Lady Eagles take Tournament of Champion honors

The Canyon Lady Eagles remained perfect through the AMA Techtel Tournament of Champions, held this past week in Canyon.

The Lady Eagles overcame Wall High, 45-26 for the win in what started as a defensive dominant game.

The first quarter opened with both teams limiting offensive scores. The Lady Eagles were only able to complete three shots, and a foul shot for their first quarter seven points, while the Lady Hawks were limited to two three-point shots.
The second quarter was a continuation of the first.

The two teams each gained five points off of foul shots and added four points from the field, keeping the game to a one point spread at half-time, 16-15.

However, adjustments were made by Canyon and the ladies came out scoring an immediate six points. Wall struggled to keep up, only scoring 10-points to the Lady Eagles, 14.

This gave Canyon some room to breathe, but it was a dominant fourth quarter that put the game away. The Lady Eagles added 15 points to their score, while one completed foul shot by the Lady Hawks was all they could muster.

“It was a good weekend for the Lady Eagles as they defeated three state ranked teams to win the Kids Inc. tourney, said Lady Eagles’ head coach Joe Lombard.

“Wall was a big physical team that played great defense. A game that could have gone either way, but our players made some big plays and stayed composed throughout the second half. We are improving, but can still get better at just about everything. District starts now so we need to be playing well.”

Lady Eagles’ Jordan Vessels, Nicole Hampton and Casey Land, all were named to the All Tournament team, Most Valuable Players.

The Canyon Eagles also battled hard, but fell in their final game against Rio Rancho, 86-76.

The Eagles led through the first quarter, ending 21-17. However, this lead was erased in the second as the Rams regrouped to score 24 points, while the Eagles posted 15.

The Rams continued to remain strong through the end of the game, while the Eagles also performed well, even bringing the game within a few shots, but could not overcome the Rams lead.

“I felt good about our weekend, said Eagles head coach Guy Crenshaw. “Being inexperienced, it will take some time to get where we need to go. The tournament was run well, and we had great support from the fans.”

Will Toliver was honored from the Eagles team, receiving All Tournament team, Most Valuable Player.

The Raiders were able to capture a victory in their final game against the Mineral Wells Rams, 61-41.

Randall looked poised to overcome their loss the night before and led the Rams the whole game, beginning with a one point lead after the first quarter.

The point spread became more generous in the second as the two teams traded leads through the first few minutes, but a few Ram fouls pushed the Raiders ahead and it was nearly all points from the field that provided the 31-22 lead at half-time.

The second half proved to be consistent for Randall as they posted 15-points in the next two quarters, while Mineral Wells was only able to accumulate a 19-point in the last 16 minutes of play.

The game ended with the Raiders owning a 20-point lead.

“I felt like we had a good tournament overall,” said Randall head coach Leslie Broadhurst. “I think our defense is getting better each game. We still have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball and eliminating turnovers.”

The Raiders 6’8” Joseph Scott was also named to the All Tournament team, Most Valuable Player.

The Lady Raiders however, suffered a tough loss to the Sudan Lady Nettes, 48-32.

Beginning in the first quarter, the Lady Nettes out-played the Lady Raiders, 11-2. This lead was only added to as Sudan tacked on eight more points, while Randall was held to four.

The second quarter seemed to fare better for the Lady Raiders, as they were able to match the Lady Nettes score for score through the third, but could not erase the lead, 26-13.

The final quarter looked like an eight minute scoring drill, as the Lady Raiders more than doubled their points with putting 19-points on the board.

However, this was still not enough to best Sudan, as they were able to score 22-points themselves and end the game 48-32.

“I thought we played two really good games and sluggish the last game against Sudan,” said Lady Raider head coach Ronnie Glenn. “We need to score more from inside the paint, but it was a great tournament. Very well run by Kids Inc. We played a hard bracket, which will help us down the road.”

The Lady Raiders’ Jade Cordova was also named to the All Tournament team, Most Valuable Player.

Raider Wrestling off to strong start

The Randall Raiders look to continue their tradition of turning out strong competitors with this year’s team claiming numerous victories in their first matches.

With just under a month of competition, the team has posted 62 individual wins and 30 losses.

Wrestlers Jace Bennett and Jon Hunt, remain perfect with four wins apiece.
Meanwhile John Mark Avila and Corey Cameron also have four wins, but also suffered one loss each.

Following those stellar performances are numerous wrestlers who have added to the win column.

Cuylar Brewer, Tanner Howard, Michael Johns and Braun Marquez each have an individual record of 3-0, while Philip Escobedo and Skylar Moseley also have three wins, but with a loss each.

Brady Pitzer and Brandon Southern have also had strong starts to their season with records of 3-2.

The Raiders have amounted 179 team points thus far. With 23 falls, 31 decisions, six major decisions, one technical fall and one forfeit.

CISD challenges Tournament of Champions

The AMA-Techtel Tournament of Champions, organized and managed by Kids Incorporated, hosted eight boys teams and eight girls teams this weekend in collaboration with West Texas A&M University and Canyon Independent School District.

The games started early Friday, as the Canyon Boy’s Basketball team tipped off at 9 a.m. against a tough Mineral Wells team.

The Eagles and Rams traded shots through the first quarter, with Canyon claiming a one point lead after the first eight minutes.

However, the second and third quarters favored the Rams as they maintained a solid six point lead at the end of both quarters.

But the Eagles did not back down and out scored Mineral Wells, 18-12 in the fourth and sent the game into over-time.

The Rams ended up creeping past the Eagles and took the game, 59-56
“I was pleased because we competed, but I still hinted a touch of ‘can we do this,’” said Canyon boy’s Head Coach Guy Crenshaw. “Sometimes you have to believe you can do it before you do it.”

This belief transcended into action in Canyon’s second match later that day against El Paso Irvin High.

The Eagles came out strong and led the Rockets by seven points at the end of the first quarter.

The lead was lost as some turnovers allowing Irvin to get up by four points at the half, 28-24.

The third quarter displayed both teams trading baskets, but the Eagles cut Irvin’s lead to two points.

The fourth quarter was nearly a Canyon defensive shutout. They held the Rockets to only three points the entire quarter, while scoring 13 points and taking the win, 50-42.

“We finally played the kind of defense that I wanted to play,” Crenshaw said. “Deny the passing lanes, backside help, don’t rest and we finally did that.

“Our offense will come, but we have to make stops like that to win. We won’t ever play pretty, and I am not sure this team needs to play pretty, we need to dig down and make our mantra, play hard defensively.”

The Lady Eagles had a later start at 1:30 p.m. but found success against their two competitors.

Starting off against Crandall High, it seemed that the girls were in top form, maintaining more than a 20-point lead at the end of the second, third and fourth quarters.

The Lady Pirates kept pace, keeping the game to one point through most of the first quarter. In the final two minutes however, Canyon tacked on four points before Crandall sunk a three.

This was answered right back by the Lady Eagles’ Jordan Vessels who was fouled as she drove to the basket and tacked on the extra point.

Add one more shot from the distance by Canyon and you have the first quarter score of 15-7.

During the second quarter the Lady Eagles completed two shots for every basket the Lady Pirates scored, which led to a dominating 40-17 lead at half time.

Canyon did not let this lead slip away throughout the second half and ended the game 25 points ahead, 67-42.

Casey Land racked up a phenomenal 23 points during the game, with Macy Myrick also earning double digit with 10 points.

“I am pleased where we are at this point of the season,” said Canyon girls Head Coach Joe Lombard. “We did a great job of guarding, but we need to be more consistent with our offense.”

Many observers would not say that the Lady Eagles offense is suffering, especially after they took down their second competitor, Sudan High, in a late 8 p.m. game.

The first quarter started slower for the Lady Eagles, as they only led the Lady Nettes by three points courtesy of Lacy Logan hitting two threes before the quarter expired.

However the second quarter was back to business. Canyon worked both ends of the court, allowing only five points defensively, but scoring 16 offensively and making the score 30-16 at half-time.

This lead only increased with the next two quarters.

At the end of the third, Canyon led by 17 points and at the final they were up by 26 points, after once again limiting the Lady Nettes to five points; 53-27.

“We had a little deeper bench and we got to wear them down,” Lombard said. “Madison Russ had a standout night (defensively), and had a couple of steals.”

Both Canyon teams continued on in their respective brackets Saturday.
Randall High also got off to a strong start in the tournament, with both teams winning their first games.

The Lady Raiders challenged El Paso Hanks at 10:30 a.m. and maintained their early lead for the win.

Randall played tough defense, keeping the Lady Knights to only a handful of shots, while posting 16 points in the first quarter.

Their lead only increased in the second, as the half-time buzzer sounded with the Lady Raiders at 32 points and Lady Knights at 17.

The third and fourth quarters continued in the same fashion and Randall moved ahead in the bracket winning 49-36.

“We had a couple of girls hit some threes and that kind of got us going a little bit,” said Randall girls Head Coach Ronnie Glenn.

The Lady Raiders moved ahead to challenge Wall High, after they defeated Plainview High School. Wall featured many tall players, which seemed to challenge Randall offensively.

“I think we were a little scared against this bunch to shoot the ball because of their height,” Glenn said. “We’ve got to get over that intimidation factor.”

Wall took it to the Lady Raiders early, building a four point lead at the end of the first half.

The Lady Raiders kept pace the second quarter and brought the game back even with three minutes left.

But the Lady Hawks crept away, regaining a three point lead in the final minute of the game, 23-20.

The second half started with the Lady Hawks increasing their leady to nine points before Randall cut back that lead with some drives to the basket paired with a few foul shots.

The quarter expired with Randall behind, 33-27.

The Lady Raiders turned on the heat in the fourth, defensively stopping Wall and regaining the lead, 36-35 at the clock ticked to three minutes.

A series of turnovers allowed Wall to score eight points, while Randall only tacked on two more; final, 44-38.

“At one point we got ahead at the end of the game, but we had too many turnovers right there at the end,” Glenn said. “I thought we played well other than that.”

In the similar fashion the Raiders’ boy team got ahead early in their first game against Borger High and found a win.

The first quarter allowed a five point lead, 13-8, which only increased in the second. Randall defensively dominated, only allowing two points, while increasing the point spread by 15.

Borger could not find an answer in the second half and only earned six and seven points in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.

Randall, however, tacked on 15 more points in the third quarter and 21 more in the fourth. The final score was Randall 51, Borger, 23.

“We had a good game this morning,” said Randall boy’s Head Coach Leslie Broadhurst. “I thought that we played really good defensively.”

But just like the Lady Raiders, the Raiders let their second game slip away in the final minutes, as Plainview topped them 41-35.

The two evenly matched teams, traded shot for shot and ended the first quarter tied, 7-7.

However, Randall moved ahead in the second after getting some big stops on defense, allowing a half-time score of 16-12.

Randall’s lead persisted through the third quarter, but fatigue seemed to creep in as the fourth quarter hit the Raiders hard.

The Raiders were able to tack on nine more points in the final quarter, but this and their lead could not hold off the 20-point scoring invasion by the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs won in the final minutes, 41-35.

“We got a little tired there in the fourth quarter I think,” Broadhurst said. “But I thought that we played really hard, we had some good execution. I thought our defense was really good – we had three or four straight turnovers and that was kind of the turning point in the game.

“I told the kids that I was really proud of their effort. I thought they were really trying to do the things we wanted them to do; we just fell a little short.

“This is a great tournament, great competition – it will make us a better team and what it’s all about is getting us ready for district. I think that the preparation that we are gaining here will pay off when we get to district.”

The Lady Raiders moved on to challenge Sudan High on Saturday, while the Raiders challenge Mineral Wells.

Lady Eagles continue strong

The Lady Eagles continue to post wins after defeating Borden County 85-23, last Tuesday.

This was followed by a win at the Fantasy of Lights Tournament in Witchita Falls over the weekend.

Head Coach Joe Lombard reported that his team had lopsided wins over Dallas Sunset and Dallas Maceo Smith in pool play and then defeated Lancaster 70-36 in the semi-finals. The Lady Eagles took down Witchita Falls High in the championship game, 65-33.

Nicole Hampton and Jordan Vessels were named to the All-tourney team, while Casey Land was named most valuable player of the tournament.

“The Lady Eagles played very well last week as we were able to work on some new things offensively and defensively,” Lombard said. “We also were able to go to the bench and got good play from several of the girls.

“On the down side, two of our guards sustained injuries. Taryn Borchardt has a hairline fracture in her right hand and hopes to return around Christmas and Taylor Macklin suffered a knee injury which we do not yet know the diagnosis.

“We need to be tested and we will face three other playoff caliber teams in the Canyon tourney to be held Dec. 4-5.

“It will be great to finally have a home game.”

After spending so much time on the road, Canyon got a well deserved break Tuesday, but they have continued to prepare for the much anticipated tournament this weekend.

The Lady Eagles will take on Crandall High at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Canyon High.

Canyon tops Bushland

Canyon came out strong and finished well over Bushland High Tuesday, 43-33.

“We started well – when we saw the score was 26-7, we seemed to play downhill from there,” said Head Coach Guy Crenshaw.

Through the first quarter the Eagles led Bushland and ended with a 17-3 lead.

Canyon’s dominant offense and defense fared well at first, the second quarter seemed more evenly matched.

The Falcons held Canyon to nearly half their first quarter points at nine, while scoring 11-points of their own.

But this did little to cut into the Eagles lead and the first half expired 26-14.

The second half continued to display two closely matched teams. Canyon was able to post 11 more points and Bushland had eight of their own.

It was the fourth quarter when Bushland seemed to outperform the Eagles.

They nearly doubled Canyon’s six points with 11 more of their own.

But it was Canyon’s strong first quarter that secured their win by 10 points.
Will Toliver led Canyon’s scoring attack with 11-points.

He was followed by Trevor Davis and Clay Hollancak with nine and seven, respectively.

Bushland’s Smalligan also had a good night earning 11-points from the field.
“We didn’t defend well and as we allowed them they started hooking up,” Crenshaw said.

“We have got to learn to play four-quarters. That is something we have to fix by the time district rolls around.

“Defensively- we are still learning to play man. We held better and we started out pretty energetic on defensive. We don’t have killer instinct yet.”

Canyon High will prepare the rest of this week for the AMA Techtel Tournament of Champions.

Canyon High will first challenge Mineral Wells High at 9 a.m. Friday at the First United Bank Center.

Raiders struggle against Sandies

The Randall Raiders could not keep up with Amarillo high Tuesday and fell 33-58 on their home court.

From the very first quarter Randall struggled defensively. They were only able to place seven points on the board to Amarillo’s 16.

The point spread continued through the first half, with the Sandies heading to the locker room with a 14 point lead, 27-13.

The Raiders continued to struggle even after half-time, only scoring five more points in the third.

The fourth quarter saw an improvement with the Raiders scoring 15 points and holding the Sandies to 13. However, the game ended with Amarillo still holding a strong 25-point lead.

Randall’s coaches gave credit to Amarillo High, stating they were a very talented team. Also they recognized that the Raiders struggled defensively and need to work on their turn-overs to compete with that type of tough competitor.

Randall is slated to compete this weekend in the AMA Techtel, Tournament of Champions.

Their first match-up will be against Borger High and takes place at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the First United Bank Center.

Congratulations to the 2009 State Champions

In a season that was matched with unparralleled success, a State Championship was on the minds of every one of the Lady Raiders.

Throughout the season, an unwavering determination and focus awarded the Lady Raiders 42-1 record, with 39 consecutive wins coming as a result of sweeps. This type of performance cannot be described as anything but near perfection.

The Randall team worked in harmony with each player contributing her own talents to keep the team progressing.

The Lady Raiders were led by a talent laden senior class consisting of Ashley Davis, Alyson Smith, Peyton Price, Aubree Piper, Tawney Westenburg and Raegan Shelton.

Davis has commited to play for the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs and her skill set will benefit this dominant Lone Star Conference team.

Piper will play in Division I at Texas Tech University and surely continue developing her signature kill and blocks that fans have become so accustomed to.

Westenburg has commited to play for Lubbock Christian University and will be seen for years to come challenging the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs and her teammate Davis.

Shelton is relocating to the West Coast, playing at San Diego State University and commited to demonstrate what Texas volleyball is all about.

Four year head coach Jason Culpepper has led the team to two regional finals and the state semifinals, before the State honors this year.

Even with the loss of many seniors this year, the outstanding performances of sophmore Katie Dudding, juniors Tori Jobe and Abby White will provide Culpepper a solid foundation to build on next year as the Lady Raiders will look to defend their State title.

Lady Raiders improve with win

The Lady Raiders continued to show improvement as they defeated Muleshoe on Tuesday, 48-40.

“Defensively, we played good,” said Head Coach Ronnie Glenn. “We held them to 40 points, it was 37 with about 40 seconds to go. That’s pretty good defense.
“Offensively, we are missing too many shots inside the paint, – we have to correct that.”

The Lady Raiders and the Lady Mules looked evenly matched early on with the early part of the first quarter resulting in a 4-4 tie.

Muleshoe came back with two unanswered shots until Randall was sent to the free-throw line.The shot plus the foul brought the game back to a close 7-8 game.

However, the Lady Mules could not be slowed, posting eight more points while the Lady Raider’s Jade Cordova sunk a three-pointer before time expired in the first, 10-16.

The Raiders opened the second quarter with Shelby Kager evening up the score throwing back-to-back three-point shots.

This was followed by Cordova stealing the ball and taking it to hoop, giving Randall the lead again, 18-16.

As the momentum shifted to the Lady Raider’s favor, two more long shots by Kager and Cordova only extended their lead to 24.

Randall finished the half by tacking on six more points, while the Lady Mules were only able to finish off a three-point basket; 30-19.

The second half opened with both teams unable to convert on offense.
As nearly two minutes ticked off the clock, the Lady Mules sank a three and reduced the Lady Raider’s lead to eight points.

But Randall came back to score twice, before Muleshoe earned one more bucket.
The teams each posted one more score as the end of the third expired, 36-27.

As Randall did in the second quarter, they found another run and added seven more points to the score board, including another three-point shot.

The Lady Mules finally answered back by sinking two threes of their own with two and a half minutes remaining.

Randall was only able to earn one more basket away from the foul line, and Muleshoe did the same. The final score, 48-40.

“We shot the ball better outside,” Glenn said. “I think that outside Shelby Kager was 3-4 or 3-5 from the three-point line. We had seven threes overall, which was good.

“I just think that our inside game needs to be fixed a little bit. We are getting the ball inside; we just have to score when it gets to there.”

For the Raiders, junior Shelby Kager posted 14 points for the evening, while Jade Cordova and Aubrie Hernandez each had nine points.

The Lady Raiders will challenge Idalou at home at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Randall High basketball begins with mixed results

Randall boy’s and girl’s basketball started their seasons on Tuesday with both teams fighting hard, but ending with mixed results against Levelland High.
Starting off the night, the Lady Raiders struggled and eventually fell 34-40.

Head Coach Ronnie Glenn commented that his team was battling some injuries and sickness, and seemed to come out sluggish.

The Lady Lobos kept a firm hold on the lead all night, with the widest point spread coming at the end of the third quarter as the Lady Raiders were down by 12 points.

The fourth quarter showed promise as Randall fought back and held Levelland to only seven points while closing the lead by scoring 13 points of their own.

The Lady Raiders only completed seven of 41 shots from the field, with their leading scorers Traca Bradstreet, Lexi Palacios and Jade Cordova posting 10, eight and seven points, respectively.

The boy’s team experienced the opposite, finding success early during their game and ending out of reach, 67-40.

“I was happy that we got out and played really good defensively,” said Head Coach Leslie Broadhurst. “We got lost a couple of times on our rotations in our defense, but this early in the year I thought that we gave a good defensive effort.”

That defensive effort held the Lobos significantly behind the Raiders all night long.
The Lobos were only able to average 10 points per quarter, while the Raider’s got off to a strong start with 27 points in the first period alone.

This was nearly matched in the fourth quarter as Randall earned another 23 points.

“Offensively, I thought that we did a good job of looking up the floor and got some easy baskets early and some transition points, which were easy,” Broadhurst said. “Then we came down and executed, and ran our offense pretty good. “
The offensive leaders for Randall were Joseph Scott with 14 points, Tanner Lakey with 13 points and Ridrell Holman with 10 points.
“We suited up 11 guys and all 11 scored, that does a lot of moral,” Broadhurst said. I was really happy. I thought that for the first game of the year we did a really good job.”

Tuesday the boy’s team will travel to Lubbock Coronado, while the girl’s remain home to play Muleshoe High.

The boy’s game starts at 7:30 p.m. and the girl’s start at 6 p.m.

Lady Eagles already demonstrating strength

The Lady Eagles are off to a strong start this year improving their record to 4-0 after defeating Borger High on Friday.

Canyon found early success, which led to 72-20 lead at the end of the game.
“We got off to a great start,” said Head Coach Joe Lombard.

“Last year it was a two point game at halftime, we talked about getting off to a different start this year. We came out and scored 31 points in the first quarter.
“We played really well the first half, but there were still times on offense that we can be more efficient.”

Canyon’s lead was not diminished in the second quarter with the Lady Eagle’s picking up 22 more points before halftime, but being slowed by a more focused Borger team during the second half.

“We were ahead 53-8 at halftime and then in the second half we out scored them 19-12,” Lombard said.

“They played much better the second half against us. They came out and played with more confidence and got after us defensively. We probably lost our intensity at halftime.

“They have a new coach and a new team this year, so they have been struggling a little bit early in the season, but they played hard all 32 minutes.”

Lady Eagle, Casey Land claimed 11 points in the first quarter and team high, 16 points on the night.

Nicole Hansen was the second score leader with nine points and Jordan Vessels added eight more to the tally.

“We had 14 players suit up and all 14 played,” Lombard said. “We had 12 players that scored. We played a lot of players, which was a plus for our bench.”

The Lady Eagles will travel Lubbock to play Borden Co. at Estacado High. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday.