Sports
Vikings, Grizzlies earn all-league honors
Five area athletes are listed on the 2012 All-SEK League Volleyball Team. Labette County senior Michaela O’Brien was a unanimous first team all-league selection. Labette County senior Sadie Atkins and Parsons junior Auriana Jackson were listed as second team all-league performers. Parsons senior Syvauna Hinman-Mitchell and LCHS sophomore Aubri Kimbrough were listed on the honorable mention team. Labette County went 19-14 on the season, while ...
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LCC men fall short at Hutch
HUTCHINSON — A big second half led Hutchinson past Labette 91-64 on Wednesday night in a non-conference men’s basketball game. Seventh-ranked Hutch scored 53 points in the second half to knock off the Cardinals. LCC stayed close early. The Blue Dragons led 22-16. But the hosts then went on a 10-2 run to pull away. LCC was down 38-26 at the half. Hutchinson slowly pulled away after intermission, eventually leading 58-37. Labette shot 37.5 perce...
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Vikings, Grizzlies named all-league in football
Several athletes from Parsons and Labette County High Schools were recognized on the 2012 All-Southeast Kansas League Football Team. Parsons Parsons had five players recognized as all-league. All five were on the honorable mention team. PHS junior Jackson Fuhrman and senior Dusty Dishman were both honorable mention selections at linebacker. Senior Craig Beachner was listed as an honorable mention pick at defensive back. Viking junior Logan Di...
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LCC's Hamilton signs with OU
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com Keshaun Hamilton felt right at home when he visited Oklahoma. With that, the Labette Community College basketball player made his decision. Hamilton made if official on Wednesday by signing a national letter of intent to play basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners beginning with the 2013-14 season. “I feel OU is the best choice for me,” Hamilton said. “They have strong academics and I really liked all the pl...
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SEK hoops notebook: Double round-robin returns, Kendricks among new coaches
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com The SEK League is going back to a double round-robin schedule for the 2012-13 basketball season. With the league down to seven teams, all the teams in the conference will play each other home and away. Longtime Labette County High School boys basketball coach Brad Smith used to oppose a double round-robin when the league had nine teams. With Iola and Columbus no longer in the league, Smith is now in favor ...
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Red Devils named all-CNC in football
Erie High School was represented on the 2012 All-CNC League Football Team. Erie senior Justin Hartzell was a second team pick at running back. Senior Christian Murphy was a second team all-CNC selection at linebacker. Gavin Page was an honorable mention pick on offense, while Red Devils Sheldon Diediker and Hartzell were honorable mention selections on defense. 2012 CNC Football Team First Team Offense O-Line — Tieler Commons, Colgan; Jarod ...
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HOOPS SEASON IS HERE!
The high school basketball season is officially here. Teams in the area and across the state began winter practices on Monday. Parsons Coach Mike Krull held a morning practice and an afternoon practice on Monday. ABOVE: Troy Williamson puts up a shot during a drill as Payton Hays plays defense and Craig Beachner looks on.
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Raiders, Rams picked to win CNC
PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Frontenac Raiders and Riverton Rams were the girls and boys basketball coaches top choices, respectively, in the CNC League Preseason Polls announced Monday afternoon. The polls were released during the annual preseason luncheon presented by The Ticket -- 99.1 ESPN Radio, which took place at Watco Companies of Pittsburg. Frontenac earned six of the seven available first-place votes. The Girard Trojans, who advanced to the...
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Basketball season is here
New Parsons High School girls basketball coach Bridgette Kendricks makes a point during Monday’s practice. Kendricks is a former PHS standout who is entering her first season as head coach of the Vikings. Monday was the first day of practices for winter sports teams. Look for photos of the PHS boys basketball team tomorrow in the Sun. The PHS basketball teams begin the season on Friday, Nov. 30.
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Labette wrestlers place at CMSU Open
Three members of the Labette Community College wrestling team earned top finishes at the Central Missouri State University Open tournament over the weekend. “The CMSU Open, as always, was a pretty tough tournament,” LCC Coach Joe Renfro said. “Anytime a tournament hosts the University of Missouri and Oklahoma State University, not to mention the numerous Division II Universities that attended, you can bet that you’ll have some hard matches.  ...
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Johnson plays big for LCC men
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com COFFEYVILLE — Tarial Johnson may have been the shortest player on the court, but that didn’t stop the tenacious guard from making a big impact for the Labette Community College men’s basketball team on Saturday night. A Parsons product, Johnson’s effort was key in LCC’s 97-55 blowout victory over the Southwestern College JV team at the Coffeyville Community State Bank Classic. A 5-8 guard, Johnson grabbed ...
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LCC women hang on late
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com With a key defensive stop late, the Labette Community College women’s basketball team pulled out a 72-67 win over the Southwestern College JV team on Monday night. “I think they showed mental toughness that they finished a close game,” LCC Coach Anna Nimz said of her players. “But it never should have been a close game to start with.” LCC trailed for most of the second half, but took the lead on a mid-rang...
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LCHS boys picked at top of preseason poll
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com PITTSBURG — The Labette County High School boys basketball team tied for first place in the 2012 SEK League Preseason Coaches Poll. The polls were released on Monday at the annual SEK League Coaches and Media Luncheon at WATCO Companies. The event is sponsored by 99.1 FM ESPN The Ticket radio. Brad Smith’s Grizzlies tied for first in the boys poll with Coffeyville. With four returning starters on the rost...
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Turnovers doom Cardinals vs. Butler
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com COFFEYVILLE — Jonathan Raney said it was simple. “Turnovers,” Raney said, shaking his head. Those turnovers led to a loss for the Labette Community College men’s basketball team at the Coffeyville Community State Bank Classic on Friday night. By applying constant defensive pressure, Butler took advantage of LCC’s 28 turnovers in an 87-75 win over the Grizzlies in the first game of the Classic. “We knew wh...
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Phillips leads LCC women to first victory
Shawnee Phillips did a little bit of everything as the Labette Community College women’s basketball team knocked off the Oklahoma Wesleyan JV team 72-39 on Thursday night. It was the first victory of the season for Coach Anna Nimz’s Cardinals. A sophomore guard, Phillips scored 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds, had six steals, and handed out three assists in the LCC victory. The Cardinals led 32-24 at the break, but then outscored the visitor...
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AN EARLY SEASON TEST
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com CHANUTE — A thrilling victory by Eric Hughes was the main highlight of the evening as the Labette Community College wrestling team defeated Neosho County 31-9 on Thursday night. LCC Coach Joe Renfro said the rival Panthers gave his Cardinals a good early-season test. “They wrestled harder than we probably anticipated,” Renfro said of NCCC. “I think we got a little flat at times, too. We’re not at where we’...
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Area athletes named to all-Three Rivers football team
Several local athletes were named to the 2012 All-Three Rivers League Football Team. St. Paul and Chetopa players were listed on the 8-Man team, while Oswego athletes earned 11-Man honors. Here’s a team-by-team look at which players were recognized. ST. PAUL St. Paul High School had nine different players recognized with all-league honors. St. Paul’s Anthony Diskin was a first team selection at quarterback. On the other side of the ball, Disk...
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LCC wrestling takes on rival NCCC tonight
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com Some of the best community college wrestlers in the nation will meet tonight in Chanute when the Labette Community College Cardinals take on rival Neosho County. The dual begins at 7:30 p.m. at Neosho County’s Panther Gymnasium. Joe Renfro’s Labette squad is ranked second in the NJCAA preseason poll, with North Idaho first. Tonight’s opponent, Neosho County, is ranked 10th nationally. Both the Cardinals an...
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Prep football notes: One SEK team remains in playoffs
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com Then there was one. The only remaining SEK League team still playing in the football playoffs is Chanute. The Blue Comets will head to Kansas City on Friday to face Piper in a quarterfinal contest of the Class 4A State Tournament at 7 p.m. Friday’s game will be the first time an SEK team has faced Kansas City-Piper in the playoffs. The winner of Friday’s game advances to the state semifinals. If Chanute wo...
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LCC men earn first victory
By Jason Peake jpeake@parsonssun.com In about the time it takes to utter the words “full-court press,” a close game turned into a blowout. After a sluggish start, the Labette Community College men’s basketball team turned up the defensive pressure, sped up the game, and converted turnovers into easy hoops— time and time again. The result of a big first half spurt was a dominating 105-63 victory for the Cardinals over the Bethel College JV tea...
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