Band Presents
"Dinner and a Concert"
The Lion Pride band will present a concert on Saturday, January 28, following a spaghetti dinner fundraiser. The event will start 5 p.m. with the spaghetti dinner. Advance tickets are available at a reduced price as follows:
Adults - $5
10 & Under - $4
Family (up to 6 people) - $20
Individual tickets at the door will be $1 more.
The concert will begin at 7 p.m. The winter concert presented by the high school band will feature music that will be performed at the UIL Concert contest later this spring as well as other selections.
The Ponder band was well represented at the All Region band concert last Saturday at Argyle High School. Junior Tori Bengston (flute) and freshmen Eric Dearmin (clarinet) and Elizabeth Richardson (flute) participated in the all-day clinic and concert.
Varsity Lions
This Friday night, the Ponder Lions varsity basketball team will host the Alvord Bulldogs(0-6). The Lions hope to regain their momentum after falling to the Holliday Eagles 58-44 Friday evening.
“Losing to Holliday was tough, but it’s a game we can learn from,” senior forward Dalton Brown said. “We have to step it up this second half and fight for every win.”
The Lions are heading into the second half of district tied for second in District 9AA with the Holliday Eagles and Nocona Indians. Losses to the Krum Bobcats and Holliday have made the second half of district even more crucial.
“Each game is going to be a battle and a must win,” sophomore forward Clay Morgan said. “We have to take it a game at a time and do our best to gain momentum.”
The second half of district play tips off Friday night at home against the Alvord Bulldogs and features key matchups on the road with Nocona and Krum, along with a senior night showdown with Holliday.
“I think the team as a whole is looking forward to the challenge of the next few games,” junior guard Grant Boxell said. “We’ll be working hard and doing everything we can to keep getting wins.”
| More Online | |
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| Lions Varsity team page | |
Lady Lions Basketball: Varsity and JV Look to Extend Winning Streaks
Both the varsity and JV Lady Lions will take on Alvord at home on Friday. Games begin at 4:30 p.m. Both teams will try to get revenge on the Lady Bulldogs, who they both lost to on January 3.
“I am pretty excited for our game against Alvord,” sophomore varsity player Addison Thompson said. “I mean, we lost by one point, and we played hard, but we can always play better. We just have to focus, fight, and remember to give the glory to God.”
Last week, both the varsity and JV girls garnered two district victories, defeating Henrietta at home on Tuesday before traveling to Holliday on Friday to defeat the Lady Eagles. The varsity girls are now 5-3 in district whereas the JV girls are currently 7-1.
“We’re getting much better,” sophomore JV player Macie Simpson said. “We’re working together better and that helped against Henrietta and Holliday. Hopefully we can keep it up.”
| More Online | |
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| Lady Lions Varsity team page | Lady Lions JV team page |
JV Boys Host District Tournament
This Saturday the JV Boys basketball team will compete in the District JV Tournament on their home court. Four of the seven teams in the district are in the tournament – Alvord, Holliday, Nocona and Ponder. The first game for each team in the tournament will be the regular Friday night game. They will face the other teams in a round robin format on Saturday to determine the winner.
“We are going into this tournament with the game plan coach always gives us, to play Ponder basketball and get the win,” junior Coleman James said. ”We are learning from our mistakes and improving in our weak spots, so the tournament we are about to play in will give us a chance to see where we are as a team and what we still need to tweak.”
On Friday Ponder will playAlvord at 5:45 for the first game of the tournament. They have a district record of 4-2 as they start the second half of district.
| More Online | |
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| Lions JV team page | District Tournament Schedule |
9th Grade Boys Basketball: The Freshest
Tonight the freshman Ponder Lions are battling against their rivals: the Krum Bobcats then on Friday, they’re home again to play against the Alvord Bulldogs. This past Saturday, Ponder played against Denton Calvary, winning with a score of 41-20.
“We had a great win last Saturday against Denton Calvary,” freshman guard Darè Odunaiya said. “I hope to have the same results against Krum tonight.”
So far, the freshman team is 17-3 and undefeated in district with a record of 2-0 with their wins against Krum and Alvord.
| More Online |
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| Lions 9/10th team page |
Softball is back!
Softball season is here, and after losing three seniors and having drastic changes in positions, the season will be a season of rebuilding in the program. The expectations for this year are unknown, but this team hopes to improve and excel farther than the previous year.
“I’m really looking forward to this season,” junior Jocelyn Chilson said. “We really need to work hard to make up for the players that we lost and strengthen our weaknesses in the field.”
Last year, the season ended when they lost to Callisburg in a one game series, and ended up being Regional Quarterfinalists. This year, with the loss of three starters, the positioning in both the field and batting line-up is unsure. Although this might sound stressful for a coach, head coach Paige Wells is taking the challenge well.
“Things aren’t as easy to plan as they were last year, but some of these girls are versatile so it makes things easier,” head coach Paige Wells said. “We need to improve our fundamentals in both offense and defense.”
The team’s chemistry has been at its highest and new traditions have started. This year is full of changes for the softball program, but they hope to prove people wrong and make this year a good one.
“I honestly don’t know how we will be this season from losing our infield and great hitters”, junior Mackenzie Chapman said.
Their first scrimmage will be January 30th against Argyle in Argyle.
| More Online |
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| Softball 2012 Schedule |
Dalton Brown Finishes 2nd in Magazine Cover Poll Contest
When the voting stopped at 5pm on Sunday, senior baseball player Dalton Brown became a future cover-boy. His 2nd place finish in the poll allows him to participate in the Vype Baseball preview magazine photo shoot this Saturday.
Brown finished with over 10,000 votes behind Niko Buentello from Lewisville. Jay Gonzales of Argyle is third. The three will be featured on the cover of the Baseball Preview magazine that comes out in February.
Jessica Orozco finished in 5th place in the softball poll.
Final poll results for baseball: http://www.ihigh.com/vypedenton/poll_3233.html
Final poll results for softball: http://www.ihigh.com/vypedenton/poll_3235.html
The Ponder High School varsity boys bowling team remains in first place after week 7 of 12 in the Texas High School Bowling Club in Denton. The girls are in the third. Other teams in the league include Sanger, Argyle and Denton varsity teams.
Senior Coleman Chance had a strong outing on Thursday, posting a team high of 362 two-game total. Junior Kimberly Feike scored a 161 in her first game and ended with a team high of 297 two-game total.
The teams will continue competition this Thursday at Brunswick Zone in Denton at 4 p.m. as they seek to qualify for regional.
The Ponder Rodeo team will start up again this weekend in Saginaw after taking a few weeks off for the winter break. With only three cowboys participating this year, the team still finds itself in 8th place overall in the standings with 59 other teams competing. This high ranking is due to the outstanding performances of two junior cowboys: Dakota Tawater and Reid Lyles.
In the standings, Dakota is 1st in Calf Roping and Team Roping-Heading, 2nd in Ribbon Roping, and 13th in Team Roping-Heeling to put him in 1st place as All Around Cowboy.
Reid is standing in 8th in Calf Roping, 13th in Ribbon Roping and 22nd in All Around Cowboy.
Cayden Hall has also participated in one rodeo for the team.
The North Texas High School Rodeo Association rodeos are held each weekend in Saginaw. For complete standings and schedule, see the nthsra.org website.
