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Day: January 20, 2023

GIRLS HOOPS: Carl Junction comes from behind, advances to tourney title game

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Carl Junction’s girls basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Bill Hanson Memorial Tournament with a 45-42 come-from-behind win over Blue Valley Northwest on Friday at Pittsburg High School.

Carl Junction (14-1) fought back from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to move on to the title game, where they’ll play Kickapoo at 1 p.m. on Saturday. 

The Huskies from Kansas led 10-8 at the end of the first quarter. 

The Bulldogs started the second period on a 9-2 run, with Pittsburg State recruit Destiny Buerge scoring seven during the surge that gave CJ a 17-12 lead.

Carl Junction battled foul trouble in the first half, as both Kylie Scott and Buerge picked up two fouls apiece.

With both Buerge and Scott on the bench, the Huskies scored the final eight points of the first half to take a 20-17 lead.

Free throws from Klohe Burk and Buerge tied the game at 28 late in the third period, but the Huskies reeled off five straight points for a 33-28 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Blue Valley Northwest scored the first four points of the final frame to go up by nine at 37-28.

But Carl Junction responded with a game-changing 16-2 run to take a 44-39 lead with less than a minute to play. Buerge, Scott and Hali Shorter all contributed points during the surge, while the Bulldogs also pressured the Huskies into several turnovers.

Buerge came up with a big steal late in the game, but moments later Blue Valley’s Elise Grosdidier hit a 3-pointer to bring her team within two.

Scott made 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to keep CJ in front by three with 13 seconds left.

After a timeout, the Huskies missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds.

A senior guard, Buerge led Carl Junction with 22 points. 

Scott had seven points, with six coming in the fourth quarter. Burk scored six, Dezi Williams had four and Shorter and Jadyn Howard added three points apiece.

HOOPS ROUNDUP: Carl Junction girls roll in opener; Carthage squads fall; Nevada girls earn win; Webb City girls suffer setback; TJ boys victorious

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

CARL JUNCTION GIRLS 65, PITTSBURG 23

PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Carl Junction girls basketball team rolled to a 65-23 victory over Pittsburg on Thursday in the opener of the Bill Hanson Memorial Tournament at Pittsburg High School.

The Bulldogs built a commanding 43-11 lead by halftime on the way to their eighth straight win.

Ranked fourth in Class 5, Carl Junction is now 13-1.

Carl Junction put up 24 points in the first quarter and 19 more in the second period on their way to a lopsided win.

Destiny Buerge scored 16 points for the Bulldogs, while Kylie Scott added 13 points, Anna Burch had 10 and Jadyn Howard chipped in nine. 

Jacqueline Hall scored six points to lead the Purple Dragons.

Carl Junction will take on Blue Valley Northwest at 4 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals.

 

BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST GIRLS 58, CARTHAGE 51

PITTSBURG, Kan. — The third period proved to be key for Blue Valley Northwest in their 58-51 win over Carthage on Thursday at the Bill Hanson Memorial Tournament.

“Blue Valley got hot in the third quarter and utilized their immense size advantage to outscore us 22-10,” Tigers coach Scott Moore said. “However, that means we won the other three quarters of the game. That’s been our Achilles’ heel this season…one subpar quarter. I’m really proud of how our girls battled tonight. They poured their hearts out on the court and didn’t let Blue Valley’s size affect our effort.” 

Carthage’s Lauren Choate scored a game-high 22 points, hitting four 3-pointers along the way.

“Lauren Choate had a great night for us,” Moore noted.

Kianna Yates added 17 points for the Tigers, who fell to 7-7.

“Kianna Yates played an effective all-around game tonight,” Moore said. “She did a great job distributing the ball to open teammates.”

Blue Valley Northwest, which started four girls 5’11 or taller, received 21 points from Elise Grosdidier.

After suffering the opening-round loss, the Tigers will take on Pittsburg at 4 p.m. on Friday.

 

NEVADA GIRLS 38, BARTLESVILLE 34

FRONTENAC, Kan. — Nevada’s girls pulled out a close 38-34 win over Bartlesville, Oklahoma, at the Four State Raider Classic on Thursday night inside Frontenac High School. 

With the win, Nevada hiked its record to 14-3.

The Tigers held a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, and Nevada was up 18-17 at the half.

The Tigers were clinging to a three-point cushion, 30-27, entering the fourth quarter.

Nevada made enough free throws down the stretch to keep the lead against Bartlesville, a Class 6 squad.

Clara Swearingen scored 16 points to lead Nevada, while Maddy Majors added 12 points.

Nevada meets Frontenac in the tourney semifinals at 7 p.m. on Friday. 

In other tourney action, Frontenac defeated Blue Valley Southwest 55-45 and Blue Springs beat Seneca 55-19.

 

ROLLA GIRLS 48, WEBB CITY 40

ROGERSVILLE, Mo. — Webb City’s late rally fell short on Thursday at the Lady Wildcat Classic at Logan-Rogersville High School.

Rolla took a 27-21 lead into halftime, and the Bulldogs extended their advantage to 40-26 by the end of the third quarter.

Webb City pulled within seven late in the game after 3-pointers from Kirra Long and Izzy Lopez, but the Bulldogs never relinquished their lead down the stretch.

Webb City fell to 11-5 and saw their seven-game winning streak halted.

The Cardinals will conclude tourney play in the third-place game against Branson at 6 on Friday night.

Ranked sixth in Class 5, Rolla (13-3) will meet Class 3 No. 1 Strafford in the championship game. 

 

THOMAS JEFFERSON GIRLS 63, BRONAUGH 44

LIBERAL, Mo. — Lannah Grigg scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers to a convincing victory at the Tony Dubray Classic on Wednesday night.

Two others reached double figures for Thomas Jefferson, as Gabbi Hiebert scored 15 points and Sarah Mueller added 11.

Gretchen Banes led Bronaugh with 12 points and Gabby Cox had 10.

Thomas Jefferson led by six at the end of the first period, but the Cavaliers extended their lead to 13 by halftime.

After a solid third quarter, the Cavaliers were up 53-34 entering the fourth quarter. 

Thomas Jefferson (8-5) will conclude tourney play at 5:30 on Friday against Northeast in the fifth-place game.

 

ANDOVER CENTRAL BOYS 57, CARTHAGE 43

CHANUTE, Kan. — The Carthage High School boys basketball team suffered a 57-43 loss to Andover Central on Thursday in the opening-round of the 51st annual Ralph Miller Classic at Chanute High School.

Currently ranked eighth in Kansas’ Class 5A, the Jaguars raced out to a 10-2 lead before the Tigers scored nine unanswered points in a surge that spanned the end of the first quarter and the early stages of the second period.

However, Andover Central ended the first half on a 12-4 run for a 22-15 halftime advantage.

After outscoring the Tigers 12-7 in the third quarter, the Jaguars held a 34-22 lead heading into the fourth period.

The Tigers trailed 49-39 with two minutes to play, and they were unable to rally late.

Carthage’s Max Templeman scored 16 points and hit a pair of 3-pointers for the Tigers, while Britt Coy added 11 points and Justin Ray had nine. 

Jayden Brown scored 16 points for the Jaguars (8-2).

Carthage (8-7) will continue tourney play at 3 p.m. on Friday against Coffeyville.

 

PARSONS BOYS 55, COLLEGE HEIGHTS 47

CHEROKEE, Kan. — College Heights Christian dropped the semifinal clash of the Lancer Classic to the Parsons Vikings.

College Heights (11-4) will play for third place on Saturday.

 

THOMAS JEFFERSON BOYS 64, ST. MARY’S COLGAN 59

LIBERAL, Mo. — With a semifinal win over Colgan, Thomas Jefferson advanced to the championship game of the Tony Dubray Classic, where the Cavaliers will face Galena, Kansas, at 6:30 on Saturday night.

The Cavaliers took control by outscoring the Panthers 24-13 in the second period.

Colgan cut Thomas Jefferson’s lead to one late in the fourth quarter, but Kohl Thurman and Tyler Brouhard connected on four straight free throws for the Cavaliers.

Thomas Jefferson’s Jay Ball had another memorable night. Ball scored 19 points and grabbed a school record 27 rebounds.

Brouhard scored 16 points and had eight rebounds and five assists.

“Jay and Tyler both had big nights, and we rely on them to do that nightly, but the other kids really stepped up,” Thomas Jefferson coach Chris Myers said. “It was a great team win.”

Also for the Cavaliers, Levi Triplett scored 15 points, connecting on a trio of 3-pointers, while Thurman added eight points and seven rebounds, Kip Atteberry had four and Tony Touma scored two.  

Tucker Harrell led Colgan with 26 points.

 

WRESTLING: Ozark’s dominant start spoils Neosho’s Senior Night

Posted on by Lucas Davis

NEOSHO, Mo. — The Ozark Tigers won the first eight matches and scored the first 34 points on their way to a 37-21 win in their dual on Thursday night against the host and Central Ozark Conference rival Neosho Wildcats.

“This team has a lot of potential,” Neosho coach Jeremy Phillips said. “We’re not disciplined because of our mentality. We’re not as tough as we need to be in our mental mindset. Just expecting to win, expecting to compete … and wrestling our match aggressively.

“Tonight, we struggled to be aggressive. Ozark’s ranked fourth in Class 4 and you saw tonight why. They’re always coached well and a solid program, and they brought it to us. We were on our heels taking it in several matches tonight.”

Appropriately enough on their Senior Night, Neosho’s four seniors each won their respective matches Thursday: Collyn Kivett (157 pounds) won a 2-1 decision against Brock Sundlie, Eli Zar (165) pinned Lucas Campbell 44 seconds into the second period, Ulysses DeLeon (195) pinned Johnny Williams in 1:33, and Nico Olivares (285) won 6-1 against Peyton Greer.

Neosho freshman Everson Tomlinson (195) won 9-6 against Ruben Arvizu, but otherwise it was all Ozark on Thursday against a Neosho squad with six freshmen starting Thursday.

“This is a solid group of seniors,” Phillips said. “The challenge before them is to help these younger underclassmen maybe help them learn some of the things that helped them (the seniors) get where they’re at. Before we wrestled tonight, I told them to refer back to when they were freshmen and sophomores and some of their mindsets and some of the things they struggled with mentally, so they can help some of these freshmen who are in our lineup, whether it’s overcoming anxieties or just being mentally tough in a tough match.”

Ozark’s Kaden Coffey (106) won 8-5 against Sam Fryer, Teagon Patterson (113) pinned Connor Reiboldt in 1:00, Damien Moseley (120) won 8-7 against Fisher Butler, Keaton Hurst (126) won by forfeit, Caden Harrington (132) won 7-2 against Hunter Butler, Levi Maskrod (138) won 8-1 against Josh Scheuerman, Daniel Laney (144) won a 12-2 major decision against Daniel Laney, Braxton Strick (150) pinned Kade Lawson in 22 seconds, and Kody Shepard (175) won 7-0 against Gabriel Busteed.

“We could possibly see them three more times,” Phillips said. “We’ve got conference with them, districts with them, and we’ve got obviously the state tournament with them. My goal would be to see the results that we had tonight and change those outcomes. Ultimately, it’s a team with potential, if our seniors will take and use their knowledge and experience to help us grow and learn from shortcomings like (Thursday).”

The Wildcats return to the mats next Thursday for their final dual of the regular season on the road against Carl Junction.

Two days later, Neosho, Carl Junction, and Ozark will be among the 10 schools competing in the COC Tournament.

GIRLS HOOPS: First-quarter defense sets tone in Joplin win over Hillcrest

Posted on by Lucas Davis

Joplin held Hillcrest without a field goal in the first quarter of action to stake the Eagles out to a comfortable lead that they would expand on throughout the remaining contest in a 50-31 win over the Hornets on Thursday inside Kaminsky Gymnasium. 

Joplin’s nine-point lead after the first quarter reached as much as 18 in the first half before settling at 23-12 by halftime. The Eagles (3-11) pushed the lead to 20 late in the third and never wavered down the stretch.

“Scouting-wise, we saw that we could pressure them,” first-year Joplin coach Brad Cox said after the win. “We brought out a press early and went back to man-to-man and got after them on defense. I couldn’t be more proud of the girls. They deserved this as an overall team win offensively and defensively. We got a lot of points and steals from a lot of different people, so it made it worthwhile. 

“We got the monkey off our back after being in a little bit of a drought. We have been working hard. This was nice to see for the girls.”

GAME ACTION

Joplin set the tone in the first quarter on the defensive end, limiting Hillcrest (5-13) to just four free throws in the first quarter after holding the Hornets without a field goal through the first eight minutes. 

“That is one of our pillars,” Cox said. “We take pride in our defense. It was all effort. With everything in life, if you put in a lot of effort, good things will come. Our effort was everywhere—we were in passing lanes, pressuring the ball. Overall, it was just great defense.”

While the Eagles defense was busy doing its job, Joplin started the game with a 9-0 run on the offensive end through the first four minutes of action. Alissa Owens opened with a mid-range jumper before earning a steal that led to a mid-range bucket from Serafina Auberry. The opening surge was capped with an offensive rebound and putback score by Auberry before Riley Kelly scored on an inside dive with 4:10 on the clock.

Following two pairs of free throws by Hillcrests’ Amaya Burris, Joplin closed out the first quarter with a steal off the inbounds by Owens followed by a putback and a driving score by Maria Loum just before the horn for a 13-4 advantage.

“She is going to be a special player,” Cox said of Owens’ performance. “Being a freshman in Class 6, it’s tough. She shows a lot of hustle and heart. … She is an incredibly hard worker and I can’t wait to see what the future brings for her.”

The Eagles started the second quarter on a 10-1 run to build an 18-point, 23-5 lead. Bailey Ledford started the period with a 3-ball from the corner and added another triple from the wing with the banks open following an inside score by Auberry to make the score 21-5 with 5:30 on the clock. Izzy Yust added two charity makes to reach the 18-point lead.

The Hornets closed the first half on 7-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from Camryn Summers to trim the Eagles’ lead to 23-12 at the intermission.

“We had zero turnovers in 15 possessions but we didn’t score on nine of those possessions,” Cox said of his team’s second period. “The second quarter has kind of been our Achilles’ heel this year, and it was again tonight.”

Joplin’s intensity didn’t let up in the second half, as the Eagles opened the third quarter with the first eight points of the second half to push the margin to 31-12. Ledford and Yust had inside baskets, while Kelly knocked down a 3-pointer.

Later in the quarter, Kelly converted a baseline jumper before back to back 3-pointers from Libby Munn (in the corner) and Yust (from the top of the key) gave Joplin a game-high 20-point cushion, 40-20, with less than a minute to play in the third quarter.

“That was crucial,” Cox said about expanding the lead back out to 20 late in the third quarter, fueling the win down the stretch. “That is why we talk about coming out and getting a couple of stops and a couple of scores to start the second half. … We just challenged the girls in the locker room not to run from fear, but to run right at it. They did that tonight.”

SCORING LEADERS

Auberry and Yust each had 10 points to lead Joplin in scoring, while Kelly and Ledford finished with eight apiece in the win. Owens finished with seven points.

“Besides the second quarter, we did a great job,” Cox said of the effort on the offensive end in the win. “I felt like the ball movement tonight was so much better than it’s been. If you watched this team in November to now, it’s night and day. Even with the loss of Brynn (Driver). I felt like we did a great job moving the ball to the post and making some plays, and we hit some 3s when we had the opportunity.”

UP NEXT

Joplin hosts Springfield Central on Tuesday.

BOYS HOOPS: Strong second half leads Webb City past Nevada in tourney opener

Posted on by Jason Peake

FRONTENAC, Kan. — Webb City shook off a slow start and overcame a 10-point deficit with a strong second half en route to a 61-46 victory over Nevada on Thursday at the Four State Raider Classic at Frontenac High School.

Defending champion Webb City meets Fort Scott in the semifinals at 5:30 on Friday night. 

Fort Scott topped Seneca 45-35.

Webb City’s Holton Keith scores inside against Nevada’s Brice Budd (5) and Cade Beshore (4) on Thursday at Frontenac High School. Photo by Derek Livingston.

WEBB CITY 61, NEVADA 46

The game was tied at intermission, but the Cardinals outscored the Tigers 36-21 in the second half. 

Webb City improved to 12-3, while Nevada slipped to 6-10. 

Nevada’s Jack Cheaney hit a trio of 3-pointers early in the contest to give the Tigers an 11-2 lead.

The Cardinals struggled offensively early in the game, as they missed their first 10 field goal attempts.

Nevada led 13-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Tigers took a 10-point lead at 19-9 after treys from Riddick Shook and Cade Beshore. 

A pair of 3-pointers from Joe Adams and a layup from Holton Keith cut Webb City’s deficit to one at 22-21.

Overall, the Cardinals closed the first half on a 16-6 run and the game was deadlocked at halftime, 25-25.

Webb City’s Barron Duda looks for an opening against Nevada’s Cade Beshore at the Four State Raider Classic. Photo by Derek Livingston.

Webb City scored the first seven points of the third period to take a lead they would never relinquish.

The Cardinals outscored the Tigers 22-8 in the third period for a 47-33 advantage heading into the final frame.

Alex Martin’s putback gave Webb City a 54-40 lead with just under five minutes to play and Keith’s trey extended Webb City’s advantage to 59-42.

A 6-5 senior forward, Martin recorded a double-double for the Cardinals with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Barron Duda and Keith contributed 10 points apiece for the Cardinals, who out-rebounded the Tigers 38-28.

Shook and Beshore scored 11 points apiece for Nevada, while Cheaney added 10. 

Nevada had 15 turnovers to Webb City’s seven.

 

FORT SCOTT 45, SENECA 35

In a close first half, Fort Scott led 11-8 at the end of the first period and the Tigers were up 22-19 at intermission. 

Seneca’s deficit was 10 at the end of the third quarter, as the Tigers held a 34-24 lead.

The Indians were unable to overcome the double-digit deficit in the final frame.

Cooper Long scored eight points for the Indians, while Ethan Altic and Gavyn Hoover added seven points apiece and Zane Grotjohn chipped in six.

Marquinn Johnson led Fort Scott with 14 points.

Nevada and Seneca will meet at 5:30 on Friday night in the consolation semifinals. 

 

Webb City senior Alex Martin scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against Nevada on Thursday night at the Four State Raider Classic at Frontenac High School. Photos by Derek Livingston.

 

Webb City’s Jonah Spieker puts up a shot from in close against Nevada’s Kellan Ast (33) on Thursday in Frontenac, Kansas.

 

FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)

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