Sports

  The Bay City Texans semi-pro football team tied the Brenham Express 18-18 in a road game Saturday.
   Keemn Jones was the first to score in the game when he returned an Express fumble 38 yards to put the Texans up 6-0.
   The Texans’ extra-point try was influenced by a heavy wind and sailed wide.
   More special-team problems ensued for Bay City as the Express returned the next kickoff for a touchdown.
   But the same wind also struck Brenham on the extra-point try, and the game remained tied 6-6 at halftime.
   The teams then traded touchdowns – and conversion failures – two more times in the second half, and the contest went to overtime. 
   Neither team managed a score in the game’s fifth quarter, and the battle will go down in the standings as a tie.
   Scoring for Bay City in the second half was Brandon Brinkley on a 60-yard pass play from Doug Ford and Adam Pointer on a seven-yard pass play also from Ford.

New district alignments for area high school sports teams will likely bring an interruption to a local football rivalry.
    Matagorda County rivals Tidehaven and Van Vleck will not play in the same football district beginning next season, and the two coaches seem unable to work a meeting into their non-district schedules. 
    “The good news is that we will still have each other in our basketball districts (and likely most other sports too), so the rivalry can stay alive. Just not in football,” said Tidehaven athletic director and head football coach Brent Maschek. 
    The University Interscholastic League, Texas’s governing body for public school sports, released its biennial re-alignment notice to coaches on Monday, making it official that Tidehaven and Van Vleck will play in different divisions of Conference 3A for the next two seasons.

As the final week of the regular season begins for area girls’ high school basketball, Bay City (6-1), and Van Vleck (7-2) remain in contention for at least a share of their district championships. 
   Bay City even clinched a berth in the state playoff with its 84-43 win over Sealy on Friday. 
   And Van Vleck was in position to clinch a playoff spot with a win over Brazos after press time on Tuesday. 
   The top four teams from each district in the state will advance to the playoffs which begin Feb. 15. Playoff seeds are based on a team’s regular season finishes, with district champions drawing the mathematically easiest routes to the regional championship. 
    Van Vleck and Bay City were in second place in their districts going in to Tuesday’s games,  and the season’s final three games will prove crucial to their playoff positioning. 

The Region 7-5A swim meet in Rosenberg this weekend will feature five Bay City High School swimmers and 10 from Van Vleck.
    Bay City’s entries will be highlighted by a boys relay team that qualified for the meet in three events. 
  Colby Johnson, Stephen Estraca, Nickelas DeLaGarza and Jayden Dye will race in the 400 yard freestyle, 200 yard medley and 200 yard freestyle events. 
  Hanna Sliva will represent Bay City in the girls 500 yard freestyle race, and Johnson will also be in the 500 yard freestyle race. 
   Van Vleck will send four relay teams to the meet. 
   Alyssa Lopez, Meagan Schrader, Mehgan Orsaak and Morgan Cereo will appear in the 200 medly team event. 
    Lopez, Schrader and Orsak will also join Tiera Gibson in the 500 yard freestyle relay. 
   For Van Vleck’s boys team, Zachary Hubbard, Logan Hood, Wiliam Galbreath and Kason Klump will race in the 200 yard freetyle event. 

 The powerlifting teams from Bay City and Tidehaven High Schools recorded strong individual and team performances at recent meets. 
   The Bay City boys team took second place overall at the Sixth Annual Milby Powerlifting Meet last month. 
   Placing for Bay City were Luke Longoria, 3rd in the 114 pound class; Kaleb Wolfe, 2nd in the 132 pound class; Zane Havel, 5th in the 132 pound class; Jorge Carli, 3rd in the 198 pound class; Antonio Ruff, 5th in the 198 pound class; Richy Ortiz, 1st in the 220 pound class; and Prince Flye, 2nd in the 242 pound class. 
   For the girls team, Gabby Garza was 1st in the 132 pound class. 
   Nine Tidehaven athletes placed in the top 10 at the Industrial meet on Jan. 23.