Sports
Defense leads Panthers to victory
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor FORT SCOTT — Using defense to create offense, the Neosho County Community College men’s basketball team raced past Fort Scott 80-63 on Wednesday night at Arnold Arena. The Panthers forced 22 turnovers, grabbed 12 steals and converted many of those miscues into easy hoops in transition. “For us, it always starts with defense,” Neosho County Coach Jeremy Coombs said. “As the year goes on, I think our press i...
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CHS wrestling: tough tourney awaits
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor Some of the top wrestling teams in the state will be competing at the Valley Center Dual Tournament this weekend. The Chanute Blue Comets will be among them. The Comets will compete at the always-tough tourney on Saturday. Host Valley Center is currently the top ranked team in Class 4A. Other tops teams competing at the tourney are Emporia, the defending 5A champ; Derby, ranked first in 6A; Clay Center,...
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Season begins on Friday for CHS hoops
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor The quest for a league title begins on Friday night for the Chanute High School girls basketball team. The Blue Comets will hit the road to take on the Independence Bulldogs in the 2009-10 season-opener. The girls game starts at 6 p.m. at the old Independence Middle School gym. Chanute Coach Megan Reid feels her team is just about ready to go. “The attitudes and work ethic have been great in practice,” Reid sa...
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Royster girls knock off Pittsburg
Tribune staff The Royster Middle School eighth grade girls A basketball team defeated Pittsburg 33-20 on Tuesday night. “They beat us earlier in the year and we did some good things,” RMS Coach Steve Slane said. “We played more under control and we will have to continue doing that with the opponents we have coming up. As you can see, the scoring was balanced and we did a good job of playing around some people getting in foul trouble. Overall...
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Comets too much for Yellowjackets
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor CHANUTE—Andy Albright admitted he was extremely nervous as his Chanute High School wrestling team stepped on to the mat for the first time this season. He didn’t need to be. The Blue Comets earned win after win against Fredonia on Tuesday night at the CHS Gymnasium. When the night ended, Chanute had earned a 48-21 win. The Class 3A Yellowjackets were overmatched in a few matches, but for the most part, g...
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Erie boys have high expectations
Anthony Cook Parsons Sun Mike Casteel, head coach of the Erie High School basketball team, knows that the high expectations for his team mean nothing at this point. The Red Devils were recently predicted to finish third in the CNC League in its preseason poll. However, the pollsters haven’t done a good job of evaluating the school’s basketball team in the past. “We know it means absolutely nothing right now,” said Casteel. The eighth-year ...
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New coach set to lead Erie girls
Anthony Cook Parsons Sun The hardwood is a familiar place for Erie High School girls basketball first-year head coach Briana Volmer. Volmer, a graduate and standout center for the Labette County High School Grizzlies, most recently played college basketball at Missouri Southern State University. Her first head coaching experience in basketball will come Friday evening when the Red Devils take on Baxter Springs. The team is previously coming of...
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Chanute will compete at Labette County Sub-State
Tribune staff The Chanute High School basketball teams will compete at the Labette County Class 4A Sub-State this year. Teams competing at LCHS are the host Grizzlies, Chanute, Coffeyville, Columbus, Girard, Independence, Iola and Parsons. Sub-State tournaments begin on March 1, 2010. Area teams Erie is at the Eureka Sub-State in Class 3A, while Humboldt will compete at the Class 2A Sub-State at Oswego. St. Paul and Altoona-Midway are at...
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Panthers fall to Cloud County at T-Bird Classic
Tribune staff CONCORDIA—Cloud County defeated the Neosho County Community College men’s basketball team 76-63 on Friday night at the Thunderbird Thanksgiving Classic. The Panthers fell to 5-3 on the season with the loss. Neosho County struggled from the field, making just 30 percent of its field goals (17 of 56). Cloud made 44 percent of its shots from the field, won the turnover battle and also got a bigger contribution from its bench. The...
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High school football: State champs crowned
State champs were crowned in football on Saturday across the state. Below is a glance at each game. Class 6A—Olathe North 37, Wichita Heights 3 TOPEKA (AP) — James Franklin ran for three touchdowns as Olathe North beat Wichita Heights 37-3 to win the Kansas Class 6A title. It was Olathe North’s eighth championship and fourth this decade, but its first since 2003. Class 5A—Hutchinson 52, Gardner-Edgerton 14 EMPORIA (AP) — Running back Dev...
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CHS GIRLS BASKETBALL: EXPECTATIONS ARE HIGH
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor The Chanute Blue Comets hope experience will equal excellence. Nine returning letterwinners and four returning starters will make up the 2009-10 Chanute High School girls basketball team. However, the Blue Comets will start the season with three returning starters, as junior guard Amy Weilert is out of action recovering from a knee injury. Leading the way will be three experienced seniors in Kameron Brama...
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Royster girls fall to Indy
Tribune staff Independence defeated Royster Middle School 34-19 in the eighth grade girls A game on Tuesday. “We knew Independence was good, as they are quick and see the court real well,” Coach Steve Slane said. “We struggled with their pressure early and had to use most of our timeouts in the first half to make adjustments.” Indy led 12-5 after one period of play. Royster was down 15-11 at the half, but Indy went on a 7-0 run in the third qu...
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CHS BOYS BASKETBALL: A Versatile group returns
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor There’s a renewed sense of optimism surrounding the Chanute Blue Comets. Why? Because five players who started at least one game last year are back for the Chanute High School boys basketball team. Cory Henshall, Matt Bollig, Griffin Williams, Alec Haight, and Dustin Eccles all return and are expected to lead the way for the Blue Comets in 2009-10. Entering his sixth year as head coach, Max Ruark feels the...
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SEK has 27 returning state qualifiers
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor Three teams from the Southeast Kansas League are ranked in their respective classes as the 2009-10 wrestling season begins. The Chanute Blue Comets are ranked seventh in Class 4A and the Columbus Titans are ranked eighth. In Class 5A, the Pittsburg Purple Dragons are ranked 10th. And that’s not all. Several league teams may not be ranked, but they have several returning state qualifiers. In all, there are ...
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CHS wrestling: Son has goals set high
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor Sam Son definitely didn’t wrestle like a rookie. As a freshman at Chanute High School last winter, Son was the state runner-up at 145 pounds and went 41-6 on the season. During his rookie season, Son established himself as one of the top wrestlers in the Southeast Kansas League. He was first team all-league and a regional champion. Son was also the first freshman in CHS history to place at the Class 4A sta...
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CHS wrestling: A glance at the lineup
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor The Chanute High School wrestling team enters the season with an experienced group back. At the same time, there are a few question marks at certain weights. Here’s a quick glance at how the lineup may look. At 103 pounds, the Comets may go with freshman Jake Johnson. Freshman Jared Fiscus may wrestle at 112. Fiscus has had a lot of success as a youth wrestler. Junior Tim Wrestler is back after a state app...
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CHS wrestling: State experience returns
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor Seven returning starters and four returning state qualifiers will lead the way for the Chanute High School wrestling team in 2009-10. That’s not all. A promising group of freshmen will join the returning letterwinners. With that, the Blue Comets have a reason to be optimistic as the season arrives. “We have some solid kids coming back and I’m really excited about the freshman class, too,” Chanute Coach ...
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Panthers win third-straight
Tribune staff The Neosho County Community College men’s basketball team defeated Brown Mackie 84-79 on Monday night. Justin Fairman and Tyrie Wooten scored 14 points apiece for the Panthers. The team beat Butler on Saturday night and is now 5-2 on the season after three-straight wins. The Panthers are at Cloud County on Friday night at 8 p.m. and then at Fort Scott next Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Neosho County 85, Butler CC 79 Butler ...
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Humboldt hopes to make progress
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor As the 2009-10 high school basketball season arrives, the Humboldt Cubs hope to take a step in the right direction. Coach David Taylor has an experienced group of seniors and some promising underclassmen on the roster this season. “I think we’ll have a better season this year,” Taylor said. The Cubs went 2-19 a year ago and Coach Taylor feels things are looking up. “I think we have higher expectations th...
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Humboldt girls team has many new faces
Jason Peake Tribune Sports Editor A host of new faces will make up a large part of the Humboldt High School girls basketball team this year. The Cubs lost a large group of seniors to graduation. In all, four senior starters are gone, including Kelci Owens, who became the school’s all-time leading scorer last year. “I’d say we lost 96 percent of our scoring from last year,” Humboldt Coach Jeff Wilkerson said. “I was real proud of that gr...
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