The Antonian College Preparatory High School girls' basketball team is preparing for a huge matchup against Concordia Lutheran in the TAPPS Class 6A final four.

The final day of the regular season for high school boys' basketball teams was a night to remember for multiple reasons.

An Apache group that has fought to protect land it considers sacred from a copper mining project in central Arizona has suffered a significant blow.

The Holy Cross Knights open their season against the Antonian Apaches in the first game of the 2023 KSAT Pigskin Classic, on Friday, Aug. 25, at the Alamodome.

The Antonian Apaches will take on the Holy Cross Knights in the first game of the 2023 KSAT Pigskin Classic, on Friday, Aug. 25, at the Alamodome.

For the first time since 2012, the Antonian softball has won the TAPPS state title. The Apaches defeated Dallas Bishop Lynch 18-3 in three innings to secure the victory.

KSAT 12's Big Game Coverage stops by Antonian High School, where the Apaches' veteran leaders are preparing to lead a young, talented core back to the playoffs.

The Antonian boys basketball team celebrates after winning their second TAPPS 6A State title in the last three seasons at A&M Consolidated High School on March 12, 2021. COLLEGE STATION – Early on in the first quarter of their TAPPS 6A State Championship game, the Antonian boys basketball team was in trouble. Bishop Lynch came out on fire and jumped out to a 17-6 lead with a little over 2 minutes left in the frame. The Apaches lost to JPII last season in the state championship, the only blemish on what has been a stellar, three-year run of dominance. So to be able to get the second one tonight, when we missed out on getting it last year, it’s just sweet.”

Congress mandated that the land be transferred to Resolution Copper no later than 60 days after the final environmental review was published. “Oak Flat is still on death row,” he said. “Essentially, they're just changing the execution date.”Dan Blondeau, a spokesman for Resolution Copper, said the company is evaluating the decision. Resolution Copper would get 3.75 square miles (9.71 square kilometers) of national forest land in exchange for eight parcels it owns elsewhere in Arizona. Eventually, the mine will swallow Oak Flat.

Apache Stronghold made the request as part of a lawsuit it filed against the Forest Service earlier this year. AdU.S. Department of Justice attorneys representing the Forest Service had argued Apache Stronghold didn't do that, and Logan agreed. “I am very disappointed but I’m not giving up," Apache Stronghold leader Wendsler Nosie, Sr. said in a Friday night statement. The Tonto National Forest Service has said it does not comment on litigation. Those things exist elsewhere, but Apache Stronghold said they have unique power within Oak Flat.

The Forest Service says it's doing what Congress mandated. ___OTHER LAWSUITSThe Apache Stronghold lawsuit is one of three filed over the copper mine, some of which have overlapping arguments. The San Carlos Apache Tribe, and a coalition of environmentalists, tribes and the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, also sued the U.S. Forest Service. Apache Stronghold contends the land belongs to Western Apaches under an 1852 treaty with the United States. AdReuben Schifman, a U.S. Department of Justice Attorney representing the Forest Service, said Apache Stronghold can't assert ownership rights because it's not a federally recognized tribe.

The Forest Service now has 60 days to turn over a tract of land in Tonto National Forest east of Phoenix to Resolution Copper Mining, a joint venture of the international mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP. Environmentalists contend the Forest Service was pressured to push the review over the finish line before President Donald Trump leaves office, complicating their efforts to reverse the land swap. The Forest Service said that's not true, while the mining company contends the publication already was delayed by months. It also contends the Forest Service legally can't transfer the land because it belongs to Apaches under an 1852 treaty. Resolution Copper is set to receive 3.75 square miles (9.71 square kilometers) of Forest Service land in exchange for eight parcels the company owns elsewhere in Arizona.

SAN ANTONIO Former TLU head football coach Danny Padron is back on the practice field at Antonian high school, leading the Apaches through workouts in preparation for the upcoming season.

SAN ANTONIO – Antonian defensive lineman Devin Grant received his All-American Bowl jersey Thursday afternoon in front of teammates, classmates, faculty, family and friends. Teammate Khalil Warfield was honored at the same reception for an invitation to the San Antonio Sports All-Star Game. The Apaches will open the playoffs on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Argyle.

SAN ANTONIO – Over the course of nearly two decades, Antonian has established itself as one of the best cross country programs in the state, and the premiere program in TAPPS. But even with 17 combined titles since the turn of the millennium, Antonian enters the 2019 TAPPS Cross Country state championships wanting more, and they have the talent to get it done. Another huge benefit for the Apaches is their wealth of experience on the race course in Waco, where the TAPPS Championships have been held in each of the past four seasons. "I know what I have to go out and do to be able to help carry the team," junior Myrella Rodriguez echoed. Antonian will compete in the 2019 TAPPS Championships at the Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco on Monday morning.