Sports

Granbury Pirate baseball began its season with the Fowl Ball Invitational in Granbury over the weekend, posting a 3-3 record.

The Cornerstone Christian Academy Crusaders picked up their first win on a baseball diamond in two years Thursday, beating Bluff Dale 8-7 on the road. CCA was winless in 2019, but rallied from a run down in the top of the fifth inning. Eighth-

The Lipan Indians will return to the regional tournament for the fifth consecutive season, beating Cherokee 86-43 in the regional quarters Monday night to punch their ticket.

If Friday’s win over Dodd City in the Region BHA semifinal was sweet vindication for the Lipan Lady Indians, Saturday’s win over Eula was pure relief.

At left, Lipan head girls basketball coach Amber Branson gives some pointers to Daily Coulter during the Lady Indiansiwin over Dodd City Friday. At right, Maggie Peacock drives by a Dodd City defender. Coulter and Peacock, both junior forwards, played key roles for Lipan en route to the Lady Indians’ regional championship. Coulter had a team-high 12 points against Dodd City that included two three-pointers in the first quarter, while Peacock scored 16 points in the regional final over Eula. The Lady Indians’ state semifinal game isThursday at 830 a.m. against Chireno. For more from the regional tournament, see 5A.

The Lipan Lady Indians carried out the proud basketball tradition of LHS last weekend, winning the UIL Region III-1A championship and advancing to the state tournament this week in San Antonio. For more on the Lady Indians/weekend, see P. 5A.

The Lipan Indians blew out Cherokee 86-43 at Hamilton High Monday to advance to the Region III-1A tournament.

The Lipan Indians will face Cherokee in the regional quarterfinal round of the Class 1A playoffs Monday.

The Lipan Lady Indians claimed the Region III-1A basketball title with a 42-34 win over the Eula Pirates at Mansfield Legacy Saturday.

We have been reporting on the spawning white bass for couple of weeks now and that spawn is starting to take off.

The Granbury Lady Pirates rebounded from a shootout loss at Burleson Centennial last week with a 3-0 win at home against Crowley Tuesday.

The Granbury Pirate and Lady Pirate JV golf teams competed at the Buzzy JV Open at Cross Timbers Golf Course in Azle Tuesday.

The Granbury Lady Pirates suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday in the wind, dropping a home game 7-1 to Class 3A No. 4 Brock.

Freshman Chelsea Lott is in her first season with the Lipan Lady Indians, and she’s already experiencing Lipan’s rich basketball history. Lipan beat Priddy 58-27 in the regional quarterfinals of the UIL Class 1A playoffs Tuesday. The Lady Indians, ranked No. 3 in the state in Class 1A, played No. 2 Dodd City at Mansfield Legacy High School Friday. Check hcnews.com for scores from that game. The winner of Friday’s game will play the winner of No. 8 Eula and No. 11 Saltillo in the regional final at Legacy at 2 p.m. today for the right to go to the state tournament.

The Granbury Pirates started their season by going 2-0 on the first day of their home tournament. Matthew Walters (pictured) earned Granbury’s first hit of the season, a double to right field to lead off the Pirates’ 8-5 win over Abilene. Walters went 3-4 with a home run in the game. Granbury beat Sweetwater 10-5 in the second game. See Wednesday’s edition of the Hood County News for a full tournament recap.

Another Granbury Lady Pirate soccer player has committed to continue her career at the next level.

The only thing more aggressive than the wind blowing through Merkel Tuesday night was the defense of the Childress Bobcats, which stymied the Tolar Rattlers in the second half and knocked Tolar out of the Class 3A playoffs with a 63-49 loss.

Lipan head coach Brent Gaylor was admittedly a bit uncertain before the Indians’ area round playoff game against the Evant Elks in Glen Rose Thursday. It was the first career playoff game for eight members of the Lipan roster. Gaylor didn’t know how they’d react.

The Granbury High School Pirate powerlifing team won its district championship Tuesday, beating Azle, Aledo, Brewer, Boswell, Springtown, Glen Rose, Saginaw and Chisholm Trail.

Cornerstone Christian Academy played its firsT tennis match in three years and came away with a win over Southwest Christian this week in cold and windy conditions. The varsity girls played five singles matches, winning three, and went 2-1 in doubles. Jordan Becker and Dakota Becker both won 6-0, while Chloe Laing won 6-3. In doubles, Jordan Becker and Laing won 4-3 and Dakota Becker and Abigail Finneran breezed to a 6-1 win. The boys went 2-2 in singles and won their lone doubles match. Trey Morgan (pictured) won his singles match 7-6, and Isaac Duke won 7-5. Morgan combined with John Wallace to win a doubles match 6-0. The Crusaders are coached by Salah Morgan.

The Tolar Rattler basketball team stands at attention for the national anthem before the Class 3A bi-district game against Childress in Merkel Tuesday. Tolar was eliminated with a 63-49 loss. For more on the game, see P. 7A.

The Class 1A No. 3 Lipan Lady Indians beat No. 2 Dodd City 48-35 at Mansfield Legacy Friday to advance to the Region III-1A championship.

A 40-point second quarter lifted the Lipan Indians to an 87-37 win over Evant in the area round of the Class 1A UIL playoffs in Glen Rose Thursday.