Column: Leaving 2023 in my rear view mirror

Dec. 23—Fast away the old year passes and soon the calendar flips to 2024.

In my job during the past 12 months, I've had the opportunity to tag along to some memorable sports events that captured the attention of schools, communities and in some cases the whole county.

One of the first that comes to mind was the Class 2A Regional Tournaments played at the Athens High School Gym in late February. The girls played there one weekend and the boys the next.

The Martins Mill boys and girls and the teams from LaPoynor rolled through the opposition as the crowds swelled through the Saturday finals.

The tournament bore witness of what a great home court advantage the Athens gym could be if the fans would come out and support the locals.

In March, I traveled to San Antonio for the boys state tournament where LaPoynor won their semifinal game and earned a spot in the championship round against Lipan. There was an impressive amount of purple at the Alamodome as Flyers fans gathered in hopes of bringing home the crown.

The game began disastrously for LaPoynor as they dropped behind early and were down by 13 at halftime. The Flyers began to dominate after intermission and narrowly missed winning in regulation. The game went into overtime with Lipan coming out on top 50-46. I don't think I'll ever forget the Flyers' rally that put them on the lip-of-the-cup of the trophy.

Coach Clifford Thompson's Hornets put together a good season. They entered the Class 4A playoffs and lost a 52-51 heartbreaker to Liberty-Eyau.

In June, I drove down to the UT track facility in Austin where several of our Henderson County athletes had earned spots in the state meet.

Two local girls won state medals, Cross Roads runner Calista "Callie" Turner took third in the 1600 meter run. Malakoff's Rayona Runnels won bronze in the 3A long jump.

During the summer, something unthinkable was happening. Everyday I'd check the standings and find the Texas Rangers were in first place in the American League West. Texas hadn't been in the playoffs recently and they'd done nothing the past two years to indicate they might break through in 2023.

In August, the team went cold and eventually lost the division to the Houston Astos. We'll we knew it was too good to be true.

Then the playoffs came and somebody hit the switch. The Rangers were roaring again.

Finally, in the American League Championship series we got the season in a microcosm. They won the first two, lost the next three and went to the final game needing a win against Houston.

But this time the Rangers bats took all of the worry out of that deciding match by scoring early and often.

It was more of the same in the World Series. The Arizona Diamondbacks fell victim to the Rangers surge of momentum in a series where no home team won.

In June, we picked up our copies of Dave Campbell's Texas football to find Malakoff again picked to win their district. Athens was picked last.

The Hornets were again in a tough 4A Division 1 District that featured Chapel Hill, who would lose in the state final and Kilgore, who made it to the regional final. The Hornets' 28-21 loss to Kilgore at Bruce Field had the intensity of a playoff game. Then in the finale, needing to beat Palestine to secure a playoff spot, Athens dominated, winning 49-28.

As for Malakoff, their No. 5 pre-season ranking short changed them a bit. They blew the doors off everyone until the state semifinal against Brock. In one of the most thrilling playoff games in my memory, the Tigers won 38-31. The game was full of drama, momentum shifts and big plays, with the Tigers getting the last one to advance to the final.

The final, at massive AT&T Stadium, was a different animal. In this one, the Tigers kept the Franklin Lions' offense under their thumbs and scored just enough to take the title, 14-7, against a veteran team that had won two straight championships.

The state football title was the first for the county in 25-years, since Trinidad won the Six-Man crown. And I think just about everyone in the county was celebrating the Tigers' accomplishment.

It was fun standing on the field at AT&T and watching the Tigers and their fans celebrating being the last team standing from the 16 districts around the state.

All in all, 2023 was a great year to cover sports for the Athens Review and I can't wait to see what surprises are in store for 2024.