Sports

Last year New Braunfels Canyon and Boerne Champion provided the Dripping Springs soccer teams their best tests in district play. All the more reason to be a little nervous entering those contests. After the smoke had cleared there was little reason to worry this time around. Both state-ranked teams took care of business in a big way.

The DSMS Lady Tigers got back into action with home games against Bee Caves MS. Bee Caves was only able to put together three games as there was not enough players for their 8B team. At the end of the night the Lady Tigers took all three games.

The two state-ranked Dripping Springs soccer teams continue to dominate their opposition and give indication they will have to be dealt with again this season. In the world of soccer, scores usually are hard to come by. If teams score more than twice it usually means that team is really good or they are playing much weaker teams. We choose very good. Hat tricks (scoring three or more goals in a game) by players are becoming common. Each of the two teams won their respective tourneys with ease, including their district openers with Hays Johnson. As per usual, soccer teams have to endure the inclement weather as much as their opponents.

Seldom do sports teams get judged by the beauty of their games played, only wins count. Unfortunately the Tiger basketball team played in an ugly contest with league-leading Boerne Champion but still could not win ugly. It was another key game that could have been a win but ended up being a 34-26 loss.

Athletes in Dripping Springs are often honored with accolades like All-District. On occasion, someone will reach the heights of All-State. Adam Knutson just took that to an entirely different level.

Close still only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The Lady Tigers basketball team continues to find that out as they can not quite get over the scoring hump to win their games. Whatever the ingredients, they have been unable to get the door open for another victory and time is running out to get in the playoffs. They lost valuable ground when they dropped a 47-42 decision to Kerrville Tivy, a team in the top three, and a 66-65 loss to Hays Johnson, a team they defeated in the first round. District standings: Canyon 9-0, Boerne Champion 7-2, Kerrville 6-2, Seguin 7-3, Johnson 4-5, DS 3-6, Veterans Memorial 2-5, Alamo Heights 1-8, Lehman 0-8.

The Dripping Springs boys basketball team has started their push for the playoffs with another pair of wins. They started off district with four losses but have evened the mark. This puts them two games shy of fourth place and will have to be made up during the second half. The first half standings: Boerne Champion 7-1, Alamo Heights 6-1, Hays Johnson 5-2, Veterans Memorial 4-2, DS 4-4, Kerrville Tivy 3-4, Canyon 2-6, Seguin 1-6, Lehman 0-6.

The soccer season is underway and both teams look ready to start up where they left off last year. And that is a pretty high start considering the finish from last year. The Lady Tigers are the defending 5A state champions, having only 1 loss, 1 tie on their record 27 wins. The Tigers were eked out in the regional semis round. Those goals are not out of question as many veterans return from those squads.

It seems a very cruel misnomer to call our outdoor sports spring when they all take place in mid-winter and one does not get spring-like weather until late April when most of them are winding down. Nevertheless, all have started their seasons. The soccer seasons have begun with district games already starting. Softball has begun, baseball one week later and track meets coming up soon. Tennis and golf are in season. Because there are nine teams in district all sports start district play almost immediately after the season opens. Basketball, wrestling and swimming are winding down. Take your pick, you have plenty of school activities to follow until school is out in May.

In a conversation during the Holidays with Coach Jordan Batson, he said despite their record, he could see marked improvement in the Lady Tigers. What he saw in the Hays tourney playing some pretty good teams was his team playing longer and longer stretches of good basketball. Now what he is looking forward to is seeing those stretches reach into full games. When that happens the victories will start showing up. While watching the last district game loss to Seguin 51-45 it was obvious they were not quite there but close. In fact the Lady Tigers have been involved with some very close losses that could have drastically changed the 8-18 record they now have. They have a very legitimate shot at still making the playoffs. All the more reason for continuing the process of daily improvement. With the second half of district left here are the standings: NB Canyon 8-0, Boerne Champion 6-1, Kerrville Tivy 4-2, Seguin 4-3, DS 3-4, Veterans Memorial 2-4, Alamo Heights 1-6, Lehman 0-7.

Traditionally, the Tigers basketball teams have played very few home games before entering district play. No different this year. They got off to a slow 0-6 start. Since then they improved to a 6-7 record, three of those wins came in home games. Two in district play. They are 6-13 on the season and 2-4 in district.

It was certainly the way to come back from the holiday break and start off the new year. The DSMS Lady Tigers hosted Lake Travis MS and was able to come away with a sweep of all four games, an accomplishment done for the first time this year.