| Sports
Highlights Pre-district football
schedules set
By Sam Epps
Sports Editor
CEDAR CREEK LAKE–With Kemp dropping down to 2A,
Eustace coach Brian Herman had some shuffling to do to get his
pre-district schedule finalized.
Instead of facing the Yellowjackets in the non-district
schedule, the Bulldogs will face them for the first District
7-2A game.
The Bulldogs will open their next football season when they host
the Canton Eagles for zero week.
They will travel to Rice and face the Bulldogs in week one, then
host the Rusk Eagles in week two.
They will close out the pre-district schedule in Fort Worth when
they face the Fort Worth Castleberry Lions.
Kemp, on the other hand, opens their pre-district schedule by
facing the Palmer Bulldogs for zero week.
They will then face the Ferris Yellowjackets in week one, and
the Tyler Grace Community Cougars in week two.
In the final pre-district game, the annual Mabank/Kemp rivalry
kicks into action.
The Mabank Panthers open their schedule in zero week by facing
the Malakoff Tigers.
They follow in week one by taking on the Wills Point Tigers,
then the Quinlan-Ford Panthers.
After facing the Kemp Yellowjackets, the Mabank Panthers will
take on the Kaufman Lions.
After being one of the smaller Class 3A schools, the Kemp
Yellowjackets now find themselves as a larger 2A school.
“It’ll help tremendously,” Kemp athletics director and head
football coach Greg Anderson said. “The new district won’t be a
cake walk, but it will be good competing against similar-sized
schools.”
In Mabank, the Panthers remained in 3A, but moved east into a
district with Brownsboro, Canton, Athens, Van and Mineola.
“I feel it will be a very competitive, tight district,” head
football coach and athletics director Jimmy Cantrell said. “Top
to bottom, this district (15-3A) is more evenly matched.”
In Eustace, the Bulldogs remained 2A, but moved into a district
without the powerhouse Grandview Zebras.
However, they have a challenging schedule ahead of them as they
face playoff-caliber teams such as Quitman, Winnsboro and Lone
Oak.
“There’s not a weak team in the district,” Eustace head football
coach and athletics director Brian Herman said. “This is a solid
group of teams, it will not be a pushover schedule.”
Lady Panthers get 39-36 win
over Crandall
By Sam Epps
Sports Editor
MABANK–The Mabank Lady Panthers pulled out a victory Friday,
beating the visiting Crandall Lady Pirates, 39-36.
By halftime, Cradall had a 20-18 lead, and extended it to 22-19
less than a minute into the third period.
The Lady Panther defense held strong, and the Mabank offense
chipped slowly away at Crandall’s lead until the game was tied,
24-24, with 3:55 remaining in the third.
With just 1.49 seconds remaining in the third period, the Lady
Panthers pulled ahead of Crandall, 31-29.
 The
Lady Pirates battled back in the fourth period, eventually
taking a 36-33 lead with 3:21 left in the game.
Monitor Photo/Sam Epps
Mabank Lady Panther Makenna Allen (with ball) goes up for a shot
against the visiting Crandall Lady Pirates Friday. Mabank won
the game in exciting fashion, 39-36.
The Lady Panthers, however, took charge again
and closed the gap until regaining the lead, 38-36, with 44.5
seconds left in the game.
With 2.4 seconds left, a free throw put Mabank on top, 39-36,
and secured the win for the Lady Panthers’ final regular-season
game.
Kourtney Holyfield scored 14 points for Mabank, and Makenna
Allen scored nine.
Ashton Norman scored five points, Olivia Pannell scored four and
Cheyenne Alldredge kicked in three points.
Allen also led the Lady Panthers with six rebounds and two
assists, while Alldredge and Holyfield pulled in five.
“I thought we played very hard,” Mabank Lady Panther head coach
Ashleigh Weeaks said. “We executed when we needed to, and we
made many defensive stops in the fourth quarter.”
Mabank played North Forney Tuesday for the district 13-3A
championship. |
