Next Year, New Teams:
District Realignment Sparks Excitement around School
By Jacob Dow
Every two years, the same event occurs at the beginning of February. In Texas high school sports, this is a very important day as teams learn of their district competition for the following two seasons. It was especially important for Lion football going into their first varsity season. The team will kick off the varsity program playing in a district that includes Boyd, Callisburg, Howe, Paradise, and Pottsboro.
“This district puts us in a good position to be successful very early. We have a legitimate shot to be a playoff team next season,” Coach Kevin Pitman said.
New basketball districts were also revealed today. For the 2010-2011 seasons, the basketball teams will face off against Alvord, Henrietta, Holliday, Krum, Nocona, and Wichita Falls City View. Once again, the Battle of 156 will stay intact as Krum remains in the same district. Other than Krum and Alvord, however, all other teams are at the least an hour away.
“This is definitely a travel district,” Coach Stanley said. “This will be a well coached district and a lot of fun to play in.”
Both boys and girls basketball teams look to be in a good position for a playoff run next season.
“Other than the three hour bus drive to Holliday, I like this district for us.” Coach Bates said. “We have a great shot.”
Baseball, softball, and volleyball districts have yet to be announced, but they are expected to follow the basketball alignment. If this is so, the baseball team will have to face Holliday, a state finalist from the last season. Either way, all of the new district teams should be very competitive and give each of our teams a great shot at making the postseason. |
Debate Anticipates UIL
By Casey Locey
The Ponder High School Debate team is standing anxiously on its toes as it prepares for this year’s District Cross Examination (CX) UIL tournament. The tournament will be held in the Aubrey Administration Building on Thursday, February 4.
“The district tournament will include teams from all eight schools in district 10-2A. Only the top two teams advance from district into the state tournament, which is held in the University of Texas at Austin,” Debate coach Mr. Thomas McNair said.
PHS will be sending four debaters, including sophomore Rudy Wallace and freshmen Emilio Fedele, Jacob Gerik, and Ben Michaud. Wallace and Fedele will be teamed together, as will Gerik and Michaud.
“It’s hard in CX Debate because you have to be confident, because how you do affects how your partner does, and the judges look at both of you as a whole,” Gerik said.
This year’s tournament will be particularly interesting, since Wallace is the only Debate member among the four who has ever participated in Debate before, and Mr. McNair is also new to coaching the activity.
In addition, the debaters’ preparation time has been limited as the past two weekend practices were cancelled, and their experience in CX Debate is scarce.
“We’ll do the best that we can, which doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll win, but we’ll do better than we’ve done in the past,” Fedele said.
Some debaters, however, have a more optimistic prediction for Thursday’s tournament.
“We’re going to win even though we’re new at this, because I’m naturally amazing,” Michaud said. |
JV Girls Place 2nd in Tourney
By Aubrey Antle
The Ponder JV basketball girls are approaching the end of their season with only three games left. They have a district record of 7-3 and their season record stands 12-8. Last Thursday, Jan. 28, was the beginning of the district tournament for the Lady Lions.
This was a district tournament for the JV teams; however, Ponder’s team is made-up of all freshmen. The Lady Lions were playing older and more experienced players, but the team had a positive outlook on the tournament.
“It was a good experience for the team, and I think we learned a lot from it,” freshman Carley Moore said.
The Lady Lions faced the Aubrey Chaparrals the first round. After playing them once earlier in the season and losing by one point, they came into the game determined to be victorious, and they overcame the Chaparrals with a big win. They were supposed to play Callisburg on Friday, but this game was cancelled due to the weather conditions. The tournament continued on Saturday when the team went up against the Valley View Eagles at noon. The Lady Lions took control of the Eagles and came out on top.
After winning both of these games, the Lady Lions went into the championship undefeated. Their match-up was against long time rival Krum Lady Cats. This face off started at 3:00 pm Saturday afternoon and this was the third time the Lady Lions have played Krum this season. This was their final game of the tournament and they were determined not to go down without a fight. They put everything they had left in this game, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the Lady Cats.
“It was a hard game and even harder loss. We need to go out now and play our hardest for the last three games of the season,” freshman Katie Sparkman said.
The JV girls will travel to Pilot Point Tuesday as one of their remaining games. Previously they beat them 34-19, and they should have no problem with the Lady Bearcats.
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Ponder Lions defeat Callisburg and remain 1st in district
By Emily Liberto
This season, the Ponder Lions varsity boys’ basketball team has faced many challenges, one of them being injuries. Four of the nine boys this season have had some kind of injury. Last week, yet another injury affected the varsity boys team, junior Robert Davenport sprained his ankle in practice.
Despite the injuries, the team still had district games to win. Last Friday, the varsity boys played early at 6:30. Due to bad weather, the JV games were cancelled and the varsity games were moved up. The Lions faced the Callisburg Wildcats. They came into the game determined to keep their undefeated record in district. Because of Robert’s injury, senior Wade Ford started in Friday’s game. Ponder defeated Callisburg with a score of 61 to 38 and defended their 1st place spot in district.
“I was really proud of how we played against Callisburg. It really showed how we can overcome challenges and work as a team,” Ford said.
This week, the boys will play away at Pilot Point on Tuesday and at home against Aubrey on Friday. Ponder faces a challenging game against the Pilot Point Bearcats, who are currently in second place, behind Ponder, with a district record of 7-2. Friday night’s game will be against the Aubrey Chaparrals. Six of the nine players for Ponder this season are seniors. Those seniors will be honored on Senior Night, this Friday before the Aubrey game.
“We really want to make everyone proud, especially since this is the seniors’ last home game,” senior David Robertson said.
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Another Game, Another Win
By Robert Davenport
The Ponder Lady Lions faced off against Callisburg for their second time in district play, and the results were no different from the first time. The Lions had no mercy for the Lady Wildcats, overwhelming them in every quarter of the game with a final score 70-31.
“I’m proud of the team and what we’ve accomplished since the beginning of the season, but were not done yet,” junior Morgan Daniels said. “We still have to go to playoffs.”
The Lady Lions continue their district play this week, facing off against Pilot Point on Tuesday. Even though they beat Pilot Point earlier this season by nearly 30 points, it should still be a good warm-up for their game on Friday against the Lady Chaparrals. The Lady Lions were able to defeat the Lady Chaps by one point in Aubrey in the first half of district. This time, the Lady Lions will have home court advantage.
“It’s going to be a long and tough game, and hopefully it ends the same,” junior Brooke Sanders said. “We could use all the support we can get, especially from the fans.”
Friday will also be the seniors’ last night to step out on a Ponder court for the remainder of their basketball careers. Seniors Tyne Deussen and Katie Peterson will be recognized prior to their game, which should start at 7:00 pm.
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Varsity Tennis Starts Season in 4A Tourney
By Erika Sparkman
The Ponder Tennis team traveled to Guyer High School in Denton to compete against several tough 4A and 5A teams in the first tournament of the season. Several players did very well making it to the semi-finals and quarter-finals.
“We did okay considering we were playing schools much larger than our own. We were the only 2A school there,” head coach Steve Dierker said.
Seniors Yvonne Michaud and Chelsea Pardue did well making it to the quarterfinals in doubles. Junior Trevor Watson also made it to the quarterfinals in singles. Sophomores and siblings Arianna Hawkins Jacob Hawkins made it all the way to the semifinals in mixed doubles.
“Overall I think we did really well considering how small we are compared to the other teams. We made them take notice and we learned a lot in the process,” Michaud said.
Tomorrow the varsity tennis team will be traveling to Liberty Christian for another tournament. Coach Dierker likes to compete against Liberty because they are always strong due to the number of kids in the private school program.
“I’m excited about tomorrow’s meet, but will be dreading how cold and windy it will be,” Michaud said. |
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Softball Begins
By Chris Bean
The Lady Lion softball team was set to kick off the season today with their first scrimmage against the Argyle Lady Eagles at home. Due to weather and field conditions, the scrimmage has been cancelled. The Lady Lions are optimistic about this season, even before they start.
“We have our best offensive hitters coming back for this year, but we have to fill in for the defensive players we lost from last year,” Coach Wells said.
The Lions have a great chance to succeed this season. There are not any completely dominating pitchers in this year’s district.
“There will be some tough games this season, but I believe that we’re ready for it all,” said coach. |
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Banquet Honors Football,
Volleyball Teams
By Taylor Gonzales
With white tablecloths, balloon bouquets, photo trees and a stage covered with Ponder football and volleyball jerseys, the setting was perfect for the first Lions Football/Lady Lions Volleyball banquet. The Ponder Athletic Booster Club hosted the first ever sports banquet for these new sports on Thursday, January 28, at the high school.
The evening began with a catered barbeque meal from Dickie’s barbeque. The crowd was entertained with the varsity football highlight film as they ate.
Volleyball started the program with the varsity and junior varsity volleyball players being introduced and recognized by head coach Cindy Thornton and assistant coaches Brenda Santini and Julie Twiner. Coach Thornton awarded four awards: Team MVP award- sophomore Brittany Dixon, Offensive Player of the Year- senior Lynsay Buell, Defensive Player of the Year- junior Aubrey Antle and the Lions Heart award-sophomore Ashley Peterson.
“It was awesome to have our first banquet,” senior Lynsay Buell said. “I was excited to get an award.”
Football head coach, Patrick McLarty, introduced the 25 varsity football players and recognized each for their impact on the team and the season. Coach McLarty and his assistant coaches Rubin Covington, Matthew Guerrant, Kenny King, Kevin Pitman, and Kirk Rodgers presented four awards also: Team MVP- senior Cody Cossman, Offensive MVP- freshman Reid Sanders, Defensive MVP- sophomore Ranger Perry, and the Fighting Heart award – senior Christian Parker.
The evening ended with the crowd singing the alma mater.
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