Sports

The Van Vandals and Mineola Yellowjackets delivered an early season thriller on Tuesday night, battling down to the wire in a highly competitive game that would come down to the final few possessions. Mineola would get the better of Van in the matchup, connecting on a late three-pointer to secure a 47- 44 victory.

The Grand Saline Lady Indians earned some county bragging rights last week, besting the Fruitvale Lady Cats 50-28 in a non-district showdown to close out the month of November. Grand Saline played well early in the contest, weathering a pair of early three-pointers by the Lady Cats to take 13-6 lead after eight minutes of play.

The Martins Mill Lady Mustangs continued their longstanding practice of taking on larger programs during non-district play this week, hitting the road to take on the Palestine Lady Cats in a Tuesday night showdown.

The first domino of the 2022-’24 redistricting and realignment cycle fell recently with districts across the state submitting current enrollment figures. Numbers submitted by Van Zandt County schools included: -Canton: 652 -Edgewood: 329 -Fruitvale: 115 -Grand Saline: 318.5 -Grand Saline: 318.5 -Martins Mill: 139 -Van: 746 -Wills Point: 774 According to information posted by the UIL, “Conferences 2A through 5A shall consist of a minimum of 200 schools, to the best extent possible, such that the enrollment ratio in grades 9-12 between the largest school and the smallest school in that conference is approximately 2.0.” The UIL’s online information notes that there shall be no attempt to perpetuate or avoid “old rivalries”, leaving the possibility of Wills Point being separated from county foes Canton and Van on the gridiron for a second consecutive redistricting cycle (the schools could still meet in non-district).

This year’s District 12-3A race was as competitive as ever as Edgewood, Grand Saline, Prairiland, Rains, Paris Chisum, Commerce and Lone Oak battled down to the wire for a top-four finish and spot in this year’s playoffs.