Sports
Chanute sixth, fourth, in baseball, softball polls
PITTSBURG -- The Southeast Kansas League coaches picked the Iola Mustangs baseball squad and the Labette County Grizzlies softball team as the favorites to top the standings in 2012. That is according to The Ticket -- 99.1 ESPN Radio coaches polls announced during the second annual Southeast Kansas High School Baseball/Softball Media Luncheon at the Watco Companies Conference Room Monday. Iola, playing its last season in the SEK League before...
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Blues finish season with two tough losses in Kansas City
The Chanute Blues finished up their third season over the weekend at the USSSA Division 1 Missouri/Kansas State Tournament in Kansas City. The Blues had been invited to the tournament due to their outstanding 84-2 record. “We talked as a team and we wanted to find out how good we were against the best teams in Missouri and Kansas,” Coach Jason Feeback said. “We chose to play Division 1 knowing what we would be up against. The kids, coaches a...
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CCA boys take second at state
On Friday, Feb. 24, Chanute Christian Academy traveled to Manhattan for the Class 1A KCAA State Tournament. The CCA boys opened play against 3rd seed Heartland Christian from Colby. CCA came out on fire playing good defense and shooting well from the floor as they took a first period lead of 22-10. Freshman guard Alex Clover was hot early putting up 14 points in the first half, knocking down four of his five three-pointers. Alex finished with...
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Panthers blow lead but pull out win on sophomore night
Andrew Towne Special to the Tribune The NCCC Panthers men’s basketball team blew a 28-point lead but then held on for a 91-84 victory over the Independence Community College Pirates on Saturday night. Escaping with the win, the Panthers closed out the regular season with a 17-13 overall record. Despite the win, it was not enough for the Panthers to gain home court advantage in the upcoming first round of the KJCCC Region VI tournament on Wedn...
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NCCC baseball struggles against Coffeyville
After starting the season with a 12-game winning streak that boosted its national ranking to number four in the NJCAA, the NCCC Panthers baseball team has struggled last week. Over the weekend, the team (12-4) lost three of four home games against Coffeyville. “When things are going good, this team’s really good,” Coach Steve Murry said, “and we have the talent to be outstanding. Unfortunately, I think we figured out this week that when thing...
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NCCC track stars shine at Nationals meet
The NCCC Track and Field team competed at the NJCAA National meet this weekend at Eastern Illinois University in Charlston, Ill., led by two All-America finishes by Nickola Shingles. The competition started for the Panthers with Shingles competing in the heptathlon on Friday and Saturday. The heptathlon is a combination of seven events that includes the 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put, and high jump on the first day, followed by the 60-met...
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Lady Panthers come up short in overtime loss
Andrew Towne Special to the Tribune NCCC sophomore Autumn Zenon made the most of her final home game on Saturday night against the Independence Community College Lady Pirates. With just seconds remaining in regulation, Zenon hit possibly the biggest three-point shot in her career. The three would tie the score up at 51 to send the game into overtime against the No. 19 team in the nation. The team’s Head Coach Kelley Newton described Zenon as...
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Chanute girls upset top-seeded Prairie View to gain sub-state finals
Brian McDowell Sports Editor LOUISBURG — By scoring a Thursday night sub-state upset over top-seeded Prairie View (18-4), the Chanute girls basketball team (10-12) lives on to fight another day. The Comets beat Prairie View 52-41 in the rough and tumble match-up in front of a loud Chanute student cheering section at Louisburg High School. With the victory, the team will return to Louisburg to take on Osawatomie (13-9) on Saturday night. “The ...
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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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