Juniors Elijah Johnston of Granbury and Brylen Feist of Tolar were competing in the Class 5A and 2A State Track and Field Meets at the University of Texas in Austin at press time Friday, May 3.
Johnston was competing in the 200-meter dash and Feist is a pole vaulter. Each is making their first appearance at state.
Johnston entered state as the No. 4 seed following his winning time of 21.33 seconds at the 5A Region I Meet April 20 at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. The time, barely off his school-record time of 21.32, was posted in typical West Texas inclement weather.
The top time is 20.99, followed by 21.04 and 21.20.
Likewise, Feist vaulted in inclement weather, so much that Day 2 of the 2A Region II Meet was postponed for two days. His height of 14 feet has him seeded sixth.
The top vault is 16-8, followed by two at 15-6.
GRANBURY SOFTBALL
The Granbury Lady Pirates (15-17) advanced to the second round of the Class 5A softball playoffs, disposing of District 6-5A champion Fort Worth South Hills with ease, 9-0 and 11-0 April 24 at Burleson High School and April 25 at Saginaw High School.
The Lady Pirates finished fourth in District 5-5A.
Allison Dafoe got the pitching victory in both games. She tossed a 4-hitter in Game 1, striking out six and walking a single batter. In Game 2 she hurled a 5-hitter with five strikeouts and no walks.
Hitting in Game 1: Preslee Carnes three hits, three RBIs; Hannah Dafoe two hits, two walks, RBI, three stolen bases; Morgan Johnson two hits, RBI; Karmyn Williams double, three walks, RBI; Rachel Venable double, walk, RBI; Montana Bowshire double, RBI.
Hitting in Game 2: Venable three hits, double, three RBIs; Carnes two hits, RBI; Williams two hits, walks, RBI; Bowshire two hits, double; Abby Stone two hits; Brenna Haynes two hits; H. Dafoe double, two stolen bases; Carli Carlton double, two RBIs.
The Lady Pirates were playing Joshua (27-8) in a best-of-3 series in the area round at press time. The Lady Owls were third in District 8-5A.
TOLAR SOFTBALL
The Lady Rattlers (18-6), champions of District 11-2A, made short work of the Itasca Lady Wampus Cats, fourth in 12-4A, 13-0 April 25 in Rio Vista.
Reese Tryon pitched a 1-hitter for Tolar, striking out 13 and walking just a single batter.
Allyson Dobbs led Tolar at the plate with three hits, including a double and RBI. Kanyn Deaver had two hits, while Senne Imel walked twice, was hit by a pitch and stole two bases.
The Lady Rattlers were playing Collinsville (22-9-1) in a best-of-3 area-round series at press time, all games in Argyle. The Lady Pirates were the runners-up in District 10-2A.
LIPAN SOFTBALL
The Lady Indians had no difficulty with Hamilton in their Class 2A bidistrict softball game Friday, April 26, winning 24-2 in Glen Rose.
The Lady Indians collected 18 hits in the victory and pitcher Ella Sharp struck out 12 batters with no walks and a single earned run in five innings. Sharp also collected three hits at the plate, including a double and a pair of runs batted in.
Also hitting for Lipan: Ryan Atkinson three hits, double, home run, walk, four RBIs; Ashlyn Clark three hits, double, triple, four RBIs; Dixon Sinclair two hits, home run, three RBIs, four stolen bases; Sarah Marcantonio two hits, double, two RBI, two stolen bases; Gentry Kirkland double, hit by pitch, RBI.
The Lady Indians (11-6), runners-up in District 11-2A, were playing District 10-2A champion Muenster (17-6) in the second round of the postseason in Weatherford at press time.
GRANBURY BASEBALL
The Pirates (17-12, 5-8 in District 5-5A) slipped past Northwest 3-2 on the road April 26 to move into a tie with Saginaw for the fourth and final playoff berth from district. However, their postseason dreams ended the next day with 3-0 loss to the Rough Riders at Northwest High School.
In defeating Northwest, the third-place team in district, the Pirates scored the winning run in the eighth inning as Cooper Brown had a sacrifice bunt and RBI. The Texans had tied the game in the bottom of the seventh.
Blake Bramlett had two hits for the Pirates and Braxton Heffernan doubled. On the mound, Murphy Page pitched five innings, giving up two hits, one run (zero earned) with seven strikeouts, two walks and two hit batters. In relief, Hunter Jones pitched three innings for the win, giving up two hits, one unearned run with three strikeouts, a walk and a hit batter.
Against Saginaw, Heffernan ended his high school career with a double. He also pitched five innings, giving up three hits, two earned runs, striking out four with two walks.
Noah Madearis pitched two innings with one hit, one earned run, one strikeout and a walk.
TOLAR BASEBALL
The Rattlers (12-7-2, 8-0 in District 13-2A), champions of their league, were facing Moody (8-13) in a best-of-3 bidistrict series at press time. The Bearcats are the fourth-place team from District 14-2A.
The first two games were at Moody Friday night at press time, with a third game, if necessary, in Tolar Saturday, May 4, at noon.
LIPAN BASEBALL
The Indians (7-9, 5-3 in District 13-2A), district runners-up, were playing Bosqueville (14-10-1) at press time. The Bulldogs are the third-place team from District 14-2A.
All three games were being played at Whitney Thursday and Friday.
GRANBURY TENNIS
Roland Krause of Granbury finished fourth in Boys Singles in the District 5-5A Tournament at TCU April 29-30. He is the second alternate for regionals.
Krause won his first two matches of the tournament, finishing with a 2-2 record.
Also for Granbury, the Boys Doubles team of Justin Rios and Kaden Bohney won their first match before falling to the top seeds from Aledo. In other matches, Katie Childs in Girls Singles, Tyler St. Don and Oakley Boyd in Boys Doubles, and Sullivan Williamson and McKenna Moreno in Mixed Doubles dropped close three-set matches.
“Overall, I am really proud of this group. They have come a long way this year,” coach Athan Laskaris said. “Tough to lose so many close ones, especially for our seniors. However, still very proud of the way we competed, and look forward to learning and improving this offseason.”
ALL-STATE/ALL-REGION BASKETBALL
Court Gaylor and Darius Steed, who helped the Lipan Indians to a second consecutive Class 2A state basketball championship, have been named Class 2A All-State by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. Also from the area, Tolar’s Merritt was honored on the 2A team.
From the regional finalists Lipan Lady Indians, Taylor Branson and Hanna Gaylor were selected.
Six players from Lipan and two from Tolar also received Class 2A All-Region II honors from the TABC.
Lipan girls: Branson, Gaylor, Ashlyn Clark, Madison Cornelius
Tolar girls: Senne Imel
Lipan boys: Gaylor, Steed
Tolar boys: Imel
TGCA BASKETBALL HONORS
Hanna Gaylor and Taylor Branson were honored by the Texas Girls Coaches Association. Branson was named Class 2A All-State and Gaylor was chosen to play on the Classes 1A-4A Red team in this summer’s TGCA All-Star Game.
TGCA ACADEMIC ALL-STATE
Lipan: Olivia Benitez, Taylor Branson, Ashlyn Clark, Madison Cornelius
Granbury: Ella Garner, Camryn Goodale, Brionna Johnson
GRANBURY FOOTBALL
Spring workouts have begun for the Pirates and will continue through May 16, with the annual Spring Game set for May 17 at 6 p.m.
New head coach Bobby Allison said 120 players turned out for workouts.
RODEO
With the regular season coming to an end in the North Texas High School Rodeo Association, many area competitors are in position to earn a berth in the NTHSRA Finals. The top 15 in each event advance to the Finals May 17-18.
Barrel racing: 11. Ainsley Reeves, Granbury, 357 points
Breakaway roping: 12. Kyley Kenley, Tolar, 308
Chute dogging: 1. Joseph Rickabaugh, Tolar, 959; 3. (tie) Levi Johnson, Granbiury, 672
Ride-up goat tying: 6. (tie) Rylee Rickabaugh, Tolar, 693; 15. Carsyn Nolen, Granbury, 147 (21-point lead for final berth)
Walk-up goat tying: 6. Grace Burdick, Granbury, 700; 10. R. Rickabaugh, 399
Poles: 6. Reeves, 616
Saddle bronc: 2. Johnson, 406
Team roping-header: 7. Takota Kenley, Tolar, 427
Teams: 7. Granbury, 3,269; 8. Tolar, 3,262
GRANBURY JV TENNIS
Azle Buzzy Classic
Girls Singles A: Ellie Weeks, 1st
Mixed Doubles B: Hayden Garcia/Rayleigh Langdon, 1st
Mixed Doubles A: Levi Logsdon/Kaydence Grumbine, 2nd
Boys Doubles B: Landon Areno/Jayden Shepard, 1st; Camden Lynch/Kallen Graves, 3rd
Boys Doubles A: Max Hughes/Aidan Hall, consolation champions
Girls Doubles B: Miranda Munoz/Karla Perez, 1st; Jocelyn Merendon/Daija Wedige, 2nd
Boys Singles A: Reece Hunt, 3rd; Jackson Folger, consolation champion
GRANBURY JV TRACK
District 5-5A Meet
Running distances in meters, field events in feet and inches.
Granbury results
JV Girls
Team score: 107 points, 3rd place
Top finishers
3200: 3. Kambry Zschiesche, 13:24.81
4x100 relay: 1st, 52.06
100 hurdles: 1. Zaeda Sedgwick, 17.60; 2. Jina Kim, 17.78
100: 3. Tamea Busby, 13.46
300 hurdles: 3. Kim, 53.61
High jump: 2. Remi Chastain, 4-6
Long jump: 2. Busby, 15-1.5
Shot put: 1. Hanchell, 28-4.5
JV Boys
Team score: 67 points, 3rd place
Top individual finishes
110 hurdles: 2. Conner Vanquill, 16.56
400: 1. Andy Debello, 53.24
300 hurdles: 2. Vanquill, 42.89
Discus: 1. Ryler Kersh; 122-3