Looking back on last year, Middlesboro saw its ups-and-down in their sport programs. A couple of teams saw improvement while the struggles of others continued.

The biggest turnaround for the school was the boys basketball team. The Yellow Jackets improved their win total by 10 games after winning only five in 2016-17. The team finished with a 15-15 record.

On a team led by mostly sophomores and juniors, Middlesboro ended the year winning five of their last seven games including an upset win over Lynn Camp. The Jackets were moments away from shocking the district in a 53-48 overtime loss to Harlan County in the 52nd District Tournament.

The Middlesboro baseball team’s success held steady this year after finishing one win shy of advancing to the 13th Region Championship. Led by a senior squad, the Jackets finished with a 21-12 record while going 7-1 in the district.

After a rocky start to the season including a loss in the 13th Region All A Tournament, the team rebounded with a seven-game winning streak midway through the year. They ended the regular season with two big wins over North Laurel and Clay County.

Lopsided wins in the 52nd District Tournament led Middlesboro to the 13th Region Tournament. They opened the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Barbourville before falling 3-0 to Whitley County.

The Yellow Jacket football team saw a slight improvement, winning back-to-back games against Harlan and Pineville. That was the lone bright spot for the team as they went on to finish 2-9 and were eliminated by Prestonsburg in the postseason.

The girls basketball team remained on par from years past ending the season with a 12-15 record. Being led by a young team, the bright spot of the year came when the Lady Jackets pushed Harlan to the brink in the 13th Region All A Classic.

Middlesboro finished the regular season winning four of their last five games including wins over Pineville, Barbourville, Red Bird and Lynn Camp.

The girls soccer team took a step back last season winning only five of their 14 games — two wins against Bell County and Knox Central and one victory over J. Frank White Academy.

The team was eliminated in the first round of the 50th District tournament by Knox Central.

Below are the final records of the remaining programs:

Softball: 11-13;

Volleyball: 4-18;

Boys soccer: 2-6.