Sports

It was a historic year for the Steers and the recently released all-district awards reflect the effort and grit displayed by the team all season.

The Steers punched their ticket to the region final following a 38-27 regional semifinal win Friday, Nov. 29 over Glen Rose. After the Steers shutout the Brock Eagles in November with a 38-0 victory, the two teams reconvened in the Region 1-4A Division II final with a trip to the state semifinal on the line.

In a battle that required three overtimes to determine a winner, Graham’s season came to an end with a 12-10 loss to Brock.

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 in sports throughout the year.

In the series’ first of two installments, we look at January through June 2024.

January

While the start of this season has been a bit more challenging than last year’s for the Newcastle Ladycats basketball team, the squad headed into the winter break with a big 51-34 win over the Mineral Wells Lady Rams.

Newcastle’s non-district schedule has included a variety of schools ranging from Class 1A to 4A, and one of the final games before the team opens district play included a match-up with 4A Mineral Wells last Friday, Dec. 20.

After a quick glance at their record, some might not call the Newcastle Bobcats’ 2024 football season a success, but it absolutely was.

Though the team finished 7-5 overall and earned second place in district with a 3-1 record, the Bobcats overcame a lot of adversity and pulled off a big upset win in the first round of the playoffs.

Non-district play is nearing its end for Graham’s basketball teams, and both the Steers and Lady Blues have been developing greatly early this season.

Both squads participated in tournaments over last weekend, with the Steers hosting their annual Red, White & Blue Tournament and the Lady Blues playing hard in Lubbock. Then both programs earned hard-fought wins against individual opponents this past Tuesday.

For their work all season and in recent performances, Hallie Gough of the Lady Blues and Bryce Martin of the Steers have been named Athletes of the Week.

It was a battle for all 32 minutes Tuesday when the Graham Lady Blues traveled down the road for a match-up with the Graford Lady Rabbits.

At the end of that long fight, the Lady Blues came out on top in a 54-51 victory. The win put them at 11-10 on the season with a break before wrapping up non-district play Monday, Dec. 30 against San Angelo Central.

Heading into the final quarter of play, things weren’t looking great for the Graham Steers. After holding a lead at halftime, the Steers allowed the Iowa Park Hawks to climb back into the game and take a 38-30 lead into the fourth quarter.

But after the final eight minutes of game time, the hometown Steers finished on top after an all out offensive and defensive performance in the final frame to take down the Hawks 55-54.

After Iowa Park outscored Graham 20-7 in the third quarter, the Steers gave it back to the Hawks, outscoring the visitors 25-16 to earn the win.

The Graham Lady Blues hit the road last week for one last tournament of the non-district schedule when they competed at Lubbock Cooper Liberty High School.

Over the course of three days, the Lady Blues faced a string of competitive teams, earning a couple hard-fought wins while taking a few hard losses as well. Graham came away with a 2-3 record from the weekend and now sits at 10-10 on the season.

Listed below are scores and stats from each of the weekend’s contests with notes about each game.

Lady Blues v. Farwell, (L) 67-32

In their annual Red, White & Blue Tournament, the Graham Steers had a strong showing and ended up winning third place in the field of 10 teams.

Over the course of three days, lots of talented basketball teams showed up in Graham for a chance to earn some quality victories before district play comes around. Seminole High School ended up winning the tournament, followed by Hereford High School in second.

Football season came to a close last week for Graham and with it the end of fall sports for the 2024-2025 school year.

Now is the time for full focus on winter sports as basketball teams have finished a solid portion of their season and soccer teams are gearing up for theirs. Basketball tournaments have been at the forefront lately, and the Steers and Lady Blues recently had strong showings in theirs.

Rebecca McGregor of the Lady Blues and Brodie Martin of the Steers have been named Athletes of the Week for their performances in their recent tournaments and games.