Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 320.59
Water Temperature:
52  degrees - top
56 degrees - bottom

MHS girls hang tough, 4-1
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
MABANK–Mabank’s Lady Panthers made the most of the school’s first-ever soccer playoff appearance Friday night, giving the visiting Longview Lady Lobos fits before falling 4-1 in a bidistrict championship contest.
“We can’t be ashamed of that performance,” Lady Panthers coach Travis Grasser said later. “Longview is the largest 4A district in the state, and we’re at 3A numbers now.”
Mabank finishes the season at 10-3-14, taking the District 31-4A fourth-place playoff berth, which matched them against the first-place Lady Lobos.
Mabank won a home-and-home coin flip to host the match, and the Lady Lobos apparently were looking past the Lady Panthers toward their area matchup with Texarkana Texas High.
Despite the Lady Lobos’ clear edge in quickness and team speed, the Lady Panthers hung right with them through the first half, which ended with Longview up 1-0.
“We gave them a good fight,” Grasser said. “We got good games from everyone.
“Our seniors really did well, especially Tiffany Helms (in goal) and April Cron,” he added. “We had a good game all the way around.”
Helms and Cron were two of only five seniors on the Lady Panther squad. Although Helms is academically a junior, she has reached the end of her eligibility, so she can’t come back next year, Grasser said.
Another senior, Tiffani Kale, was lost for the season after suffering a torn ACL in her knee during a Jan. 16 non-district match against Mt. Pleasant, and her loss really hurt, Grasser said.
“We didn’t score a goal for three games after that,” he said.
The last two seniors are Andrea Ledezma and Jessica Cowin, who are both team leaders on and off the field.
“They’re both the kind of girl you’d want your daughter to be,” Grasser said.
After hanging with the Lobos in the first half, the Lady Panthers tied the score at 1-1 when Jennifer Pyle notched her eighth goal of the year with about 32 minutes left.
“The real killer for us was the penalty kick we gave up with about 29 minutes left,” Grasser said. “We were really pressing them, but a two-goal lead for these guys is hard (to overcome).”
That penalty kick really incensed the Mabank fans, who had been loudly complaining about Longview’s rough-and-tumble playing style since the opening moments of the contest.
Longview’s final goal came with about 2:30 left in the match.


Courtesy Photo/Cris Cary
Members of the Mabank Lady Panthers soccer team this year are (from left, front) Amanda
Cook and Tiffany Helms; (second row) Jessica Cowan, Ashton Norman, Eva Bervoets, Andrea
Ledezma, Kelly Fosse, Bryttany Gaona, Carley Adams, Gaby Costilla, Lauren Ellis and Katy
Krenek; (back row) assistant coach John David, Natalie Torres, Rachel Goth, Jennifer Pyle,
Jeanice Mojica, Chelsea Alldredge, April Cron, Brittany Burns, Ingrid Metzger, Maegan
Olivarez and head coach Travis Grasser. Not pictured are Jessica Toms, Martiza Valdez,
Tiffani Kale and Lindsey Pate.

Van crushes Kemp
Monitor Staff Reports
VAN–Second-ranked Van took just two innings to destroy the visiting Kemp Lady Yellowjackets Friday.
Heavy rains washed out Kemp’s scheduled District 14-3A softball contest at Wills Point Tuesday.
The forecast also threatens to wash out Kemp’s first home game in more than a month Friday, March 27, when the Eustace Lady Bulldogs are scheduled to visit Kemp for a 6 p.m. district contest.
Weather permitting, the Lady ’Jackets are scheduled to visit Mineola Tuesday, March 31, followed by a home game against Canton Friday, April 3. A make-up date for Tuesday night’s game had not been set at presstime Tuesday.
At Van Friday, the 18-0 Lady Vandals blew open the game by scoring 21 runs in the second inning, including a grand slam by Chelsea Smith and a double by Kim Mobley.
Lady Vandal pitcher Kayla Chitty (8-0) threw a perfect game, striking out all six Kemp batters she faced.
Kemp starter Kayla Collum took the loss, giving up three runs in the first inning. Kemp’s Amanda White came on in relief during the extended second inning as the Lady Vandals recorded eight hits.
The Lady ’Jackets committed three errors.

Mineola girls beat Eustace
Monitor Staff Reports
MINEOLA–The hosting Mineola Lady Yellowjackets pounded out 13 hits to defeat the visiting Eustace Lady Bulldogs 10-3 Friday.
Now 0-2 in District 14-3A softball play, the Lady Bulldogs’ scheduled home game against Canton was washed out Tuesday night.
Forecast rain also threatens a scheduled road game against the Kemp Lady Yellowjackets at 6 p.m. Friday, March 27.
The Lady Bulldogs are scheduled to host Wills Point Tuesday, March 31, and travel to second-ranked Van Friday, April 3, weather permitting.
Friday’s game at Mineola was far closer than the score indicated, as the hosting Lady Yellowjackets blew open a 5-2 contest with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Mineola took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but the Lady Bulldogs scored two runs in the top of the third to take a brief lead.
The Lady Yellowjackets scored three runs in the bottom of the third to go up 4-2, and added a single run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
After Mineola’s five-run outburst, the Lady Bulldogs scored a third run in the top of the seventh.
Eustace had three hits and did not commit an error, while Mineola pounded out 13 hits and committed three errors.