By winning five of their first six games in the 2024 Texas high school baseball season, the Clifton Cubs only needed two weeks to surpass their entire win total from last season. And in the process, Clifton’s mix of returning experience and young newcomers took the first step of returning the Cubs baseball program to its winning ways.

By sweeping to victory in each of their final three District 14-1A games last season, the Meridian Yellowjacket baseball team not only secured a berth into the Class 1A playoffs for the first time since 2017, the Jackets clinched a share of their first district title since 2010. Now under new head coach Roy Mozley, the Jackets hope six returning starters -- senior catcher/ pitcher Brayden Wehmeyer, senior infielder Ben Beaudin, junior pitcher/infielder Matty Jones, junior pitcher/infielder Ian Gomez, junior infielder Bradley Kihnel and sophomore outfielder Jesse Scott -- along with a host of newcomers can lead Meridian to back-to-back postseason appearances.

Coming off their first district championship in 20 years proved to be a hard act to follow for the Meridian Yellowjacket boys basketball team, particularly in a rebuilding season after losing three starters to graduation. So, after winning three of their last four regular season games to earn their second straight trip to the Class 1A state playoffs, the Jackets were rewarded for their efforts when All-District 20-1A were announced with freshman Josh Nunez leading the way as the distrct’s Newcomer of the Year.

After the Clifton girls powerlifting team qualified 19 lifters for the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association’s Small Class 3A Region 2 Championship held in Dublin last Saturday, the Lady Cubs advanced seven to the State Championship March 14 at Comerica Center in Frisco. Led by gold medalists senior Kate Humphreys, junior Kaitlyn Baker and junior Lenora Busby as well as silver medalists senior Alyssa Santillan, junior Cameron Ritz and junior Taryn Busby, the Lady Cubs won the overall team regional championship with 45 points, finishing ahead of runner- up Brady with 33 points and third place Comanche with 30.

After the Meridian boys and girls powerlifting teams improved throughout the season by setting new personal records meet after meet, the Lady Jackets will be represented by Raechel Ramirez at the Texas High School Women’s Powerlifting Association’s Class 2A/1A Region 2 Championships, while the Meridian boys will be represented by Cesar Ramos, Zach Smith and John Wyatt at the Texas High School Powerlifting Association’s Division 4 Region 2 Championships. “The group I have this year is absolutely amazing,” Meridian powerlifting head coach Chaz Spivey said.

To the victors goes the spoils. After advancing to the Class 1A postseason for the second straight season by sharing the District 201A title with the defending champion Blum Lady Bobcats, the Meridian Lady Jackets took with one step further with an impressive 31-24 Bi-District playoff victory over the Lingleville Lady Cardinals before the seventh-ranked Richland Springs Lady Coyotes eliminated Meridian in the Area Playoffs.

After advancing to the Class 1A postseason for the second straight season by sharing the District 201A title with the defending champion Blum Lady Bobcats, the Meridian Lady Jackets took with one step further with an impressive 3124 Bi-District playoff victory over the Lingleville Lady Cardinals last Tuesday. Despite trailing 12-5 going into halftime, Meridian outscored Lingleville, 14-4, in the third period before putting the win away in the fourth as junior Journey Stauffer led the Lady Jackets with nine points, followed by Mariana Paniagua with eight as well as seniors Canyon Stauffer and Eve Dirkse with six apiece.

After winning three of their last four regular season games to earn their second straight trip to the Class 1A state playoffs, the 2023-24 Texas high school boys basketball season came to a quick and abrupt end for the Meridian Yellowjackets. Going into the postseason tournament as District 20-1A’s fourth place team, the Jackets found themselves formidably matched up against the District 19-1A champion and eighth-ranked Gordon Longhorns.

In a wild finish to the 2023-24 Texas high school boys basketball regular season, the Clifton Cubs used a little luck and a timely win to get their postseason hopes back on track. Despite coming up short of claiming the District 17-3A title, the Cubs shook off a three-game losing streak to close out the regular season by knocking off the Grandview Zebras, 74-59, in a second place tiebreaker showdown in Keene last Friday night.

While it might not have resulted in the playoff victory they desired, the Clifton Lady Cubs walked off the court knowing they had played their best games when they counted the most to wrap up the 2023-24 Texas high school girls basketball season last week. After struggling down the stretch to fall into a fourth place tie with the Keene Lady Chargers for the final District 17-3A playoff berth, the Lady Cubs earned their first trip to the Class 3A state playoffs since 2013 with a dramatic 43-42 tiebreaker victory Feb.