March 2018

Duncan Sets New Mark and Lady Pirates Roll…

I commented in the my preview of the season that McKenzie Duncan was rewriting the Branson Lady Pirates Soccer Record Book. Well, she inked another chapter tonight as she led the Lady Pirates to an 8-1 win over Mountain View-Liberty.

During the course of the blowout, the Palm Beach Atlantic University signee, scored six goals to set a new Lady Pirate single game record. Duncan previously shared the record of four goals in a game with Hailey Lecroix. The blowout is perhaps the only reason that Duncan did not have more than six.

It was McKenzie’s sister Molly, that got the scoring going for Branson, just 1:28 into the match. McKenzie would score her first goal of the game less than two minutes later, and add one more before the half.

Amanda Mantel would hit the back of the net for the Lady Eagles with 2:10 left before halftime drawing them to within 3-1 and scoring the first goal against the Lady Pirates in their four games this season

McKenzie would totally take over in the early part of the second half. She would score four times in a period of less than ten minutes starting with a goal at the 35:03 mark. From that point she was given a break and would later return in more of a defensive role.

Josie Michel would cap off the night for the Lady Pirates with a goal at the 11:19 mark.

In goal, Lauren Garrison was her usual solid self. She was that single goal short of posting her fourth consecutive shutout.

The win moves the Lady Pirates to 4-0 on the season. They won the Fair Grove Tournament over the weekend. They will be back in action Thursday Night, hosting Aurora at Pirate Stadium.

photo courtesy of Branson Tri-Lakes News

Farquhar Will Stay Home and Be a Bobcat

Folks in the tri-lakes have been able to see Landon Farquhar develop in to a well rounded athlete. The Hollister senior has found success in multiple sports for the Tigers, but its baseball where he really excels.

People in Hollister will not have to go very far to continue to watch him play. He will continue his athletic and academic careers at College of the Ozarks.

He recently made it official by signing a National Letter of Intent.

As a junior he hit .354 for the Tigers. On the mound he was 4-5 but posted a 1.98 ERA

FarquharSigning (click the link to hear Jim Connell and my intervew with Landon)

A Couple of All-American Girls…

All season long awards have poured in for the College of the Ozarks dynamic duo of Kelsie Cleeton and Cassidy Johnson. Well, the season may be over but the awards are still a comin’

Cleeton has been named First-Team All-American. The junor from Springfield filled up the stat sheet most every night this season. She averaged nearly 14 points a game this year and pulled down over 11 rebounds a night. She was 3rd in the nation in total rebounds, despite standing only 5-7. Her 106 steels ranked 5th in the nation and 21 times this year she went home after recording a double-double.

Johnson, a junior from West Plains, was named Honorable Mention All-America. The sharpshooter was the top scorer for the Lady Cats this season, dropping over 16 points a night on the competition. Her 101 3’s ranked ninth among all women in NAIA DII.

The Lady Cats finished their season 31-2 and were ranked #3 in the country.

2017-2018 “Perry Awards”

With the basketball season coming to an end we turn out attention to the Spring sports. Before totally moving on its time to give a little recognition to some of the players in the area that stood out this year.

As with the case last year, I don’t pick an all-star team. Already a lot of folks do that. Instead I just pick some players that stood out in some different categories.

Now, a reminder, this is all from the eye test. I didn’t go line by line over stats, and there could be valid points made for others in each position.. With that being said, here is who made the cut this season:

Girls Boys

Youngin of the Year(frosh/soph) Scarlett Texeira-Forsyth Nathan Garnett-BE

Keep an Eye On Maddie Pardeck-Branson Dawson Deroo-Forsyth

My Final Shot Konnhar Patton-Blue Eye Lane Carroll-RS

Best Floor General: Kelina Asbill-RS Zach Martin-SofO

Straight out Player Taylor Arnold-Blue Eye Andrew Mitchell-Blue Eye

Controls the Paint Raven Ross-Hollister Anthony Stanford-Forsyth

Not About Me Lauren Garrison-Branson Logen Plumb-Reeds Spring

Coach of the Year Ken Elfrink Josh Hart

Player of the Year Kohnnar Patton-Blue Eye Micaiah Rocha-Forsyth

Spring Sports Seasons have Arrived…

This year continues to roll along. This past weekend most of the Spring Sports held their preseason Jamborees and competition can start at the end of this week.

Just a few random thoughts:

Branson Soccer- I think that Lady Pirates have a great shot to break the school record for wins and perhaps their first district championship.
Hollister Baseball- The Tigers have a number of seniors that have been playing varsity ball since their freshman years. Big year could be coming.
Reeds Spring Baseball- Coach Funk has a number of options on the mound. If the Wolves can get the bats going they will be dangerous.
Forsyth Baseball- Bryron Richardson takes over a program that returns quite a bit of experience.
Branson Baseball- Pirates had a lot of guys get playing time last year due to injuries. That experience may very well pay off for them this season.
Jenner Steele could have a huge season for Hollister
Reeds Spring Track placed 2nd in the state last year. But lost a ton to graduation. Watch out for the girls this year.
Hollister Softball competes full time in the Spring for the First time… that could be big for them.
Can SofO continue its Track success?
They have been playing a while, but C of O baseball is making some noise, they have a shot to make some noise in the conference tournament and possibly beyond.

Carroll and Plumb Get Recognition on Final Small COC Teams

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

From All-State Lineman to Musical Leading Man..

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.

Bradfield before this past football season

Lady Cats Quest for National Title Starts with Alice Lloyd

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.