Sports

The Rice High School track team competed in their second straight home-hosted meet during the second iteration of the Rice Relays. Both the girls and the boys for Rice had some difficulties in claiming the point-scoring placements for their respective teams. Because of their difficulties, the boys finished just outside of the top five with a sixthplace finish, and the girls finished near the bottom of their team standings.

The Rice Raiders’ soccer team has been jockeying for position in the district standings as they compete through an up-anddown season. The Raiders experienced both the lows and highs of the season after a pair of games last week. Rice followed a difficult loss with one of their best wins of the year as the regular season draws near a close.

RICE SENDS LADY LIFTERS TO STATE

The Weimar golf team hosted and competed in the Weimar varsity golf tournament last week that featured many nearby teams, including the Columbus Cardinals. The boys and the girls from both schools had strong outings as they each finished with high placements.

Connor Schulman medaled at the recent conference indoor track and field championship.

LA GRANGE – The Columbus Cardinals’ track team got a number of top performances during an early-season meet last week. The varsity team finished with a number of medals and had several near misses as well. All of their performances combined to make up for a strong overall outing from Columbus as they continue to try to turn some of those near misses into medals.

WILDCATS BASEBALL CONTINUES SEASON

The Lady Cards’ varsity soccer team had no issues scoring during last week’s pair of competitions which included a game against the rival Lady Raiders. Columbus scored 10 total goals between the two games which marked their best two-game offensive performance of the season. They also unlocked another gear defensively, allowing just one total goal this week.

The Columbus Cardinals’ varsity soccer team played in some of their highest- scoring and tight matchups of the season over their last week of competition. They met with the Palacios Sharks for their first game of the week and hosted the Rice Raiders over the weekend. The Cards had to battle in both games, but they were able to find the win in each outing. Each game finished with a 4-3 final score, hinting at the how close each competition truly was.

The Lady Cards’ basketball team has displayed the composure needed to make a deep run into the postseason with their play so far. Columbus has been one of the stronger teams in the state all season, and they have proven that with several blowout wins in the playoffs, as well as some tight games that could not be decided until the final moments. The Lady Cards have survived and advanced all the way to the state semifinals, just one game from reaching the program’s first ever state-title appearance. They have made history along the way as each round they survive marks the furthest the Columbus Lady Cards have reached in the UIL state playoffs. They continued their historical run last week with back-to-back close-game victories to reach the semis.

The Columbus Cardinals’ varsity basketball team had its season come to an end after adding another strong year and playoff victory to the program’s resume. One of the defining traits of this season, especially in the late season, was just the sheer number of close games the Cards battled through. Several games in the regular season finished with a one-possession final margin. Columbus tasted both sides of a close game throughout the year and accumulated necessary experience that was immediately put to the test in the postseason. The Cards used a big game from Trevor Berger for a tight victory in the playoff opener to claim their second bi-district title in a row after claiming that round last season as well. Columbus ran into elite competition in the second round as they were removed from State-Title contention with a blowout defeat.

Track and field season is officially underway as the Rice Raiders hosted their first meet of the season at their home stadium. The meet featured competitors from all three varsity teams in Colorado County. Each of them left the first meet of the season with goals and areas of improvement as they look to claim more top positions in the coming meets. The Lady Cards for Columbus and the Raiders for Rice finished in the top-5 of the team standings and were the only teams from the county able to reach that threshold.

RAIDERS FOLLOW DISTRICT WIN WITH GONZALES HAT TRICK IN LOSS

The Raiders’ eighth grade basketball secured a district title after an undefeated run through the home-hosted district tournament from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11. The boys lost just three games all season and finished with a 12-3 record that led to their championship win. Pictured in the front from left to right is Miguel Marquez, Draedon Amos and Jacob Morales. In the back row from left is coach Brad Dumont, Chace Diggs, Malik Toliver, Korde Johnson, Glenn Mills, Zaide Cunningham and 8th Head Coach Mark Cantu.

RAIDERS SPLIT GAMES AT VAN VLECK TOURNEY

LA GRANGE –The girls and the boys on the Weimar golf team had some solid outings during their meet on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22. The boys finished with several sub-100 scores on the sheet as they played themselves to the fifth best score as a team. The girls sent just two golfers as they continue to try to improve their performances as they headed into the Weimar-hosted golf meet this week.

The Columbus Cardinals’ varsity baseball team got their home schedule started with the annual HOP Priest tournament late last week. The Cards came into the tournament after a strong win against Boling to begin the season. Columbus kept up their momentum in the tourney, finishing with an undefeated record in four games, including a game against their fellow Colorado County varsity players from Weimar. The Wildcats’ stats and results from the tournament were not available by the press deadline.

Freshman Skylar Heger has started for the Bossier Parish Community College softball team.

SAN ANTONIO – The Lady Cardinals’ varsity basketball team moved on to round three of the UIL State Tournament after one of their closest battles of the season against a tough Crystal City team in the Area Championship round. The Lady Cards had a strong start to the game, outscoring their opponent in each period of the first half. Columbus had to battle through some adversity near the end as their opponents battled back into the game. After a tense final period, the Lady Cards stood victorious and moved on with the 51-50 victory.

The Lady Cards varsity soccer team had a pair of strong performances last week as they snatched back-to-back district wins and extended their win streak to three games. Columbus had an explosive week offensively, finding the back of the net four times in each of their two competitions. Striker Karina Rubio had the most effective week of the bunch, scoring six of the team’s eight goals of the week. To pair with their strong offense, they also played with impressive defense as they held both of their opponents scoreless for their third clean sheet in a row.

SHINER – The Weimar Wildcats season is officially over after completing a Valentine’s Day regular season finale against the rival Shiner Comanches. With no postseason on the horizon, the Wildcats came into their game against Shiner with some energy as they attempted to leave everything on the court. After a tight first half, the Wildcats lost a bit of ground on the scoreboard before entering the final frame. However, Weimar turned on the intensity in the final period of the game as they began a furious comeback to erase the deficit and threaten the Shiner lead. However, despite Weimar’s efforts in that huge fourth quarter, they did not get a decisive, go-ahead bucket to steal the victory as they went on to lose to their rivals in a 52-51 heartbreaker.