Photos by Amanda Hall

Tonight the Lavaca Golden Arrow Basketball teams closed out the week against the Hackett Hornets. Anytime these two schools face off, there is liable to be a battle break out, and tonight was no exception. First up were the Junior High Boys. The Junior Arrows came into the game undefeated and the Hornets definitely put that in jeopardy. The Junior Hornets gave Lavaca all they could handle and played them to what would be the closest game to date. This was a back and forth defensive battle. Hackett held the size advantage which Lavaca struggled with. Coach Reed explains,

“The Junior High struggled offensively tonight with Hackett’s size, but we kept pushing. Avery hit a huge shot and from there we out competed them in the end.”

The game went into overtime where the Arrows finally took control. They went on to win 39-34. It was a great game and a great struggle. For the Arrows it was good to “gut out a win”. That kind of resilience will payoff later in the season. The Great Pele’ once said,

““The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.”

Next up was the Senior High Girls. The Lady Arrows owned this game from the opening tip. These girls are playing better and better each time the step on the court. BethAnn May, Hope Headley, Avery Green, Sierra Lamb, and Skylar Hyatt are playing at a high level as a team. If they continue to play the way they did tonight, they will be very hard to beat. Coach Wyles broke down the point leaders tonight saying,

“Hope led with 19, BethAnn had 12, and Avery and Sierra both had 11. We will go to Westside Tuesday for another big conference game. They’re always tough so we’ll have to play well again”

The Lady Arrows cleared the bench to start the fourth quarter, giving the starters a chance to rest and our younger players a chance to play. Lady Arrows won 67-25.

The Senior boys game was a tale of two halves. The first half was a low scoring defensive battle. Both teams had a hard time scoring and the end of the first half was still anyone’s game. The second half the Arrows turned up the intensity and was eventually able to pull away. Coach Reed was not happy about the way the Arrows performed in the first half saying,

“ tonight we had our worst half of the year but turned it up in second. Our transition and feeding the post opened up outside shots. Andrew had a great game with 23 points.”

Arrows went on to win 62-44. Like the Junior High game, this was a game of resilience and will pay dividends later in the season.

It’s been a busy week for the Lavaca basketball program to say the least.  Games every night this week except Monday. The 7th grade girls team and the Junior High Boys team are tearing up the competition this year.  They both can boast being undefeated so far this year.  The 7th grade played 3 games this week while the Junior High will play its third game tonight.

The 7th grade Girls team is now 6-0 after completing a week of complete domination.  They Slayed the Dragon, Rounded Up the Rattlers, and last night they Punished the Pointers.  Many of these girls play travel ball together when not in school ball. These girls know each other very well and it shows on the floor. Coach Wyles had this to say about these girls,

” The 7th grade girls have been progressing really well so far. Berkley Marriott has been doing a good job running the point for us this season, and Emerson Schaefer and Madison Proctor have been giving teams a lot of trouble inside with their height and athleticism. Anniston Carter and Kinley Vanmeter have been playing really well defensively. Maddison Buford and Piper Brown have given us really good minutes off the bench. It’s also been great seeing Laura Helms and Emily Freeman get better everyday.”

The Junior High Boys have also been awesome this year.  Tonight Hackett comes to Lavaca and the Jr Arrows will look to complete the week by Stinging the Hornets.  Coach Reed had this to say about the boys,

 “The Jr boys haven’t surprised me one bit. If your here everyday watching them practice, seeing them push each other, winning games are the result. This is a very coachable group led by the back court of Avery Walker, Kolby Glidewell, Luke Watson, and Garrett Dorsey.  They are getting shots up each morning by at least 7 am. Our front court guys, Drake Grantham and Jaden Goolsby continue to improve and are our leading scorers so far this season. These guys are easy to be around because they are good teammates on and off the floor.”

By Megan Hecox

The Hackett Hornets took to the alley to face the Van Buren Pointers in last nights bowling match. The Hornets are having a pretty good season thanks in part to their awesome leader.  Head Coach for the Hackett Bowling team, Matt Whitsett, has been coaching the Hornets in bowling for the last 5 years. Coach Whitsett has always enjoyed bowling and even took it in college. Coaching the Lady Hornets softball team, Coach Whitsett was asked if he was willing to switch to coaching bowling and he jumped at the chance.

Although the Hornets didn’t take home a win last night, they did bowl some good games. Pacey McBride bowled a high game of 208 and Tanner Wright bowled a 200. Rachel Widmer bowled a 144 for the Lady Hornets. The girls’ team bowled a 145 in a great baker game. In bowling, a baker is when 6 players bowl 2 games against 6 opponents. From that, the top 5 players then bowl 2 bakers with each individual bowling 2 frames each. The final score is as a team total.

The game for tonight against Mt.Pine has been rescheduled for January 25th. The Hornets will bowl again next week on Tuesday, December 18th against Ozark at 4 pm.