Sports

Kelli Tucker and Michael Goodman ran well enough at their regional meet Oct. 28 in Grand Prairie to advance to the UIL Cross Country State Meet.

Tucker and Goodman both made it as individuals, with Goodman finishing 22nd overall and Tucker finishing 15th. The top four schools in each category advance as a team, so when their runners were removed Tucker finished 7th overall and Goodman finished 5th.

Perrin fought back after losing the first set in the match against Graford Oct. 29, winning their senior night match 3-1 to earn a second-place finish in the district.

The first set was back-and-forth throughout as the Lady Pirates and the Rabbits traded leads to 9-9. Graford jumped ahead with two missed Perrin spikes but the Lady Pirates came back with a kill from Kelli Tucker, followed by two aces from Tucker and two more kills from Aaliyah Brown bringing the Lady Pirate lead to 14-11.

Perrin earned a playoff berth in its resounding win against Three Way Oct. 26, beating the Braves in straight sets.

Perrin dominated the opening set, with senior Kelli Tucker and freshman Aaliyah Brown scoring a majority of the points. Tucker had three aces to start the set and Brown had four kills and a tap-over to give the Lady Pirates an early 8-0 lead. 

Early leads would be the theme of the match as the Lady Pirates never trailed in the match. 

The Bryson Cowgirls had trouble closing out against the Perrin Lady Pirates but won the Oct. 22 match 3-1.

The Cowgirls fell behind early in the first set but even the score 10-10 and did not look back. Bryson’s Emery Fisher and Brinkley Richardson both had two aces in Bryson’s 25-20 first set victory. 

The second set was a similar story, with Bryson falling well behind early at 7-1. Perrin’s Aaliyah Brown scored the Lady Pirate’s first six service points with two aces and three helpful blocks from Nayeli Lopez. 

In a game without playoff implications the Jacksboro Tigerettes played hard until the final whistle, sweeping the Breckenridge Buckaroos in their Oct. 25 matchup.

Senior Baylee Thomas was strong throughout the match, hitting 10 spikes and setting up for five blocks on the net. She said all she wanted to do was enjoy her last home game with her teammates. 

The Bryson Cowboys did not defend their home turf on Oct. 25, losing 62-16 to Newcastle Bobcats in a rainy game that was decided at halftime.

Newcastle’s JD Brice said the conditions played a strong part in how well the Bobcats played. He said while other teams may be required to pass, they can keep the ball on the ground.

“That’s a big part of how we play,” Brice said. “We excel in conditions like this, where other teams have to pass more and we can keep running it. Coach (Julian Menchaca) emphasized that in practice and that is what we worked on all week.”

TOLAR – Randall Hamilton was more than a little angry Friday.

Hamilton saw a lackluster pregame warmup from his Jacksboro teammates and had a few “choice” words to say about it.

“The coaches have been looking for leadership, saying ‘if you look around, it’s probably you,’” Hamilton, a junior lineman, said. “(The pregame) really pissed me off, so I decided to say something to my teammates.”

Coach Rebekah Bland was proud of how the Perrin volleyball team played against Poolville on Oct. 18, despite losing in straight sets.

Bland said the first two sets were some of the best volleyball she has seen her team play and there were positives to take away from the match.

“The first two sets I was pleased,” Bland said. “We played pretty much point for point until the end of each of them. The third set we just lost our confidence.”

BRYSON – It can be difficult for a team not to play down to the level of a lesser opponent.

Against Three Way, which is in its second year of being a high school team, Oct. 15, Bryson had problems playing up to the level which had it qualifying for the State Tournament a year ago. The Cowgirls managed to get its game together enough, needing just 53 minutes to post a 25-7, 25-12, 25-14 win at Cowgirl Gym.

Cowgirl Coach Kim Hauger said her squad did a good job at finishing but there’s still some work to be done.