Sports
Panthers blow big lead, but hold on for win
Andrew Towne Special to the Tribune The NCCC Panthers men’s basketball team escaped with its 16th win of the season on Saturday night with a 101-95 win over the Highland Community College Scotties. The victory improved the Panthers to 10-6 in conference play. For the first 35 minutes of the game the Panthers controlled every aspect of the game. With 5:35 remaining in the contest Neosho County held an 86-66 lead and looked to be cruising home ...
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Lady Panthers fall at home to Highland
Andrew Towne Special to the Tribune After winning two games in a row for the first time since early 2010, the NCCC Lady Panthers fell at home on Saturday night 74-60 against the high-powered Highland Community College Lady Scotties. The Lady Panthers found themselves down 11-1 inside the first four minutes of the game, following yet another slow start offensively. Neosho County was not going to go away without a fight. Alexis Hafenstein woul...
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Chanute girls get big win on first night of sub-state
Brian McDowell Sports Editor IOLA — It is no secret that the Comets girls basketball team has undergone some struggles during the regular season, in which Chanute went 8-12, and entered the sub-state bracket as the fifth seed. However, in the Monday night match-up that began sub-state play, visiting their rivals from Iola, there was no sign of such troubles. The Comets thoroughly dominated the contest, and put together a 54-30 victory. This ...
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WE ARE FAMILY: Pairs of sisters will power Chanute through sub-state
Brian McDowell Sports Editor In the way that they can lead groups of people to both bicker and work together to solve problems, sports teams often resemble families. This is especially true of this year’s Chanute Blue Comets girls basketball team, which has featured two pairs of sisters as starters this season. (The team actually had three pairs of sisters this year, counting Mallory and Macy Flowers, but Macy, a freshman, didn’t really start...
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Panthers men invade Fort Scott in rout
Brian McDowell Sports Editor FORT SCOTT — The NCCC Panthers men’s basketball team delivered a Wednesday night 96-72 rout of a Fort Scott Greyhound squad that has dwelled in the statistical basement of the KJCCC all year. Neosho County Coach Jeremy Coombs said there is a danger of letting a big win against a struggling team negatively affecting the confidence level of his team. “There’s no question about that,” Coombs said. “We always talk a...
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NCCC women on winning streak for first time since 2010
Brian McDowell Sports Editor FORT SCOTT — For both the first time in Kelley Newton’s coaching tenure and since January 2010, the NCCC Lady Panthers have won two conference games in a row. The squad earned this designation by beating the Fort Scott Greyhounds 55-46 on Wednesday night. . “It feels good,” NCCC Coach Kelley Newton said. “It’s a good feeling that our team is starting to put some things together. We’re not where we need to be ...
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Chanute’s ‘elite eight’ headed to state wrestling tournament
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Elite eight. Super eight. Eight men out. Eight-to-state. This is what the eight Chanute wrestlers who are headed to the State Tournament in Salina this weekend are calling themselves. The eight athletes earned their spot at state with victories at the regional tournament in Fort Scott last weekend. Some of them have been to the state tournament before, and others will be participating in the event for the first...
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Sub-state brackets pit girls against Iola and boys against Fort Scott
Sub-state high school basketball for the Chanute Blue Comets starts on Monday, when the school’s girls basketball team (8-12) will be making a short trip to Iola to take on the Mustangs (8-11). The Comets were ranked the fifth seed in the brackets, which were released Wednesday, while their rivals from Iola were ranked fourth. “It should be fun,” Chanute Coach Dustin Fox said, “two overtime games with them already this year.” Chanute won the ...
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Turnovers cause Chanute to end regular season on sour note
Brian McDowell Sports Editor For a quarter and a half of their Tuesday game against Coffeyville, the Chanute Blue Comets boys were keeping pace with their opponents. However, 15 first-half turnovers got the best of Chanute, as it closed out the regular season getting beat 77-53. “We just turned the ball over too much tonight,” Chanute Coach Max Ruark said. “They put some pressure on us and we just didn’t handle it well against a team that re...
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Comet girls close out season with 29-point rout of C’ville
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Chanute senior Morgan Olson celebrated the school’s winter sports senior night in grand fashion on Tuesday night, scoring 20 points and leading the Blue Comets basketball team to a 52-23 rout of Coffeyville that closed out the regular season for both SEK squads. First-year Chanute Coach Dustin Fox used the occasion of Senior Night to heap praise on Olson and the seniors on his team. “Morgan’s playing great right n...
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Giacalone no-hitter highlights weekend baseball action for 6-0 Panthers
Brian McDowell Sports Editor After a clean weekend sweep of Brown-Mackie College, the NCCC Panthers baseball team is now 6-0 this season. The Panthers’ home match-ups last weekend were highlighted by a Saturday no-hitter thrown by Adam Giacalone. Neosho County won the first game on Saturday 1-0, due to an error by Brown Mackie’s second baseman in the sixth inning. The error allowed pinch-runner Robbe Ewing to score the only run in the game. E...
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Lady Panthers triumph over Kansas City Kansas
Andrew Towne Special to the Tribune “That one feels good, real good.”’ This is how NCCC girls basketball Coach Kelley Newton summed up his struggling squad’s 55-52 victory over the Kansas City Kansas Community College Lady Blue Devils on Saturday night. With 15:29 remaining in the game, things were looking bleak for the Lady Panthers who found themselves in the middle of a 15-3 KCK run and down 39-24. Momentum would start to shift toward Neos...
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Chanute wrestling sending eight to state
Brian McDowell Sports Editor FORT SCOTT — The Chanute wrestling team will be taking eight to state. That is how many members of the Comets squad qualified for next weekend’s state tournament in Salina with their performance at Regionals in Fort Scott on Friday and Saturday. Three of these athletes, Alex Cole, Alex Son and Sam Son, came in first place in their respective weight classes. The Comets earned third place at the event as a team, ear...
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Coach proud of way Comets compete in Indy rematch
Brian McDowell Sports Editor When the Chanute boys basketball team matched up against the Independence Bulldogs earlier this season, the Comets were beaten up in a an almost 40-point rout. According to Coach Max Ruark, the Comets lacked energy in that game. The team’s Friday night rematch against the Bulldogs went quite a bit differently. “We knew that if we could catch them and played well that we could definitely make it a much different g...
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Poor shooting, last second three-pointer doom Chanute girls
Brian McDowell Sports Editor After trailing 10-0 in the first quarter, the Chanute Blue Comets girls basketball fought its way back into Friday night’s game against the Independence Bulldogs. It was a bare-knuckle, tightly-wound contest, but Chanute was ultimately haunted by poor shooting from the field, making only 16 of 48 attempts. “It was a physical game and we got a little sped up inside,” Comet Coach Dustin Fox said. “We kind of rushed...
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Humboldt Speedway will again crown King of America
The King of America Modified Nationals will be coming back to the Humboldt Speedway on March 28-31. The inagural United States Modified Touring Series event was held last October in Humboldt, and the 75-lap championship race was won by nine-time USMTS champion Kelly Shyrock. Officials have now decided to move the annual race to March, but it will feature the same format as the October race did. Drivers will register to qualify on Wednesday, T...
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NCCC baseball starts season with two big wins
The NCCC Panthers baseball team started its 2012 season with two decisive victories over the JV team from Ottawa University on Wednesday afternoon. The Panthers won the first game 8-2 and the second game was 11-1 in the 5th inning when it was cut short by rain. First baseman Adam Giacalone hit a double that scored two RBIs in the first inning of the opener. He also drove in a run with a double in the second inning. David Bote drove in two run...
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NCCC women blown out by Johnson County
Brian McDowell Sports Editor OVERLAND PARK — The struggling season for the NCCC women’s basketball team (3-20) reached its low ebb on Wednesday night with a 74-28 loss to the number one ranked Johnson County Cavaliers. “Jonhson County is a really good team,” Lady Panthers Coach Kelley Newton said. “They’re very solid defensively and everything that I said they would be. They force you into some tough shots if you’re not ready for them. Offen...
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Patton’s 26 points help NCCC triumph over Johnson County
Briann McDowell Sports Editor OVERLAND PARK — NCCC men’s basketball coach Jeremy Coombs classified his team’s Wednesday night 81-70 road victory over the Johnson County Cavaliers as a game that represented everything that he wants his team to be about. The Panthers’ guards weren’t selfish, they got the ball inside to the team’s big men, who finished around the basket. If the big men didn’t have a shot, they kicked the ball out to the guards....
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Humboldt routs Cherryvale
The Humboldt Cubs boys basketball team was victorious over Cherryvale Tuesday night by a score of 66-41. Noah Thornbrugh led the team with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Blake Crawford scored 16, Tanner McNutt had 12, and Trey Johnson chipped in nine. Erie boys fall to Frontenac The Erie Red Devils boys basketball team lost to Frontenac Tuesday night 64-30. According to Coach Caleb Reimer, Erie struggled to find the hoop. “ Frontenac d...
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