The regular season wrapped up Tuesday night for boys basketball as the Steers traveled to Stephenville and came home with a 39-34 win.
Graham came into the final game with a 4-3 district record while Stephenville was 3-4. The winner of the game would earn second place in the district. Even though both teams would have the same record, the Yellow Jackets would have won both games.
The Graham Steers and Lady Blues traveled to Wichita Falls to take on the Hirschi Huskies and Lady Huskies, and the teams came home with mixed results in their contests.
The Steers took a loss Monday, Feb. 12 to the Huskies 2-0 with an offense that just couldn’t seem to connect all night. Meanwhile, the Lady Blues exploded for another offensive outburst in their win over the Lady Huskies 10-0.
Here are some details and information regarding each team’s performance in these district matchups.
Steers at Hirschi (L), 2-0
There was understandably some rust to shake off after not playing for about a week, but it didn’t matter as the Newcastle Ladycats eventually got on a roll and earned a bi-district championship win over the Bellevue Lady Eagles 54-20.
Playing at a neutral site in Forestburg, Newcastle was well represented as the Ladycats earned the first of what many hope will be multiple playoff wins this postseason. It took a few minutes to get going but the Ladycats showed why they’ve been one of the top-ranked teams in Class 1A all season.
The Newcastle Bobcats came out on top over the Bryson Cowboys in their final game of the regular season.
Playing on their home court Friday, Feb. 9, the Bobcats defeated the Cowboys 43-26 to clinch third place in the district and a spot in the 1A Region 3 playoffs bracket. Graford has won the district, followed by Perrin-Whitt in second and Newcastle taking third.
It took a bit of time for the Bobcats to get things going in their last game, but they eventually overcame a slow start to get the big win.
The Graham Steers faced a stiff challenge Friday, Feb. 9 when they welcomed the Wichita Falls Old High Coyotes to town for a district matchup.
Although they gave their best effort and nearly managed a comeback, the Steers fell to the Coyotes 2-1. The loss moved Graham to 1-1 in district while Old High sits at 2-0 with a lot of games left to play for both teams.
In just their second district game of the season, the Lady Blues soccer team took a hard 4-1 loss to one of the top teams in the region in the Old High Lady Coyotes last week.
The visiting Lady Coyotes have spent a number of weeks ranked in multiple top-25 polls, depending on which one you look at, and they showed why in their visit to Graham. Old High brought a fast offense Friday, Feb. 9 that put pressure on Graham and made things difficult to overcome.
As powerlifting teams have multiple competitions under their belts by now, the Steers hosted a meet in Graham and made their mark while doing so.
Bridgeport, Decatur and Peaster came to Graham’s fieldhouse Thursday, Feb. 8 to showcase the progress each lifter has made throughout the season.
The boys had three opportunities in squats, bench press and deadlift. The top weight in each category was added together and athletes were ranked based on their total weight in pounds lifted.
District play for Graham’s soccer teams began this past week as the Steers and Lady Blues both took on the Mineral Wells Rams and Lady Rams.
Each Graham team has had varying degrees of success so far this season, but what matters now are the games ahead. The Steers and Lady Blues both earned wins over Mineral Wells this week in different ways, with the boys pulling out the win in a penalty kick shootout while the girls dominated from start to finish.
The game came down to the final shot of penalty kicks but the Graham Steers emerged victorious with their first district win of the season against the Mineral Wells Rams this past Monday, Feb. 5.
After finishing the regulation period tied 2-2, both teams sent their best five to the penalty box for a chance to take the game. In a thrilling matchup, the Steers came out on top by a score of 3-2.
It didn’t take long for the Graham Lady Blues to assert their dominance Monday, Feb 5 in their district-opening win over the Mineral Wells Lady Rams.
The Lady Blues did all their scoring in the first half as they went onto win 4-0 and start their district play with a 1-0 record. The offense looked strong and the defense held firm all game as Graham finessed its way to the win.
