Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 321.74
Water Temperature:
na degrees - top
80 degrees - bottom

CRANDALL–Mabank’s Lady Panthers defeated the hosting Crandall Lady Pirates 3-1 in the District 13-3A volleyball opener Friday.
Now 18-12 on the season and 1-0 in district play, the Lady Panthers were scheduled to host Kaufman Tuesday before hosting the Ferris Lady Yellowjackets Friday, Sept. 28.
Next Tuesday, Oct. 2, the Lady Panthers will travel to Eustace for a key match against the Lady Bulldogs. Each evening opens with 4:30 p.m. freshman matches.
“It was a great match to start district – the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the district battling it out,” Mabank coach Stacy Shelton reported.
“We are very evenly matched,” she added. “All the games were close, and two of the four games went 27-25.”

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Mabank’s Lauren Hamilton (14) returns a serve as teammates Katie Cross (4, white uniform) and Miranda Groom (8) move into position during an Aug. 21 match against Quitman.

Mabank opened with a 25-21 win, but Crandall came back to win the second game 27-25.
The Lady Panthers took the next two games, 25-19 and 27-25, to win the match.
“We played pretty good, but I know we can play better,” Shelton said. “Our serve receive suffered in game four, and we can do better than that.
“They had a great outside hitter, and what better way for us to win the match than with a block from Macey Thomas?” Shelton added.
“We need to go over our film with a fine-tooth comb to see how we can stop her in the next round,” Shelton said. “She is a really good outside attacker, and we need to improve our defense on her.”
Thomas wound up with five blocks and two digs on defense, while Katie Cross had 16 digs and two serving aces, and Haley Brackenridge had one kill, one block and one dig.
Miranda Groom and Hali Schultz each posted excellent all-around efforts to lead the Lady Panther offensive attack.
Groom notched 25 kills, one block, 18 digs and one ace, while Schultz had 23 kills, one block, 15 digs, one ace and one save.
Setter Kelsi Reynolds had 48 assists and seven digs, while Bridgette Tanner had five kills, two blocks, 14 digs and three assists.
 

Panthers host Tigers for homecoming
Monitor Staff Reports
MABANK–“We’ve just got to get better – no more excuses,” Mabank head coach Jimmy Cantrell said Monday.
Last Friday’s 31-6 road loss to Rockwall Heath dropped the Panthers to 1-3 on the season. Mabank hosts the Wills Point Tigers Friday night in the Mabank High School annual homecoming contest.

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Mabank senior receiver Haydon Blair (8) runs through the Rockwall Heath defense for a 28-yard gain, one of the Panthers’ longest plays during their 31-6 loss to the hosting Hawks last Friday night.

Field position cost the Panthers dearly against the Hawks, and the Panthers have been having trouble with field position for the past three games, all losses.
The Panthers’ high-risk/high-reward spread offense hasn’t been clicking anywhere close to what it needs to be, except during the first half of their Sept. 14 loss to Whitehouse.
On defense, missed tackles were a key element in Heath’s ability to break the big play last week.
Numerous times, Panther defenders were in position to make a play in the Heath backfield, only to see the Hawk runners juke and break a big gain – the biggest coming when Kendal Lawrence broke free up the Heath sideline for a 72-yard score, putting the Hawks up 17-0 with just five seconds left in the first half.
“That was a back-breaker,” Cantrell said. “We just have to be more fundamentally sound in what we do.
“The good news was that it was the pre-season, and we are playing good people,” he added. “Good people will expose defects, like poor tackling.”
Mabank has a very young team, particularly so after injuries removed a couple of veterans, and speed-wise, the Panthers don’t match up that well with some of the teams they’ll be facing in district play, Cantrell pointed out.
If there were any bright spots on the Mabank offense, one would be the running of senior Austin Daugherty, who would have had a pretty good night, statistically, if he had not been tagged with a 20-yard loss on a muffed punt snap (he ended up falling on the ball).
“We probably need to adjust our way of running the ball,” Cantrell said, adding that might include having quarterback Kolton Browning get more involved in the running game.
Mabank has beaten Wills Point three years in a row, including a narrow 10-7 win last year. The Tigers come into Panther Stadium this year at 3-1, including a 14-7 win over Gladewater last week.
As usual, the Tigers have size in the line – although they’re probably not as big as Heath was – and exceptional talent at the skill positions, Cantrell said.
“They’re going to try to put a lot of pressure on you (defensively),” Cantrell said. “They’re not going to drop back in a zone. They’re going to man up and bring the house.”
The Panthers’ own performance will be on trial Friday.
“No one on this side of the building is happy with how we played against Heath,” Cantrell said.
Friday night also brings homecoming activities. “Homecoming is always a distraction, although it didn’t bother Heath much,” Cantrell said.
“What bothers me is that we’re not doing the little things to win those games,” he added. “We’ve got to get better, and we’ve got to get better in a hurry.”
Wills Point has shown a tendency to turn the ball over at times, and the Panthers have to be ready to take advantage of that opportunity, while at the same time not giving up turnovers themselves, Cantrell said.
“We’ve beaten them the last three years,” he added. “Those kids are going to come over here with fire in their eyes, and we’ve got to be able to match that intensity.”
 

‘Trick or treat’ tournament set
Monitor Staff Reports
PEELTOWN–The Sons of the American Legion Post 310 will hold its annual “Trick or Treat” fund-raiser golf tournament Thursday, Oct. 4, at the Indian Oaks Golf Course in Peeltown.
Sign-in begins at 8 a.m., with tee time at 9 a.m. for the two-man scramble, with teams limited to just three clubs.
Trophies will be awarded for first, second and third places, as well as for longest drive and closest to the pin.
For more information, contact Jerry at (903) 880-7190, Benny at (903) 340-5466, or Bryon at (903) 340-1546.