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archives March 2008 Notre Dame seals another trip to final four New 3.2.08 Notre Dame is in the boys basketball state semifinals for the third time in four years, this time after a 61-33 win Saturday over St. Clair at Farmington. Ryan Willen scored 17 points and Mark Himmelberg had 14 against St. Clair. The Bulldogs (22-6) advanced to a Class 4 semifinal at 12:20 p.m. Friday against Lincoln Prep in Columbia. Depending on Friday's outcome, Notre Dame will play again Saturday against either St. Charles West or Webb City, which also play Friday. Southeast men end with thud; women win 3rd straight OVC title New 3.2.08 Southeast ended its men's basketball season with its 19th loss Saturday, this time with an 86-83 defeat to Jacksonville State. Southeast (12-19) trailed 42-36 at halftime. The loss was the 14th in the Redhawks' final 15 games after a 6-0 start to the league schedule. Southeast ended with an eight-game losing streak and finished ninth in the 11-team OVC. Southeast's Missy Whitney scored 21 points to lead the women (22-7) to its third Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title with an 85-42 win over Jacksonville State (11-18). The teams will play again Tuesday at the Show Me Center in an OVC first-round game. Four from Jefferson on league's all-star list New 3.3.08 Four teammates on Jefferson College's 29-1 women's basketball team were picked for the MCCAC all-conference teams. Danielle Adams, LaToya Johnson, Shay Williams and Dominique Ivory all were picked for the list. Adams (a unanimous pick), Johnson and Williams are first-team picks; Ivory is an honorable mention. Jefferson College, 29-1 overall and No. 5 in the national junior college poll, was 8-0 in the MCCAC. The Vikings play either TRCC or Mineral Area in the Region XVI tournament Saturday. SCC boys, Delta girls win Class 1 sectionals New 3.4.08 Scott County Central's boys and Delta's girls each advanced to Class 1 quarterfinals Saturday at West Plains. Their opponent: Unknown. The Braves defeated Bell City 80-58 and will play either Chadwick or Verona, which play Wednesday after their sectional Tuesday was postponed because of weather. It's the first trip into the state tournament for the Braves in five years after Bell City's four consecutive sectional wins. In Tuesday's girls game, Delta avenged an upset loss a year ago to Scott Central by winning 52-34 and earning a trip to Saturday's sectional round against Bradleyville or Exeter, which play Wednesday. Southeast women reach OVC semifinals New 3.4.08 Southeast's women's basketball team advanced to the OVC Tournament semifinals with a 67-45 first-round win Tuesday over Jacksonville State. Southeast (23-7) was led by Missy Whitney's 16 points and 13 rebounds along with Ashley Lovelady's 11 points and career-high five steals. The Redhawks will play Eastern Illinois at noon Friday at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium, and Samford meets Murray State at 2. The winner moves into Saturday's championship game. South Iron, NMCC reach state quarterfinal round New 3.5.08 South Iron is among the final Class 2 boys basketball teams still playing across Missouri after it cruised past Hayti 59-41 at Three Rivers Community College on Wednesday. South Iron (28-1) advanced to play Saturday at Farmington against New Haven (18-10), a 46-41 winner over Saxony Lutheran. The winner Saturday moves on to play in the state semifinals in Columbia. NMCC (17-10) advanced in Class 3 boys with a 46-43 win over Doniphan at Poplar Bluff. NMCC will play Saturday against Maplewood-Richmond Heights, a team coached by Charleston grad Corey Frazier; Frazier's team defeated Crystal City 71-45. In Class 2 girls Wednesday, Naylor (24-2) defeated Van Buren 49-34 and Clopton (21-7) defeated St. Vincent 60-34, setting up their matchup Saturday. In Class 3 girls, Greenville (22-2) defeated Portageville 67-60, setting up a game Saturday at Farmington against Metro, which defeated Arcadia Valley 55-38. Southeast two wins away from NCAA tournament New 3.6.08 Southeast will face Eastern Illinois at noon Friday for a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference women's tournament championship. The top-seeded Redhawks (23-7), the two-time defending tournament champion and NCAA tournament qualifer from the league, will play No. 4 seed Eastern Illinois (18-12) at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. The winner plays for the championship Saturday (broadcast on CSS). Southeast is 2-0 against EIU this season with 55-51 and 46-41 wins. Murray State and Samford meet in Friday's other semifinal. Both teams split their regular-season series with Southeast. ND, SCW advance, set up Class 4 title game New 3.7.08 Notre Dame pulled away from a back-and-forth game through the first half to win 67-57 Friday afternoon, sending the Bulldogs into Saturday's Class 4 boys basketball state title game. Notre Dame's championship opponent at Mizzou Arena in Columbia: St. Charles West, which defeated Webb City 62-53 in overtime. Notre Dame trailed Lincoln Prep (21-9) early, then battled out of a 31-31 tie at halftime. The Bulldogs (23-6) led by double figures for the first time late in the fourth quarter. Ryan Willen finished with 18 points and Austin Greer had 16 for Notre Dame. Bulldogs rally for title; three others advance New 3.7.08 If he leaves, he'll leave as a state champ. Coach Paul Hale coached Notre Dame to its first boys basketball state title since Brad Wittenborn did it 20 years ago, this time turning back favored St. Charles West 48-36 in Saturday's Class 4 showdown at Mizzou Arena. As Notre Dame (24-6) ended its day with a title, two more boys teams stepped closer to doing the same thing. Scott County Central rolled past Chadwick 98-73 in a Class 1 quarterfinal, setting up a semifinal Thursday against Jefferson. South Iron will join the Braves in Columbia after defeating New Haven 50-27 in Class 2; the Panthers will play West Platte on Friday. In Class 3, NMCC lost 59-52 to Maplewood-Richmond Heights. Among girls teams, Delta defeated Exter 56-50 and will play Thursday in Columbia against unbeaten Meadville. In Class 3, Greenville lost 43-34 to Metro. In Class 2, Naylor fell 65-53 to Clopton. Notre Dame, playing amid speculation that Hale would retire after his fourth season at the school, took its final lead 34-32 on a layup by Ty Williams late in the third quarter and pushed the margin to 12 late in the fourth. Ryan Willen finished with 19 points; Austin Greer had 12. Kramer Soderberg led West (30-2) with 19. Saxony's Daniel resigns as boys basketball coach New 3.10.08 John Daniel has resigned just a week after guiding Saxony Lutheran to the school's first boys basketball sectional berth. Daniel said in a faxed letter that he submitted his resignation to the school after six seasons there, according to an online report early today. Daniel wrote that he resigned for personal reasons and to pursue other business projects. Daniel coached Saxony's basketball program from its infancy. His first four varsity teams were 17-6, 18-8, 21-6 and 22-4, and his latest team was 21-6 and won its first district championship. The Crusaders lost to New Haven in the sectional round. Among the players Daniel coached was Lauren Lueders, now a sophomore in the Vanderbilt women's program. Lueders was a starter with Saxony's boys team before the school began a girls program. Hansbrough is Sporting News' top hoops athlete New 3.11.08 Tyler Hansbrough will have his No. 50 jersey retired from University of North Carolina after he was picked today as The Sporting News' college basketball player of the year. Hansbrough, a junior and former all-state player from Poplar Bluff, averages 23 points and more than 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels. He earlier was chosen as Sports Illustrated's college basketball player of the year. UNC retires a men's basketball player's jersey if he is selected player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, The Associated Press or The Sporting News, or win the Naismith or Wooden Award. Others from UNC with jerseys retired are Jack Cobb, Phil Ford, George Glamack, Antawn Jamison, Michael Jordan, Lennie Rosenbluth, and James Worthy. Hale resigns as Notre Dame hoops coach New 3.12.08 The talk was there for weeks. Today, Paul Hale made it official. The Notre Dame boys basketball coach announced his resignation at a news conference at the school, four days after coaching Notre Dame to its first state basketball championship since 1987. It also was Hale's first state championship as a head coach. Assistant coach Kevin Roberts was introduced as Hale's replacement. Hale's teams finished with records of 24-6, 27-5, 22-4 and 14-16 in his four seasons. Delta advances, gets shot at Class 1 crown New 3.13.08 Delta will play for the Class 1 girls state basketball championship after winning 49-39 against Meadville in a semifinal early today. Delta (25-2) will play at 12:20 p.m. Friday against Northeast. Meadville (29-1) will play for third place. Delta built an 11-point lead early in the second quarter on a layup by Sarah Keys. Meadville trimmed the lead back to six points in the fourth quarter but got no closer. Keys finished with 16 points, and Taylor Smith had 14. Meadville finished with twice as many turnovers (18) at Delta and trailed 28-17 at halftime. Braves fall in Class 1 boys state semifinal New 3.13.08 Scott County Central missed a pair of free throws in the final seconds, missing a chance to tie Jefferson in a 70-68 Class 1 boys basketball semifinal loss today at Mizzou Arena. The Braves (27-3) trailed by 14 points in the first half before charging back for its first lead early in the third quarter. The game stayed within five points from there until Jefferson (28-2) went up for the final time on a Doug Archer shot in the final two minutes. Jefferson sealed its win when D.D. Gillespie's free throws missed the mark with one second to play. Gillespie finished with 18 points. Drew Thomas led with 21, and Caleb Johnson had 15. Scott Central plays Fair Play at 10:40 a.m. Friday for third place. S. Iron finishes second in Class 2 boys field New 3.15.08 Harrisburg's boys basketball team did what only one other team has done in the past 12 months: knock off South Iron. Harrisburg (28-3) outscored South Iron (30-2) by 10 points in a decisive third quarter and won 51-44 in the Class 2 state championship Saturday at Mizzou Arena. South Iron watched a 24-19 lead in early in the third quarter turn into a 36-26 deficit early in the fourth, and although the Panthers tied it 44-44 on a three-pointer by Austin Casteel with 1:02 to play, Harrisburg never trailed. After the tie, Harrisburg scored the game's final seven points. David Prater finished with 17 points for the Panthers. Casteel and James Cornell scored eight. Cookson says he will return as SCC basketball coach New 3.18.08 Scott County Central coach Ronnie Cookson's return as the school's boys basketball coach was approved Monday by the school board. Cookson, who retired in 1994 before returning to the job for the 2006-'07 season, announced Monday his desire to return next season. The board approved his return unanimously. Cookson has coached the Braves to a state-record 12 state championships. His team finished third last week in the Class 1 tournament at Mizzou Arena and is ranked No. 3 in the final SemoSportsWeb Top 25. Redhawks head for first NIT game at Evansville New 3.18.08 Southeast finished two wins short of a bid into the NCAA Tournament, but the Redhawks got the next-best thing: a trip to the NIT women's tournament. Pairings announced late Monday include a Thursday matchup between Southeast (23-8) and Evansville (20-11) at 7:35 p.m. at Evansville. The winner advances to face Kansas on Monday. The NIT bid is the first for Southeast's women, and it gives the program its third straight postseason tournament bid after back-to-back NCAA tournament trips. Both Southeast and Evansville were eliminated in the semifinals of their league tournaments. Southeast lost to Eastern Illinois, and Evansville fell to Drake. SEMO out of WNIT after Evansville comeback New 3.20.08 Southeast watched a 17-point lead disappear in the second half of a 60-58 win by Evansville that ended the Redhawks' postseason. Southeast fell behind 15-10 early, then outscored Evansville 26-4 to lead 36-19 at halftime in its first WNIT women's tournament appearance. The lead grew to 39-20 early in the second half, but Evansville (22-11) outscored Southeast 24-3 over the next eight minutes. Southeast (23-9) could never do more than tie the game in the final minutes. Melissa Whitney led Southeast with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Raiders stumble, finish fourth in men's field New 3.21.08 Seward County raced to a 20-6 lead early and pushed the margin to 17 points by halftime, leaving Three Rivers hobbled the rest of the way in an 81-63 loss in the NJCAA men's basketball third-place game Saturday. Seward County led 5-3 before its 15-3 run stretched the margin early in the first half. Another 17-8 push made it 40-23 at halftime. TRCC never mounted a comeback in the second half, which saw the lead grow to more than 20 points. Bryan Sherrer and Jeff McClain each scored 14 for TRCC, which was 2-2 in the tournament for its highest national finish since 1994. Two-day event kicks off Malden racing season New 3.27.08 Sprints headline a two-day event that opens the racing season Friday at Malden Speedway. The United Sprint Car Series tour winged sprint cars practice Friday and compete Saturday for $2,000 to win. Modifieds, late models and the track's other classes compete in qualifying races Friday and feature events Saturday. Oklahoma's Wayne Johnson, Arkansas' Tim Crawley and Tennessean Terry Gray won USCS events last year at the track. Racing starts at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 Saturday. Fredericktown Raceway also kicks off its season Friday with a program that includes modifieds and late models. Gates open at 5 p.m. Benton Racepark and St. Francois County Raceway open in two weeks. Malden opening event rained out New 3.29.08 Rain wiped out the two-day racing event headlined by United Sprint Car Series sprints at Malden Speedway on Friday and Saturday. The event is expected to be rescheduled in May. DeWitt singles in first career MLB start New 3.31.08 Sikeston High alum Blake DeWitt singled in his first at-bat with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the team's Opening Day win Monday over the Giants. DeWitt's first Major League start, triggered by a series of injuries to projected Opening Day starters, included a key second-inning double play in the top of the second inning. New Dodgers manager Joe Torre inserted DeWitt, a 2004 draft pick, into the lineup after injuries to Nomar Garciaparra, Andy LaRoche and Tony Abreu, and he's the fifth different starting third baseman for the Dodgers in as many seasons. He's expected to be replaced as injuries heal. "We're not asking him to carry us," Torre said. "We're asking for nothing extraordinary. Just play and have fun. He hasn't tried to convince anybody of anything. He's very calm, or he's got me tricked if he's not." |
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