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With the season coming to an end for all the teams in the league, the All-Conference teams have been announced for the Small-Central Ozark Conference.  With the disbanding of the league, it will be the last such awards.

Reeds Spring’s Lane Carroll was a unanimous first team selection.  The senior sharp shooter joined the 1000 point club this year.  Logen Plumb was named to the second team.

Hollister’s Payton Weber also earned a spot on the second team.

Here is a look at the 2017-18 Small-COC All-Conference Teams

1st team

Luke Vandersnick (Unanimous)             JR                    Rogersville

Jake Branham (Unanimous)                    JR                    Catholic

Lane Carroll (Unanimous)                       SR                   Reeds Spring

Ian Jones (Unanimous)                             JR                    Bolivar

Andrew Scott                                              SR                   Rogersville

 

2nd team

Ian Cochran                                                 SR                   Catholic

Logen Plumb                                               SR                   Reeds Spring

Corey Spindler                                            SR                   Bolivar

Austin Porter                                               JR                    Marshfield

Peyton Weber                                             SR                   Hollister

 

Honorable Mention

Charlie O’Reilly                                           JR                    Catcholic

Layton Moody                                            JR                    Buffalo

Triston Letterman                                      JR                    Marshfield

Michael Manzardo                                    JR                    Catholic

 

Player of the year- Luke Vandersnick- Rogersville

Coach of the year- John Schaeffer- Rogersville

There is a scene in the movie GREASE, when Danny, played by a young John Travolta, is looking for a sport he can actually participate in.  He fails at a number of attempts before finally settling on track.

Well at Reeds Spring, its a little different story.  Austin Bradfield is already as accomplished lineman that has ever put on a Wolves football uniform.  The 6-3 230 pound center was named All-State after both his junior and senior seasons.  He has helped anchor a line that has provided the most prolific offensive numbers in school history.

But now he is trying his hat in a different arena.  Bradfield will be playing the part of “Danny” in the musical Grease when the Reeds Spring High Schools version of the hit musical starts tonight at the middle school auditorium.

Bradfield and his classmates, which includes a number of Wolves footballers, will be presenting the play the next three nights at 7:00.  Tickets are available online or at the door.

The College of the Ozarks women’s basketball team has done almost everything asked of them this season.  They have posted an amazing 30-1 record, falling only to Concordia in overtime.  They won their conference tournament and earned one of the number one seeds at the NAIA Division II National Championships in Sioux City, Iowa.

The task at hand now, is the ultimate goal.  WIN THE PROGRAMS FIRST EVER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.  To do that, they will have to win 5 games over the next six days against the best teams that the NAIA has to offer.

It all starts tomorrow at noon with a matchup against Alice Lloyd, College from Pippa Passes, KY.  ALC is not your typical number eight seed.  The Lady Eagles are 24-5 on the season and are winners of the River States Conference Western Division.

The schools actually have some similarities off the court.  Both colleges provide a quality college education in a Christian environment to students who may not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue a college degree. The two colleges are also both work colleges. Students have the opportunity to work at on-campus jobs to help cover the cost of tuition

One additional line….  Dr Jerry Davis, the President at College of the Ozarks, came to Pt Lookout from Alice Lloyd College, where he held the same position.

The game tips at Noon at the Tyson Event Center in Sioux City.  The winner will advance to take on Valley City State or St Francis at 5:15 on Friday.  Games can be heard locally on 106.3 KRZK.

 

The Class 2 District 11 in Blue Eye has come out with the choices for All-District Teams.  A Lady Bulldog and a Bulldog lead the list.

Boys

Andrew Mitchell               Blue Eye  ( Player of the Year )

Caleb Hillhouse                 Verona

Luke Johnson                     Billings

Tyler Campbell                  Crane

Zach Martin                        School of the Ozarks

Ryan Reagan                      Blue Eye

Wyatt Vaught                    Crane

Josh Goodman                  Marionville

Nate Brown                        School of the Ozarks

Kolton Pinky                       Verona

 

Class 2

All District 11 Team

Girls

Kohnnar Patton                                Blue Eye               ( Player of the Year )

Twilah Carrasquillo                          Verona

Taylor Arnold                                     Blue Eye

Madison Hicks                                   Crane

Shayne Mallory                                 Miller

Megan Caufield                                Galena

Olivia Doto                                          Crane

Lynna Hadlock                                   Miller

Kenedi Larson                                    Blue Eye

Sadie McMenamy                           Crane

Payton Weber did not take long to make an impact on the baseball program at Hollister High School.  He stepped right in and played a vital role for the Tigers last season.  He hopes to continue that success this spring and in the future playing College Baseball.

On Monday, Weber signed a National Letter of Intent to continue his baseball career and his academic future at Columbia College.  His current and future coaches, along with a large group of teammates, family and friends were on hand for the occasion.

Weber stated that the Cougars plan to use him in a utility role.  From his numbers, you can see why they want to get his bat in the lineup.  As a Junior, for Coach John Burgi’s Tigers, he hit .341 with 9 doubles and a triple.  He hopes to improve on those numbers in his senior campaign this spring.

Columbia is a new baseball program but has had early success.  Coach Darren Munns led them to a 34-17 mark last year as a first year program.  Even more impressive, they were 24-6 in America Midwest Conference Games.

Columbia College is an NAIA institution, located in Columbia, MO

PaytonWeber  (click on link to hear interview with Payton)

Dayva Cardwell has shown her versatility at Forsyth, basically doing whatever was asked of her.  That included a move to the outfield, and that is paying off.

Earlier this week Cardwell signed a National Letter of Intent to further her softball and academic career at Culver-Stockton College in Canton.

The senior outfielder   hit .356 her junior year and drove in 22 runs.  She was chosen all-conference and all-district.  And, looks forward to a strong senior season when the Lady Panthers take the field this spring.

Culver-Stockton is an NAIA institution and competes in the Heart of America Conference.

DayvaSigning  (click the link to hear the interview Dayva had with Jim Connell and myself)

 

The larger schools have released their seedings and schedules for the upcoming district Tournaments.

The Class 4 district that features Reeds Spring will be played in Marshfield.  Both the Wolves and Lady Wolves received the FIVE seed in the six team districts.

On the Girls side the play in games will be held on Saturday Feb. 24th.  Marshfield and Reeds Spring will play at 1:00 and Bolivar will play Hillcrest at 2:15.

The Girls Semi-Finals will be played on Tuesday 2/27.  The Marshfield/RS winner will play top seeded Rogersville at 6 and the Bolivar/Hillcrest Winner will play #2 West Plains at 7:30.  The Championship game will be played at 1:00 on Saturday March 3rd

In the Boys Tournament.  Reeds Spring will open up play against the host school on Monday 26th at 6:00 and Bolivar will play West Plains at 7:30.

The Boys semi finals will be played on Thursday March 1st.  The RS/Marshfield winner will be matched against top seeded Rogersville at 6:00 and the Bolivar/West Plains survivor takes on second seeded Hillcrest at 7:30.  The two teams that are left will play for the Championships following the girls game on Saturday the 3rd.

Ozark will be the host school for the Class 5 district.  The Pirates and Lady Pirates will both have to play in the play in games, in the five team districts.  Both the boys and girls received #5 seeds.

The Lady Pirates will play fourth seeded Glendale at 1:00 on Saturday Feb 24th and the Pirates will play right after that game against Parkview.

Should they win they would both draw the top seeds.  Ozark on the boys side and Kickapoo for the girls.

Boy, how time flies.  It seems like we were just finished the Tournaments to start the season.  But, just like that Districts are just about here.  Small schools can open district play THIS SATURDAY.

Blue Eye will get the opportunity to host the Class 2 District 11 Tournament.  The host Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs received the top seeds in their respective brackets.

The girls side will get underway on Saturday with three games.  (Blue Eye as the top seed, gets a bye in the seven seed tournament, due to the fact that Marionville chose not to field a Varsity team this year.

Fourth seeded Verona will take on Number 5 Galena at 1:00.  That will be followed by 2) Miller vs 7) School of the Ozarks at 2:15.  In the final game of the day 3) Crane will play 6) Billings.

Blue Eye will play the Verona vs Galena winner on Tuesday at six and Miller/SofO vs Crane /Billings will follow.  The Championship game is scheduled for Next Friday at 5:30.

The Boys side of that District will start on Monday.  1) Blue Eye vs 8) Miller starts it off at 4:00 followed by 4)School of the Ozarks vs 5)Verona at 5:30.  Crane is the number two seed and plays #7 Galena at 7:00 and the late game will feature 3)Billings vs 6)Marionville.

The semis are scheduled for next Wednesday with Blue Eye/Miller facing SofO/Verona at 6 and Crane/Galena vs Billings/Marionville at 7:30.  Championship will follow the girls on Friday Night

The Class 3 District 11 Tournament is being hosted by Strafford this year.    The Lady Indians, are one of the best teams in the nation at any class and are the overwhelming number one seed on the girls side.  The Springfield Catholic Boys get the nod on in their Tournament.

The Girls Tournament starts on Monday with all four first round games.   Strafford will play Hollister at 4 followed by 4)Catholic vs 5)Buffalo at 5:30.  Second seeded Clever will take on 7) Ash Grove at 7 and the late game will feature 3) Fair Grove and 6)Forsyth.

Semi-Finals will take place on Wednesday.  Strafford/Hollister vs Catholic/Buffalo at 6 and Clever/Ash Grove vs Fair Grove/Forsyth at 7:30.  The Championship game is scheduled for Saturday Afternoon at 3.

The boys will take the court on Tuesday.  Top Seeded Catholic will play Buffalo at 4 and 4)Forsyth gets a rematch with 5)Clever at 5:30.  Second seeded Strafford vs 7) Ash Grove will tip around 7 and the late game will be 3)Fair Grove and 6) Hollister.

Thursday Night will be semi-final night for the guys.  Catholic/Buffalo vs Forsyth/Clever at 6 and Strafford/Ash Grove vs Fair Grove/Hollister at 7:30.  The boys will play their Championship game following the girls game on Saturday.

The Class 4 and 5 districts featuring out local teams will be seeded today and tonight.  They can start as early as Next Saturday.

The Hollister Tiger football program will have a new look when they kick off the 2018 football season.  That new look will start from the top.  Last month Jacob Hamon announced he was leaving his post as head coach to take an assistant coaching job at Branson.  Today, Hollister announced that hey have hired a new head coach.

Rich Adkins has been hired to take over the program.  Adkins has spent the last two years leading the football team at Mountain Grove.  He was 17-7 in his two years in charge of the Panthers and made the district championship game both seasons.  His offenses averaged better than 36 points per game.  Before that he coached at Jasper, where he won back to back conference titles and was named coach of the year.  He was an assistant at his alma mater, Webb City.

“My family is excited to be a part of the Hollister School District,” said Adkins when asked about his new job.  “My wife and I have been very impressed with the entire operation at Hollister and its innovative approach to education.  My goal is to build a program that will represent the school and community in a positive manner both on and off the field.”

Forsyth has had Varsity Football for exactly one season.  They have not played a Conference Football Game.  The Missouri State High School Activities Association has not even put them in a district.  But, they do have their first college football signee.

This morning in front of a large group of well wishers Anthony Stanford signed a National Letter of Intent to further his football and academic career at Evangel University in Springfield.

The 6-2 standout was a force this past season for the Panthers.   On the offensive side of the ball he caught 55 balls for 1,000 yards and  11 touchdowns.   He had a season high 12 catches against Lighthouse Christian.  Defensively he had Nine tackles for loss, including 5.5 sacks and forced three fumbles.

Stanford is also a force on the Panthers basketball team that currently sits atop the standings in the Southwest Central League.

The Crusaders have indicated they plan to use Stanford on the defensive side of the ball, most likely as a defensive back.  Evangel is an NAIA institution and competes in the Heart of America Conference.

StanfordSigning  (click link for interview Jim Connell and I did with Anthony)