Shawnee — From the opening tip, Free State girls basketball faced a relentless shooting attack and aggressive defense from Shawnee Mission Northwest — a difficult combination to handle. “Shawnee Mission Northwest is a really good basketball team,” Free State coach Nick Wood said. ...
Nick Taylor, a Wichita native, began with a friendly jab at the Kansas football program and closed his time as a guest speaker at Free State by asking students a rhetorical question about what they want to accomplish in life. Such is life when sitting in on a guest speech by Taylor, who has a ...
A number of student-athletes from area high schools made their collegiate plans official on Wednesday. Free State’s Turner Corcoran, who was the top-ranked football recruit in Kansas in the Class of 2020, signed his national letter of intent to play at the University of Nebraska. Corcoran, a ...
It has been a busy start to the basketball season, which is a good thing. Multiple area basketball teams got some much-needed game action last week in midseason tournaments. It gave those respective teams a better idea about ways to improve before the start of the new semester. While many ...
It was an important week for both city swim teams. The boys swim squads of Free State and Lawrence High had two tough tests in as many meets this week. In Wednesday’s quadrangular in Manhattan, FSHS placed third with 303.5 points and the Lions claimed fourth with 289 points. MHS won the ...
Coach of the year: Jim Barnard, Eudora The Cardinals closed 2019 with high finishes in their three postseason meets. Under the direction of Barnard, Eudora’s girls cross-country team won the Frontier League title. EHS also won the regional title for the second year in a row before placing ...
Coach of the year: Darren Erpelding, Eudora Erpelding's Cardinals finished just shy of qualifying for the Class 4A-1A state tournament, but it was still a special season for the Eudora squad. Eudora went 12-6-1 in 2019, which included the team’s first regional title in program history. The ...
Coach of the year: John Tollefson, Tonganoxie Under Tollefson, the Chieftains earned plenty of hardware during the postseason. Tonganoxie’s boys cross-country team won the Frontier League title and secured a regional crown as well. THS also ended up taking home a third-place finish at the ...
Coach of the year: Jayme Savage, Free State In her first season at the helm, Savage directed Free State back to the Class 6A state tournament. The Firebirds ultimately lost all three matches in pool play, finishing the year with a 24-15 record. FSHS also won its first Sunflower League title ...
Coach of the year: Mike Paramore, Perry-Lecompton Under Paramore, Perry-Lecompton advanced to the state championship game for the second time in program history. The Kaws ultimately finished as a runner-up in Class 3A. PLHS finished with a 9-4 record, which included a stretch of six ...
Olathe — Free State head coach Nick Wood is certain his team improved this week, even though things ended on a sour note. The FSHS girls basketball team went 1-2 to notch sixth place in the 2019 Lady Hawks Classic, which was one spot higher than it did last year. Unlike last season, though, ...
In an absolute nail-biter, Free State girls basketball pulled out a narrow 57-54 victory over Barstow in the Olathe East tournament Thursday. Junior guard Evy Harrell led the way for the Firebirds with 18 points, with junior guard Shannon Clarke and senior guard Caely Kesten right behind, each ...
Olathe — Early in the fourth quarter, Free State junior Shannon Clarke drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing to pull her team within 10 points. It appeared to be the start of another strong finish by the Firebirds, similar to their overtime win in the season opener last week. Instead, Nixa ...
A few area wrestling teams were in action at the 31st annual Leavenworth Challenger on Saturday afternoon. Liberty (Mo.) ended up winning the tournament with 329 points, while Washburn Rural and Bonner Springs rounded out the top three. Tonganoxie led the way among area squads by claiming ...
Free State’s boys basketball team came home with some hardware in its first tournament of the 2019-20 campaign. The Firebirds pushed past Hays High School for a 46-31 win Saturday in the third-place game of the Hays City Shootout. Free State came away with two wins and one loss in the ...
Free State’s boys basketball team faltered down the stretch in a 51-49 loss to Manhattan High on Friday night during the semifinals of the Hays City Shootout. MHS outscored FSHS by a 24-11 margin in the final period en route to the narrow win. Manhattan will now play in the championship ...
It is that time of the year again. The area basketball scene will be in full swing this week, with multiple teams slated to compete in tournaments next week. Over half of the area boys basketball programs advanced to the state tournament last year, and many of them have similar expectations ...
Right after Free State junior Caleb Streeter excitedly won his first match over Holton’s Conner Gilliland, senior Lou Fincher congratulated him by handing off a large silver chain. “You get to wear it if you get a pin,” Free State coach Steve Burns said. “It’s an honor to wear it ...
Overland Park — The Firebirds certainly got their money’s worth in the season opener Thursday night at Blue Valley West. It was a back-and-forth battle night all night between Free State and Blue Valley West, as both teams traded punches down the stretch. FSHS forced overtime after being ...
Free State’s boys basketball team rolled to a 59-35 win over Millwood (Okla.) in the season opener Thursday night at Hays Middle School. Sophomore point guard Mozae Downing got the Firebirds started with 6 of his team’s 16 points in the first quarter. It was balanced after that, as Free ...