The Newcastle Ladycats capped off their district schedule with another victory over Woodson to bring their streak to 15 wins as all eyes look to the bi-district game next week.
The Ladycats have been dominating all aspects of the court recently and that continued with their 67-42 win Tuesday, Feb. 4 over the Woodson Cowgirls. Head coach Ryan Dollar said the team’s streak is due to their commitment to the game.
While the Steers’ rematch against the Brownwood Lions had Graham on top for most of the game, both teams were displaying an unwavering ferocity to win.
Brownwood was always in the shadow of Graham and was desperate to overcome the scoring gap all game, but a tight defense and offensive effort brought a 67-52 win for the Steers.
The first quarter was owned by Graham’s Tyler Allen who scored nine of the team’s 16 points on the 2-point shots and a 3-point shot. Also putting points on the board were Bryce Martin, Brodie Martin and Ty Thompson.
While the opening for the Lady Blues senior night matchup against the Brownwood Lady Lions had everything going for it, the team lost its steam and the game ended in a 23-46 loss.
One thing that has been an ongoing improvement for the Lady Blues has been its confidence on the court, something head coach Baylee Thompson has worked to instill in the team.
Graham High School athletes received recognition for their achievements during the annual Fall Sports Banquet last week.
Coaches and staff presented awards and recognitions to their students Thursday, Jan. 30 who were involved with cheerleading, cross country, volleyball, football and supported as athletic trainers.
Listed below are the teams and athletes honored during the program.
Cheerleaders
With the playoff season approaching for basketball, district soccer starting next week and softball and baseball on the horizon, it is a busy time of the year for sports.
Basketball and soccer seasons in Graham have been well underway and the teams have recently had standouts that made an impact on the field and court.
Easton Hedge of the Graham Steers and Ava Street of the Graham Lady Blues have been named Athletes of the Week for their recent athletic performances.
Easton Hedge, Steers soccer
Growth was the name of the game for both of Graham’s teams this week against Brock and the Lady Blues were dedicated to holding the Lady Eagles in their rematch.
While the team fell to the team 26-46, the score was much improved from their previous matchup at the beginning of January which ended at 80-27. One of the areas of emphasis the team worked on for their rematch was stopping 3-point shots which doomed them in their previous game.
Following a loss in their district opener to the Brock Eagles at the beginning of January, the Graham Steers were provided an opportunity to show the growth they have made this season.
While that growth was not enough to make it to victory Tuesday, Jan. 28, it was enough to show just how much the team has improved overall.
The last matchup against Brock ended in a 89-28 loss for Graham, a 61 point difference. With the aggression seen by the Steers throughout the season, the team was not going to let that happen again.
Starting late in December with their win over Mineral Wells, the Newcastle Ladycats have won 11 straight games and that streak continued Friday with a dominating 51-28 win over Perrin.
As with recent games with the Ladycats, things started out in their favor with strong performances from the team in the first quarter.
Two 3-point shots from Mattie Dollar and one 2-point shot from Camren Mallory, Kenna Mahan, Emma Hawkins, Catherine Youngblood and Dollar put the team ahead by nine points at the end of the first quarter.
The Newcastle Bobcats went up against one of the top 1A teams in the state and despite their drive, came up short against the Perrin Pirates.
Things looked up for Newcastle in the beginning of the game, with the first quarter showing promise for the Bobcats. The quarter was owned by Jayden Hemby, who scored nine of the 12 points for the team.
Powerlifting has taken off at Newcastle ISD and students have already raked in the accolades over two competitions.
Powerlifting coach Shane Mallory said the program has been something the district has been wanting to implement due to weight training already occurring for sports.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve spent a lot of time in the weight room working really year-round,” Mallory said. “It kind of started more with the boys for football and track. It was just something that coach (Isiah) Archer and I wanted to make sure was really strong in that area.”
