Lavaca Cheerleaders take State! The Lavaca Cheer team has worked very hard and competed in 6 competitions this year, but none bigger than today. Today the Golden Arrow Cheer team competed against five schools in the State Championship of the 1-3A co-ed division. The team is bringing home the bling. They are now and forever State Champs! The past two years the team competed in the Game Day category, but have moved this year to the 1-3A Co-Ed Cheer division. This Arrow team spent countless hours fighting through injuries in a quest for the perfect routine. Today they delivered on that quest making all the scapes and bruises worth while. Congratulations to Danielle Overton and her Cheer Team.
The Mansfield Sr Tigers aired it out against the Waldron Bulldogs but came up with an empty net. The Tigers fell 64-57 to Waldron in a back and forth battle. Mansfield battled not only a rival in Waldron but also with injuries and foul trouble. Due to those unfortunate circumstances, they were able to get other players playing time to help build depth on the benches. The loss puts the Tigers 3-5 overall and 1-2 in conference. Coach Keith Dake said “The game last night was everything someone would want and expect in a quality conference rivalry game. We were thrown just about every obstacle that could possibly be sent our way and we were able to battle through it. We had 3 starters with 3+ fouls by mid second quarter and another one injured. We were able to play 10 guys in Friday nights game, 9 of which scored. Jr Forward Ethan Stovall led the Tigers with 17 points and Jr Guards Jaicy Griffin and Layton Howard chipped in with 8 points of their own.”
Mansfield’s Lady Tigers lost 27-23 in a barn burner against the Bulldogs last night. The Lady Tigers traded blows with the Lady Bulldogs the entire game and didn’t back down once. Mansfield’s Lady Tigers are 2-6 overall and 0-3 in conference, but don’t let their record fool you. The girls are tremendous competitors who are constantly improving their game. Lady Tigers Coach Joshua Bryan said “The girls had a lot of shots not fall last night. We missed out on many opportunities to win the game but the girls are getting better about seeing an open girl and delivering her the ball. We will work on executing more proficiently after the catch.
So far this season I have seen a growth in grit. As a team, we struggled in the first few games with taking/making contact like taking charges or getting on the floor after a loose ball.” They say hard work pays off and if that is the case, the Lady Tigers have a BIG paycheck coming to them in the near future.
Both Tiger teams will head north to Elkins December 18th in hopes to bag a record Elk for Christmas dinner.
The Waldron Sr High Bulldogs kept their dominant streak on the hardwood alive last night as they beat the Mansfield Tigers 64-57. Last nights win put the Bulldogs 10-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The Bulldogs may not have won Best In Show due to turnovers and fouls, but a win is a win. Coach Joshua Brown said “We had some players step up and give us some good minutes on the floor. We built a few leads that would get up to 9 or 10 points but weren’t able to push past that. We had a lot of turnovers and fouls last night that need to be cleaned up. Mansfield never gave up and hit some big shots late in the game. Overall, I was pleased with our performance last night.”
The Waldron Sr High Lady Bulldogs tacked on another win last night by defeating Mansfield in a close game 27-23. The Lady Bulldogs fought ferociously throughout the game never backing down from the Lady Tigers. A big win over rival Mansfield will give the Lady Bulldogs motivation moving forward into the season. Waldron’s Lady Bulldogs are currently 2-8 overall and 1-1 in conference play but are poised to set the court on fire as they continue to improve game by game.
Both Waldron teams will take the Dog Pound north to Cedarville on December 17th to sink some shots and capsize the Pirates.
The Waldron Bulldogs had a great turnout for their 30th Anniversary celebration of the Waldron Activities Center.
The Hackett Hornets traveled to Lavaca last night to take on the Golden Arrows. Both Hornets and Lady Hornets teams played hard in their games but fell short in the end. The Hornets lost 62-44 and the Lady Hornets came in at 67-25.
The Hornets are 1-2 in conference play so far this season. Hackett sits in the 2A-4 division of their conference with 6 other teams. Those teams are Danville, Lavaca, Westside, Magazine, Mountainburg, and Hector. The Hornets will play their next conference game in January against Magazine. For now, the Hornets continue to work on perfecting their skills and refocus over the holiday break.
The Lady Hornets are 0-3 in conference play and 4-7 in overall season play. The girls played a good team in Lavaca but couldn’t keep up with the Lady Arrows consistent 3-point shot. Head Coach for the Lady Hornets, Claude Foster, is proud of his teams’ competitive nature and says the Lady Hornets will continue working hard every day to get better.
Hackett Sr High has a non-conference game on December 18th against the County Line Indians at home at 6 pm.
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.”
Drake Grantham
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.”
Avery Walker hits a big shot
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.
Hope Headley raining 3’s
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.
By Tammy Moore Teague
The City of Waldron hosted a fond farewell gathering for current Mayor Neil Cherry and a warm welcome for Mayor-Elect David Millard. That event took place on Friday afternoon from 2-3:30 p.m. at Waldron City Hall.
Cherry has served as Mayor for the City of Waldron for the past four years. His love and passion for the city was celebrated by residents and city leaders, who gathered to honor him at Friday’s event. Attendees also came with an encouraging word in support of Millard. Everyone enjoyed coffee, tea and cupcakes.
In the coming weeks, we will be featuring an in-depth story on Cherry, his time as mayor and his personal contributions to the city. City Clerk/Treasurer Sherry Johnston and Regina Oliver with Mayor Neil Cherry Mayor-Elect David Millard and Mayor Neil Cherry Angela English Hunsucker and Mayor Neil Cherry From left: Tommi Balance, granddaughter; Beth Self, daughter; Neil and Wanda Cherry, Tammy Thompson, daughter; Roger Thompson, son-in-law; Allicia Faber, granddaughter-in-law
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.
Taking it to the hoop
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.”
Flying high
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.”
The Waldron Jr High Bulldogs played a fierce game last night against the Mansfield Tigers but in the end, they came up short. The Lady Bulldogs took a final score loss of 39-14 while the Bulldogs battled big but fell short 43-35.
The Lady Bulldogs played with ruthless grit against the Lady Tigers. They matched them step by step up one end of the court and down the other. Hailey Stidman led her team in points and on the court. The Lady Bulldogs are not going to let this loss get them down but instead continue to perfect their skills and stay focused on the ultimate goal ahead.
The Bulldogs were quick out of the gate. They used their speedy style to keep pace with the Tigers offensively and defensively. They shot proficiently but just didn’t have enough in the tank to close out the Tigers. The Bulldogs aren’t looking back though. They are looking forward to correcting any mistakes they had and will be practicing hard for a tough opponent in the Cedarville Pirates December 17th.
The Mansfield Tigers and the Waldron Bulldogs took to the hardwood for the second time this season. And just like the first time, there wasn’t a dull moment all night. The Lady Tigers ended their night with a blowout final score of 39-14. The Tigers stole the victory from the Bulldogs 43-35.
The Lady Tigers get the gold star in the defense department. The girls played as aggressive as linebackers. The Lady Tigers were full of unstoppable play power, leaving fans cheering “Nothin’ but net.” At halftime, the score read 19-8 Tigers and by the end of the game, the Lady Tigers had held the Lady Bulldogs to only 6 points in the second half. Leading their team in the scoring department was Sadie Roberts and Alyson Edwards. Jumping in with the remaining points was Natalie Allison, Skylynn Harris, Kynslee Ward, Olivia Bouse, and Sarah Fisher.
The Tigers started the first half of their game a little rough, only securing 11 points. After halftime though, it was a totally different ballgame. Head Coach, Kent Elmore, said, “We battled back and executed much better on the offensive and defensive end.” Zayne Dugan was one player that had a big night offensively and defensively. “I was proud of how my guys didn’t let one half of basketball define the game,”said Coach Elmore. “They listened to the halftime adjustments and were able to fight back for a big conference win. Steven Perez and Austin Carlton continue to grow as players. Clint Stovall has developed in his basketball skills over the last 3 months. And Ethan Pettus helps in leading the team which was evident last night.”
The Jr High Tigers get back on the court next week on December 18th in Elkins.
