Sports
HOOPS 2012: Veteran coach takes over at Cherryvale
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com CHERRYVALE — After a long and successful tenure at Coffeyville’s Field Kindley High School, Dan Wall has moved up Highway 169 to Cherryvale. Wall is the new head coach of the Cherryvale High School boys basketball team. “I’m excited to be here,” Wall said. “It’s a blessing for me.” And as the 2012-13 season arrives, Wall inherits a young team overall. The Chargers feature just one senior in John Anderson. ...
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HOOPS 2012: Grizzlies hope to surprise SEK
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com ALTAMONT — While admitting it may be a rebuilding year, Kristi Snider still has the expectations set extremely high for her Labette County High School girls basketball team. “This will be somewhat of a rebuilding year for us,” Snider said. “We have two starters back from last year’s squad and a number of young kids will round out the roster. We have high expectations for these kids and look for some exciti...
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HOOPS 2012: LCHS boys have goals set extremely high
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com ALTAMONT — Brad Smith can hardly contain his excitement. As the 2012-13 season arrives, Smith is more than thrilled with the possibilities that could lie ahead. The longtime boys basketball coach at Labette County High School, Smith has a reason to be excited. Simply put, the pieces are in place for a solid season in Altamont. Four returning starters are back for the Grizzlies, with three of the four retu...
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HOOPS 2012: Oswego girls hope for solid season
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com OSWEGO — Oswego just missed advancing to state a year ago. This year, the pieces are in place for a state trip. The Indians went 20-3 last year, winning the Three Rivers League title along the way for Coach Neil Cruse. Cruse enters his third season with nearly everyone back from last year’s team that lost to Madison in the sub-state title game. Sydney Pemberton, Jaymie Nesbitt, Bricynn Johnson, and Hope Vo...
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HOOPS 2012: Goals set high for Oswego boys
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com OSWEGO — Jeff Schreppel enters his 16th season as the Oswego High School boys basketball coach with the expectations set high. After his Indians suffered some growing pains last year in a 10-11 season, Schreppel has a group back who now return as experienced varsity performers. And after fielding a young, inexperienced team last year, Oswego features a veteran group in 2012-13. “We played a lot of young k...
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HOOPS 2012: St. Paul girls return veteran players
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com ST. PAUL — Varsity basketball is nothing new to Kacy Phillips and Nikki Sears. The two St. Paul seniors have been earning minutes at the varsity level since they were freshmen. And now, as the 2012-13 season arrives, Phillips and Sears are expected to be key performers once again for the St. Paul High School girls basketball team. Phillips (5-8 F) and Sears (5-8 C) are two of four returning starters for D...
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HOOPS 2012: Seniors will lead St. Paul boys team
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com ST. PAUL — New Coach Keith Wiatrak expects five seniors to lead the way for the St. Paul High School boys basketball team in 2012-13. Brayden Beachner, Jake O’Brien and Anthony Diskin all started last year as juniors. And all are back as experienced seniors. O’Brien was an all-league performer last year. “I’m expecting big things from them,” Wiatrak said of the group. The three aren’t the only Indians wi...
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HOOPS 2012: Erie girls return experienced group
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com ERIE — Brianna Volmer and her Erie Red Devils are entering the unknown this season. After four years of leading the Red Devils in the CNC League, Volmer will lead her Erie High School girls basketball team into the Tri-Valley League this winter. “I have mixed emotions,” Volmer said of the move to a new league. “I think it will be a challenge for me personally. I’m not that familiar with the teams. It’s all...
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HOOPS 2012: Red Devils beginning new era
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com ERIE— In more ways than one, the Erie High School boys basketball team is entering a new era. For starters, the Red Devils are set to begin play in a new conference. After years and years in the CNC, the Red Devils have moved to the Tri-Valley League for the 2012-13 season. That’s not the only change in Erie. A new coach will lead the Red Devils into a new era as Nick Pfeifer takes over the head coaching d...
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HOOPS 2012: Kendricks leading PHS girls team
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com Not too long ago, Bridgette Kendricks was playing for the Parsons Vikings. Now, she’ll be coaching them. A former Viking standout, Kendricks is the new girls basketball coach at Parsons High School. “It’s special to come back,” Kendricks said. “I had to make a lot of decisions before I decided to come back and coach here. I’m still young, I could probably still go play somewhere. But I decided to give bac...
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HOOPS 2012: Parsons will have new faces in big roles
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com As Mike Krull walks into the auxiliary gymnasium at Parsons High School on the first day of practice a realization hits — he has a whole new team. “We lost just about everybody,” Krull said, summing it up. Entering his 10th season at Parsons High School, Krull and his Vikings are starting over. The PHS boys basketball team will have a new look in 2012-13. The Vikings return just five points and three rebo...
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Parsons basketball teams hold scrimmage games
The Parsons High School basketball teams held Blue vs. Gold scrimmage games on Tuesday night at Harold C. Johnson Gymnasium. The varsity and JV girls took the court first for a 30-minute contest. The freshman and JV boys then scrimmaged. The varsity and JV boys concluded the night with a three-quarter, 40-minute scrimmage game. ABOVE: Parsons sophomore Elyjah Lyons looks to score inside against the defense of Dusty Dishman as Troy Williamson ...
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Numbers up for PHS wrestling in 2012-13
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com Increased numbers could equal increased success for the Parsons High School wrestling team in 2012-13. Parsons Coach Chris Ball has 26 athletes out for wrestling this season. Entering his third year as head coach, Ball said that’s the most athletes he’s had on the roster in years. “Four years ago we had four kids,” Ball said. “This year, we’ve got 26 right now. That’s probably the most we’ve had in 15 year...
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LCC men win two at Penn Valley
KANSAS CITY — Jonathan Raney called it a good weekend. Raney’s Labette Community College men’s basketball team picked up two wins at the Penn Valley Thanksgiving Classic in Kansas City. “It was a pretty good weekend overall,” Raney said. “But we’ve still got quite a bit to improve on. But I liked our mentality and toughness.” Labette beat Quakerdale Prep 83-77 on Friday. Travis Gantt scored 21 points and had seven rebounds. “Travis stepped u...
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Pittsburg will host wrestling regional
Parsons and Labette County will be among the teams competing at the Pittsburg Class 4A wrestling regional Feb. 15-16. Teams competing at Pittsburg are Labette County, Chanute, Coffeyville, Columbus, Fort Scott, Frontenac, Anderson County, Independence, Iola, Prairie View, Louisburg, Osawatomie, Paola, Parsons and Pittsburg.
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Sub-State basketball sites announced
The Parsons and Labette County High School basketball teams have been assigned to the Independence Class 4A Sub-State. The sub-state tourney begins on Feb. 25 and wraps up on March 2. The winner of the sub-state advances to the state tournament in Salina. Boys and girls teams competing at Indy will be Labette County, Chanute, Coffeyville, El Dorado, Independence, Iola, Parsons and Towanda-Circle. Fort Scott is hosting another area 4A sub-state...
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PHS scrimmage game is Tuesday
The annual Blue vs. Gold scrimmage game will be held on Tuesday at Parsons High School. The night begins at 6 p.m. The cost of admission to the game is a non-perishable food item.  The PHS Booster Club is collecting donations and will be giving to a local charity for the holiday season. The regular season begins on Friday, Nov. 30. Previews of all area teams will be printed in an upcoming special section.
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LCHS holds basketball scrimmages
Grizzlies hit the court! The Labette County High School basketball teams held scrimmage games on Tuesday night at Harrison Gymnasium. Labette County’s Zack Stewart puts up a shot in the lane against Garett Britton during the varsity/JV boys scrimmage. Stewart is a 6-6 sophomore who is expected to start for the Grizzlies in the post. LCHS senior Michaela O’Brien looks to score inside against the defense of Taylor Albertson on Tuesday n...
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LCC women go 0-2 at Coffeyville Classic
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com COFFEYVILLE — The first half was close. The second half was not. Pratt used a big second half rally to knock off the Labette Community College women’s basketball team 61-40 on Saturday night at the Coffeyville Community National Bank Classic. After a low-scoring first half, LCC trailed by five points at intermission, as the Beavers led 24-19. But Pratt started the second half with a 17-3 run to turn a clo...
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Seven from LCC medal at Kearney Open
Seven wrestlers from Labette Community College earned top five finishes at the Kearney (Neb.) Open over the weekend. “Not a bad weekend, but still a lot of room for improvement,” LCC Coach Joe Renfro said. “I feel as if we have made up some good ground compared to the weekend before, and especially the beginning of the season. But we’ll have to keep striding forward in order to accomplish our goals.  We’ve got some injured guys out of the line...
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