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ARMA —
The Northeast boys desperately needed a win and came through with one Tuesday night on the road against Three Rivers League opponent Pleasanton, 49-36.
After five straight losses (Olpe, Liberal, Chetopa, Southeast, Frontenac) and two potential starters no longer on the team (J.T. Richardson, Troy Howard), Northeast improved to 4-5 and 1-1 in the Three Rivers with the 13-point win.
Junior center Noah Popejoy (6-foot-5) enjoyed a big night — 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 blocks, numbers good for a triple-double. The majority of triple-doubles come via points, rebounds and assists, not a defensive category like blocked shots or steals.
His rebounding and blocked shot numbers would help explain why Northeast doubled up Pleasanton 32-16 in the second half.
Freshman point guard Drew Mills added 13 points. Sophomore wing Darius Wilson netted eight for the second consecutive game, while freshman Ethan Snider had six and sophomore Dennis Hensley five.
Northeast plays former Crawford-Neosho-Cherokee League rival Riverton (6-2) Friday night on the Rams’ Homecoming.
In other Three Rivers League action on Tuesday night, St. Paul swept Marmaton Valley, winning the girls contest 55-27 and the boys contest 72-53 behind 20 points from Paul Schibi, 19 from Jake O’Brien and 15 from Anthony Diskin.
Tournament Week
Burlington Invitational
BURLINGTON — Brackets for the Burlington Invitational (Jan. 15, 18-19) were released on Wednesday, taking in effect Tuesday’s results for seeding.
Pittsburg will play in Burlington during Tournament Week, after playing the past few years in the Wilson County Classic hosted by Fredonia and Neodesha in alternating fashion, a tournament featuring Girard and Independence, as well as teams from the Tri-Valley League. Burlington plays in the Tri-Valley.
On the girls side, host Burlington (7-0) earned the No. 1 seed and Pittsburg (5-1) earned No. 3.
It could be a particularly tough draw — six schools with at least six wins. Pittsburg (No. 5 in Class 4A), Burlington (No. 5 in 3A) and Sabetha (No. 8 in 3A) are currently ranked by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, although that might not hold true when the new rankings come out Monday.
With three schools all 6-2 this season, Paola and Sabetha face one another Tuesday and this means that Labette County plays the Purple Dragons on Tuesday, only a week after handing Pittsburg its first loss, 45-27.
On the boys side, Labette County (7-1) earned a top seed and No. 4 Pittsburg (4-3) meets Paola (4-4) in the 4-5 game Tuesday.
The Pittsburg boys play at 5:05 p.m. and the girls play at 6:40 p.m.
Boys’ seeds (records): 1. Labette County (7-1), 2. Burlington (5-2), 3. Sabetha (5-3), 4. Pittsburg (4-3), 5. Paola (4-4), 6. Iola (4-4), 7. Santa Fe Trail (3-4), 8. Rossville (2-7).
Girls’ seeds (records): 1. Burlington (7-0), 2. Santa Fe Trail (6-1), 3. Pittsburg (5-1), 4. Paola (6-2), 5. Sabetha (6-2), 6. Labette County (6-2), 7. Rossville (1-8), 8. Iola (0-8).
The Northeast boys desperately needed a win and came through with one Tuesday night on the road against Three Rivers League opponent Pleasanton, 49-36.
After five straight losses (Olpe, Liberal, Chetopa, Southeast, Frontenac) and two potential starters no longer on the team (J.T. Richardson, Troy Howard), Northeast improved to 4-5 and 1-1 in the Three Rivers with the 13-point win.
Junior center Noah Popejoy (6-foot-5) enjoyed a big night — 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 blocks, numbers good for a triple-double. The majority of triple-doubles come via points, rebounds and assists, not a defensive category like blocked shots or steals.
His rebounding and blocked shot numbers would help explain why Northeast doubled up Pleasanton 32-16 in the second half.
Freshman point guard Drew Mills added 13 points. Sophomore wing Darius Wilson netted eight for the second consecutive game, while freshman Ethan Snider had six and sophomore Dennis Hensley five.
Northeast plays former Crawford-Neosho-Cherokee League rival Riverton (6-2) Friday night on the Rams’ Homecoming.
In other Three Rivers League action on Tuesday night, St. Paul swept Marmaton Valley, winning the girls contest 55-27 and the boys contest 72-53 behind 20 points from Paul Schibi, 19 from Jake O’Brien and 15 from Anthony Diskin.
Tournament Week
Burlington Invitational
BURLINGTON — Brackets for the Burlington Invitational (Jan. 15, 18-19) were released on Wednesday, taking in effect Tuesday’s results for seeding.
Pittsburg will play in Burlington during Tournament Week, after playing the past few years in the Wilson County Classic hosted by Fredonia and Neodesha in alternating fashion, a tournament featuring Girard and Independence, as well as teams from the Tri-Valley League. Burlington plays in the Tri-Valley.
On the girls side, host Burlington (7-0) earned the No. 1 seed and Pittsburg (5-1) earned No. 3.
It could be a particularly tough draw — six schools with at least six wins. Pittsburg (No. 5 in Class 4A), Burlington (No. 5 in 3A) and Sabetha (No. 8 in 3A) are currently ranked by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, although that might not hold true when the new rankings come out Monday.
With three schools all 6-2 this season, Paola and Sabetha face one another Tuesday and this means that Labette County plays the Purple Dragons on Tuesday, only a week after handing Pittsburg its first loss, 45-27.
On the boys side, Labette County (7-1) earned a top seed and No. 4 Pittsburg (4-3) meets Paola (4-4) in the 4-5 game Tuesday.
The Pittsburg boys play at 5:05 p.m. and the girls play at 6:40 p.m.
Boys’ seeds (records): 1. Labette County (7-1), 2. Burlington (5-2), 3. Sabetha (5-3), 4. Pittsburg (4-3), 5. Paola (4-4), 6. Iola (4-4), 7. Santa Fe Trail (3-4), 8. Rossville (2-7).
Girls’ seeds (records): 1. Burlington (7-0), 2. Santa Fe Trail (6-1), 3. Pittsburg (5-1), 4. Paola (6-2), 5. Sabetha (6-2), 6. Labette County (6-2), 7. Rossville (1-8), 8. Iola (0-8).
Kansas National Guard Invitational
FRONTENAC — Brackets for the inaugural Kansas National Guard Invitational were released as well on Wednesday, pairing eight boys and four girls teams. (We’ll have more on this tournament next week.)
On the boys side, host Frontenac (4-3) earned a No. 4 seed and a tough first-round matchup with Nevada (5-5), a Missouri school from the area which defeated Colgan on Tuesday, 65-53.
Fellow Crawford-Neosho-Cherokee League rivals Riverton (6-2) and Baxter Springs (0-6) find themselves on opposite ends of the bracket, Riverton facing No. 7 seed McDonald County (3-9) and Baxter Springs facing top seed Douglass (10-3) from Oklahoma City.
Douglass features point guard Stephen Clark, who signed Nov. 21 with Oklahoma State. Clark is the top-ranked recruit in the state of Oklahoma.
“Stevie is not only one of the best high school players to ever play in the state of Oklahoma,” Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford said in a media release, “but he is also an excellent student. He’s one of the top guards in the country. He gets a lot of publicity for how he can score the basketball but he is also a great passer and a great ballhandler. He’s a winner. His team has won three state championships, and are looking forward to trying to win a fourth.”
ESPN.com ranks Clark as the 62nd best high school player in the country and the four-star recruit chose Oklahoma State over Baylor, Florida State, Marquette, Missouri, Oklahoma and UCLA.
Douglass faces a winless Baxter team which surrendered 102 points to Miami (Okla.), 92 points to Parsons and 87 points to Girard.
On the girls side, Frontenac will play games against Baxter Springs (Thursday), Fort Scott (Friday) and Hogan Prep (Saturday).
Boys’ seeds (records): 1. Douglass (10-3), 2. Riverton (6-2), 3. Winfield (5-3), 4. Frontenac (4-3), 5. Nevada (5-5), 6. Fort Scott (2-6), 7. McDonald County (3-9), 8. Baxter Springs (0-6).
Tournament play begins next Thursday.
Tony Dubray Classic
LIBERAL, Mo. — The girls’ tournament format looks a little different this year, given only seven teams (rather than a traditional eight) make up the field.
Top seed Liberal, No. 4 Lockwood and No. 5 Golden City will be pooled together and No. 2 Colgan, No. 3 Galena, No. 6 Northeast and No. 7 Bronaugh will play traditional bracket games.
The pool play teams earn spots on Friday and Saturday: the worst pool play team plays for fifth Friday, the second-best pool play team plays for third Saturday afternoon and the best pool play team plays for the championship Saturday night.
On the boys side, eight teams will vie for the prize: top seed Colgan, No. 2 Galena, No. 3 Liberal, No. 4 Wheaton, No. 5 Northeast, No. 6 Golden City, No. 7 Thomas Jefferson, No. 8 Bronaugh.
The Colgan teams open Tuesday — girls against Bronaugh at 4 p.m. and boys against Bronaugh at 5:30 p.m., a Tournament Week doubleheader.
The Northeast teams open Monday night — boys against Wheaton at 5:30 p.m. and girls against Galena at 7 p.m.
Lancer Classic
CHEROKEE — With schools like Baxter Springs, Riverton and Frontenac departing for the new tournament hosted by Frontenac, that left host Southeast with four traditional Lancer Classic participants in Columbus, Marmaton Valley, Oswego and St. Paul.
On the boys side, the five traditional Lancer Classic schools will be joined by Sunrise Christian Academy for two pools — Pool A with St. Paul, Sunrise Christian and Oswego, Pool B with Columbus, Southeast and Marmaton Valley.
On the girls side, the pool configurations are St. Paul, Columbus and Marmaton Valley in Pool A and Southeast, Sunrise Christian and Oswego in Pool B. St. Paul earned top seed honors on both sides of the field.
Play begins Monday.
