NEOSHO, Mo. — What is better than showing off your brand new fully turfed field on opening day? After a set of games that were originally slated for Lebanon had to be moved because of field conditions due to recent weather, Neosho stepped up and welcomed the Yellowjackets and Carl Junction to the new Roy B. Shaver Field on Saturday.
“We are really blessed to have it,” Neosho coach Danny Powers said. “Our community really deserves it, and it is something we are very proud of. We are in a position now with rainouts, we can always move the locations. We can get more games in, and we can get more practices in, too. We are grateful for the community and school district supporting us.”
Carl Junction’s Noah Southern (22) celebrates at home plate with teammates after hitting a home run against Neosho on Saturday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
Carl Junction, which earned an 11-1 win over Lebanon early on Saturday, opened with four runs in the top of the first before adding on insurance in the middle innings en route to the six-inning 13-1 win over Neosho to start the season 2-0.
“I thought our guys did a good job,” Carl Junction coach Jake Stevenson said. “Our pitchers commanded two pitches for strikes. Offensively, we came out with some confidence and fed off each other to manufacture some runs when we needed to. There are still some things we can get better at, but it was certainly nice to see that offensively today.”
CJ’s Carson Johnson, Drew Beyer, Noah Southern, Dylan Eck and Brendyn Downs all had two hits in the win over the Wildcats. Southern hit a three-run home run in the top of the fourth and led the Bulldogs with a game-high four RBI. Eck had two RBI, while Johnson and Beyer led CJ with three runs scored each. Cole Stewart doubled and scored twice.
Neosho’s Lane Yost connects on a pitch against Carl Junction on Saturday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
“We had a plan coming into this season where we need to strike first on offense,” Stevenson said. “I thought our guys did that today. … Today it felt like the ball went our way a little bit. It’s not always going to be that way. So, we still need to continue to find ways to get guys into scoring position and get that timely hit, working on those small things that will be big things later on.”
Brett Slavens and Eli Zar each had hits for Neosho (0-2).
Beyer earned the win after allowing one run on two hits, two walks and four strikeouts in five innings of work. Eck pitched a scoreless inning in relief, striking out one.
Carter Fenske took the loss after allowing four runs on one hit, six strikeouts and five walks in 2 2/3 innings. Slavens allowed four runs on seven hits in two innings in relief.
In earlier action, Neosho fell to Lebanon 7-5.
“I thought we played pretty well in the first game,” Powers said about Neosho’s opening day. “Lebanon threw two good arms at us. We are fairly young, but our kids put the ball in play and were in a position to win it. We just had some mental and physical errors at the end of the first game, and that seemed to carry over into the second game.”
Noesho’s Carter Fenske delivers a pitch to home during the Wildcats’ game against Carl Junction on Saturday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
The Missouri Southern baseball team split a pair of games on getaway day as the Lions took the opener against Central Oklahoma 12-5, but dropped the finale 11-6 in extra innings to the Bronchos today at Warren Turner Field.
The Lions (15-3, 9-3 MIAA) outscored UCO (8-6, 5-4 MIAA) 6-1 over he final six innings to claim the opener.Will Bausinger started the game and went seven and two thirds, striking out six to move his record to 4-1 on te Year.Cole Woods threw a third of an inning, whileScott Duensing threw the ninth.
Southern scored a run in the first on an RBI single fromTommy Stevenson. After the Bronchos had scored two in the top of the second, the Lions plated three runs in the bottom half of the inning on a three-run bomb fromDexter Swims to re-take the lead.
UCO added two more in the third to tie the game, but the Lions broke it open in the fourth. After a double fromBrad Willis,Matt Miller tripled to left center to score Willis.Joe Kinder was hit by a pitch andJordan Fitzpatrick singled through the right side to score Miller.Troy Gagan singled home Kinder for the final run of the inning.
UCO added a single run in the eighth before the Lions exploded for five runs in the bottom half of the inning. Kinder had an RBI single before Fitzpatrick capped the scoring with a grand slam.
Fitzpatrick went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and five RBIs. Swims drove in three and went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Miller and Kinder scored twice, while Willis crossed the plate three times.
The Bronchos led 5-0 in game two heading to the bottom of the fourth before the Lions picked up three runs to get back into it. RBIs from Swims and Milas highlighted the inning.
After UCO scored in the sixth, the Lions added another run in the eighth to get within two on an RBI double fromGrant Harris. Gagan homered to lead off the ninth and an RBI from Milas tied the game and forced extra-innings.
The Bronchos, however, scored five runs in the tenth to seal the game.
Gagan went 3-for-5 in the game with a home run, while Milas drove in a pair and scored once. Kinder and Swims had a pair of hits each.
Chase Beiter started and went three and a third innings, andCorey Cowan struck out five in two and two thirds of relief.
Southern will be back in action next weekend as the Lions travel to Hays, Kan. to take on Fort Hays State. The Lions and Tigers will have a single game on Friday with a doubleheader on Saturday.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Grant Berendt will always remember this year’s Mount Vernon girls basketball team for its resiliency.
Displaying grit and determination until the final horn, Mount Vernon trimmed a 22-point deficit all the way down to four with under two minutes to play.
But the late comeback fell short, as the big deficit was too much to overcome for the Mountaineers in a 58-52 loss to Boonville in the championship game of the MSHSAA Class 4 state tournament on Saturday at JQH Arena.
“You can’t measure heart and fight in kids,” Berendt said when asked about his team’s late comeback. “I never felt out of it. I felt we ran out of time. For all of our kids to step up and play huge minutes, and do different things, it was special. This is a special group.”
Mount Vernon senior guard Lacy Stokes accepts the runner-up plaque after Saturday’s state title game.
In a state title game for the first time since 2012, Mount Vernon concludes a stellar season with a record of 28-4. The Mountaineers had won 15 straight games ahead of Saturday’s title game appearance.
“Two years ago, when we lost some great seniors, there probably weren’t a lot of people who thought we’d get to .500 the next year,” Berendt said. “We had two juniors, two sophomores and 11 freshmen. And we ended up with 23 wins. Carrying that over to this year, and bringing back everybody, there was so much excitement. We knew we had the opportunity to maybe go do something special. Things started to align for us.”
The Pirates led 43-21 with 4:39 left in the third period, but the Mountaineers didn’t quit. Instead, they used a spirited 26-8 surge to pull within four with 1:40 remaining. But the Pirates would never relinquish their lead.
Mount Vernon standout senior guard Lacy Stokes noted her team left it all on the court.
“I’m going to remember these girls so much for all the heart they had,” Stokes said. “All of my teammates gave their heart for this sport and I couldn’t ask anything more of them.”
NAMES & NUMBERS
Senior guard Ellie Johnston scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting. She made four 3-pointers and also grabbed eight rebounds.
Stokes added 14 points, seven assists, five boards and three steals.
Juniors Raegan Boswell and Cameryn Cassity contributed eight points apiece, while sophomore Kadence Krempges rounded out the scoring with one point. Boswell had a team-high nine rebounds.
The Mountaineers made 18-of-46 field goal attempts (39 percent) and went 9-for-14 at the foul line.
Addison Brownfield scored 19 points for Boonville (27-2), while Kourtney Kendrick had 17 and Jodie Bass added 11. The Pirates shot 41 percent for the game (16-of-39) and made 18-of-24 free throws.
It’s Boonville’s first state championship in girls basketball.
GAME RECAP
Mount Vernon led 6-3 after treys from Johnston and Stokes, but the Pirates scored eight straight points to go up 11-6. Cassity’s hoop in the paint cut Mount Vernon’s deficit to three at the end of the first quarter.
The hot-shooting Pirates hit four treys in the second period and used a 15-3 run to pull away at 33-16.
Johnston knocked down a much-needed 3-pointer, but the Mountaineers trailed 33-19 at the break.
“The difference was their ability to make baskets and our inability to,” Berendt said of the first half. “They shot the lights out. They had kids step up and make shots.”
“We were kind of discombobulated on the offensive end and that falls on me,” Berendt added. “I didn’t get us in the right alignments and we just started chucking it up. And if you do that against a team that’s hot, you get down 22 real quick…and that’s what happened.”
The Pirates extended their advantage to 22 at 43-21.
Boonville led 45-24 when Mount Vernon started to shift the momentum. The Mountaineers scored the final eight points of the third quarter, trimming their deficit to 45-32 entering the final frame.
While the Pirates went cold from the field, Cassity, Boswell, Johnston and Stokes all contributed points during Mount Vernon’s fourth quarter rally, and a Krempges free throw cut her team’s deficit to 51-47 with 1:40 remaining.
Boonville’s Kendrick made one attempt at the charity stripe and the Mountaineers had an empty possession before Brownfield hit two free throws.
Cassity’s hoop inside pulled the Mountaineers within five with 45 seconds left before the teams traded turnovers. Brownfield hit two more free throws at the 13-second mark before Johnston’s 3-pointer once again cut Mount Vernon’s deficit to four. But there were only eight seconds left.
Brownfield drew a foul and made two charities for the final margin. Overall, the Pirates made their final seven free throw attempts.
A TALE OF TWO HALVES
The Mountaineers were limited to 19 points in the first half, but they erupted for 33 after the break, including 20 in the fourth quarter.
Mount Vernon made just 7-of-20 field goal attempts in the first half (35 percent), while Boonville hit 12-of-26 shots (46 percent).
The Mountaineers turned the ball over nine times in the opening half against Boonville’s aggressive pressure defense, while the Pirates had just four turnovers.
But it was a different story after intermission.
The Pirates hit only 4-of-13 field goal attempts in the second half, while the Mountaineers made 11-of-26. Boonville had nine turnovers in the second half, while Mount Vernon had only five.
“We’ve always been a second half team,” said Stokes, who will play collegiately at Missouri Southern. “We dug ourselves a hole, but we have a lot of heart and a lot of fight. We tried to do what we needed to, but a lot of things just didn’t fall for us tonight like they usually do. It just wasn’t our night.”
CARTHAGE, Mo. — The start of the 2021 season couldn’t arrive soon enough for first-year Carthage coach Luke Bordewick.
“Man, I am pumped,” Bordewick said when asked what his excitement level was with the season drawing close. “We have a really good group of athletes and young men here. I am really excited and can’t wait to get after it.”
Bordewick, a Pittsburg State graduate, was a three-year assistant to longtime Tigers coach Mike Godfrey, who announced his plans to step down from the position at the end of last season before it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The reason all of these kids are such hard workers is because Coach Godfrey instilled that in them,” Bordewick said. “He led a great program that prided itself on having good kids who work hard and are great athletes. With all of that, it was a really easy transition to step into a program where the kids are already working hard.”
The Tigers will have four seniors and more than three times as many juniors on the roster this season. Under normal circumstances, that number of upperclassmen would be an extreme plus. But this season is anything but normal, as the seniors were sophomores getting their first sniff of varsity baseball while the juniors were all freshmen the last time they stepped on a field playing for the high school program.
“It stinks because they didn’t get the reps that they needed,” Bordewick said. “Especially when they are stepping in now and trying to lead a team. They just lost an entire season of reps because a lot of those sophomores last year would have been players on varsity. It just stinks they lose those at-bats and innings they would have pitched. But, they are excited to get out here and that kind of attitude is awesome.”
Like many of the area teams, it is going to take time and game reps for the comfortability and consistency needed to play well at the varsity level to grow. Bordewick is well aware of that, but has been extremely encouraged with the growth he has already witnessed to this point.
“Once we get into the swing of it to where we are playing three or four games a week, we should snap into it pretty quickly,” Bordewick said.
TIGERS’ STRENGTHS
As Carthage heads into the season, the team’s pitching as well as the speed on the basepaths and a strong defense figure to be keys to success.
Senior Mason Utter, junior Kaden Arr and junior Zach Geter project to get the bulk of the innings in the rotation this season, with Grant Collier also having experience on the mound
“I think pitching is going to be a strong spot for us,” Bordewick said. “We have a lot of pitchers who can throw strikes. We have a lot of speed. We are going to zip around on the bases. On defense, we have three exceptional senior defenders—an outfielder (Collier), an infielder (SS Kaden Kralicek) and a catcher (Wil McCombs). We have an anchor at every level.”
OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK
The Tigers will be looking to string together runs with situational hitting. That is where the reps lost from last season will see it’s biggest hindrance.
“It just comes down to the inexperience of not having last year,” Bordewick said. “They just need to learn and understand how to have a two-strike approach, or how to get a bunt down in a big situation. Things like that, the situational ins and outs of baseball that make a team really, really good instead of average.”
Carthage will be led at the plate with McCombs, who figures to set the table as the leadoff hitter. Kralicek will follow right behind in the two or three hole and be relied upon to get on base at a high rate as well as to drive in runs.
The lineup behind those two will be fluid, according to Bordewick. He plans to have a lot of flexibility in his lineups, seeing what works best as the Tigers progress through the early portions of the season.
SEASON OPENER
Carthage opens the season with a pair of games on the road. The Tigers are at Glendale for a 10 a.m. first pitch before taking on Kennett at 12:30 p.m.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — For the first time since 2012, the Mount Vernon girls basketball team will be playing for a chance to win a state title after the fourth-seeded Mountaineers knocked off top-seeded Vashon 78-55 in the Class 4 semifinals at JQH Arena on Friday.
“I can’t explain it to you,” Mount Vernon senior point guard Lacy Stokes said with a smile when asked what it meant to play for a state title. “We talked about it before the game and said we cannot lose. This is the time. I want to put a state title banner up in our gym so badly. We have so many people from our community supporting us. We just want to do it for them, for Coach B (Grant Berendt) and for each other. It’s unbelievable.”
“This means everything,” third-year Mount Vernon coach Grant Berendt said. “I wouldn’t be here without the kids or the support from the community, the school and the student body. If you were here and you looked up, there was a sea of green. They were loud and proud, and our kids fed off of that. It’s a tradition-rich school and basketball program. … For us to have a chance to win a state title, they’re excited. The first thing they said in the locker room is they weren’t done yet.”
Mount Vernon’s Ellie Johnston shoots a jumper over Vashon’s Raychel Jones during Friday’s Class 4 semifinal at JQH Arena. All photos by Jason Peake.
The Mountaineers (28-3), winners of 15 straight, needed less than three minutes of game action to take their first lead over the Wolverines (17-2) when Ellie Johnston stepped into a 3-pointer from the wing off the assist from Stokes, a Missouri Southern commit, at the 5:11 mark. Johnston led Mount Vernon with eight points in the first period, knocking down a pair of triples to help her team take a 16-13 lead into the second quarter.
“She is a great shooter and the last couple of games, it just hadn’t been falling for her,” Stokes said when she asked her thoughts on seeing Johnston make her first two 3-point shots. “We talked before the game and I told her this is the one. If you want to hit, this is the game. When she came out and hit those first two, her confidence went up and our confidence went up as a team because we just support her so much. After that, when a shot left her hand, we were all confident it was going in.”
Mount Vernon never relinquished the lead it gained early in the first quarter, stretching it to 23-13 with 5:34 to play in the first half after starting the second period on a 7-0 run. Stokes and Johnston each scored inside before Stokes knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key off a ball screen to push the lead to 10.
The Mountaineers held the double-digit advantage off and on throughout the second quarter until the Wolverines found momentum for the first time in the form of a 6-0 run, with Kanitra Barnett accounting for four, in the later stages of the first half to trim the lead to 27-23.
Johnston came up big from the perimeter again for Mount Vernon, splashing back-to-back 3-balls to stretch the lead back to 10, 33-23, inside the final minute of the first half before taking a 33-26 lead into the intermission.
“(Vashon) didn’t come into this game 17-1 for no reason,” Berendt said. “We knew they were going to get something going, but we wanted to limit it and not bail them out on some things. I thought we withstood that and did a great job of answering.”
Vashon cut Mount Vernon’s seven-point halftime lead to one possession several times early in the third quarter, but every time it looked like the Wolverines were about to swing the momentum, the Mountaineers, who never allowed a game-tying or go-ahead bucket, answered right back at one end or the other to keep the Wolverines at bay.
“Defense travels,” Johnston said. “We knew we had to d-up to stop them and win this game. We did just that. Our bigs are not that big, but they did amazing against their tall girls. I am proud of them because that helped us a lot.”
Mar’shaun Bostic, an Auburn University recruit, scored inside for Vashon to trim the Mountaineer’s lead to 38-36 with 4:50 left in the third before Mount Vernon responded with a 7-0 run to push the lead back to nine. Lisa Kruger started the run with a bucket in the paint before Stokes followed with a deep 3-ball from the wing and a mid-range jumper to make the score 45-36.
Mount Vernon senior Lacy Stokes puts up a runner in the lane against Vashon’s Marshaun Bostic during the Class 4 semifinals on Friday night at JQH Arena. Stokes scored 39 points in her team’s 78-55 win.
Vashon’s Raychel Jones converted from the perimeter with 1:20 left in the third to cut the deficit to 48-45, but Raegan Boswell buried a 3-pointer on the other end with Stokes adding two makes from the stripe to give the Mountaineers a 53-45 lead heading into the final eight minutes of action.
“She shot that with the utmost confidence,” Berendt said of Boswell’s 3-pointer. “She didn’t hesitate. The pass hit her and she swung into it just like we work on in practice. .. That was a big one for her.”
The Mountaineers were sent to the free-throw line 24 times as a team in the fourth quarter, converting 17 charities to push the lead to more than 20 points in the waning minutes of the contest, pulling away to the win while making school history in the process.
“I kept looking up at the clock and kept thinking, ‘Golly’,” Stokes said with a laugh. “I felt like we were at the five-minute mark for 10 minutes. It was just free throw after free throw and the clock kept stopping. I was worried they may go on a run, but we locked in on defense to make sure they didn’t.”
“Usually, we play fast,” Johnston added about the slow-paced second half. “The tempo was much slower (in the second half). I didn’t even run out of breath that much. I thought it felt good because the tempo was slowed but we were still getting good shots or looks out of it.”
STAT LEADERS
Stokes finished with a game-high 39 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, including two 3-pointers. The bulk of her scoring came from the charity stripe, as Stokes made 21 free throws in the win and 16 alone (10 straight at one point) in the fourth quarter. She added six rebounds, five steals and four assists.
Johnston closed the game with 18 points, making all four of her 3-point attempts in the win.
“They wanted this opportunity,” Berendt said of Stokes’ and Johnston’s performances. “That is all they have talked about—doing what it takes to get this opportunity of playing together with their team on this floor in this environment in front of their fans.”
Boswell finished with eight points and a team-high nine rebounds to go along with two steals.
Bostic and Nariyah Simmons led Vashon with 14 points each, with Simmons adding three assists, three steals and three rebounds. Kiyah Cooper added 12 points in the loss.
FOR ALL THE MARBLES
Mount Vernon takes on Boonville (26-2) in the Class 4 state title game at 4 p.m. on Saturday at JQH Arena. Boonville defeated Benton 48-44 in the other semifinal game.
“It means the world to me,” Johnston said. “I am speechless because I am so excited I’ve gotten to experience this with my best friends.”
Mount Vernon coach Grant Berendt hugs Cameryn Cassity as Raegan Boswell looks on late in Friday’s game at JQH Arena. The Mountaineers defeated Vashon 78-55 to advance to Saturday’s state title game.The Mountaineers celebrate their win over top-ranked Vashon.
Trey Lippe-Morrison will make his long awaited return to the squared circle on April 10 when Top Rank Boxing holds a professional boxing event at Osage Casino in Tulsa.
An undefeated heavyweight knockout artist from Vinita, Oklahoma, Lippe-Morrison (16-0, 16 KOs) became a fan favorite in the Joplin area with the Four State Franchise.
Trey Lippe-Morrison.
Lippe-Morrison’s opponent for the event has not yet been announced.
On April 10, Top Rank’s main event of the evening will be a WBO light heavyweight world title bout between Joe Smith Jr. (26-3) and Maxim Vlasov (45-3).
In the co-feature, unbeaten heavyweight Efe Ajagba (14-0) will take on Brian Howard (15-4). Both of those fights will be broadcast live on ESPN.
Other fighters slated to compete on the undercard are heavyweights Jared Anderson (8-0) and Jeremiah Milton (2-0).
The undercard, including Lippe-Morrison’s fight, will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The event is promoted by Top Rank, in association with Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and Tony Holden Productions.
The son of the late Tommy Morrison, Trey hasn’t fought since July 17 of 2019, when he earned a technical knockout over Pedro Martinez in Costa Rica.
Lippe-Morrison was scheduled to compete at the August 2019 “Rumble in the Rose District” in Broken Arrow, but his opponent backed out days before the bout and a replacement could not be found in time.
The 6-foot-3 Lippe-Morrison, who spent time training in Houston and is now training in Tulsa, did not fight in 2020.
The 31-year-old Lippe-Morrison, who weighed 237 pounds at the time of his last scheduled fight, appeared on the undercard of a Top Rank Boxing event in June of 2018 in Oklahoma City, where he knocked out Byron Polley.
Lippe-Morrison fought 11 times at Buffalo Run Casino in Miami from 2014-16. He also fought at Memorial Hall in Joplin in August of 2015.
According to a Top Rank press release, ticket information for fans will be announced soon.
Joplin High School girls soccer coach Josh Thompson was definitely pleased when Tuesday’s preseason jamboree concluded at Carl Junction’s Bulldog Stadium.
Of course, there was no spring season last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, so the jamboree’s arrival signaled the start of the 2021 soccer campaign.
That was obviously a welcome sight for Thompson, who was also pleased with his team’s performance on the playing field.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” Thompson said of the jamboree. “We saw a lot of good things as far as everybody playing for each other. We saw a lot of effort. There’s a real competitive spirit with this group and that was exciting to see.”
The Eagles will be led by seven seniors—Mya Johnson, Addison Saunders, Madison Houk, Ann Lenhart, Karen Maturino, Lily Pagan and Reece Schroer.
“Those are the girls who would have gained a lot of varsity experience last year,” Thompson said. “I think they’ll make big strides this year.”
Johnson will once again be the team’s starting goalkeeper. As a sophomore, Johnson started at the position and recorded seven clean sheets.
“She’s a difference maker in a game,” Thompson said. “We don’t have a lot of experience on our backline at all. But having a keeper like Mya, with all of her experience, really does make us feel more comfortable.”
Saunders will play a key role as a defensive midfielder.
“Addi is going to be our holding midfielder where she’s staying back there with everybody,” Thompson said. “She played a lot as a sophomore. She’s probably got more experience than anyone else on our backline.”
Houk, Lenhart, Marturino, Pagan and Schroer will all contribute.
Sophomore Paisley Parker will be a striker/attacking midfielder.
“She was going to be influential as a freshman last year,” Thompson said. “So now she’s having her first go at high school soccer. She’s definitely someone we’re going to look to play through a lot.”
Junior Emily Delman is another player Thompson expects to make a big impact.
“Emily would have been a returning defender last year, but we’re moving her up to midfield,” Thompson said. “Emily will definitely be another player we try to play through.”
Sophomore Jayla Hunter should also contribute nicely.
“She’s a really hard worker and she’s going to be expected to do a lot on defense,” Thompson said.
Other juniors listed on the roster are Madison Corl, Americus Emmett, Sophia Schwartz and Kayla Talbot.
Junior Ella Hafer would have been a key contributor this spring, but she suffered a knee injury during the basketball season. A forward, Hafer earned all-conference recognition during her freshman season.
There’s a large group of sophomores listed on the varsity roster—Serafina Auberry, Breanna Davis, Brynn Driver, Kaylea Green, Hailee Johnson, Miracle Lawrence, Cielo Martinez, Sage Mitchell and Jensen Vowels.
“We knew experience was going to be a concern coming into the season, but we’re really hoping to put together a strong enough group of athletes and just grow throughout the season,” Thompson said of a team goal. “We have to figure out how to play together, but we hope to be an athletic and physical team.”
The Eagles (10-10 in ’19) will be in Class 4 District 11 this year with Carthage, Kickapoo and Republic.
Joplin is scheduled to begin the season on March 29 at Parkview. The team’s first home date is April 8 against Monett.
As the team continues to prepare for its season-opener, Thompson noted there’s a lot to like about the group.
“I think we have a really good group of people that we’re working with,” Thompson said. “They’re supportive and hard-working. They give high effort. We’ve already seen big strides in just a couple of weeks. We may not have as much soccer experience as some other teams, but we’ve got a good group of athletes who understand what it means to be a part of a team sport. It’s been fun.”
BETHANY, Okla. — The Missouri Southern football team played its first football game in 488 days and the Lions came away victorious, holding off Southern Nazarene late, 21-20, in the only spring game of the year.
The Lions (1-0) went into the fourth quarter up 14-7, but Southern Nazarene (0-3) tied the score up at 14 with 12:52 left in the quarter.
Southern got the ball back with seven minutes on the clock and with a third-and-18 situation from its own 49-yard line,Jaylon Banks hooked up withJaedon Stoshak for a 51-yard bomb that put the Lions up 21-7 with 4:02 to go.
The Crimson Storm worked its own late drive magic and drove the length of the field to get within one (21-20) with just 33 seconds left on the clock. SNU decided to go for the win and tried a two-point conversion but the Southern defense came up strong and denied the conversion to secure the win.
Defense was key to the win today as both of the Lions’ previous scores came directly as the result of a stop and a turnover.
Trailing 7-0 in the second quarter,Jakwan Allen forced a fumble and picked up the loose ball at the SNU 14-yard line to set up the Lions’ offense.Taylor Thomas rushed the ball three times to the SNU seven-yard line to set up a fourth and two situation.Josh Mercer came up with the first down with a rush to the two-yard line and then punched it in to tie the score at seven.
With 3:33 left in the second quarter, the Lions were forced to punt, but special-teams came up huge and picked up a loose ball to give the Lions possession inside the two-yard line. Thomas rushed for no-gain but punched it in on another attempt to give the Lions a 14-7 lead at halftime.
Banks was 4-of-16 on the day for 105 yards and a touchdown. Stoshak, Mercer, Jonathan Watts andKeandre Bledsoe all caught a pass each. Stoshak’s reception went for 51 yards, while Mercer’s was for 38.
Mercer had 22 carries for 156 yards and a touchdown. He had a long of 67 yards on the afternoon. Banks rushed for 19 yards, while Thomas carried the ball six times for 13 yards and a score.
Defensively,Colton Winder finished with eight tackles, seven solo.Malachi Broadnax had six stops and an interception, whileJamie Tago had five tackles and a sack. Allen had five tackles and a sack, including a forced fumble and a recovery, whileElden Titania had a sack, as well.
The Lions will be off for spring break and then return to spring practice with the Green and Gold Scrimmage on April 24.
Moving on: The winner advances to the state title game at 4 on Saturday against either Boonville or Benton. The loser plays for third place at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Records: Mount Vernon 27-3, Vashon 17-1
Quarterfinal results: Mount Vernon def. Blair Oaks 46-45; Vashon def. Central (Park Hills) 70-44.
THE MOUNTAINEERS: Mount Vernon is in the semifinals for the first time since 2012. The Mountaineers have won 14 straight games since a loss to Class 6 Ozark on Jan. 20. Mount Vernon scores 62 points a game and allows just 36.
Mount Vernon senior point guard Lacy Stokes was named the 4-States Basketball Coaches Association’s player of the year this week. A Missouri Southern recruit, Stokes is averaging 25.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.2 steals and 5.1 assists per game. She’s shooting 51 percent from the floor and 83 percent from the foul line
Like Stokes, senior guard Elllie Johnston is a four-year varsity performer. Juniors Cameryn Cassity, Raegan Boswell and Jolie Prescott are Mount Vernon’s other probable starters.Lisa Kruger, Allie Schubert and Kadence Krempges are other key performers.
THE WOLVERINES: Vashon is in the semifinal round for the first time in school history. The Wolverines, who are on a nine-game winning streak, forced 28 turnovers in their quarterfinal victory, STL high school sports reported. Vashon’s lone loss came to undefeated Incarnate Word, a team in the Class 6 final four. Vashon is scoring 65 points per game and giving up 34.
A player to watch for Vashon is 5-8 guard Marshaun Bostic, an Auburn recruit who compiled 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals in the quarterfinals. Other Vashon players to watch include Raychel Jones, Kiyah Cooper and Nariyah Simmons. All four players are scoring in double figures. Vashon is ranked first by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, while Mount Vernon is ranked fourth.
QUOTABLE: “I am super proud of our kids. Since Lacy and Ellie were little kids, they’ve talked about doing this. A lot of them were in the stands watching the 2012 team go all the way and win it. We broke through this year. We had to claw and scratch to do it, but it is an unbelievable feeling.” — Mount Vernon coach Grant Berendt.
The good news for Joplin baseball is the 2021 squad will be filled out primarily with upperclassmen. The downside is very few of them have varsity experience.
The Eagles boast a roster with seven seniors and seven juniors for the upcoming campaign. The problem is only a handful of them have seen playing time at the varsity level with last season being lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. And while everyone felt for the seniors missing out on their final season, the three classes below them were impacted in several ways as well.
“There are just a lot of unknowns,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said. “As guys progress through a program, they pick up on situations and it just becomes natural. These guys lost a year of that. I said at the time, as much as I felt for the seniors losing their last season, I also recognize the guys below them lost a year, too. They lost a year of experience and development and you can only catch up on so much in that amount of time.”
Two seasons ago, Joplin closed its second year under Wolf with a 15-11 record, finishing with an above .500 record for the first time in five seasons. The Eagles were returning five starters from that team, which meant there were several spots up for grabs for new players to step into larger roles prior to the cancelation.
Of course the players have put in their own work in the extended offseason, but it’s the little nuances of baseball that players learn with live-game repetitions that Coach Wolf believes will be the biggest learning curve early in the season.
“I think the catching, throwing and hitting part of it, they’ve done a lot of,” Wolf said. “It’s the situational things like making sure we are recognizing the flow of the game. With two outs, maybe I can deepen up a little bit. In baserunning, making sure we are checking the outfielders’ positioning. Just getting into the rhythm and the flow of the game are the things that come with that experience that gives you confidence and recognition of those types of situations.
“That is what you will see a little bit with some of these guys. They don’t have that in-game experience and feel for the rhythm of the game.”
Wolf was quick to mention, however, that nearly everyone in the area is going through the same situation. So, with this season setting up for a lot of teams to be learning on the fly, it is going to be even more important to make sure they are getting the proper coaching needed to develop the right way as the season progresses.
“I have to remember that some of those guys who are juniors were freshmen the last time that we really got into the meat of a season,” Wolf said. “I have to do a better job, quite honestly, to make sure I am helping them with those little things and not just assume that we are going to understand that. I have to make sure to take a look across the field to see if we have a deep enough infield with two outs, or whatever the case may be. I think that is something I am taking from this a little bit. I need to teach them a little better in practice and help them more in games with some of those things.”
The early results have been promising. Though the inexperience has shown in certain areas through the first several weeks of practice, Coach Wolf was more than pleased with the response and attitude he got from his players. The Eagles are ready to get the 2021 season underway.
“I’ll be honest, and I have said this a number of times, I felt like we had as good a two weeks of practice as we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Wolf said. “That doesn’t mean we weren’t making mistakes, it just means I felt like the kids have enjoyed being around one another, they’ve taken to coaching really well and they’ve worked hard on the little things. That’s exciting.
“The process of getting to where you want to be has to happen,” Wolf said. “I felt like we’ve had a really good process up to this point. Now, we kind of have an idea after (the jamboree) of where our bar is, what things we need to work on and where we need to improve. It’s all about getting better game by game as the season goes on and be playing our best by the end of it.”
STRENGTHS IN FUNDAMENTALS
The main focus for Joplin, particularly in the early portions of the season, is making sure they are playing the game the right way and not developing any bad habits. Going through the trials and tribulations of inexperienced players growing on the field subsides much quicker if the effort is maxed out.
“We just have to go out and do a good job of earning the ultimate compliment—your team plays hard,” Wolf said. “We are going to make mistakes, but we have to fight for each other and pick each other up as a family. There is going to be adversity as the year goes on, and there are going to be wins and triumph. We just have to stay even and keep getting better.”
Coach Wolf believes the Eagles’ defense will be one of the team’s strengths this season. Once the offense finds its identity and is comfortable with it, the consistency from at-bat to at-bat will be the biggest key.
“I think the biggest thing right now after watching (the jamboree) is we just need to have some confidence in ourselves,” Wolf said. “We just need to believe we can play this game confidently at a high level.”
FILLING OUT THE LINEUP
Senior IF Fielding Campbell and junior IF Bodee Carlson project to start the season near the top of the order as table setters.
“If they can get on base, they are instinctive baserunners who will put pressure on the defense,” Wolf said.
Senior OF Kohl Cooper, senior OF Kirk Chandler and senior 1B Alex Curry figure to fill out the meat of the batting order. Senior C David Fiscus, IF Carson Wampler, sophomore UTL Byler Reither and junior OF Kyler Stokes will be names to look for near to fill out the card.
“Those are guys who can handle the bat well and do some things at the back end of the lineup,” Wolf said. “They have the ability to hit the ball in the gap, or they can lay down a bunt, can run and can do some other things, too. There is a lot of flexibility in the lineup … and I think as the season progresses, we will be tough to pitch to.”
RELIABLE ARMS
Joplin will be relying on Chandler, junior Ethan Guilford, Campbell and senior Josh Harryman to provide most of the innings on the bump in 2021.
“We have to be able to throw them out there with them having the confidence they can keep us in the game to compete,” Wolf said.
Junior Joe Jasper, Reither and sophomore Justin McReynolds are slotted as possible relief options for Joplin this season as well, with the opportunity to grow into expanded roles given the needed progression.
SEASON OPENER
Joplin opens the season at home on Saturday with two games. The Eagles host Parkview at noon before taking on Hollister with a 4 p.m. matchup.
The third ranked Missouri Southern baseball program will be back at home this weekend as the Lions will play host to Central Oklahoma in an MIAA series at Warren Turner Field.
Southern (13-2, 7-2 MIAA) sits a game out of first place in the MIAA and is ranked third in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Division II poll and tenth in the baseball coaches poll. The Lions are coming off a series win at Missouri Western when Southern won two-of-three games.
The Lions lead the MIAA in doubles, doubles per game, ERA, hits allowed per nine innings, home runs, shutouts, strikeout to walk ratio, strikeouts per nine innings, walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP), and walks allowed per nine innings. Southern ranks seventh nationally in shutouts, while ranking eighth in ERA, ninth in both strikeout to walk ratio and home runs and 10th in doubles and walks allowed per nine innings. The Lions rank 12th in WHIP and 19th in strikeouts per nine innings.
Will Bausinger leads the MIAA in complete games, while ranking second in strikeouts.Zach Parish leads the league in strikeouts, whileZac Shoemaker is third.Troy Gagan leads the MIAA in home runs and total bases, while Bausinger, Parish and Shoemaker leads the MIAA in games started.Tommy Stevenson is second in the MIAA in doubles.Cole Woods leads the MIAA in saves, while Parish is second in ERA.
Parish leads Division II in wins, while ranking fourth nationally in strikeouts. Bausinger and Shoemaker rank 8th and 16th in strikeouts, while Gagan ranks 12th in home runs and 20th in total bases.
This season, Gagan leads the Lions with a .362 batting average, six home runs and 16 RBIs.Jordan Fitzpatrick (.321) andHenry Kusiak (.302) are both hitting over .300 while Kusiak has ten RBIs andDexter Swims has driven in 11 of his own. The Lions are hitting .264 as a team this season.
Parish is 4-0 this year with 44 strikeouts in 31 innings, while Bausinger is 3-1 with 41 k’s in 32 innings. Shoemaker is 3-1 with 35 k’s in 27 innings, while Woods has three saves andChase Beiter has two.
UCO (7-4, 4-2 MIAA) comes into the series after a midweek win at home over Oklahoma Christian. The Bronchos took two-of-three from both Fort Hays State and Emporia State this year in MIAA play. Ryan Harrell leads the offensive attack for the Bronchos with a .400 batting average, while Kyle Crowl has a team-high three home runs and Garrett Takamatsu has 12 RBIs. Braydon Nelson has a 3-0 record out of the bullpen this year, while Luke Anderson has a team-high 24 strikeouts.
All three games will be broadcasted live on the MIAA Network, as well as have live stats with links to both above in the story links. Friday’s game will be broadcasted live on Fox Sports Joplin with Kevin Welch bringing you the play-by-play.
The Joplin Eagles baseball team hosted Carthage and Monett in a jamboree on Tuesday, which was a welcomed experience for everyone involved.
“To get out on the baseball field and see a different team in the opposing dugout, it’s basically been 367 days since we’ve put on a Joplin uniform and play a baseball game,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said. “I think everyone was feeling it a little bit. I told some people this morning that it felt like the first day of school when I was a little kid. I think there was a little bit more meaning to it, and the kids felt it, too. This was really exciting. We got to play baseball today, and that is always a good thing.”
“It’s awesome, and what a perfect night for it,” Carthage coach Luke Bordewick said. “All of these kids have been itching for it for a while. I saw some good things, but we still have a lot to work on. But, man, it’s a good time of year.”
This time last year, area teams were preparing for a spring sports season that never was. Many of the jamborees had already taken place with teams waiting in limbo on whether or not they would get to play meaningful games. Sadly, the news was what many feared and expected—the spring sports season was canceled because of the still-developing COVID pandemic. Losing out on a full year of baseball is going to make this season even more special when considering the circumstances.
“I don’t think there is any doubt about it,” Wolf said when asked if there was a greater appreciation level from his players to take part in spring sports this season. “Kids, in general, have short memories. But I think that was something that stuck with them—at any given time, things can get shut down. I think kids will get into a rhythm and it will become like any other year, but I don’t think there is any doubt right now. There was a great crowd tonight, and I think that just shows everybody is ready for some baseball.”
Joplin, Carthage and Monett all played four-inning games, rotating opponents for each contest. Though the final scores aren’t important, taking advantage of the game-like situations is crucial in terms of developing confidence to start the season. This is the time coaches get to see how their players react and respond in pressure situations it’s nearly impossible to replicate in practice.
“I think that is what it really is,” Wolf said. “You’re getting an opportunity to see yourselves in a competitive scenario against another team that is going to do things differently than you do—things you can’t really duplicate in practice. That is what this comes down to, situational work and how kids react to it.”
“I don’t think we had a single pitcher who had varsity experience coming into this,” Bordewick said. “That is ultimately what it is about for us—getting these kids varsity reps and varsity experience. It’s all about the reps right now, scores don’t matter.”
The in-game situations are not only important for the players, though. For Bordewick, who is replacing former head coach Mike Godfrey, he knows it will take time to get comfortable with the in-game decision making it takes to be successful. The jamboree was the perfect chance to test those waters as a first-year head coach.
“I am learning just like they are,” Bordewick said. “I am going to make mistakes, and I told them that. We are trying a lot of new, aggressive things. I asked them for their grace. I made some mistakes tonight, but I am learning from it just like they are.”
With a talented senior class, and with plenty of depth, the Cardinals expect to put a stellar team on the field.
Webb City will be led by seven solid seniors.
“They’re a seasoned group,” Webb City coach Flave Darnell said. “We’re going to be as good as our seniors. We’ve got a lot of guys who have played a lot of baseball, football and other sports. I think we have a lot of athleticism and team speed. Our seniors have done a good job of leading and our practices have been really smooth. We’re just excited.”
In addition to the seniors, there are 10 juniors on the roster, with many expected to contribute nicely.
“We’re real experienced,” Darnell said. “We were fortunate to play 40 games last summer. That was big for us. We had an awesome summer.”
Four Webb City seniors have already signed to play college baseball, as Treghan Parker, Cole Gayman and Eli Goddard are headed to Missouri Southern while Matt Woodmansee has inked with Labette Community College in Kansas.
“Those guys have played a lot and we expect big things out of them,” Darnell said, noting high expectations for the season.
PITCHING STAFF
Webb City’s No. 1 starter will be Gayman, a 5-foot-11 right-hander who garnered all-conference honors after going 7-2 with a 2.33 ERA during his sophomore campaign in 2019.
Currently slated to be Webb City’s No. 2 starter is 6-3 senior righty Noah Mitchell.
Junior left-hander Gavin Stowell and senior righty Shane Noel are other possible starting pitchers. Senior right-hander Goddard and junior righty Cooper Crouch are relievers.
“We’ve got a senior-laden team and our pitching staff is the same way,” Darnell said. “We’ve also got a couple of younger guys who I think can make an impact on the mound. We feel really good about our pitching staff as a whole.”
AROUND THE HORN: INFIELD AND OUTFIELD
Stowell and Crouch are possible starters at first base. And when he’s not pitching, Gayman could also see time at first or second base.
Junior Eric Fitch is a likely starter at second base, while Parker will start at shortstop and Noel is slated to start at third base.
Goddard will be behind the plate.
As far as the outfield, Weathers will once again patrol center field, while Woodmansee will be the starter in right field.
Darnell said the left field spot is still up for grabs. Stowell, junior Jeremiah Leaming and junior Cade Wilson are players who could see time in left. Wilson is coming off an ankle injury suffered during the football season.
“I wouldn’t say our lineup is set by any means,” Darnell said. “We’ve got some battles going on and that’s a great thing. We’ve got guys pushing each other for playing time. That competition in practice will pay off when it gets to game time.”
BATTING ORDER
Weathers and Parker are expected to hit at the top of the order.
The speedy Weathers, who’s headed to Kansas State to play football, hit .346 as a sophomore, earning all-district honors.
Parker had a stellar sophomore season, hitting .420 and earning first team All-Central Ozark Conference honors and all-district recognition.
Woodmansee and Noel are likely middle of the order hitters.
“I can’t say enough about Matt’s progression from his sophomore year to now,” Darnell said. “He’s gotten a lot stronger. He’s now an RBI guy, along with Shane Noel.”
Gayman and Goddard will hit fifth or sixth. Junior Aiden Brock is a likely designated hitter.
SEASON BEGINS SATURDAY
The Cardinals will host Rogersville at 11 a.m. on Saturday in LAEL Leadoff Classic action. Webb City will also be at home next Monday against Republic in another LAEL clash.
Of course, there was no spring season in 2020 thanks to COVID, so this will be Darnell’s first official outing as Webb City’s head coach.
Webb City went 17-12 and captured a district title in 2019.
“I think our kids are really excited to get back on the diamond,” said Darnell, who spent 15 seasons in charge of the Carl Junction baseball program before assisting the Cardinals in ’19. “We feel good about our guys. We had a good jamboree yesterday. We saw a lot of positive things. We’re just excited to get rolling.”
Webb City baseball roster Seniors: Matt Woodmansee, Shane Noel, Cole Gayman, Treghan Parker, Devrin Weathers, Eli Goddard, Noah Mitchell. Juniors: Eric Fitch, Cade Wilson, Dante Hill, Brantley Carter, Kenley Hood, Kolton Eilenstein, Aiden Brock, Cooper Crouch, Gavin Stowell, Jeremiah Leaming. Sophomores: Walker Sweet, Eli Miller, Tyler Marbut, Landon Johnson, McQuade Eilenstein, Gage Chapman, William Hayes, Max Stovern, Kaylor Darnell, Cy Darnell.
Nevada’s Logan Applegate and Mount Vernon’s Lacy Stokes have been recognized as the area’s prep basketball players of the year by the 4-States Basketball Coaches Association.
A high-scoring senior shooting guard, Applegate led Nevada to the quarterfinal round of the Class 5 state tournament.
Logan Applegate of Nevada.Lacy Stokes of Mount Vernon.
The 6-foot-1 Applegate averaged 23 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.3 steals a game. Applegate hit 107 3-pointers this season. He made 58.5 percent of his 2-point field goal attempts, 37 percent of his 3-point attempts and 77.5 percent at the charity stripe.
A do-it-all senior point guard who has signed with Missouri Southern, the 5-4 Stokes has directed the Mountaineers to the Class 4 semifinals.
Stokes is currently averaging 25.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.2 steals and 5.1 assists per game. She’s shooting 51 percent from the floor and 83 percent from the foul line for Grant Berendt’s 27-3 Mountaineers, who meet Vashon (17-1) at 6 on Friday night at JQH Arena.
The entire boys and girls teams, which were voted on by area coaches, are listed below.
After releasing the all-area teams, Webb City boys basketball coach Jason Horn told SoMo Sports that all-area team pictures will not be taken this year due to COVID.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — Prep baseball officially kicked off in the Joplin area on Monday with Webb City hosting Carl Junction and Republic in a jamboree.
“They’re excited,” Webb City coach Flave Darnell said when asked about getting time on the field in preparation for the upcoming season. “We have a senior-laden team, we have seven seniors, and I am excited for them.”
“We were talking about it with some of them and I told them the last time I was able to throw (batting practice) to them before a game was the district championship in 2019,” Carl Junction coach Jake Stevenson said. “We’re excited to get back out here today. “
Darnell was hired to take the helm of the Cardinals’ baseball program prior to the start of the 2020 season. Unfortunately, with everyone still figuring out how to deal with the COVID pandemic, the spring sports season was canceled. A year later, Darnell is excited to get his debut season with Webb City underway.
“It’s just good to be back on the field,” Darnell said. “Having that year off was disappointing. We were fortunate to have a really good summer. So, I’ve been around these guys a lot. … It’s great to be out there competing against another team. As a team, we have had a couple good weeks of practice. We have a few things we could improve on, but (today) was good.”
With all of the inclement weather in the area over the last few days, Webb City was able to put their new turf (installed last season) at Chuck Barnes Field to the test. The results were very favorable.
“It’s great,” Darnell said with a smile. “We’ve had all this rain recently and everyone said ‘I guess we’re playing?’ I said, ‘Well, yeah, we are.’ It is awesome when you have turf like this because I don’t have to check the weather nearly as much. It’s great to be out here.”
Of course, the final score to the four-inning games between the Cardinals, Tigers and Bulldogs are irrelevant. What all the coaches are looking for most are the fundamentals of the game being executed properly.
“We threw three guys (in the first game) and we are going to throw three guys in the next game,” Darnell said. “We want to see our pitchers throw strikes. That is the No. 1 thing, we want to see our guys compete in the zone. We feel like we have a chance to be pretty athletic on defense. The main thing coming into something like this is how are our pitchers going to throw.”
“We just want to see the things we’ve been working on in practice transition into game situations,” Stevenson said. “We want to see guys go out and compete. When the ball is hit to them, make the play. … There is a lot we can work on, so we’re just ready to make the most of it.”
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Carthage and Joplin combined for eight state qualifiers but only one of those brought home a medal from the MSHSAA Class 4 Wrestling Championships held on Saturday at Cable Dahmer Arena.
Carthage sophomore Davion King took fifth place at the 145-pound weight class to finish the year with a 40-6 mark.
King got a first-round bye in the shortened one-day tournament thanks to winning a sectional championship. That moved into a quarterfinal round against Liberty’s Kyle Dutton. The defending state champion got a win by fall in 3 minutes, 36 seconds – on his way to winning another state championship.
In the consolation bracket, where a loss would end the season, King won out on his way to a medal.
“I only lost one and I took fifth,” King said. “Usually we have an opportunity to wrestle back for third but this is way more cram-packed than the real tournament. But I do like the one-day tournament much better.
Carthage’s Davion King is pictured competing in the fifth place match. Courtesy photo.
“This is nice (the medal) but I feel like I could’ve placed higher if I had the opportunity to go for third.”
King beat Nixa’s Dylan Carter (5-1), Lee’s Summit North’s Javi Gutierrez (2-1) and Ozark’s Brock Sundlie (1:43) to close his day.
The matchup with Sundlie was a familiar one for both of them. King beat Sundlie four other times this year, three coming late in the season at the Central Ozark Conference meet, districts and sectionals. The latter two meetings were both in championship matches.
King pinned Sundlie in five of the six matches – the exception was the first meeting on Jan. 5.
All six of King’s losses came against wrestlers that were state finalists: two against Neosho’s Eli Zar, Excelsior Springs’ Ayden Dolt, Pacific’s Callum Sitek, Dutton and Ozark’s Braxton Strick.
Dutton, Dolt and Sitek all won state championships.
The medal by King helped Carthage continue a streak that has featured at least one medal every year since 2001 – the oldest year MSHSAA’s record book goes.
The Tigers other state qualifiers included the Tate brothers – Bradyn and Braxdon – Dagan Sappinington, Eli Sneed and Luke Gall.
Braydn Tate went 0-2 in his first year at 113 and finished 25-6, while his older brother, Braxdon also went 0-2 in the 152 weight class. The junior finished 26-9.
Sappington (132) was ranked throughout most of the year by MissouriWrestling.com. The senior won his opener, 11-4, against Liberty North’s Joseph Knight. Sappington lost in the quarterfinals to eventual third-place finisher Tyler Bierman of Holt by a pin. Mitchell Huber of Fort Zumwalt West beat Sappingtton by a pin.
Eli Sneed (138) lost his two matches and finished 35-11, a season that included a Central Ozark Conference title.
Carthage’s Luke Gall was thought to be in contention for a title after winning a sectional title but was upset by Dai’Mont Mucker at the 5:13 mark in the quarterfinals. An injury then ended the run at state with a medical forfeit done out of precaution.
Gall finished his sophomore season with a 32-7 mark.
Joplin’s Sam Melton picked up a win at state but then dropped his next two.
The freshman beat Lafayette Wildwood’s Dylan Roth, 6-4, in overtime. Melton (27-7) then lost his next two, one by tech fall to Hunter Taylor of Liberty in the quarterfinals and another by decision, 11-4, to Mark Matschiner of Troy Buchanan in the wrestlebacks.
Josiah Vaughn, a Joplin senior, ended the year with a 19-14 record after falling in his first two matches by pins. Earning wins by fall over Vaughn were Liberty’s Jude Axsom and Hickman’s Ethan Barr.
Pictured is Carthage’s Davion King. Courtesy photo.
MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — Trailing by 11 points early in the second half in the midst of a Blair Oaks’ 7-2 scoring run, the Mount Vernon girls basketball team was at a crossroads—find consistency on both ends of the floor to flip the momentum and get back into the game, or watch their impressive season end in the Class 4 quarterfinal round on Saturady.
The Mountaineers chose the former, vaulting back into contention behind a 14-2 surge led by a steadfast defensive effort and the dynamic scoring of senior Lacy Stokes, a Missouri Southern commit, to take a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Mount Vernon found itself up 46-44 with nine seconds left in a free-for-all fourth quarter with Blair Oaks’ Autumn Bax shooting free throws. Bax made the first charity shot to cut the lead to one but missed the second, with the Falcons grabbing the rebound and missing a followup shot from the baseline. After a scrum, the 50-50 ball found its way into Stokes’ hands, who dribbled in a sprint to the far side of midcourt to run the waning seconds off the clock before being bombarded by teammates as the Mountaineers clinched a 46-45 come-from-behind win over Blair Oaks for a trip to the Class 4 semifinal round.
“It just means everything to me,” Stokes said. “I can’t put into words what it means to be here. We lost my freshman and sophomore years, and we thought we were going to do it my junior year, but we choked it out. We finally have our foot down, pushing all of the momentum in the right direction. Everyone wants it just as much as our three seniors.”
AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR
The win marks the 14th straight for Mountaineers (27-3), who are returning to the Final Four for the first time since 2012. Mount Vernon will battle Vashon (17-1) in the semifinal round at 6 p.m. on March 19 at JQH Arena in Springfield.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Mount Vernon coach Grant Berendt said about making it to the Final Four. “I have been there as an assistant a few times but never as a head coach. I am super proud of our kids. Since Lacy and Ellie (Johnston) were little kids, they’ve talked about doing this. A lot of them were in the stands watching the 2012 team go all the way and win it. … We broke through this year. We had to claw and scratch to do it, but it is an unbelievable feeling.”
HOME SWEET HOME
The last time Mount Vernon played on its home floor, it clinched a district championship with an 84-23 win over Seneca on March 6. The Mountaineer seniors never anticipated another chance to play in front of the home crowd. Under normal circumstances, quarterfinal games are played at a neutral site, but because of COVID protocols, Mount Vernon girls basketball was able to give the community one of the most meaningful wins ever in the final home game of the 2020-21 season.
“After the district championship, I didn’t think we’d be playing on this floor again,” Stokes said. “When we heard we were hosting a quarterfinal, we thought it was one last go around on this court for the seniors. It was big for us to get to do it. … My favorite thing to do is to put banners on that wall. To get to put as many as I have, I can’t put it into words.”
“It means more than anything because I don’t know if it will ever happen again,” Berendt said when asked about earning this type of win in front of the Mount Vernon faithful. “The one good thing about COVID is we got to host the quarterfinals. That never happens in basketball. To have the home crowd here, for us to be able to come back in this environment, I don’t know if it happens on a neutral floor. For our seniors, to go out with two big wins — a district championship and quarterfinal win — at home. Man, that’s special.”
EXPERIENCED IN ADVERSITY
While most teams might crumble under an 11-point deficit in the second half of a state tournament game, Mount Vernon used very recent experiences to draw from when rallying back against Blair Oaks on Friday. In the sectional round, the Mountaineers trailed Ava by seven points to start the second half before recovering to earn a 53-49 victory.
“If we don’t win like that at Ava, we don’t win today,” Berendt said. “We haven’t faced a lot of second-half deficits in the last month of the season. For us to have one in a big game and get that monkey off our back in the sectional, if we can’t come from behind from something like that, we don’t win this one because we wouldn’t have been there before and our kids wouldn’t have that feeling.”
SCORING LEADERS
Stokes led the way for Mount Vernon with a game-high 19 points, 17 of which game in the second half. Kruger finished in double figures with 10 points, while Ellie Johnston scored eight.
Malorie Fick led Blair Oaks with 18 points, while Bax finished with 10. Bailey Rissmiller scored eight.
HOW THEY GOT THERE
The first shot of the game found nothing but twine on a 3-pointer from Johnston, and after makes from Raegan Boswell and Cameryn Cassity, the Mountaineers held a quick 7-2 lead.
Blair Oaks stormed back to close the quarter with an 11-8 lead behind two 3-pointers from Fick and an inside score from Natalie Heckman.
The Falcons pushed the lead to seven nearly three minutes into the second period after a score on the drive and a transition 3-ball from Fick made the score 18-11.
Mount Vernon whittled the lead down to two, 22-20, after a 9-4 run fueled by the play of Kruger, who had three baskets inside the paint as well as several rebounds and defensive stops.
“I can’t speak enough on our posts,” Stokes said. “It’s all heart for them. Lisa has a huge heart and works her butt off inside. I couldn’t be more thankful to have her on the team this year.”
Rissmiller scored consecutive baskets inside the final minute of the first half to send Blair Oaks into the intermission with a 26-20 lead.
A 7-2 run by the Falcons to open the third quarter put the Mountaineers in a 33-22 hold with 6:12 on the clock.
Stokes hit her stride offensively in the third quarter, kicking off Mount Vernon’s game-changing 14-2 run with a mid-range jumper from the free-throw line. After the first of four turnovers by Blair Oaks, Stokes found Boswell inside for a score to trim the lead to 33-26.
Heckman and Stokes traded two makes from the free-throw line before Johnston knocked down a runner in the paint to cut the lead to 35-30 with 4:30 on the clock. Stokes proceeded to bury back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner to ignite the crowd and give Mount Vernon it’s first lead since early in the first quarter, 36-35, with 2:10 on the clock.
“My confidence was kind of down going into the half,” Stokes said of her play in the first two quarters. “I felt like we were a second-half team all season. So coming out, Coach B lit a fire under our butts in the locker room. We just had to believe. He put that confidence in us to take the shots we did and luckily they went in.”
Stokes added a third 3-ball shortly after and the Mountaineers went into the fourth quarter with a 39-38 advantage.
“That is what you want your senior point guard, a 2000-point scorer, to do in a game like this,” Berendt said about Stokes’ play in the second half. “You want them to put you on their back and get you back into it. It took all of us, but it takes a gutsy kid to make a shot when you have six feet flying at you in the corner.”
The Falcons scored the first four points in the fourth quarter behind a 3-pointer from Fick to regain the lead, but Stokes tied things up at 42-42 again with another 3-ball of her own.
Blair Oaks added a basket inside before Stokes found Kruger in the paint near the five minute mark to tie the game for the final time at 45s. A free throw by Cassity shortly after gave Mount Vernon the lead for good.
“If we don’t have Lisa Kruger in the last two games to battle 6(-foot)-1 against Ava and 6-1 here, we don’t win those games,” Berendt said. “To have a 5-10 kid who is strong and won’t allow a kid to overpower her is huge. huge.”
Stokes added a free throw with 2:47 left to push the lead to 46-44 and that was the last point scored until Bax’s free throw with nine seconds left.
A semifinal berth wasn’t meant to be for the Carl Junction Bulldogs.
The second-ranked West Plains Zizzers took control early and knocked off Carl Junction 61-42 in a quarterfinal contest of the Class 5 state girls basketball tournament on Saturday at the West Plains Civic Center.
In the quarterfinals for the fifth time in six seasons, Carl Junction finishes the season with a record of 18-9.
Carl Junction coach Brad Shorter looked on the bright side after the season-ending setback.
“If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that we’d be 18-9 and in the quarterfinals, I would have taken it,” Shorter told SoMo Sports in a postgame phone interview. “I’m excited about what we’ve got and the consistency we’ve had in our program. Hopefully this is another step for us and hopefully we can go further next year.”
The Bulldogs will return all but one player from this year’s squad, as Hannah Lee was the lone senior.
“She was a part of a ton of wins,” Shorter said of Lee. “I can’t say enough about the kid. She works really hard and she’s definitely going to be successful in whatever she decides to do. We’re going to miss her. We wish her the best.”
With just one starter back from last year’s 28-0 squad, youthful Carl Junction played the second half of the season without 6-foot-1 freshman forward Kylie Scott, a starter who suffered a season-ending wrist injury.
Shorter noted his young squad gained a lot of valuable experience this season.
“That’s huge going forward,” Shorter said. “We are very young. It was a season of ups and downs with injuries, quarantines and COVID and all that. With all of that, our youth made it difficult at times. But I thought our group really grew and progressed this year. I’m excited about what’s to come for this group and for our program.”
Ranked second in Class 5 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, West Plains scored the game’s first 14 points and never looked back.
Carl Junction finally got on the board with 3:15 remaining in the first period when Destiny Buerge hit three free throws.
Klohe Burk’s layup was the only Carl Junction field goal of the opening frame, and the Zizzers led 18-5.
The Bulldogs scored the first four points of the second quarter before both teams had a number of empty possessions. Carl Junction also had several turnovers in the low-scoring frame.
The Zizzers scored five straight points before Jessa Hylton’s layup got the visitors into double figures. But Ashton Judd’s hoop just before the buzzer gave West Plains a 25-11 lead at intermission.
Facing an active zone defense, the Bulldogs struggled offensively throughout the first half, as shots simply would not fall.
“They got off to that lead and we were struggling to make shots,” Shorter said. “They rebounded it exceptionally well. It was a big difference. I think a little bit of it was due to our youth and playing against a matchup zone. Our kids hadn’t seen it or experienced it yet or known the toughness of it. You have to tip your hat to West Plains.”
A trey from Burk and Buerge’s breakaway layup, her first hoop of the game, cut Carl Junction’s deficit to 31-16 with 4:10 left in the third quarter.
Buerge buried back-to-back treys late in the period, but Carl Junction trailed 39-23 entering the fourth quarter.
Treys from Buerge and Burk trimmed West Plains’ lead to 45-29 with 5:40 remaining, but there would be no comeback for the Bulldogs.
At the same time, Carl Junction scored 31 in the second half after being limited to 11 in the first two periods.
“I certainly loved the charge we had in the second half,” Shorter said. “We were resilient and continued to work. They never gave up. I thought our kids really competed hard all the way until the final buzzer.”
A sophomore guard, Buerge scored 20 points to lead the Bulldogs, with 16 coming in the second half. Buerge, who has already surpassed 1,000 career points as a sophomore, made four 3-pointers.
Burk, another sophomore, scored 11 points with three treys. A junior, Hylton added six points. Sophomore Hali Shorter and junior Ellie Lawson are two other players who will return with starting experience next winter.
Judd scored 22 points to lead the Zizzers and Allyssa Joyner had 15 points.
West Plains (27-3) advanced to Thursday’s semifinals, where they’ll meet Union (18-1) at 5 at JQH Arena in Springfield. It’s the first Final Four trip for the Zizzers in 23 years.
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Neosho’s Cayden Auch etched his name in the state history book, while Carl Junction’s Jesse Cassatt tied a bit of school history during the MSHSAA Class 3 Wrestling Championships held on Friday at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence.
Auch became the 35th wrestler in MSHSAA history to win four straight state championships — breaking his tie with Nate Rodriguez for the most for the Wildcats. Later in the night, Cassatt won a second straight state championship, tying a mark set by his current head coach Mike Frizzell.
Neosho finished second in the team chase and came up short in a quest to win three straight titles — as Class 3 newcomer Whitfield won its first in the class and won its fifth straight counting Class 1 titles. The Wildcats finished with 148 points, while Whitfield had 182.
The team trophy was the 14th straight for the Wildcats, a streak that started in 2008.
The highlight of the day was Auch, who finished his career with a 49-0 season this year and claimed the 160-pound championship. Overall, he finished with a 202-6 record – a mark that will put him fifth all-time in MSHSAA history. The group above him features a pair of Neosho wrestlers, Kyler Rea and Nate Rodriguez. Right ahead of Auch is Olympian J’den Cox, who had 205. Seneca’s Will Roark holds the record with 214 wins.
Neosho’s Cayden Auch ended his prep wrestling career with a fourth straight state title.
This was the only undefeated season for Auch, whose previous best was a 39-1 record his sophomore year. Auch opened his title run with an 11-3 major decision over Riley Brown of Smithville. In the semifinals, Auch beat Rockwood Summit’s Ty Brunk by a pin in 3:36 and capped off his Neosho legacy with a 10-3 decision over Wyatt Haynes of Wentzville Liberty, who entered with a 49-1 record.
“Before I got into high school I thought I could be a four-time champion,” Auch said. “I believed and bought into Coach (Jeremy) Phillips. I believed I would do it and I went out there and worked for it. It feels good to be up there in the category of guys I looked up to and I can rub it in Nate a little, he’s a four-time finalist and three-time champion. He helped me a lot throughout the years. It is exciting.”
Auch will wrestle for Arkansas-Little Rock next and starts his quest to be yet another All-American at the next level that started at Neosho.
“Success breeds success and some of the guys that were his role models in youth wrestling helped himself to those goals and hopefully he does the same as a college wrestler,” Phillip said.
Neosho’s Cayden Auch is pictured during the 160-pound state title bout on Friday night. Photo by Cody Thorn.
The win for Auch was the only one despite having six Wildcats in the finals. Two of those losses came head-to-head against Whitfield, which allowed the St. Louis powerhouse to pull away and secure the team title after entering the finals with a 16-point lead over Neosho.
Raymond Hembree finished as the runner-up for the second year in a row at 106, falling 6-0 to Porter Matecki of Whitfield. Hembree finished the year with a 41-7 mark. Landon Kivett reached the finals at 120 but lost to a defending state champion in Evan Binder, the Whitfield star who finished the year 43-0. Kivett went 3-1 on the day and capped the year with a 32-8 mark.
Sophomore Eli Zar also finished second for the Wildcats, losing to Pacific’s Callum Sitek, who put the finishing touches on a 52-0 season with an 8-0 major decision. Zar beat the fifth-place (Whitfield’s Logan Ferrero) and third-place (Platte County’s Eli Rocha) finishers on the way to the medal. Zar was 36-8 this year.
Seniors Eric Holt and Jeremiah Larson were the final two medalists for the Wildcats, both coming up second in state title matches. Holt (41-9) lost the 170-pound by a pin against Hannibal’s Trevor Wilson. To reach the finals, Holt got a 7-5 sudden victory in overtime against Whitfield’s Reese Callahan.
Larson (195) saw his perfect season come to an end after losing to Grain Valley’s Hunter Newsom, 6-5, in the finals.
Hayden Crane (132) took third for the Wildcats, his only loss was to eventual state champion Eli Ashcroft of Kearney in the semifinals. Crane, 39-10, ended with a 10-8 decision over Hazelwood East’s Eittien Rogers.
The Wildcats never could catch up to Whitfield despite some head-to-head wins as the private school had 11 qualifiers – five of whom won state championships.
Phillips lamented the loss of some would-be-varsity wrestlers and noted some of them could’ve helped make the difference. Last year Drayke Perry won a state championship at 220 but didn’t come out for the team this winter.
“We got to get more kids here,” Phillips said. “We were qualifying 14, 13, 12 (when we won titles). We gotta get back to double digits. That was one of my goals this year. I knew when we got eight we would have a big uphill battle but one I had to sell to the kids. I told them they had to focus and they did their best.
“Overall, I was very pleased with how we prepared ourselves for every match and wrestled our match, for the most part. At the end, it sticks out and that hurts … to lose five of those final matches. That is the thing I told them, we’d like to get a different result but not a thing we can do about it now.”
CARL JUNCTION: CASSATT WINS SECOND STRAIGHT TITLE
Both of Carl Junction state qualifiers brought home medals, headlined by Cassatt winning the 182-pound title – a year after winning the 195-pound class.
The senior talked to many college coaches since last wrestling season and a few of them said they would consider him an 184-pound wrestler in college. So, Cassatt went to work on it, got down to a lower weight class and spent all season ranked No. 1 in the MissouriWrestling.com poll.
Carl Junction’s Jesse Cassatt captured his second straight state title. Photo by Cody Thorn.
He ended the season No. 1 as well, picking up a win over a fellow returning state champion in Chase Brock of Whitfield – the 182-pound Class 1 champion. Cassatt secured a 5-2, getting a late takedown over Brock, who was just 10-0 entering the match. Cassatt (50-0) also had a 5-2 winning margin in the semifinals, where he upended Festus’ Luke Shaver, who was 43-0 entering the match.
The key to beating Brock came in what the coaching staff saw earlier in the day. The longer Brock wrestled the more Brock – a runner-up in 2019 – wore down. Cassatt got a takedown at the end of the second period to take a 3-1 lead and never trailed again. He opened the period 1-0 but got a quick escape to tie it.
“It is extremely hard,” Cassatt said of repeating as a champion. “Everyone is coming after you and that made it so much better. This is something I have dreamed about as a kid as a youth wrestler.”
With 20 seconds left in the third, Cassatt got a takedown to account for the final score. With four second left, Frizzell threw his hands up to celebrate before hugging the champion.
Cassatt joins Frizzell as the only Bulldog wrestler to win multiple state championships, a superlative his coach set in 1986 and 1987.
“I can’t put into words for being the coach of the next two-timer at Carl Junction whenever I’m the only two-timer at Carl Junction,” Frizzell said. “It comes full circle for me. It was a record I was proud of for so many years but to be able to be the coach that comes in and coach a kid that takes that record, how does it get any better?”
Lukas Walker was also at state and he posted a 4-1 mark to take fifth place. The only loss was to Whitfield’s Parker Matecki in the quarterfinals. Walker (41-7) then won three straight to earn a medal in the abridged one-day tournament. Three of his four wins were by fall, including a takedown in 1:00 against Hillsboro’s Aidan Black.
WEBB CITY: OTT, CARRANCO MEDAL
The Cardinals had only two wrestlers at the state meet and both brought home medals.
Senior Jacob Ott reached the semifinals but lost his final two matches to finish 29-8 and place fourth at 195. Ott went 2-2 at state, winning a first-round match and then getting a win by fall against Parkway North’s James Harris in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Grain Valley’s Hunter Newsom, got a 6-2 win over Ott. Newsom ended up winning the state championship. Ott’s day ended with an 11-3 major decision loss to Platte County’s Jaydon Walls in the third-place match.
Another senior, Roger Carranco, placed sixth for the Cardinals at 182. He lost to Brock – who lost to Cassatt – in the quarterfinals. Carranco (30-10) won his next two matches to earn a medal – which includes knocking off state-ranked Jake Fernandez of Platte County by a 12-3 major decision. In the fifth-place match, Rolla’s Hayden Fane beat Carranco.
