By Dean Backes
MaxPreps.com
Several members of the Frontier League's lower division have finally made their break.
With the enrollments of the upper division schools growing at a rate the smaller schools can't keep up with, most members of the Frontier League's small school division will join forces with former Three Rivers League member Jayhawk-Linn, to form the new Pioneer League this fall.
The league begins its inaugural season with a full slate of schedules in all sports except for football. With Kansas football teams competing in the final year of the two-year scheduling cycle, Frontier League teams will play in two divisions for the final time this season. Starting next season the Frontier League shrinks to one eight-team division.
Before the split, the Frontier League had schools competing in classes 3A, 4A and 5A. Gardner-Edgerton, the third-largest 5A school in the state, had the largest league enrollment of 756, while Central Heights weighed in as the smallest school in the league with 172 students in grades nine through 11.
"We felt like we were all searching for something different," Wellsville principal Sheldon Pokorney said of the smaller schools in the conference. "We were still able to compete with the Paolas and the Ottawas. We knew we could compete. It was just becoming increasingly more difficult."
Since Wellsville, Central Heights, Prairie View, Osawatomie and Anderson County played in a 13-team conference, scheduling became very difficult. After filling their conference slates, Frontier League teams had very little room left for playing teams outside of the conference.
That lack of flexibility hurt the smaller schools in the post season.
"We were pretty much locked into the Frontier League," Pokorney said. "We didn't really see any 3A teams until we came to sub-states. By then we usually didn't have that good of a record and we'd end up being a No. 8 seed."
In the early stages of the discussions, Anderson County wasn't real keen on joining the new league. But, eventually Bulldog athletic director Josh Adams and the rest of the Anderson County administration realized joining the league would be in their school's best interest. The coaches and administration discussed the possibility of joining the new league with the school board and the rest is history.
"We thought it'd be crazy to drive by the other (Pioneer) schools in order to play the Frontier League schools," Adams said. "Besides we're all pretty close in size and we're all within about 25 miles of each other."
While the rest of the Frontier League's lower division schools were discussing the split, Eudora (the final lower division school) was quite content to stay put. Of course when you're winning at the rate the Cardinals have in recent history, especially in football, it's natural to want to stay where you are.
During the past three seasons Wellsville, Central Heights, Anderson County, Osawatomie and Prairie View combined to post a 27-42 Frontier League record in football. Eudora, on the other hand, posted a 27-7 overall record and won 14 of 15 league games. The Cardinals only loss during that time span was 38-17 to Osawatomie in 2004.
"We haven't even entertained thoughts of leaving," Cardinal athletic director Dave Durkin said. "We're happy in this league. We are having success where we're at now."
Durkin said the key to playing in a league in which you're outsized is to changing your own mindset.
"We had to raise our expectations in order to compete in the Frontier League," Durkin said. "We have to be tougher and work harder. We have good kids and good coaches and the kids have performed well. A lot goes into it. We just make sure the kids have everything they need to be successful."
While Durkin is satisfied with Eudora's situation, he definitely understands the plight of his former league mates. He was there once.
"If we're going to have two divisions why not have two different leagues," Durkin said.
Basketball: Mills Shoots and Dribbles South to All-Star Win
Bekah Mills was a double-edged sword in leading the South to an 83-78 win over the North in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Girls All-Star Game at Washburn University Aug. 1.
Mills, who played her high school basketball at Circle, connected on eight field goals (8-of-10) and made six of eight free throws in leading the winners with 24 points. But it was her ability to keep the ball out of the hands of the enemy late, when the North was rallying from a 16-point deficit that proved to be the dagger.
"I just had to take care of the ball and not let them come back after we had that big lead," Mills told the Topeka Capital Journal Online.
The Missouri signee entered the game midway through the opening period, and started to assert herself from the get go. With the South leading 13-10, Mills helped her team to a 13-0 run and a 26-10 advantage with a conventional three-point play.
The North trailed 66-49 going into the final period, but rallied late when Tonganoxie's Ali Pistora and Olathe East's Morgan Boyd caught fire. Pistora hit a three-pointer and scored on an offensive rebound, while Boyd drilled six-straight free throws to cut the deficit to 83-76 with less than a minute left.The South led 28-13 after one period of play and 49-35 at halftime.
Wichita Heights' Shekeira Copeland joined Mills in double figures for the South with 15 points. Hutchinson guard Morgan Leatherbury added eight points, while Hillsboro's JuliAnne Chisholm and Center's Larissa Richards scored seven points a piece.
Boyd paced the North with 23 points after connecting on five field goals and making all 10 of her free throw attempts. Bishop Miege's Tierra Ford added 16 points, while Pistora and Paola's Brittney Miller scored 12 and 11 points respectively.
Basketball: White-Ready's 23 Points Lead North to 96-93 All-Star Win
The North countered the South's three-point shooting with the scoring ability of Topeka's Chris White-Ready enroute to a 96-93 win over their counterparts in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Boys All-Star Game Aug. 1 at Topeka's Washburn University.
The South drilled 10 three-pointers in the first half to take a 56-45 lead at halftime. But it was White-Ready's hot hand in the second half that rallied his team to a three-point win. He scored 17 of his game-high 23 points after intermission.
"He did the same things he always does - takes a hit and scores, goes to the line and makes free throws," North coach Ken Darting (Topeka Highland Park) told the Topeka Capital Journal Online. "It was typical Chris, only he had a good uniform on tonight instead of the wrong one."
Joining White-Ready in double figures for the North was Madison forward Jordan Stout and McPherson's Jordan Crawford who scored 10 points apiece.
Corbin Kuntzsch (Scott Community), Chris Crawford (McPherson) and Matt Simmons (Great Bend) all tallied nine points.Ottawa forward Victor Ojeleye led the way for the South with 19 points.
Kansas recruit Tyrel Reed (Burlington) added 17 points, while Derek Burgan (St. John-Hudson) tallied 12 points. Coy Potter (Andover Central) and Jack Crowder III (Wichita Southeast) chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively.The South outscored the North 42-12 from beyond the arc.
The North countered by making 20-of-32 free throws compared to just seven-of-eight for the South.