Sports
Chanute wrestling splits SEK duals in Pittsburg
Brian McDowell Sports Editor PITTSBURG — The Chanute wrestling team split a dual meet against two SEK rivals on Thursday night. Thanks to open roster spots, winning two matches was enough for the Comets to beat a short-handed Coffeyville squad 54-16. The Comets then lost to Pittsburg 51-27. Despite the evening’s mixed results, Chanute Coach Andy Albright saw several positive things from his wrestlers that stood out to him. Instead of getting ...
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NCCC baseball picked in top 20 in preseason poll
A pre-season NJCAA poll has picked the NCCC Panthers baseball team to be one of the top 20 teams in the country. The Panthers, who finished with a 46-14 record last year, were named number 20 in the poll. Seward County was the only other regional team picked in the top 20 poll, coming in at 14th place. “Rankings before the season don’t mean that much,” Panthers Coach Steve Murry said, “but it is nice to be recognized. Of course, now it puts ...
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‘Orange out Saturday’ at NCCC
NCCC’s Saturday night game against the nationally ranked team from Coffeyville will be big for the Panthers’ men’’s team. Neosho County will be offering a free pass to the game to everyone who wears orange to Saturday night’s game at the school’s gymnasium. The women’s game starts at 6 p.m., immediately followed by the men’s match-up around 8 p.m.. So, wear orange to the game, get in free, and cheer the home teams to victory. Humboldt gets n...
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Lady Panthers lose to #5 ranked Highland
HIGHLAND — The Neosho County Community College Lady Panther’s came into Wednesday night’s game against the Lady Scotties of Highland Community College having lost two in a row. The Lady Panthers added another loss to this tally, by falling to the #5 ranked Highland team 66-43. Highland jumped out quickly to a 6-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game. Neosho would struggle early with the pressure from the full court press that Highland ...
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Second half performance propels Panthers to victory
Andrew Towne Special to the Tribune HIGHLAND — The Neosho County Community College Panthers traveled to Highland Community College Wednesday night and defeated the Scotties 95-84, to win their second straight game. The match-up’s opening moments saw the Scotties jump out to a 5-0 lead, but Brison White got the Panthers on the board with one of his fast break thunderous dunks. Neosho County took its first lead of the game, 10-9, at the 15:33 m...
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Nationally ranked NCCC wrestlers pin their hopes on upcoming tournaments
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Jeff Vesta, a native of the Manhattan area, has been wrestling since he was five years old. LeRoy Barnes, from Belton, Mo., didn’t start wrestling until his freshman year of high school. Now, both athletes are nationally ranked in their weight classes, and are the backbone of NCCC’s wrestling team this year. Vesta, with a record of 28-6 this year, is currently the number two ranked NJCAA wrestler in 125 while Barn...
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St. Paul boys and girls beat Chetopa
Both the St. Paul boys and girls basketball teas emerged victorious from their Tuesday night home match-ups with Chetopa. The girls team won in a 57-26 rout, in which Nikkie Sears scored 12 points, Ashton Wood scored 11, and Kacy Phillips scored 10. The Indians outscored their opponents 17-3 in the game’s first quarter. The St. Paul boys won 68-57. Jake O’Brein led the Indians by scoring 19 points. Brayden Beachner had 15, and Anthony Diskin ...
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Chanute 20-year-old becomes youngest 300 bowler in C&H history
Brian McDowell Sports Editor 20-year-old Chanute resident Derick Manly has been bowling since he was 4, but he stopped the activity for two years to devote more time to his studies at NCCC and to work. He recently started bowling again, and he is glad that he did. Thanks to a knockdown performance during a Tuesday night City League, Manly is the youngest person in the 60-year history of C & H Lanes to bowl a 300. Manly’s average bowling score...
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Andover Central wins dramatic two-point Ralph Miller Classic finale
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Andover Central Jaguars have been participating in the Ralph Miller Classic for the last seven years. In previous tournaments, they’ve always ended up with a 2-1 record. This year, Andover Central won the Classic for the first time, emerging victorious from the Saturday night meeting between two of the best 5A teams in Kansas. They faced down the Emporia Spartans in a tense and erratic finale to the tournament ...
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Fairchild free throw secures seventh place for Comets
Brian McDowell Sports Editor They may have only been playing for seventh place, but the Chanute Blue Comets gave local fans a game to remember in their climactic contest of this year’s Ralph Miller Classic. Thanks to a last minute free throw, the Comets came away with a 45-44 comeback win over the Shawnee Heights Thunderbirds. The only two points in this match-up in which the Comets led were for about a minute in the first quarter and at the...
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Lady Panthers lose to Fort Scott
Andrew Towne Special to the Tribune The Neosho County Community College Lady Panthers came into the game Saturday night against the Fort Scott Lady Greyhounds having won two of their last three games, and were looking to improve to an even 3-3 record in conference play. Unfortunately, that would not be the case for the Lady Panthers on Saturday night, as Fort Scott led from start to finish. The Lady Greyhounds jumped out to a 6-0 lead over t...
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Missed free throws doom Comets girls against DeSoto
TONGANOXIE — Missed shots in the second quarter doomed the Chanute girls basketball team in its final game of the Tonganoxie tournament, as the Comets fell to the De Soto Lady Wildcats in the fifth place game, 52-45. Still, Coach Dustin Fox was happy that his squad was able to give themselves a chance in the contest with their defense. Fox said his team started out really well in the first quarter, and characterized the game’s early portions...
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Former Chanute coach helps resilient Eagles overcome massive obstacles
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Joplin Eagles have been a part of Chanute’s Ralph Miller Classic for eight years now, and for the last three of those, the team has been helmed by a familiar face to many local sports fans. The Eagles’ Coach Jeff Williams was a head coach at Chanute for 14 years. “Before that, I coached here when the earth was cooling as an assistant,” Williams joked. Chanute gave the coach his start, and he said he has a lot...
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Andover Central dominates Joplin for slot in championship
At basketball tournaments, spectator sentiment doesn’t always translate into on-court success. This was demonstrated on Friday evening at the Ralph Miller Classic. The overcoming of obstacles this year and the head coach with local roots made the Jopin Eagles a favorite of the Chanute crowd at this event, and a sizable contingent of the team’s fans made the trip from Joplin to see the team play. However, the Eagles fell to the Andover Central...
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Comets fall 61-46 in second game at Classic
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Lapses in defense and empty offensive possessions cost Chanute a victory in its second game of this year’s Ralph Miller Classic. Less than 24 hours after the tournament hosts’ 69-26 loss to Shawnee Mission South, strong scoring by the Goddard Lions in the second and fourth quarters of a Friday afternoon match-up sealed the Comets’ fate. Goddard won 61-46, and will compete for fifth place in the tournament today. ...
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Trout powers Chanute girls in Tonganoxie
TONGANOXIE — Twenty-two points by Shelbi Trout helped power the Chanute Blue Comets girls basketball team to a 48-38 victory over the Lansing Lions in the second game of the Tonganoxie tournament. “She was hot tonight,” Chanute Coach Dustin Fox said. “She was hitting them, and the girls did a good job of finding her, and she did a good job of being aggressive and looking for a shot.” Overall, Fox was happy that his team responded like this a...
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Joplin continues to overcome obstacles by defeating Shawnee Heights
Joplin continues to overcome obstacles by defeating Shawnee Heights Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Joplin Eagles, helmed by former Chanute Blue Comets coach Jeff Williams, made their first appearance in the Ralph Miller Classic since the devastating tornado that had such a big effect on their school in their community. The Eagles made the most of it, by defeating the Shawnee Heights Thunderbirds 49-44. “We’ve done nothing but overcome obstac...
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Comets crash in first game of Classic
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Turnovers, steals and rebounds. These three elements doomed any chance that the Chanute Blue Comets had in making any real noise in their opening game of this year’s Ralph Miller Classic. Chanute Coach Max Ruark said these elements gave extra opportunities to the Comets’ opponents, the Shawnee Mission South Raiders, and that they made the most of those opportunities. “They got out and scored in bunches,” Ruark sai...
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Humboldt routs Jayhawk-Linn
The Humboldt Cubs boys basketball team beat Jayhawk-Linn on the road in a 60-38 rout Tuesday night. Tanner McNutt led the Cubs in scoring with 23, while Noah Thornbrugh had 16 points. Caleb Vanatta chipped in with six points. Both Altoona-Midway teams routed in first night of Pleasanton tourney The Pleasanton tournament didn’t turn out to be too pleasant for either of the teams from Altoona-Midway. The school’s girls basketball team lost it...
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Panthers escape with 81-80 comeback win
Brian McDowell Sports Editor As they’ve done for much of this season, the NCCC Panthers got off to a slow start in their Saturday night contest with the Johnson County Cavaliers. However, the Panthers fought their way back in the second half and were able to come away with a thrilling 81-80 victory. Johnson County leapt out to a 10-point lead early in the game. Neosho County Coach Jeremy Coombs admitted he was starting to become annoyed with ...
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