Sports

The Lady Raiders had some difficulties last week as district play continues. Rice has been having those same difficulties all district season as they have yet to get their first district win of the season. After a difficult offensive performance in the first game of the week against Edna, the Lady Raiders got a better performance against Industrial despite still falling in a big deficit.

The Texas Girls’ Coaches Association is a statewide press organization that covers, analyzes and ranks varsity girls’ sports in every division. Both the Columbus Lady Cardinals and the Weimar Ladycats spent time this past season on the TGCA top-25 poll as one of the top teams in the state. Because of their team performance this season, it is no surprise that there are a number of players from both teams who received honors for their play. Below are the TGCA All-State selections in Colorado County. Note: The All-State selections are separated by division and consolidated here for space. Columbus is in the 3A division, and Weimar is in the 2A division.

The Weimar Ladycats had only one game this past week after having an off day on Friday. Despite the break, they may have been chomping at the bit to get back on the court to redeem themselves after dropping a close game against the Ganado Lady Indians. Weimar had a strong game and kept things close because of their defense which has been elite all season. However, they did not find enough scoring late to get over the hump as they fell to the 37-35 defeat.

COLUMBUS BOYS TAKE SECOND AT RICE SOCCER TOURNEY

The Weimar Wildcats had chances near the end of their game against Ganado to potentially come out with a victory. They were able to score and defend at a relatively high level all game. However, Ganado made just enough plays to take the tight victory as they held on for a 56-53 win.

The Columbus varsity lady soccer team had a successful trip to Yoakum after picking up three wins throughout the tournament while fighting through some adversity in each of the games. Even down a few players and needing a few players to step into new positions, the Lady Cards were able to hold on for clutch wins after notching crucial goals. Columbus found opportunities in front of goal with regularity despite not being able to finish all their chances. They finished the tournament 3-1-1 with five total goals which helped them take fifth place in the overall standings.

The Columbus Cardinals varsity hoops team has gotten out to a strong start to the district portion of the schedule. They have not lost a game in four tries and made a big step toward their goal of becoming district champs after a tough win against Industrial. The Cards continue to field one of the best offensive attacks in the district led by the potent trio of Trevor Berger, Colton Pitchford and Cristian Reyna who has developed into a certified threat this season.

The Columbus varsity lady hoops team has had season- long momentum as they have depended on some outstanding offensive outings as well as a stifling defense and effective rebounding. The past week of competition was a microcosm of these trends as they finished out a defensive battle earlier in the week against Industrial before having a near 70-point explosion in their game to finish out the week with a big win against Hallettsville. Following their performances last week, the Lady Cards have climbed up to the 17th spot in the Texas Girls’ Coaches Association state poll.

The Raiders’ varsity basketball team has been getting strong results from their offensive attack as the team has gotten more cohesive as the season has progressed. Last week, they continued their highly effective offense with two more impressive performances. They crossed the 60-point threshold twice and even reached the 70-point mark on the way to splitting their two games of the week. They lost a close one to Tidehaven on Tuesday, Jan 3 and won a blowout against Palacios on the following Friday.

Last week, the Lady Raiders lost back-to-back games by big margins.

The Weimar Wildcats had some positive outcomes from their games last week despite splitting their two games. The first of the two matchups was a competitive loss to Schulenburg that led to the Wildcats falling just short in their game against the second-place team in the district. Their second game of the week was one of their best games of the season as they dominated the Louise Hornets throughout the entirety of the game outside of a tight first quarter.

Weimar Ladycats’ varsity basketball team had an up and down week as they played in two games with different results. Their first game of the week against Schulenburg was a slow, grind-it-out game that resulted in Weimar falling just short by a few points. They had a much stronger outing in their second game of the week as the offense picked up potency. They ran all over Louise on the way to a huge blowout win to end the week. In the most recent state poll released by the Texas Girls’ Coaches Association, Weimar came in at no. 25 as one of the top 2A teams in the state.

Just a few days after Christmas, the Cards traveled out to Schulenburg to compete in their varsity tournament on Dec. 27 and Dec. 28. Columbus struggled in the opening game against a visiting, out-of-country opponent and took a big blowout loss to open the tournament. The Cards recovered after that loss as their offense got some big boosts from their leading scorers to finish the tournament with a three-game winning streak.

The Columbus Lady Cardinals took a short trip into Weimar during the winter break to take on the Weimar-hosted varsity tournament in the middle of the week. Columbus started off the tournament with a strong push with big performances on both ends of the court. Despite their strong performances in their victories, they also took a few defeats against opponents that took an advantage over Columbus in those areas. The Lady Cards finished the tournament with a 2-2 split after alternating wins and losses through four games.

The Weimar Ladycats hosted a varsity tournament during the last week of December which featured appearances by fellow Colorado County school Columbus. The day following the tournament, the two teams competed against each other on the following day as an in-county matchup between both schools that are having strong seasons so far. The Lady Cards had a big scoring game that started from the opening tip as they took a 55-26 victory over the Ladycats.

The Rice Lady Raiders competed in a tournament during the last week of 2022. Stats and results for some of the games were not available by the time of press deadline. However, the results that were available reflected some major struggles for Rice. They took a 46-34 loss to Karnes City early in the tourney, and then later took a huge 54-14 loss to Nixon-Smiley the next day.

The Raiders spent some time during the winter break to take on the Nixon-Smiley varsity tournament. Rice had some strong performances during the tourney, especially on the offensive end. In their wins, the Raiders offense was effective and potent. Led by All-Tournament selections Jalen Porch and Dyren Johnson, the Raiders reached the thirdplace game against Navarro in which they were defeated and claimed fourth place at the tournament.

The Weimar varsity basketball team traveled to Giddings during the winter break to take part in their mid-week varsity tournament. They had a stretch of tough outings in these games as they failed to pick up a single win against their opponents. The Wildcats ran into some defensive struggles in the first day of competition before encountering some issues on the other side of the ball on the second day of the tournament.