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The seeds have been released for the Class 5 District 11 Tournament being hosted by Springfield Glendale and the Class 4 District 9 Tournament at Bolivar.

I posted earlier in the week the argument for Branson’s girls being the Districts number one seed, but tournament coaches did not see it that way so the Lady Pirates received a #2 seed and will have a rematch with #3 Ozark in the semi-finals of the five team district.  That game will take place on Monday Feb 27th at Hammons Student Center in Springfield.  Glendale and Parkview will play on Saturday the 25th for the right to take on top seeded Kickapoo in the other semi-final.

On the boys side Branson was pretty well locked into the five seed, having lost to the other four teams in the field.  The Pirates will get a rematch with Parkview on the 25th at Glendale High School.  Should they win they will advance to play #1 Kickapoo at HSC on the 27th.  Ozark will face Glendale in 2-3 matchup. Both Championship games will be played on Thursday Night.

The general thinking was that Reeds Spring would fave Marshfield on the boys side of the Boys District at Bolivar the only question was which team would be the number four and which team would be number five.  The Wolves got the nod to wear their “home” uniforms and will face Marshfield for the second time in just over a week with they play the BlueJays at 6:00 on Monday the 27th.  The winner will advance to take on the host school in the semi-finals on Thursday March 2nd.  #3 Rogersville plays #6 West Plains after the RS-Marshfield game with the winner getting #2 Hillcrest in the late game Thursday.  The Championship will be held on Saturday Afternoon.

The Reeds Spring girls will play in the 4/5 game as well after grabbing the #5 seed.  The Lady Wolves will take on Bolivar at 1:00 on Saturday the 25th  just before #3Marshfield and #6 Hilcrest get together.  West Plains received the top seed and Rogersville the number two.  The girls semi-finals will be played on Tuesday.  Like the guys they will wait until Saturday the 4th to play the Championship game.

Reeds Spring lost to Hollister 55-51 in the Wolves first (and Tigers second) game of the season this year.  That was the opening round of the Forsyth Tournament in late November.  Last night the Tigers hosted the Wolves looking for the sweep.

In the early going, it looked like it was going to be a Wolves rout as Reeds Spring scored the first ten points of the game.  But after a couple of time outs, Coach Pete Leonard’s Tigers got on a run of their own, and by midway through the second quarter had drawn back to within one at 15-14.

That would be as close as the Tigers would get.  The Wolves would go on a 15-0 run from there, playing tough defense and taking advantage of Tiger turnovers.  It eventually added up to 48-24 Reeds Spring victory.

Lane Carroll led three Wolves in double figures with 15.  Logen Plumb, who set the tone early, had 14 including his first dunk, in the opening quarter.  Austin Bradfield chipped in with 11.  Joel Gertson had the other eight points for Reeds Spring and broke the school record for assists in a season, formerly held by Ryan Brown.  Gertson already had the career mark for the category.

Reeds Spring moves to 17-7 on the year.  Hollister falls to 7-17.  The Wolves will host Marshfield on Friday Night while the Tigers welcome Buffalo.

The Branson Lady Pirates went on the road last night and for the second Monday in a row and took down a Conference powerhouse on their home court. Ozark was the victim this time.  54-51 was the final as Branson won its 20th game of the season and keeps its hopes for a shared COC title alive.

The game was close most of the night.  However, except for a brief period in the first quarter Branson had the lead throughout.  Ozark tried to take away Amanda Kearney by changing defenses and changing defenders on her.  From straight Man to a box and one Kearney had to work to get any room at all.  She ended the night with 17 points.  Freshman Madie Braden led Ozark with 18.

Branson got huge contributions up and down the lineup.  Lauren Garrison had 16 and had a number of key steals along the way.  Gracie Jaeger scored six but her half-court three pointer at the end of the first quarter was huge for momentum.  Her hustle and defense was obvious throughout the night.  I could go on, it was truly a team effort.

In the last week and a half the Lady Pirates have beaten St Joe Benton on a neutral court.  They have won AT Republic.  And now, they have won AT OZARK.  They will still need a little help to get a share of the COC Title.  They will need Ozark to beat Republic next week, a real possibility.  And they need Neosho to upset Carl Junction, a much longer shot.

Most importantly, Branson really seems to be playing their best basketball at the moment.  District seedings are on Wednesday.  With the win over Ozark, Branson should be no worse than a #2 seed.  But, with the fact the Branson and Kickapoo have almost identical records and the fact that Ozark beat Kickapoo AT  Kickapoo while Branson beat the Lady Tigers in Ozark; one would think that Coach Kip Bough will have legitimate argument for the top spot.  We will see how it turns out.

On a night where Reeds Spring honored some of their all-time greats from the past, they made some great memories of their own.

The Wolves rode the hot shooting of Lane Carroll and solid team defense to defeat Forsyth 66-46.

Reeds Spring jumped on the Panthers from the get-go, scoring the first ten points of the game.  That lead had been built to 23-6 by the end of the first quarter when Carroll hit the first of this 3 three pointers of the night, all in the first half.  45-22 was the halftime score.

Carroll had 27 on the night.  The second big game in a row for the junior.  He had 17 Tuesday night in the loss at Rogersville.  Logen Plumb had 10 first half points on his way to sixteen on the night.  His aggressiveness around the rim was evident all night.

Forsyth will look to bounce back next week with games against Crane and Blue Eye before heading into district play and a date with Strafford.  The loss drops them to 13-10 on the season.

Reeds Spring advances to 16-7 on the season.  They will travel to Hollister on Tuesday night to take on the Tigers.  That game can be heard, right here, on perryphillipssports.com

Before the game six individuals and one team was inducted into the Reeds Spring Sports Hall of Fame.  Craig Hesseling, Erik Wood, Jesse Stovall, Coach Becky Lipasek, Jessica Smyth, and Brittany Stone, along with the 2006 and 2007 Volleyball teams received the honor.

The district brackets have been released for Class 3 District 11 to be held at Fair Grove and really no big surprises.

State top ranked Strafford leads the field on the Girls side while host Fair Grove gets the nod on the Boys side.

The Girls will start play on Monday the 20th with all four games taking place that day.  Strafford will play #8 Hollister at 4:00 followed by the 4-5 matchup of Springfield Catholic vs Ash Grove at 5:30.  The bottom half of the bracket will feature second seeded Clever vs #7 Forsyth at 7 and the last game of the night will pit #3 Fair Grove vs #6 Buffalo.

On the Boys side play will start on Tuesday the 21st.  Like the girls they will play all four first round games on that day.  Fair Grove will play #8 Buffalo at 4:00 and #4 Strafford will tangle with #5 Forsyth at 5:30.  The 7:00 game will be #2 Clever vs #7 Hollister and finally #3 Springfield Catholic will play #6 Ash Grove at 8:30

Girls semi-finals will be played at 6 and 8 on Wednesday the 22nd and the guys will play at the same times on the 23th.  Championship games are scheduled for 6 on the 24th for the girls and 25th for the guys.

Branson Catcher Kap Johnson is looking forward to his senior season.  That gets underway in just about a month from now.  But, there is no longer any doubt where he will be playing next season.

This afternoon the Branson senior signed a national letter of intent to continue his baseball and academic career at North Arkansas College in Harrison, AR.   He said he hopes to one day teach and coach…

KapJohnson (click on link of interview with Kap)

The Pirates take part in a baseball Jamboree with Reeds Spring, Hollister, and Forsyth four weeks from tomorrow and then open the season with the Lael Leadoff Tournament on the 18th

Friday Night will feature a tri-lakes match-up: Reeds Spring vs Forsyth.  But, the night will also feature a new class being inducted into the Reeds Spring Sports Hall of Fame.

Six Individuals and one Team made the list this year:

Craig Hesseling- A 2005 Graduate overcame leukemia to become one the best runners the school has had.

Erik Wood – A 1983 Graduate was the second All-State Football player in the programs history.  He went on to play at William Jewell.

Jesse Stovall- a 1999 Graduate shot Skeet and Trap for the Wolves as well as playing baseball.  Better known for his success in the racing world.

Coach Becky Lipasek- Coached two Final Four Volleyball teams during her tenure of leading the Lady Wolves program

Jessica Smyth- a 2007 Graduate was an All-State Volleyball player and part of the 2006 Volleyball team that finished 3rd in the state.

Brittany Stone- a 2008 Graduate and part of both the 2006 and 2007 Final Four Volleyball teams.  She also lettered in Basketball for the Lady Wolves.  Brittany played four years of Volleyball at College of the Ozarks helping lead them to the National Tournament.

2006 and 2007 Lady Wolves Volleyball Teams… as pointed out in the info about some of the players, these teams both qualified for the State Final Four, bringing home third place finishes both years.

Happy to be part of the Hall of Fame Committee and Proud to honor all of these deserving athletes.  Ceremonies will take place between the JV and Varsity games on Friday Night at Reeds Spring High School.

The first of the area districts have released their seeds for the Tournament that will start on Feb 2oth.  Class 2 District 11 will be held at Galena.

On the Girls side Blue Eye is the top seed and will face 8th seeded Billings at 4:00 on Monday the 20th.  That game will be followed by #4 Verona vs #5 School of the Ozarks.  Miller is the #2 seed and plays #7 Marionville at 6:30 and finally #3 Crane faces #6 Galena.  Semi finals are Wednesday with the Championship at 5:30 on Friday the 24th.

In the Boys Tournament Marionville is the one seed and takes on Miller.  #4School of the Ozarks vs #5 Galena. The bottom of the bracket features #2 Crane vs #7 Verona and #3 Blue Eye vs #6 Billings.  Boys semi final round will be played on the 23rd with the Championship game to follow the Girls on Friday the 24th.

The winners will advance to the Sectional Round of the State Playoffs in Carthage on March 1st.

The Branson Lady Pirates needed a win last night to keep their hopes of a COC Championship alive. In order to do that they would have to beat Republic on their own floor.  Even though Branson had already beaten them once this season, that is a task that is easier said than done. Add into the mix that Amanda Kearney was eleven points short of the magical 2000 point mark and it had the makings of an incredible night.

The game was incredibly physical.  MOST of the night the officials let them play. The score remained tight throughout.  Republic led 16-15 at the end of one.  But, it was Branson that held a one point lead at the half.  The two teams only managed seven points apiece in the third quarter setting up a final eight minutes to decide it.

Republic would score the first four points of the final frame to take a 39-36 lead. But from there the Lady Pirates would take over.  Branson went on a 13-0 run to put the game away, hitting their free throws down the stretch and claiming the 53-45 win and moving to 18-4 on the season.

Kearney did not leave much doubt, as to whether or not she would get the mark.  She came out firing from long distance.  She hit FOUR first half three’s, the last of which put her over the 2000 point mark.  This is what my call sounded like as the historic moment took place.. Kearney2000 (click on link to hear the call)

She becomes the first Branson player to ever score 2000 points for her career. She already holds the school record for points in a game, season, and career.  She has committed to Harding University and will start attending there this fall.

Kearney led all scorers with 20.  Lauren Garrison and Tara Utz-Depriest also broke double figures in scoring with 12 and 13.  Taylor Fergen led Republic with 12.  The win gets Branson back to 2-2 in the conference slate.

A few thoughts from last night….

1. Great crowd.  Wonderful atmosphere for girls basketball.

2. I have no trouble with “letting them play” but it tended to go a little far at times last night.

3. Karis Goodwin only scored two points but thought she played some really good minutes with Jaeger in foul trouble.

4. Two different styles, but two teams that know how to play defense.

5. Happy to see Amanda get this mark, she is an incredible young lady.

6. Im sure Amanda would like to have got #2000 at home, but if she was going to hit it on the road, hard to think of a better place for it to happen.

7. Coach Kip Bough continues to do an amazing job.  Dude has flat out built a program.

8.  Thought the Lady Pirates showed great poise and did a nice job of sticking to the plan in a tough place to play.

It was a big day for Branson Football as a total of FOUR Branson Pirates made announcements of where they will continue their football and academic careers…

Luke Masters will be heading to Oskaloosa, Iowa to play for William Penn University.  The most prolific pass-catcher in Branson Football History will head to a school that runs the flexbone offense.  The Statesmen were 7-4 a season ago and already feature three players that call the tri-lakes home.  Reeds Spring graduates Cooper Gosch, Dalton Haddock, and Nick Haddock are all already on the roster.  They are members of the Heart of America Conference.

Rolla will be the college home for Chad Utzman.  Missouri S&T (some people still remember as Missouri-Rolla) is one of the top academic schools in the state.  They play in NCAA Division II as members of the GLVC.   Utzman joins them after a senior season that saw him catch 28 balls for 423 yards.

The University of Arkasas has granted preferred walk-on status to long snapper Jordan Silver.  While not listed on the official Arkansas recruits list that came out last night Silver might just get a chance to play before many of the “big names” that are headed to Fayetteville.  With a future scholarship on the line and a position that is currently up for grabs Silver may very well be playing on the SEC network before you know it.

I have also learned that Carter LaCroix will be headed to Dakota State.  The 6-5 235lbs lineman is headed to Madison, SD to play for the NAIA school.