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Lake Info
Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet
above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is:
320.85
Water Temperature:
48 degrees
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Mabank back in 4A after
realignment
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
CEDAR CREEK LAKE–The schools along U.S. Highway 175 knew
that grouping was too close in travel terms and too closely matched in
competition to last.
As expected, Mabank bounced back up to Class 4A and the District 13-3A
teams were scattered when the University Interscholastic League
announced its biennial realignment Friday.
Both Mabank and Eustace were “on the bubble” in terms of enrollment, and
both got bad news in the realignment – Mabank’s 984 students was four
over the 4A bottom cutoff and Eustace’s 432 students was two over the 3A
bottom cutoff.
Mabank was placed in the new District 15-4A, along with Forney,
Lancaster, Mesquite Poteet, Red Oak, Terrell and West Mesquite.
The Panthers faced Lancaster and Red Oak during their last stint in 4A,
and Panther head coach Jimmy Cantrell said he expects his team to be
competitive.
“We’re a better football team than we were then – of course, so are
those teams,” Cantrell said.
Eustace stayed with Kemp (which hadn’t expected to move up or down in
classification) in the new District 14-3A, which got a couple of teams
from the old District 14-3A, Canton and Van, along with Wills Point and
Mineola.
Wills Point, Kemp and Eustace were together one cycle ago in District
12-3A.
“I took this job as a small 3A school. I knew what I was getting into,”
Eustace head coach Doug Wendel said Monday. “That said, I think we can
compete at the 3A level.”
In his first year at the helm, Wendel’s Bulldogs were battling for a
playoff spot in the final game of the season. That represented a big
leap forward for the Eustace program, which hasn’t seen much football
success for many years.
The best part is, at times, the Bulldogs started an all-sophomore
backfield.
Wendel said Eustace won’t be facing as big a disparity in enrollments as
it has the last couple of years.
“If you look at the numbers, the disparity is less than a 2-1 ratio,”
Wendel said. “We were in against schools with more than 930 students,
and now our biggest (opposing) school will be around 800, so we’ve got
nothing to complain about.”
For Mabank, there is a plus – four of the district’s seven teams will be
going to the playoffs under the new bracket formula.
Cantrell was upbeat about the Panthers’ new district, because it could
have been much, much worse.
Mabank could have been slotted with schools to the southwest, moving
back in with Ennis and Corsicana again – that should bring a shudder to
fans who remember the last time the Panthers were in 4A.
Also, Mabank could have been aligned to the east, and placed with a
killer district featuring Whitehouse, Sulphur Springs, Texarkana Texas
High and the Longview Lobos, who dropped to 4A after winning the
Tyler-area 5A district.
“These schools are closer – Red Oak is the farthest trip,” Cantrell
said. Both Red Oak and West Mesquite made the playoffs last fall in
their respective districts.
As a 4A school, the Panthers also get to hold spring training, although
Cantrell isn’t sure that will happen this spring.
“I can’t commit to it, because we have coaches leaving,” he said.
Offensive coordinator David Collins is going to Garland High School, and
Cantrell said it’s possible a couple of other coaches may follow him.
“I don’t feel it would be an advantage to do that (spring practice)
without an offensive coordinator in place,” Cantrell said.
Kemp head coach Greg Anderson noted the new District 14-3A travel won’t
be that arduous, as Mineola would be the longest trip, and he also
pointed out the district school’s enrollments are fairly close.
Anderson came to Kemp from Sabine, which faced the same numbers problem
as Eustace before finally dropping down to 2A in Friday’s realignment.
“Wills Point is up there in the 800 range, but both Van and Canton are
mid-500 or less, and the rest of us are in the mid-400s,” Anderson said.
“I think that makes it more competitive across the board, in both boys
and girls sports.”
Looking forward, Anderson said Van has traditionally had a strong
football program.
“Wills Point is going to be as athletic as anybody, and Mineola is
coming off a playoff year (third behind Gilmer and Spring Hill),”
Anderson said.
“Doug has brought the program around at Eustace,” he added. “To me, it’s
one of those districts where you can line up Friday night and anybody
can beat anybody.”
Anderson pointed out the new district features a wide range of offenses,
ranging from the wide-open spread at Canton and Wills Point, to the
option running game at Eustace and traditional I-back power running at
Mineola and Van (although Van used the spread this past season), while
the Yellowjackets use a variety of offensive sets.
“My first thought is that Wills Point is basically the same as Kaufman,”
Wendel said. “They played them to 10-7. My guess is that they’ll have
good talent and numbers.
“Mineola has taken steps in the right direction, and Greg (Anderson) is
headed in the right direction at Kemp, developing an overall program,”
Wendel added.
“I’ve not seen anything on Canton, but they beat Kaufman and Crandall,”
he said. “Van is losing their running back (top recruit and 3A Player of
the Year Jermie Calhoun), but they have a solid program. It’s going to
be fun.”
There wasn’t a lot of change coming out of the realignment for Malakoff,
Trinidad or Cross Roads.
Trinidad remained in six-man Division I, switching to District 11. The
Trojans’ district lost just one school, Dallas Gateway, which moved up
to District 14-1A, and gained two new schools, Oakwood (which dropped
from District 21-1A) and Apple Springs (up from Division II District
12).
“It’s always exciting to pick up different teams,” Trinidad head coach
Kevin Ray said. “We’re very excited about the challenge of next season
after losing a solid core of players.”
Malakoff rejoined district foes Kerens, Blooming Grove, Corsicana
Mildred and Rice in the new District 14-2A, which welcomed Edgewood and
Scurry-Rosser from District 12-2A. Frankston departed to the new
District 19-2A, while Italy dropped down to District 21-1A.
“I am really excited about the new district,” Malakoff head coach Ronny
Reed said. “Scurry won’t have the skill kids that Italy had, and I don’t
think Edgewood will be as physical as Frankston.
“It’s good to get new teams and fun to play new teams,” Reed added. “You
don’t know what to expect until you see them on film. A lot of the time,
change gets everybody excited again.”
Cross Roads changed from District 21-1A to District 20-1A, but remained
in the same district with state champion Alto, along with Cushing,
Cayuga, Grapeland, Overton and Price Carlisle.
Panthers blow out
Bulldogs
Monitor Staff Reports
EUSTACE–The visiting Mabank Panthers stayed in the running for a loop
championship Friday with an 86-59 win over the Eustace Bulldogs.
 Friday’s
blowout win gave the Panthers a 5-2 record in District 13-3A basketball
play – tied with Kaufman, who defeated the previously unbeaten Ferris
Yellow-jackets 73-69 Friday.
Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Eustace Bulldog Byron Whitlock (34) and Mabank
Panther Chris Tull (22) jostle for position on a rebound during Mabank’s
86-59 win over the hosting Bulldogs Friday.
Kaufman’s win gave them a home-and-home split with
Ferris. The Panthers already have a home-and-home split with Kaufman,
and were scheduled to host Ferris Tuesday.
A win against the visiting Yellowjackets would give the Panthers a
home-and-home split with Ferris and tie all three teams for the district
lead with two losses each.
With the loss to Mabank, the winless Bulldogs (who have suffered two
one-point losses to Kemp) fell to 0-7 in loop play, and were scheduled
to visit Crandall Tuesday.
Friday, Feb. 8, the Bulldogs will host Kaufman for “Senior Night,” and
will wrap up the regular season on the road at Ferris Tuesday, Feb. 12.
Mabank will visit Crandall Feb. 8, and will host the Kemp Yellowjackets
in the season finale Feb. 12.
Each evening opens with 4:30 p.m. sub-varsity games.
Unlike the first-round contest in Mabank Jan. 15, the Panthers didn’t
allow the Bulldogs to hang close in the first quarter, using their
superior quickness to force Bulldog turnovers and open a 28-17 lead.
Mabank kept the pressure on in the second quarter, outscoring Eustace
19-14 to take a 16-point halftime lead, 47-31.
Kolton Browning and Albin Gashi (four 3-point baskets) keyed the
first-half surge, combining for 29 of the Panthers’ 47 points.
Zach Keeling, David Graves and David Key all hit 3-point baskets for the
Bulldogs in the first quarter, and Byron Whitlock muscled his way inside
to score six of his 10 points in the second quarter.
Whatever thoughts the Bulldogs had about a comeback were snuffed out in
the third quarter, as the Panthers outscored Eustace 22-11 behind 10
points from Tyler Fisher and two more treys from Gashi.
Up by 27 points going into the fourth quarter, the Panthers were content
to match points with the Bulldogs in the final stanza, hitting 10-of-13
attempts from the free throw line, while the Bulldogs hit 10-of-19 from
the charity stripe.
Gashi hit six 3-point baskets en route to a game-high 27 points, while
Browning finished with 18 and Fisher finished with 17 points.
The Panthers also got seven points each from Haydon Blair and Oliver
Wedemeyer, along with five points from Jacob Woodard, two points each
from Griffin Marshall and Caleb McKee and a free throw from Cameron
Tucker.
Keeling hit a trio of 3-point baskets to lead the Bulldogs with 15
points, and Whitlock finished with 10 points.
Jacob Horton added nine points (including a trey), while Graves finished
with seven, both Key and Frankie Lopez scored six points each, Russell
Templeton added four points and David Allen scored two points.
Lane, Murray win at Van weight
meet
Monitor Staff Reports
VAN–Kemp High School’s Nick Lane and Cris Murray each won their
respective weight divisions for the second straight meet Saturday.
Lane, lifting in the 148-pound class, took first place and was named
Outstanding Lifter at the Vandal Invitational powerlifting meet at Van
High School.
Murray, lifting in the 123-pound class, also won his weight division.
Overall, the KHS lifters finished seventh out of 12 teams.
Christian Cantrell took second place in her weight class and Justin
Gaddis finished fourth in his division.
Samantha Hullick, Allan Turner, Jeffery Hanson, Shawn Foisey, Ryan
Norman, Trey Weick, A.J. Durham and Jessica Fullington all placed in the
top 10 of their respective weight divisions.
The Yellowjacket lifters will be competing in the District 13-3A
powerlifting meet at Crandall Saturday, Feb. 23.
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Upcoming games |
Girls basketball
Feb. 11
MHS vs Athens
Bidistrict round playoff
(7 p.m. Corsicana High School)
*District 13-3A contest |
Boys
basketball
Feb. 8
MHS @ Crandall*
KHS vs Ferris*
EHS vs Kaufman*
Feb. 12
MHS vs KHS*
EHS @ Ferris*
(end regular season)
*District 13-3A contest |
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Baseball Feb. 8
MHS @ Malakoff (scr)
KHS @ Lone Oak (scr)
Feb. 12
KHS vs Malakoff (scr)
Feb. 14
MHS vs Canton (scr)
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Softball
Feb. 8
KHS vs Mildred (scr)
EHS vs W.Mesquite (scr)
Feb. 9
MHS @ Malakoff/Elkhart (scr)
Feb. 11
KHS @ Martins Mill (scr)
Feb. 12
EHS @ West Mesquite
Feb. 14-16
MHS @ Sulphur Springs tny.
KHS @ Kerens tny.
Feb. 15
EHS @ Mineola
Feb. 19
MHS vs Winnsboro
KHS vs Alba-Golden
EHS vs Mildred |
Soccer
Feb. 8
MHS g/b vs Red Oak* (TBA)
Feb 12
MHS vs Corsicana (b home)
EHS g/b vs Royse City*
*District contest
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Powerlifting
Feb. 23
District 13-3A meet
(Crandall) |
Track
Feb. 22
Bulldog Relays (EHS)
Feb. 28
Cedar Creek Relays (MHS) |
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