Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 320.89
Water Temperature:
51 degrees

Busby takes third at LSHSRA rodeo
Monitor Staff Reports
TERRELL–The Lone Star High School Rodeo Association hosted its 17th rodeo of the season Feb. 2 at Wade’s Arena in Terrell. Cedar Creek Lake area high school students competed in various events.
Kelsie Busby of Mabank High School took third place in poles and Nicole Harrison of Kemp High School finished in ninth place.
Dustin Jackson of Mabank High School and Marcus Emmons of Eustace High School received a no times in calf roping.
Josh McClintock of Kemp High School received a no time in bareback.
Busby received a no time in steer undecorating.
Jackson took sixth place in team roping as the header and received a no time in as the heeler.
Harrison took 12th place in barrels and Bethany Norman of Mabank High School competed in barrels.
Jackson took fifth place in boys ribbon roping and Emmons received a no time.
 

Athens run sinks Lady Panthers, 63-40
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
CORSICANA–An 18-1 run across the first half of the fourth quarter proved to be the turning point for the Athens Lady Hornets Monday.
The run broke open what had been a five-point game, and enabled the Lady Hornets to hand the Mabank Lady Panthers a 63-40 defeat in a bidistrict championship game at Corsicana High School.
Mabank’s young Lady Panthers finished their season at 19-11, with a third-place finish in District 13-3A competition.

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Mabank Lady Panthers Lauren Graham (left) and Chelsey Dillon (center) force Athens Lady Hornet Alex Furr to travel as they trap her against the sideline during Athens’ 63-40 bidistrict championship win over Mabank Monday.

Athens (21-10), the District 14-3A runner-up, advances to face Spring Hill for the area championship Friday, Feb. 15, at Tyler Junior College’s Wagstaff Gymnasium.
After Athens took a 31-18 halftime lead, the Lady Panthers came back to outscore the Lady Hornets 13-6 in the third quarter.
Lady Panther Lauren Graham hit a 3-point basket to pull the Lady Panthers within five points at 40-35 with about seven minutes to play, but that was the last Mabank bucket before freshman Sara Springer broke the run with a 3-point basket with under four minutes left.
During the run, Athens senior Staci Hankins hit both of her two treys, and Alex Furr (who led all scorers with 24 points) hit her fourth and fifth treys, with Holly Eckert putting together yet another three-point play.
“Athens played a great game,” Mabank head coach David Brown, who is leaving coaching to become a full-time administrator, said afterward.
“Athens has a good team, and they executed better than we did,” Brown added. “I’m proud of the girls, how they played this year, and I’m proud of my seniors.”
“We’re a team of runs,” Athens head coach Keith Durrett said. “We’ll play well for a while, and then we’ll play poorly for a while.”
The Lady Hornets put together a 13-2 run in the last half of the first quarter behind Furr’s first three treys, building a 21-12 advantage at the end of the first frame.
Mabank fans were particularly upset at the officiating in the first half, as the Lady Hornets outmuscled the smaller Lady Panthers inside and used contact in the open court to jar the ball loose, while Mabank quickly got into foul trouble.
As the contact got more intense, the officials called a double foul on Mabank’s Jeanice Mojica and Athens’ Allison Sanders.
Hankins made a steal and put together a three-point play to put Athens up 29-15 with 2:29 left in the first half, and Bailey Starkes hit inside to give the Lady Hornets their biggest lead, 31-15.
Mabank junior Chelsey Dillon hit a couple of free throws to cut the Lady Hornets’ halftime lead to 13 points.

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Mabank Lady Panther senior Kelsi Reynolds (10) grabs a steal away from Athens Lady Hornets Holly Eckert (42) and Asha Wilson (25), as Mabank’s Ashley Corter (background) looks on during Athens’ 63-40 bidistrict championship win Monday in Corsicana.

In the third quarter, the Lady Panthers came out more aggressive on both offense and defense, as Graham hit a 3-point basket to cut Athens’ lead to 10 points, 31-21.
However, the foul trouble the Lady Panthers saw in the first half started catching up to them, as senior post Ashley Corter picked up her fourth foul and was forced to take a seat with 6:43 left in the third.
Mabank fans raised a cheer when sophomore Chelsea Alldredge put together a fancy spin move to cut the lead down to six points.
Graham’s second trey of the third quarter cut the margin to five points at 35-30 with just over three minutes to play, but the Lady Panthers were never able to cut the Athens lead further.
Graham’s four treys helped her lead the Lady Panthers with 14 points before fouling out late in the game, while Lauren Hamilton (who was open all night on fast breaks, but couldn’t buy a basket) finished with five points, all on free throws.
The Lady Panthers didn’t help themselves at the free throw line, hitting just 13-of-27 attempts (48 percent), but the Lady Hornets didn’t all that much better, hitting just 15-of-25 (60 percent).
Both Alldredge and Corter finished with four points each, while Springer finished with three points on her single trey and Dillon finished with three points on free throws, while Sam Goss added two points.
In addition to Furr’s 24 points, the Lady Hornets got 12 from Hankins (including two treys) and nine from Eckert.
Athens also got six points (on two treys) from Jasmine Blakemore, five from Sanders, and four each from Asha Wilson and Starkes.
 

Lions bite Bulldogs
Monitor Staff Reports
EUSTACE–After hosting Eustace posted a big first quarter Friday, the Kaufman Lions outscored them 50-23 across the middle two quarters to hand the Bulldogs their ninth straight loss, 79-61.
Now 0-9 in District 13-3A basketball play and 6-21 on the season, the Bulldogs were scheduled to wind up the second round of loop play and the regular season on the road against the Ferris Yellowjackets.
Ferris (13-9) crushed Kemp by 45 points Friday (see related story below) to remain tied with Mabank and Kaufman for second place in district play at 6-3.
Friday was “Senior Night” for the Bulldogs, and they responded with one of their best efforts in the first quarter, taking a 22-15 lead over the Lions.
However, the lead disappeared early in the second quarter, as the Lions started using their superior quickness and team speed to force turnovers and take advantage of any Bulldog mistakes.

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Eustace Bulldog junior guard Colton Thomsen (4) looks for an open teammate after being trapped on the baseline by two Kaufman defenders during Kaufman’s 79-61 win over the hosting Bulldogs Friday.

The Lions outscored Eustace 26-12 to take a seven-point halftime lead, 41-34.
In the third quarter, the Lions continued to surge ahead, outscoring the Bulldogs 24-11 to forge a 20-point lead, 65-45, heading into the fourth quarter.
Eustace outscored the Lions 16-14 in the final frame to forge the final 18-point margin.
Jacob Horton led the Bulldogs with 19 points, as Russell Templeton added 15 and Zach Keeling finished with seven points.
The Bulldogs also got five points from David Allen, four from Frankie Lopez, three from David Graves, and two points each from Colton Thomsen, Johnny Lee, David Key and Byron Whitlock.
David Miles led the Lions with 20 points, as Ayron Miles had 17, Deon Wells 15 and Kendall Wren 10 points.