Sports
Chanute girls shine in 22-point rout of Pittsburg
Brian McDowell Sports Editor After winning the Tonganoxie Tournament last week, the Chanute girls basketball team stayed on a roll Friday night with a 59-37 rout of the Pittsburg Purple Dragons. “We beat a really good team tonight,” Chanute Coach Dustin Fox said. “They were a little short-handed and they’ll be better when they get some of those other girls back. But they’re still a really good team. I was proud of the way our girls came out a...
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Panthers baseball 11th in pre-season NJCAA poll
The NCCC baseball team has been picked number 11 in a nationwide pre-season poll released by the NJCAA on Thursday. The Panthers had a 49-16 record last year, and advanced to the JuCo World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. “This is done by a vote of the coaches and evidently they forgot how much talent we lost after last year,” the team’s coach Steve Murry said on his Facebook page when linking to this poll. The Panthers are scheduled to play...
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Poor shooting, defensive breakdowns hurt Lady Panthers against Cowley
Brian McDowell Sports Editor It may seem simplistic to say that a basketball team isn’t successful because they aren’t able to consistently put the ball in the basket. However, that is the conclusion that NCCC Coach Kelley Newton has reached about the school’s women’s basketball team after the Lady Panthers’ 68-43 loss to Cowley on Wednesday night. “The ball just doesn’t go in,” Newton said. “We’ve got to put the ball in the hole. It’s not ro...
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Panthers lose at last second to Cowley
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The score was tied at 65 with four seconds left in regulation, and the NCCC men’s basketball team had one last inbound pass to try to win its Wednesday night home match-up with the Cowley Tigers. “We didn’t get in the one-on-one situation, because they had fouls to give on us, so they could foul us all they wanted,” NCCC Coach Jeremy Coombs said. Coombs planned on having the ball passed from the sideline to the b...
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CHS softball players sign letters of intent
Three players for the Chanute Blue Comets softball team signed letters of intent on Thursday to play the sport for area colleges. Shelby Trout will be playing for the Independence Pirates next year, while Ashton Cooper and Jordan Hartman have both signed with the NCCC Panthers. Parents, teammates and current and former coaches looked on as the girls signed their letters of intent in the high school’s cafeteria. Playing for Neosho County is a b...
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Fiscus and Cole tourney wins boost Chanute wrestling to 5th in Beloit
Brian McDowell Sports Editor BELOIT — Chanute senior Jared Fiscus and sophomore Chase Cole both picked up big wins at a wrestling tournament in Beloit last weekend. Fiscus won at 145 with a victory over Beloit’s Tanner Niemcyzk while Cole won at 132, defeating Oberlin’s Dayton Dreher. Their performances boosted the Comets to fifth place in the tournament, with 124 points in all. Plainville won the Beloit Tournament with 176.5 points. Chanute...
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Thayer recognizing 30th anniversary of basketball team’s State victory
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The 1982 season was the first time in history that the boys basketball team from Thayer High School made it to the State tournament in Hays, but the team was eliminated from the tournament in one game. So, when Thayer made it to State in the next year, its players were determined that things would be different. “We had been there and seen it,” the team’s point guard, Bruce Thornton said, “so the nervousness went a...
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Undefeated Humboldt boys beat Yates Center
The undefeated Humboldt boys basketball team continued to roll through their competition on Tuesday evening with a 70-50 victory over Yates Center. The Cubs dominated the beginning of the contest, outscoring their opponents 20-7 in the game’s first quarter. Tanner McNutt scored 21 points in the game, while Noah Thornbrugh contributed 17 and Nathan Whitcomb scored 10. Humboldt next hosts Erie on Friday night. Humboldt 20 17 22 11 - 70 Y...
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Don’t underestimate the Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens have been sold short and underestimated throughout this year’s NFL post-season. The team has responded by dismantling two heavy favorites that feature surefire Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco has suddenly started playing like Joe Namath or Joe Theismann or Joe Montana . (Why are there so many other great quarterbacks named “Joe”?) ¬†And, by outmaneuvering Tom Brady last week, Baltimore’s defens...
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Erie girls beat Fredonia in quadruple overtime
The Erie girls basketball team traveled to Fredonia on Tuesday evening to compete in the first night of Tri-Valley League play. The Red Devil girls won in four overtimes 75-70 over the Yellowjackets. It was a hard fought night for Erie, as Bret McGuire fouled out at the end of the 4th quarter, and Chelsea Oliphant fouled out in the 2nd OT. EHS was down in each of the overtime periods but remained poised and fought back. Chrisana Maurer. a fre...
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St. Paul girls top Chetopa
Benefiting from a 24-point performance by Ashton Wood, the St. Paul girls basketball team scored a 66-35 road victory over Chetopa on Tuesday night. St. Paul 18 15 21 12- 66 Chetopa 11 12 8 11- 35 St. Paul: Burke 1, 0-0, 3 Carlson 1, 0-0, 2 Wood 9, 3-4, 24 Albertini 5, 3-5, 14 Tuck 3, 5-6, 13 Sears 2, 2-2, 6 Three-Pointers: Wood (3), Albertini, Tuck (2) Chetopa: Underwood 13, 1-1,7 Johnson 3, 2-2, 8 Kepner 1, 0-2, 2 Jackson 3, 7-11, 13 Ca...
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Second half scoring be-”devils” Panthers in loss to KC
Brian McDowell Sports Editor KANSAS CITY — The NCCC men’s basketball squad was leading by seven points at halftime of its Monday night road match-up against the Kansas City Kansas Blue Devils, but giving up 49 second half points doomed the Panthers. “That’s too much,” NCCC Coach Jeremy Coombs said about KCK’s second half scoring streak. “That’s way too much. We can guard better than that. We’ve guarded better teams better than that, and we ju...
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NCCC’s women’s comeback attempt falls short in KC
Brian McDowell Sports Editor KANSAS CIT — Coach Kelley Newton’s NCCC women’s basketball team was trailing by 14 points headed into the final streatch of its Monday night road match-up with the Kansas City Kansas Blue Devils. The Lady Panthers were able to fight their way back into the game, but their comeback efforts fell just short in the end, as Neosho County lost 46-44. “If I took something positive from losing like this, when my team onl...
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Big second half boosts Humboldt over Crest
The Humboldt Cubs boys basketball team remains undefeated after a 72-50 victory over Crest on Saturday. Crest actually had a five-point lead in the game at halftime, but the Cubs came back and outscored their opponents 28-10 in the third quarter. Noah Thornbrugh led Humboldt offensively, scoring 26 points, while Tanner McNutt had 24. Each player hit three three-pointers. The Humboldt squad, 14-0, will try to maintain its undefeated status, wh...
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Chanute girls fifth in latest KBCA rankings
After scoring a victory in the Tonganoxie Tournament over the weekend, the Chanute girls basketball team (11-2) has been selected as the fifth best 4A basketball team in the state by the weekly KBCA poll. Girard was the only other team in the southeast Kansas region besides the Comet girls to make the rankings. The Trojans, who lost to Chanute earlier this season, were selected seventh. Holton was picked first in the poll, with Wamego, McPher...
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NCCC men lose to Labette in double overtime
Brian McDowell Sports Editor NCCC men’s basketball coach Jeremy Coombs predicted that his team’s Saturday night showdown with Labette County on Saturday night would be a “dogfight.” The showdown proved him correct as the Panthers extended the match-up into double overtime, but weren’t able to win it in the end. Neosho County lost the game 74-71. “That’s a good team,” Coombs said. “They’re not at the top of our conference for nothing. They’re ...
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Emporia wins rematch with Emporia to be crowned Ralph Miller champs
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Emporia Spartans got their revenge on the Andover Central Jaguars on Saturday night. The two squads met in the championship game of last year’s Ralph Miller Classic, with Andover Central winning the final contest. This year’s meeting between the two highly ranked Kansas squads turned out differently, as Emporia powered its way to a 66-52 victory over Andover in Saturday night’s final Ralph Miller Classic game....
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Thunderbirds cruise to third place victory over Leavenworth
The Shawnee Heights Thunderbirds picked up third place in the Ralph Miller Classic with a 72-62 victory over the Leavenworth Pioneers on Saturday evening. The Thunderbirds jumped out ahead early in the contest, starting the proceedings with a 14-0 run, and fending off a comeback attempt by the Pioneers to come away with the win. This early Shawnee Heights run was powered by juniors Braeson Sester and Jovan Barksdale. Leavenworth did eventual...
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Emporia players win Ralph Miller skills contests
Emporia not only won this year’s Ralph Miller Classic action on Saturday, but the team’s players also fared well in the skills contests that started the final day of action at this year’s tournament. Jerel Morrow won the slam dunk contest for the second year in a row, and senior Garin Vandiver won the three-point contest by a wide margin. Coaches from participating teams started the proceedings with a seven-up free throw competition. Chanute ...
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Olathe North seventh place at Miller
The Olathe North Eagles started off Saturday play at the Ralph Miller Classic, winning the 7th place game over Goddard 58-38. The Eagles took a lead early in the first quarter and never lost it the whole game. Olathe North saw early scores on three-pointers by senior Jack Todd and junior Byron Cubit. Todd added more points, as Olathe North built a 14-0 lead. Goddard briefly interrupted the Eagles’ scoring with a three-pointer and a field goa...
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