Sports
Chanute girls shut down Independence in second half
Brian McDowell Sports Editor INDEPENDENCE — With his varsity squad trailing by four points at halftime of its game against the Independence Bulldogs, first year head coach of the Chanute Blue Comets Dustin Fox told his players in the locker room that the way they played in the game’s first half wasn’t acceptable. According to Fox, the Comets had a lot of opportunities in that half, and were impatient. “We got sped up a little bit, and we mis...
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Erie girls win Humboldt tournament
HUMBOLDT — The Erie Red Devils girls basketball team clinched first place at the Humboldt tournament for the second year in a row. They vaulted themselves into first with a 54-20 victory over the host school, Humboldt. “We had a great week of basketball,” Coach Briana Volmer said. Junior Katie Brunghardt and senior Emmalee Mitchell both scored 17 points for Erie. Brunghardt also had four assists. Chelsea Oliphant had seven points and seven ...
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Turnovers doom NCCC women in 61-48 loss
Andrew Towne Special to the Tribune Twenty turnovers and an 18-point deficit were too much to overcome for the NCCC Lady Panthers on Saturday night as they were defeated by Murray State 61-48. “Same story, different day,” said a frustrated Kelley Newton following the game. “We have to find a way to stop turning the ball over. They (Murray State) had 24 points off turnovers today. There is the game.” With Murray State up 50-33 with 7:27 left i...
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Royster 8th grade wins Parsons Winter Classic
The Royster 8th grade girls basketball A basketball teams scored two victories to secure a win at the Parsons Winter Classic this weekend. They beat Meadowview 31-19 in their first game, and then put together a 26-8 win over Pittsburg. “These girls have so much heart,” Coach Steve Slane said. “Our defense was consistently good and we were really able to control the tempo of both games today. I’m just really proud of the girls.” The wins bring...
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Chanute Wrestling Club at SEK Open
Here are the results from the Chanute Wrestling Club’s appearance at the SEK Open and Novice tournament in Fredonia this past Saturday, Dec. 10. In the Novice division: 1st Place - Trevor Phillips 6 and Under 40 lbs Dax Axelson 6 and Under 49 lbs Trey Dillow 6 and Under 61 lbs Tuker Davis 8 and Under 110 lbs 2nd Place- Kobe Coats 8 and Under 55 lbs Trevor Kidwell 8 and under 67 lbs 3rd Place- Cayden Vance 6 and Under 43 lbs 6th Place- Ethan V...
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Chanute girls sneak away with three-point win over Iola rivals
Brian McDowell Sports Editor LOUISBURG — A strong defensive effort and well-timed three-pointers by both senior Bailey Erikson and junior Brenna Olson allowed the Chanute Blue Comets girls basketball team to sneak away with a three-point victory over its rivals, the Iola Mustangs. The 50-47 victory in a battle between evenly matched teams closed out Chanute’s 2-1 appearance at the Louisburg tournament. The Mustangs leapt out to an early lead ...
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Lookin’ Sharp: Freshman leads Chanute boys to first victory
Brian McDowell Sports Editor LOUISBURG — Chanute freshman Derek Sharp received a key piece of basketball advice from both his father and from Dustin Fox after they watched his previous two games with the Blue Comets. “They both told me I need to look at the rim when I shoot,” Sharp said. “I was looking at the ball when it was going up.” Sharp thinks that following this advice improved both his game and his confidence and helped him lead his t...
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Chanute boys lose second two-point heartbreaker in a row
Brian McDowell Sports Editor LOUISBURG — The Chanute Blue Comets boys basketball team’s second game of both the season and the Louisburg Tournament turned out exactly like the first one did; a heartbreakingly close, hard fought two-point loss. This time, on Thursday night, Chanute lost to Anderson County 50-48. The Comets offense was unstoppable early in the game. At one point, halfway through the first quarter, they led 12-0, and the score w...
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Chanute girls team shuts down Anderson County
Brian McDowell Sports Editor LOUISBURG — At halftime of their match-up against Anderson County in the Louisburg tournament on Thursday night, the Chanute girls basketball team was leading by 12 points. This lead developed after the teams were tied at 7 after a defensive and evenly-matched first quarter. In the locker room during halftime, the team had a discussion with their first-year coach Dustin Fox and came to an agreement that they want...
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NCCC wresters move up in national rankings
The second NJCAA national rankings just published show the NCCC wrestling team moving up from 20th in the pre-season poll to 12th this time out. Leading the way for the team again is Jeff Vesta moving from third to second at 125. Impacting the team moving up the poll are newcomers to the individual rankings with LeRoy Barnes at 133 making his first appearance at 11th and Cody Hill at 165 also appearing for the first time in a big way coming i...
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Chanute alum Wiltse injured in match-up with NCCC
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Chanute alum Jordan Wiltse’s first college basketball game in her hometown did not go exactly as she planned. After graduating from CHS last year, Wiltse attended Friends University in Wichita, where she has been a member of the JV basketball squad, as well as logging some varsity playing minutes. Her JV team traveled to NCCC to take on the Panthers on Tuesday and it was an opportunity that Wiltse had been looking...
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8th grade teams victorious against Columbus
Both 8th grade girls basketball teams from Royster found success in games against Columbus on Monday afternoon. The school’s B team put together a 23-8 rout, while the A team won its game 37-24. The B team has a 4-3 record, while the A team is now 9-2. Coach Steve Slane said the school’s A team is trying a few different things in the games, as they work toward the tournament in Parsons this weekend. “I saw some good things but, even before ...
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Neosho County wrestler finds success going west
This past weekend, the NCCC wrestling team traveled out west to face #7 ranked Colby CC on Friday and then compete in the Fort Hays State Open the following day. According to Coach Wayne Petterson, this turned out to be a good experience for the young team as the competition level was not disappointing. On Friday, after the six-hour drive to Colby, the Panthers defeated Colby 26-24. Neosho played the strategy game well, weighing in extra wres...
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Chanute girls start season with 44-29 loss
Brian McDowell Sports Editor LOUISBURG — “It was the first game and we looked like it was our first game in the first half.” This is how first-year Chanute girls basketball Coach Dustin Fox summed up his team’s 44-29 loss to the Baldwin Bulldogs on the first night of the season-opening Louisburg Tournament on Monday night. Baldwin sprang out to an early lead in the game that they never let go of, doubling Chanute’s scoring in the first half. ...
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Comets lose to Baldwin in OT
Brian McDowell Sports Editor LOUISBURG —The Chanute boys basketball team came within two mere points of starting its season off with an overtime victory in the first night of the Louisburg tournament on Monday. Down by seven points at halftime to the Baldwin Bulldogs, the Comets fought their way back to tie the game at 47, forcing an extra four-minute overtime in which they fell 59-57. The overtime period was a topsy-turvy back and forth emot...
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Official results for wrestling’s home opener
Chanute started its wrestling season last Wednesday with a 52-30 victory over Fredonia. Seven Chanute wrestlers made their varsity debuts that night. Coach Andy Albright said that, overall, it was a fun night in front of Chanute’s home crowd. Among the winners for the Comets were Adam Cole, who Albright said was an exciting kid to watch wrestle. “He is always looking to score points,” Albright said. Also, in the 126 weight class, Lane Umbarge...
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St. Paul battling injuries to build bench
Anthony Cook Sports Editor The St. Paul High School boys basketball team will piece together a team this year, and likely a very competitive one. But the Indians will look a bit different than what Coach Brian Carlson envisioned at the start of the school year. Due to a handful of injuries suffered during football, the team will be forced to tinker with the lineup. “Riley O’Brien (junior) is out for the year with a torn ACL suffered during fo...
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Young St. Paul girls team eyes more success
Anthony Cook Parsons Sun Sports Editor It will be the start of a new era for St. Paul High School girls basketball this season. After three-straight Three Rivers League titles, a trip to state and fourth-place finish in 2009-2010 and a few undefeated regular seasons — the Indians are without two of the top contributors to that run this year due to graduation. But there’s enough carry over that this team may once again contend for a TRL crown....
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New Humboldt girls coach vows improvement
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Humboldt Cubs girls basketball team only had one win last year. However, this season, the team has a new coach who is vowing to improve that. According to Coach Sherry Nelson, the Cubs’ goal this year is to finish around an even .500. “We have been working on fundamentals,” Nelson said, “starting over and just working on their knowledge.” Among the skills that the coach has been emphasizing are free throws and...
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Panthers men roar back with 92-55 victory
Brian McDowell Sports Editor After losing to the host school at a tournament in Pratt this weekend, the NCCC Panthers men’s basketball team roared back for a resounding 92-55 victory over the JV squad from Ottawa University. “Tonight was one of those nights we wanted to bounce back, wanted to play well, wanted to execute and do the things that we normally do,” Neosho County Coach Jeremy Coombs said, “so it’s a pretty good night.” The Panthers...
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