues kick off at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Steers at 7:30 p.m. on Newton Field.

The Graham Leader is introducing a new feature to the sports section. Throughout the school year, The Leader will highlight two athletes of the week.

Athletes of the week will be determined by in-game performances as well as input from coaches. Athletes chosen will be honored with a feature story based on their performances as well as other accomplishments.

Offense was difficult for the Lady Blues to come by Friday, Jan. 27 at Stephenville High School. Held to one field goal and five points for nearly the entire game, the Lady Blues offense struggled to contend with the defense of the 4A No. 13 Honeybees in a 35-9 loss.