Photos By Amanda Hall

Oh what a run the Lavaca Junior High Ladies had this year! It didn’t end the way they wanted but they should be extremely proud of themselves for being able to play in the final game of the year. The Lady Arrows ran though the conference with their only losses coming to Mountainburg. This allowed the Arrows to have the two seed in the 2A-4 District Tournament. Last night the two teams met once again in the Championship game as expected.

According to Coach Vire, with a bye to the Semifinal game, the Lady Arrows were able to come up a strong game plan. That plan was working well and the ladies from Lavaca were able to keep the game close until they lost one of their key players. Lindsey Morgan went down midway through the second quarter and the girls lost momentum. Lindsey is such and important part of this team. Mountainburg is a very good and very well coached team. Being as solid as they are, its near impossible to regain momentum against them once lost. To the Lady Dragons coach Vire offers his “Congratulations on a great season.”

I had asked coach Vire to talk about the fantastic season his Junior High Ladies had this year, this is what he had to say, “Words cannot express how extremely proud of this group of girls I am. We took some lumps early in the season but the girls came into practice every day hungry and wanting to get better, which says a lot about these girls. We kept grinding away and started to see some success.
On November 30th after our game at Mansfield I told them that if they kept trusting what we were trying to do, and to keep coming to practice ready to get better, come February we would bring home a trophy (and we brought home two). Then when we got into the conference part of our schedule after the Mountainburg game I gave them a goal to win the next three games and go into Christmas on a streak. After achieving that goal you could really see their confidence grow. We then went on to finish the season Conference Runner-Up and after yesterday, District Runner-Up.

It has been a pleasure coaching these young ladies. I credit their being able to accomplish what they did this season, and their being able to play for a championship to their hard work and them being coachable. Our seven Freshmen: Rylie Green, Anna Todaro, Elle Williams, Lindsey Morgan, Kaile Burnett, Selena Shelly, and Maycie Wilbanks are going to missed next year. They have been a joy to be around and I am excited to see what the future holds for them. Katie May will be the only returning starter and Anna Davis who played off the bench will also be returning for us next year. I want to thank the community of Lavaca for getting behind our team and supporting us throughout the season, the girls and I appreciate all the support from everyone.”

These seven players will indeed be missed on the Junior High roster, but will be well received at the High school level. The High School team will be graduating six and this group will be a welcomed group by Coach Wyles.

Photos by Amanda Hall

Last night in the JC Westside gymnasium, The Lavaca Junior High Golden Arrow basketball team completed a magical season. The type of season that is rare. They were able to run the table, remain unbeaten and secure not only a conference title but also the 2A-4 District championship. Their grand finale was at the expense of the Hackett Junior Hornets. This was a rematch of the only game in which the Arrows perfect season was placed in jeopardy. In the previous match up, Hackett took the Arrows to overtime before losing by five points.

Last nights Championship defiantly lived up to its billing and was one of the best battles in recent memory. The Hackett players are big and physical. They rebound well and do a very good job closing down the lane. Because of their size, they were able to hang close in a nip and tuck game, but by the 4th quarter the Arrows were able to start pulling away. Kolby Glidewell was able to match up with the physicality of the game. And. The Lavaca shooters were able to hit big shots from outside and get to the free throw line when they did drive the ball down low. By time the final horn sounded the Arrows had won 40-34.

Coach Reed couldn’t be more proud of this team and he had a lot to say. He said, “What a great season, these are some of the toughest most committed group of kids I’ve been around. We’ve faced adversity with losing a starter midseason. We also found ourselves undersized at times, especially in the finals against Hackett. However, these guys continued to work hard each and every day and find ways to be successful! In the finals, Luke Watson led us in scoring tonight with 17. He also guarded Hackett’s best player, as he always does. Drake Grantham and Avery Walker had 9 points a piece. Kolby Glidewell chipped in with another 6 point and some big rebounds down the stretch. The best thing about these guys is how they care for each other and love seeing their teammates succeed.” The great thing about this team is that they will only great better as they continue to play together. The future is bright for Lavaca basketball for years to come.