Sports
Second-half Coffeyville run dooms Lady Panthers
Brian McDowell Sports Editor COFFEYVILLE — Against a short-handed Coffeyville squad that only had seven players, the NCCC Lady Panthers planned to hit the Red Ravens early in their Wednesday night match-up, and to a large degree, they did. Thanks to early scores by Alexis Hafenstein, Shanice Palmer and Ashley Gorman, the Panthers had a 6-2 lead early in the game and only trailed by four at halftime. However, the Red Ravens hit three-pointers ...
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Panthers routed by highly ranked Coffeyville
Brian McDowell Sports Editor COFFEYVILLE — NCCC Men’s Basketball Coach Jeremy Coombs compared his players’ performance in their Wednesday night match-up against the Coffeyville Red Ravens to oranges that all the juice had been squeezed out of. “I just don’t think this team has the fight and the will,” Coombs said. “We’ve been trying to get it out of them, but they beat a Fort Scott team that’s not very good, they beat Highland that’s not a...
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NCCC baseball’s winning streak ends at Crowder
After starting the season with a 12-game winning streak that earned them a number four ranking in the latest NJCAA poll, the NCCC Panthers baseball team suffered its first loss on Wednesday afternoon, falling 8-2 in a nine-inning game against Crowder in Neosho, Mo. The road game was delayed for an hour, due to tardy umpires. The Panthers fell behind early in the contest, as Crowder’s first baseman led off with a home run in the bottom of the ...
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Altoona-Midway girls win first sub-state game
Even though they won no games during the regular season, the Altoona-Midway Lady Jets are proving that they can win when it counts the most. The struggling squad beat the Elk Valley Lions in the first round of sub-state basketball on Tuesday night 35-25. Nichole LaCrone led the team in scoring with 12 points and also grabbed six rebounds. Brittney Reilly scored 10 points, and had eight boards and four steals. DarShawna Lour ended up with both...
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Three-point shooting and missed second half shots cost Comets in season-ending loss
Brian McDowell Sports Editor FORT SCOTT — There were moments in the Blue Comets’ Tuesday night sub-state match-up with the top-seeded Fort Scott Tigers where victory seemed to be within Chanute’s grasp. “It’s just tough, it was frustrating,” Chanute Coach Max Ruark said. “I was proud of the effort our guys gave, they played hard.” He expressed pride that his team played like they had nothing to lose in the season-ending contest. Playing witho...
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NCCC softball team working to turn struggling season around
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The NCCC softball team has struggled so far this season, but the Panthers did pick up their first two victories of the season at a tournament at Murray State in Oklahoma over the weekend. The team beat Murray State 5-4 in nine innings, and beat Carl Albert State 15-4 in five innings, and these wins brought the team’s record to 2-7. Coach Kim Alexander is happy with the way that the team’s hitting has been working ...
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Time and opponent for Chanute girls’ next sub-state game announced
After beating Iola by a wide margin in its first sub-state game Monday night, the Chanute girls basketball team will be traveling to Louisburg Thursday to match-up with the top-seeded team in the bracket, Prairie View. The semifinal sub-state game will start at 6 p.m. at Louisburg High School. Comets fans making the trip to see the game are asked to sit on the west side of the gym on the north end behind Chanute’s bench. Students may sit on ...
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NCCC baseball sweeps No. 4 ranked Des Moines
The NCCC baseball team is now 12-0 after completing a four-game weekend sweep of Des Moines Area Community College, which was the number four ranked team in the country and 6-1 headed into this match-up. The Panthers won Saturday’s games 3-2 and 6-2, and pulled off two Sunday victories, 4-3 and 9-3. Neosho County gained an early lead in the first Saturday match-up as David Bote was walked in the first inning, stole second, and was driven home...
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NCCC wrestler Vesta wins national championship
NCCC wrestler Jeff Vesta finished off his junior college career in a big way by winning the NJCAA National Championship at 125 lbs. this past weekend in Rochester, Minn. Another Panthers wrestler, freshman LeRoy Barnes, came up just short in his bid for a championship by finishing a strong third place at 133 lbs. Also scoring points for NCCC at the Nationals event were two-time national qualifier Edwin Gutierrez at 184 with a 1-2 record and f...
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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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