The Varsity Lady Lions lost another heartbreaker against the Krum Lady Bobcats on Jan. 19 in the Krum High School Gym. The Lady Lions led the entire game until the final seconds when Krum made a free throw to go ahead by one with less than 2 seconds left. Krum won with a final score was 57-56.

“We have nothing to be sorry about with the Krum game,” senior Mychelle Gregg said. “We played a heck of a ballgame.”

The varsity girls first played Krum in the Ponder Tournament and beat them 71-64. However, the Lady Lions faced them again in a district game on Dec. 12 and lost 33-42. Currently leading the district undefeated, the Lady Bobcats are ranked 12th in the state of Texas.

“They are a really good team,” sophomore Kendra Copp, who led the Lady Lions offensively against Krum with 22 points, said. “We just have to learn from our mistakes and get ready for the next game.”

This was not the first game that the Ponder girls lost in the final seconds. On Jan. 9, the Lady Lions faced Aubrey. Ponder led the entire game, but the Lady Chaps, presently in 2nd with one loss in district, were able to come back and, in the last seconds, beat the Lady Lions 37-38 with a basket at the buzzer.

“Losing games like that [Krum and Aubrey] hurts,” junior Tate Moore said, “but we just have to pick up our heads, look at the good things we did and move on.”

While they may be down, the Lady Lions are not out. They are still in contingency for the playoffs. Currently in 4th place with a district record of 5-4, the Ponder girls must beat Melissa, who is at this time in 3rd and has a record of 6-3 in district, to be tied for 3rd place. The first time they played the Melissa Lady Cardinals the girls lost 55-58. Ideally, the girls must win all of their remaining district games to take 3rd place (for this to be true Melissa must lose to Krum).

“We can beat Melissa,” Gregg said. “We just have to take care of the ball and shoot like we have been.”

Next the Lady Lions will face Leonard on Jan. 23 at home, and then they will have another shot at Melissa on Jan. 26 at home for a chance to keep their playoffs hopes alive.

Battle of 156 Commences
By Vanessa Weidner  

Jan. 19 held yet another great game for the Ponder Lions. Krum High School was the site of this week’s battle, a battle of 156. Once more, Ponder faced off against their biggest rival, the Krum Bobcats. Prepared to “Crunch the Bobcats” the boys were pumped for what became an easy attack.

“They had a lot of foul trouble late in the game,” senior William Stanton said, “that really helped us out.”

Starting the game off tense and remaining relatively close in score throughout the first half, the boys picked it up in the second half to come out with a twenty point lead, ending the night with a score of 60–39.

“We played an inside game in the second half.” senior Scott Lambert said, “We had better defense and got more rebounds.”

The win against Krum continues their flawless record. The Ponder Lions are the only team in district to be undefeated. Tied close behind them for second place are Krum and Blue Ridge, both having two losses. The Lions will face off against Leonard in Ponder on Jan. 23 to continue their district championship quest.

JV Boys - 2nd in District Tourney
By Lindsey Allen

On Friday, the JV boys kicked off their district tournament with a bang against Krum. Winning throughout the entire game, the Ponder boys dominated the Bobcats. The team concluded the competition with a score of 46-36.

The tournament continued on Jan. 20 in Blue Ridge. First, the boys played an easy game against Aubrey. They ended up beating the Chaparrals 51–14 - advancing to the championship game.

The championship turned out to be a tougher game than expected against the Leonard Tigers. After beating Leonard by double digits earlier in the season, the tigers, who beat Blue Ridge in order to make it to the tournament championship, surprised the Lions and got the upset - defeating the Lions 49–56.

Overall, the Ponder JV Boys placed 2nd in the tournament and plan to compete, once again, against Leonard on Jan. 23. Currently, the team is undefeated in district; although they lost one game in the district tournament, the Lions still stand strong with a 7–0 district record.

District Tourney Galleries:

JV Boys Vs. Aubrey

JV Boys Vs. Leonard