Sports
Comet girls grab victory from the Grizzlies
Brian McDowell Sports Editor In the recent history of girls basketball in this area, the road to SEK success usually goes through Labette County. The Grizzlies were undefeated in the SEK headed into their Friday night confrontation with Chanute. Dustin Fox knew that if his Comets squad wanted to control its own destiny this year in this conference, his team would have to topple the Labette squad. The Chanute Blue Comets accomplished this on F...
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Bracket released for Chanute’s Ralph Miller Classic
The bracket was released on Wednesday for next week’s Ralph Miller Classic basketball tournament at Chanute High School. With its recent success in SEK conference play, the Chanute Blue Comets boys team (6-3) enters the annual tournament as the number three seed. The squad’s first game will be on Thursday night at 8 p.m. against Leavenworth. How the Comets fare in this game will determine their schedule on the next day. If they lose this firs...
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Lady Panthers secure overtime victory
Brian McDowell Sports Editor FORT SCOTT — Lining up against a short-handed Fort Scott team with only five available players on its roster on Wednesday night, the NCCC women’s basketball team still trailed for most of the road match-up. Yet, the Lady Panthers showed some fight late in the game, managed to score when it was important, and fought their way back to a 58-50 overtime victory. “Hats off go to Fort Scott,” NCCC Coach Kelley Newton s...
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CCA boys triumph over Tyro
The Chanute Christian Academy boys basketball team took on Tyro Christian in league play on Tuesday, and scored a 61-32 victory. In the first period, CCA came out playing good defense but cold on offense. Tyro was able to keep pace for most of the 1st on some good shooting from guard Steven Wright who hit three 3-pointers. In Coach Dave Yarnell’s estimation, the Warriors were taking some bad shots early that let Tyro stay in the game. However...
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Comet boys extend streak with rout of Fort Scott
Brian McDowell Sports Editor FORT SCOTT — The Chanute boys basketball team has now won five in a row, after its 63-41 rout of Fort Scott on Tuesday night. This victory brings the Comets’ record to 6-3. It is a nice record and run for a Comets squad that was picked as sixth place in the SEK coaches’ pre-season poll. “The pre-season polls are nice to look at,” Chanute Coach Max Ruark said, “but it’s hard to tell from year to year exactly how p...
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St. Paul girls beat Marmaton
The St. Paul girls basketball team beat Marmaton Valley on Tuesday night, in a 55-27 rout. The Indians dominated the contest from the beginning, outscoring their opponents 13-4 in the first quarter. They had a 30-12 lead at halftime, and cruised their way to a nearly 30-point victory. Ashton Wood led the Indians in scoring with 13 points, while Kacy Phillips and Josie Albertini each had nine and Jordyn Tuck ended up with eight.. Marmaton ...
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Erie varsity teams lose to Caney
The Erie girls basketball team lost its Tuesday night match-up with Caney Valley 65-54. This drops the Red Devils’ record to 4-3. Bret McGuire led the Erie offense, scoring 28 points, including four three-pointers. She also grabbed six rebounds Kailey Cleaver scored 10 points for the Red Devils, and had four rebounds, while Chelsea Oliphant grabbed five boards. The school’s boys team lost 48-17 to Caney Valley. Kody Tredway had five points in...
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Chanute JV girls fall in Fort Scott
The Chanute JV girls basketball team fell to Fort Scott 33-42 on Tuesday night. “We did not get a good start on the game like I had planned to,” Coach Shannon Bogle said. After the first quarter, the Comets were down 7-13. Fort Scott standout Ashley Cook drained 21 points against the JV team. She was also the leading Fort Scott scorer in the victory of that school’s varsity team over Chanute. In the JV game, she had six baskets, three of t...
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Small mistakes by girls lead to 2-point loss to Fort Scott
Brian McDowell Sports Editor FORT SCOTT – According to Chanute girls basketball coach Dustin Fox, the effect that his team’s first conference loss on Tuesday night has on the rest of the season will depend on how his players respond to it. “As long as we don’t put our heads down and feel sorry for ourselves, we’re going to be fine,” Fox said. The Comet girls were leading throughout most of their Tuesday night road match-up with Fort Scott, bu...
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Lady Panthers win season’s first conference game
Brian McDowell Sports Editor NCCC women’s basketball coach Kelley Newton enforces what he calls a “midnight rule.” Both he and the players on his team are only given until midnight after the game to either celebrate a win or bemoan a loss. Then, they have to start thinking about their next opponent. That means that the Lady Panthers only had a couple of hours to celebrate their 48-44 victory over Independence on Saturday night, in the team’s ...
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Missed rebounds, lopsided foul count cost NCCC men in loss to Indy
Brian McDowell Sports Editor One bright spot in the NCCC men’s basketball team’s Saturday night loss to Independence was Australian freshman Jamie Batish. He had a standout offensive performance with 26 points, including six three-pointers. “He’s doing a great job,” NCCC Coach Jeremy Coombs said. “He’s been a solid player for us.” Unfortunately for the Panthers, the team as a whole didn’t fare as well in the first conference game. Neosho Coun...
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Chanute girls improve to 7-1 with win over Girard
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Comet girls currently have a sterling 7-1 record. It has been more than 20 years since any Chanute girls basketball team has had a start that good, according to the school’s athletic director Eric Methvin. The Comets improved to 7-1 after a 47-41 victory over Girard on Friday night. The Comets’ second year head coach Dustin Fox isn’t thinking about these kinds of historical tidbits. “I know where we stand com...
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Comet boys extend win streak to four against Trojans
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Chanute boys basketball team is now on a four-game winning streak, after a 44-32 victory over Girard on Friday night. That is more games than the team won all of last season. The team’s coach Max Ruark knew, from the beginning of the season, that the Comets could be competitive this year. “I knew if the guys worked hard and bought in, we’d have an opportunity to be in every game,” Ruark said. “We have some ath...
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Batish’s 32 points help NCCC win Sonic Shootout tourney
Brian McDowell Sports Editor For the first time in the event’s history, the NCCC men’s basketball team won its Sonic Shootout tournament on Wednesday evening. “It’s amazing,” Neosho County Coach Jeremy Coombs said. “It’s great, especially with such a young team.” This historic feat by the NCCC squad that is mostly comprised of freshmen was accomplished with a tense final match-up that pitted the Panthers against Missouri State-West Plains, a...
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NCCC men start Sonic Shootout with win over Paris
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Snapping a five-game losing streak, the NCCC Panthers men’s basketball team earned a much needed 68-63 win over Paris Junior College on the first night of the Sonic Shootout tournament on Tuesday night. Outside shooting and accurate free throws late in the game assisted Neosho County in achieving this comeback victory. Neosho County shot 76 percent from the line while Paris only shot 61 percent. The Panthers also ...
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Panthers men will finish Shootout against West Plains tonight
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The third annual Sonic Shootout basketball tournament wraps up this evening at the NCCC gymnasium. This event pits the Panthers men’s basketball squad against some of the most talented junior college teams in the country. Neosho County will be taking on Missouri State-West Plains at 6 p.m. later today in the tournament’s climactic game. “I’m not a very smart coach,” NCCC head coach Jeremy Coombs said, “because we...
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Racing will continue at Humboldt this year
With the recent death of Ron Whitworth, it was hard for employees at Humboldt Speedway to fathom going on without their beloved leader. However, it was announced this week that the local race track will continue to run under the Whitworth name. Ron’s son Ryan has taken over the duties of the track prep and the promotions work. Ron’s widow, Rhenda, will still be a full time fixture at the track as well, maintaining the ever famous “McRhenda’s ...
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Chanute’s Howell selected for Shrine Bowl
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Chanute senior Cody Howell is among the football players selected for next summer’s Shrine Bowl, which honors the best players in the state of Kansas. Howell was selected for the game for the great skills he showed on both offense and defense for this year’s Comets squad, which was one of the best in the school’s history. Howell is the eighth Chanute player selected for the Shrine Bowl in the last eight years. H...
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NCCC baseball sixth in preseason poll
The NCCC Panthers have been selected as sixth place in nationwide NJCAA Division One baseball in a preseason poll conducted by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Most of the impact players on last year’s team went off to join major college programs or Major League organizations. Still, the Steve Murry-coached Panthers made it to the NJCAA World Series last year, won a game there for the first time in the school’s history, and finished as the...
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Chanute comes back to upset Coffeyville in Thursday night thriller
Brian McDowell Sports Editor In a roller coaster of a Thursday night game, the Chanute boys basketball team managed to score a 52-51 comeback victory over a Coffeyville squad that is one of the top ranked 4A teams in the state. After an improbable series of late-game events, the Comets earned the one-point upset on a last-second free throw by junior Jordan Richards. “I knew if we made a run and got ourselves back in the ballgame, anything coul...
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