In Graford, it’s all about family, culture – and winning!

By Steve Nussbaum | Photos Contributed by Jeff Bell

Jeff Bell and the 2022 Graford Jackrabbits celebrate the schools first Texas State 1A Championship in basketball.  A win decades in the making – one movies are made of.

Graford, Texas, is the small town that many folks who live at Possum Kingdom Lake travel through to get to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Those passers-by may eat at The Café, but not many might know about the long tradition of sports excellence – especially basketball – in this tight-knit community.

In March, the Graford Jackrabbits took home the Texas State 1A basketball championship trophy for the first time. The school’s championship was decades in the making and represents the crowning jewel for a community that eats and sleeps Jackrabbits basketball.

This small school, located 12 miles from Possum Kingdom Lake, is rich in basketball tradition and community support. Before this year, the Graford boys’ team had been to the final game of the Texas state tournament eight times, but it was in March that the squad finally won the big game in San Antonio. This season’s Jackrabbits posted a 37-3 won-loss record and beat the defending state champion, Texline, 42-39 in the title game.

But the story isn’t just how this school won the state championship game. It’s also how this small town of just over 600 people supports this athletics program and helped build it to what it is today.

For the entire community, it’s all about family.

The tradition of winning has kept the town and its residents together for decades. The community supports all the local sports, to be sure, but basketball is king. The local high school gym is open all the  time for youngsters to practice their basketball skills. In the summertime, the local youths frequently spend all day at the gym working on their game.

It’s also not uncommon for parents and local residents to go to the gym and rebound balls for the youngsters while they practice. These volunteers might not have one of their own children on the team, but they still want to do their part to build another championship-caliber team.

Every August, the buzz all over town is the same: “What do you expect from the basketball team this year? What will the competition look like? Which players will rise to the top and lead the team?â€

It’s no surprise, then, that basketball is what engulfs the town’s collective attention for the next seven or eight months.

In the gym, only state championship banners hang from the rafters. If the school tried to hang all the district and regional banners, the gym would be overflowing.

The rival basketball squads that travel to play in Graford know to expect a battle, and the Jackrabbits realize they’ll get the other teams’ best efforts as well, because beating Graford is a big deal.     That’s why the tremendous amount of pride for the Jackrabbits and their on-court success has endured for generations of players. It’s that pride that drives Graford’s unique culture of community and support.

Jackrabbits head coach Jeff Bell, who left a successful program in Brock to come to Graford in 2020, played an integral role in this year’s successful title run. Bell didn’t take sole credit, however, heaping praise on his longtime loyal assistant, Jarod Westmoreland, as well as his own son, Jake Bell, who helps with the team.

Jake Bell is also the Graford high school principal, and he had his own successful coaching career before getting his doctorate and going into school administration. Jeff Bell described his son as his “right-hand man†and said he knew Jake would grow up to be a great coach and leader.

Jeff Bell also went on to describe his wife, Jennifer, as a saint, adding that the boys all call her “Ma Bell.â€

The significance of the Bell family’s collective win can be traced back to 2020, when Jake Bell was the head basketball coach at Martin’s Mill. His team had posted a 40-0 record heading into the state championship and was the overwhelming favorite to win the state championship.  On the morning of the state championship game, though, as the team was preparing to play, Jake Bell got word that the game was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For Jake Bell and his team, there would be no opportunity to win a state championship that year. Opportunities such as that one come along rarely, if ever, and the disappointment was felt by the entire Bell family.

Then came 2022, and opportunity reared its head again, this time at Graford for Jeff Bell.

Jeff Bell said he thought the Jackrabbits were good even at the beginning of the season, but he wasn’t sure how things would play out.

“It takes great leaders, team chemistry and a little luck to win it all,†Jeff Bell said.

All three coaches admitted that they “worked the dog†out of the Graford boys this past season – and the Jackrabbits rose to the occasion. The team fell into place, and when the final buzzer sounded, Jeff Bell said he’d never hugged his son so hard. He knew how much this meant not just for himself, but also for his son, who had come so close to the top prize in 2020

If one family  could  be  called basketball royalty in Graford, though, it probably would be the Lemley clan, because there were five Lemley boys on this year’s winning team. The family’s basketball roots can be traced back to Ronnie Lemley, who was on the 1965 Graford team that made it to the state tournament.

Ronnie Lemley had three boys who played for Graford: Brian, Larry and Jeff. Brian Lemley played on the 1988 team that went to state, and his twin boys, Brad and Jess, were on this year’s title squad.

Larry Lemley’s son, Trent, was a senior on this year’s team. Jeff Lemley also had two boys on the team this year: Cye and Mckennon, both freshmen

The Lemleys understand better than most the basketball tradition at Graford, and all of them know that each generation wants to outdo the previous one. The family loves the  small-school  life  and  sharing  all  their  family memories about previous teams. All the senior Lemley men were on successful teams, but it was the youngsters who took home the championship trophy this year. Brian Lemley said it’s a combination of sibling and cousin rivalry that fuels the competitive spirit in the family.

Tim and Teagan Ford are another father-and-son duo who have shared in the Graford basketball tradition. Tim Ford was an all-state player for Graford in 1982, the year the Jackrabbits lost to Snook in the championship game. His son was the starting point guard for Graford this year and had one of his best games of the year in the championship game.

“Teagan was able to control the tempo of the game and scored 15 points in the championship game,†Tim Ford said.

Tim Ford’s older son, Tanner, also was a star player at Graford in 2020. Tanner Ford went on to feed his competitive basketball spirit at Tarleton State in Stephenville.

Tim Ford tells the story of taking his son Teagan to the Graford gym before school started, all the way back when Teagan was in prekindergarten. His son’s shot couldn’t yet reach the rim, so Teagan would spend the whole time practicing his dribble.

Tim Ford said he wanted his boys to play golf, but they both gravitated to basketball, and it was his fond memories from his time at Graford that made him want to give his sons that same experience. He said he loves the fact that basketball is the glue that brings the town together.

The Graford Jackrabbits had a season for the ages, but it was a team built by generations of former players. The winning culture at Graford has been handed down for generations, and it’s the bedrock for all the sports teams at the school. The Jackrabbits pulled off a Hollywood-type ending this year, and the entire Possum Kingdom Lake community is proud of their accomplishments.

The Lemley clan, rich with Graford basketball tradition…

The family’s basketball roots can be traced back to Ronnie Lemley (pictured in the center), who was on the 1965 Graford team that made it to the state tournament.  Ronnie Lemley had three boys who played for Graford:  Brian, Larry and Jeff.  Brian Lemley played on the 1988 team that went to state, and his twin boys, Brad and Jess, were on this year’s title squad.  Larry Lemley’s son, Trent was a senior on this year’s team.  Jeff Lemley also had twin boys on the team this year:  Cye and Mckennon, both freshmen.