Sports
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 ...
full story
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...
full story
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...
full story
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...
full story
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...
full story
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...
full story
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. ...
full story
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...
full story
1IW4_012012rmc.jpg
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...
full story
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...
full story
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...
full story
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 ...
full story
NCCC women lose big to Johnson County
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Usually, when a team wins a big game over its rivals in a dramatic fashion, it will have some momentum going into the next game. Kelley Newton, the coach of the NCCC Lady Panthers, is baffled as to why that wasn’t the case with his squad on Saturday night. The Lady Panthers followed up their Wednesday night victory over Allen County with a 63-34 loss to the number-one ranked team in their conference, the Johnson C...
full story
Turnovers cause trouble at Tonganoxie tourney
TONGANOXIE — The Chanute girls basketball team experienced both a slow start and a slow finish in its first game of the Tonganoxie tournament. The Comets blew a one-point lead at halftime, to lose to the Eudora Cardinals 40-30 on Monday afternoon. Chanute gave up some costly turnovers in the first quarter, and trailed by six at the end of the first. The Comets aggressively responded in the second, offensively propelled by both Darian Rubow and...
full story
NCCC Wrestling falls in three duals in Oklahoma City
The originally scheduled home dual for NCCC was changed to a quadrangular meet at Oklahoma City University on Wednesday, Jan. 11, due to a schedule snafu by Oklahoma City U. “We changed this since OCU messed up and couldn’t fulfill their obligation to come here,” Neosho County Coach Wayne Petterson said. “We needed matches so we were invited there for a quad meet against some pretty stiff competition.” According to the coach, the Panthers ...
full story
Comets fall in 61-50 mauling by Grizzlies
Brian McDowell Sports Editor ALTAMONT — The long, dry season for the Chanute Blue Comets boys basketball team (1-8) continued on Friday night, as the struggling squad suffered another loss by a wide margin to a SEK rival. This time, the Labette County Grizzlies beat the Comets 61-50. Coach Max Ruark said he didn’t feel his team competed very well in this game. “We did that the last two games really well against teams that have probably more t...
full story
Chanute wrestling wins season’s last home duals
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Blue Comets wrestling team hosted its last home duals of the season Thursday night, facing off against two SEK rivals, Labette County and Iola. Largely due to the thin rosters of their opponents, Chanute handily won both match-ups, beating Labette 54-21 and Iola 59-18. “Obviously, in southeast Kansas, the key to winning duals is to have a full lineup,” Chanute coach Andy Albright said, “and we’ve been fortuna...
full story
Chanute girls lose 3-point heartbreaker
Brian McDowell Sports Editor ALTAMONT — Comets Head Coach Dustin Fox praises the reigning SEK champion Labette Grizzlies as a team that is where Chanute wants to be. However, on Friday night, the Chanute Blue Comets basketball girls basketball team came a heartbreaking three points away from an upset of the Grizzlies. A strong defensive effort, a balanced offensive attack, and shooting 87 percent from the free throw line helped Chanute keep ...
full story
New Erie boys coach hopes to keep struggling team in the dance
Brian McDowell Sports Editor ERIE — The Erie Red Devils boys team lost to Neodesha 57-48 Tuesday night, in what new Head Coach Caleb Reimer described as another hard game. Keith Marquardt and Kyle Spielbusch each scored 11 points in the match-up, while Keaton Page had 10, Justin Hartzell dished nine, Christian Murphy chipped in five and Joe Lehenbauer had two. “We just came up short in the long run,” Reimer said. “We had trouble finding our...
full story
Chanute girls rebound their way to victory in Coffeyville
Brian McDowell Sports Editor COFFEYVILLE —Even though the only made 23 percent (13-for-56) of the shots it took, the Chanute Blue Comets girls team was able to come away with a 47-37 victory over the Coffeyville Golden Tornado Tuesday night. “It was a physical game, “Chanute Coach Dustin Fox said, “and there may have been some contact inside that wasn’t called.” He thinks that may have played a part in his team’s shooting percentage. Still, he...
full story