As the Graham Steers open up district this week and with the Newcastle Ladycats having secured two victories already, local teams have been busy making an impact on the court.
Full focus is on winter sports as basketball teams have finished a solid portion of their season, soccer seasons are underway and powerlifting is around the corner. With basketball at the forefront, the Steers and Ladycats recently had strong showings in their matchups.
Visiting Newcastle broke things open Tuesday, Jan. 7 with a big second quarter and remained unbeaten in district play with a 55-33 win over Perrin.
The Ladycats are 13-8 overall and 2-0 in district with Perrin falling to 10-11 and 1-1. Newcastle Coach Ryan Dollar said he sees room for improvement despite two convincing wins to open district action.
Following a tough 56-22 loss to Glen Rose in their district opener, the Lady Blues looked to change the tide against the Stephenville Honeybees this week but struggled in a 56-31 loss.
The Lady Blues had trouble throughout the game with possession and shooting, with the Honeybees taking advantage of the opportunity to sting back.
What started as a back-and-forth effort between Newcastle and Gold-Burg turned into an all-out win for the homecourt team when the Bobcats pushed ahead for a 56-48 victory.
It was a battle between the two teams for the first two quarters with each overtaking the other in multiple instances. The four scorers who made an impact throughout the game and pushed the way to victory for the Newcastle team were Keyton Newland, Rylan Hinojosa, Jayden Hemby and Jacob Omundi.
The Newcastle Ladycats controlled all aspects of the court last week against Throckmorton and scored a dominating 59-28 win to open district play.
Eleven points was the highest the Lady Hounds would score in a quarter overall throughout the game Friday, Jan. 3, with the Ladycats making key plays to keep possession and control across the court.
A key player for the Newcastle team was senior Mattie Dollar, whose experience on the court was on full display during the game. Dollar scored almost half of the points on the board for the Ladycats, with 28 overall.
The beginning of the home matchup against Abilene Cooper could have been the end of the effort for the Steers, but they continued to fight and lessen the scoring gap seen throughout the game.
Though the game ultimately ended in a 46-54 loss Friday, Jan. 3, the Steers never gave up and continued to be a force across the court.
It was a battle across the court as the Bobcats looked to overcome the advantage held by Munday, but the Newcastle team struggled and ultimately fell 47-52 to the Moguls.
Coming into the game Monday, Dec. 30, Munday was 13-5 for their season so the Bobcats had a fight on their hands.
The Bobcats were led by scoring from Jacob Omundi throughout the game. With big assists from Rylan Hinojosa, Jayden Hemby, Keyton Newland and Mikey Soito in the fourth quarter, the Bobcats came close to closing the score gap seen throughout the first three quarters.
Before opening district play this week, the Lady Blues had one final non-district game on their schedule. Despite the game resulting in a 22-41 loss to San Angelo, the team will hold their heads high for the district matchups.
Both teams were locked in for the first quarter with Lady Blues senior Briley Randall picking up six points with assists from Rebecca McGregor and Fayth Bryer, who scored 2 points and 1 point, respectively.
Looking back over this year there is much for the communities of Graham and Newcastle to take pride in when it comes to its local athletes.
This season, the Graham Steers pushed to make a state run and fell in the Region 1-4A Division II final. The Newcastle Ladycats took a trip to state with a team of athletes hoping to represent the school and community.
For their performances in their respective events and their work all season, Mattie Dollar of the Newcastle Ladycats and Ty Thompson of the Graham Steers earned selections as Athletes of the Year.
As full focus turns to winter sports with basketball underway and other sports approaching, The Graham Leader is taking a look back at big games and highlights throughout the year.
In the series’ second of two installments, we look at July through December 2024.
July
