By Dean Backes
MaxPreps.com
The suspension of four William Chrisman basketball players made for a hectic and frantic day for boys basketball coach John Vickers Tuesday.
On top of having to discipline the quartet of players, Vickers was already knee deep in preparations for Tuesday night’s first round Class 5 district 13 basketball game against Blue Springs South at Truman High School. What would he do with his newfound dilemma? Change his offensive and defensive schemes, of course.
The Bears opted to go with a diamond-and-one defense to slow down Jaguar senior guard Riley Reynolds. As for the offense, the Bears would have to forego their usual run-and-gun style because of a lack of depth due to the suspensions and an injury to Spencer Harris.
The alterations worked well enough for the Bears to eek out a 70-69 overtime win over the Jaguars and earn a second round game against host Truman.
The shot of the game for Blue Springs South occurred when Riley unleashed a 25-foot 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer to send the game into overtime.
Junior Justin Clark, who led all scorers with 24 points, provided the difference for the Bears in the extra frame when he made the first of two free throws to give Chrisman a one-point edge with five seconds left in overtime. The 6-foot-4 guard missed the second charity toss, but celebrated when Reynolds misfired on his second attempt at heroics on the night.
“That was a great, great, great high school game,” Blue Springs South coach Jimmy Cain told the Independence Examiner. “It’s a shame either team had to lose. We had our heroes, and they had their heroes. It’s a game people will be talking about for a long, long time.”
Leading the way for Blue Springs South was Kellen Bartlett with 20 points. Reynolds added 18 points for the Jaguars and Nate Ingram chipped in 15 points. The Bears received double-digit performances from Mason McDaniels (16) and Jon Ekey (11) to go along with Clark’s 24 points.
Henley Scores 1,000th Point
Courtney Henley was held without a field goal in the first half of Marshall’s 55-29 win over Moberly Wednesday. But that couldn’t keep the inevitable from happening. Henley reached 1,000 points for her career in the second half of the 26-point win when she drilled her second 3-pointer of the game.
The senior finished the game with 15 points and nine rebounds to lead the Owls (12-8) to the win over the winless Spartans. The Owls were led by Jessica Harriman’s 16 game-high points.
Switzer’s 19-Point Effort Assures Three-Way Tie
A 19-point offensive output by Holly Switzer rescued St. Joseph Benton from a middle-of-the-pack finish in the Midland Empire Conference’s girls regular season standings.
The 5-9 junior led her team to a 46-43 overtime win over Platte County that carried the Cardinals into a three-way tie for the conference’s regular season championship.
Platte County was in control of its own destiny going into the contest, and would have earned the league title outright with a win. But Benton’s triumph over the Pirates paired with a 32-21 loss to Savannah a little over a week ago created the three-way tie.
Smithville’s only losses in conference play were to the three co-champions, as the Warriors wrapped up a fourth place finish.
Quick Pin Nets Stancell Wrestling Record
Sometimes with failure, new doors are opened. Just ask McDonald County’s Kord Stancell. The 215-pounder missed on a shot right out of the gate, but landed in the Missouri State High School Activities Association’s state wrestling record books shortly after when he pinned St. Charles West’s Alex Glasgow in 16 seconds.
“I just came out and shot and that didn’t work , so I came up and he was open for a throw and I hit it,” Stancell told the Neosho Daily News.
Stancell decisioned Grandview’s Gabe McCrary (7-3) and De Soto’s Dakota Smith (9-8) to make his way into the Class 3 semifinals, before Eventual champion David Benson (Belton) pinned the Mustang. Stancell major decisioned Parkway North’s Zach Hayes 9-1 for third place.
Double Figures Out of Reach for Heck
All through her career, Samantha Heck has always been automatic. She’s always scored in double figures. That is until last week.
Mid-Missouri League foe Harrisburg ended a streak that ran nearly three years by holding Heck to a mere eight points. Heck did have a standard night in every other category, however. The 6-1 junior grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out seven assists and blocked five shots.
Losing Streak Ends
Aric Falls came off the bench to lead Slater to its first win over Lewis and Clark Conference foe Salisbury in seven years, last week, and ran his 20-points a game streak to eight games in the process.
The senior scored three times down the stretch in leading the Wildcats to a 62-55 triumph over the Panthers.
