Just thought I’d check in and feed the monster after the big weekend — both Newman and Fort Hays lost over the weekend, falling to Incarnate Word and NW Missouri, putting the Tigers in a tie for first place in the MIAA … until they lost at Missouri Western, 75-69 on Monday. Friends, however, held on at No. 1 in the KCAC with a win over Saint Mary. What’s it all mean? It measn that Newman has a grueling road trip coming up — five straight away from Wichita — that will pretty much determine its season. It means Fort Hays saw its 13-game winning streak snapped, but they were bound to slip up somewhere because there was no way they were going to run the table in the MIAA. Now, with two straight losses they have a real problem on their hands. What is going on in Western Kansas?
As far as Friends? They travel to McPherson Feb. 13 for what could very well decide the regular-season title for the KCAC.
Me? I’m just thinking about tomorrow night, Baby. OH, and I’ll be following a JuCo coach around Friday night for our special, behind-the-scenes issue coming out Saturday. That, my friends, will be something else. So ch-ch-check it out.
In case you missed my article on Central Christian’s Sean High, here it is. It was in Tuesday’s Eagle, but I think it deserves a look if you’ve got the time. High’s a really sweet kid and his story is pretty remarkable from kind of a Horatio Alger-type angle in that he made something out of absolutely nothing. Also, here’s the link to the Facebook page I talk about in the story.
FACE!!!
NEWMAN
If you haven’t seen the picture of William Burdette’s dunk in the Jets’ win over Saint Mary’s on Thursday night, I was nice enough to post it above. A couple of things to look at: 1) Check out William’s arm that’s getting ready to throw down, the rim is sneaking up on his elbow … FACE!!! 2) Look at the Newman bench … our photog, Fernando Salazar, caught it perfect, even check out the kid on the Newman bench with his leg up in the air. Great shot. And it was great to get Newman out front for us because they’re having a great season behind a breakout star in Neodesha product Keaton Schultz, who picked up Heartland Conference player of the week honors last week, and a sleek lineup full of wiry forwards (Justin Berry, Jaray Mathews) and hard-nosed guards (Chip Steven, Jake Darby). The Jets are in first place and are already 8-1 in league play with a big game against Incarnate Word on Saturday at Fugate, where, if you want to go, it won’t cost you anything if you bring a couple of cans of food to donate to Haiti relief efforts. And it’s also a Blue-Out, so where your Jets gear. Would be nice to see Fugate packed every now and then. BTW, Schultz is hitting over 50% of his three-point attempts and apparently leads the world in that category — check Saturday’s Eagle for a story on Schultz and his amazing season thus far.
There’s a couple of reasons why we’re Jaray Mathews fans over hear at Sunflower Slate. For one, if you just look up, you’ll see Mathews is part of our banner. And as far as I know, he’s the only player still active that’s part of our banner. Which means that even though we haven’t quite turned two years old yet, we’ve got some history. So there’s that. And then there’s the main reason: The Man goes hard. To prove my point, let’s take a look at what JM did last week in leading Newman into sole possession of first place in the Heartland Conference. In a win over Dallas Baptist he dropped 19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 assists. In a win over Arkansas Fort-Smith he went for 18 points, 12 rbounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. That’s called filling up the stat sheet.
And that’s why he’s the Heartland player of the week and the jump-off for The Return of Roll Call.
If you managed to pick up a copy of today’s Eagle (which I hope you did), you got a double-dose of state-college hoops with the Friends men beating McPherson as our display and another front-page story on the Newman men defeating Dallas Baptist. The Falcons moved to 7-0 in the KCAC with the win and took sole possession of first place and the Jets moved into a tie for first in the Heartland Conference with the win … and let’s get this out of the way right now: Friends forward Chris Jackson is making a serious case for KCAC MVP. My argument? He’s averaging almost 19 ppg, hit ‘em up for 26 in a game for first place last night and he’s shooting 46 percent from beyond the arc.
As far as Newman, this is really turning into a breakout season for the Jets, and a testament to Mark Potter as a recruiter. We knew Jaray Mathews, Chip Steven and Jake Darby were going to be good. What we didn’t know is that Keaton Schultz would turn into a star. The story of his transformation from an also-ran to The Man is really intriguing — dude played two years, redshirted on his own volition last season to work on his game and develop his body into that of a college player and now he might be his team’s second-best player. If you know anything about college sports, that type of patience is rare and, at Sunflower Slate, well thought of.
Now if Friends and Newman would only play each other …
Out. TA.
Ps. I stole that “About last night” tag from J. Mart. Thanks, J. Mart.
This seems like it works on all fronts — Friends will lease West Side Athletic Field as its new home. Here’s why it’s good — it saves the city money because Friends is responsible for maintenance and it gives the Falcons a true home stadium right up close and personal to their campus. Westurban was just too far away.
And on that note … what Friends has become over the last 10-15 years, to me, is amazing. It went from being an afterthought to — in my opinion — one of the most appealing schools in the KCAC as far as recruiting and appeal to the prep athletes that get on their radar. This speaks directly to that. I’ll be interested to see the WSAF after Friends gets to deck it out.
When it comes to NAIA sports, nobody knows more than Jason Dannelly. So if the man decides to put out an All-Decade team for football, you know we’re going to stand up and take notice. The KCAC put two on here — Ottawa running back Derrick Ward was a first-team pick and Bethel safety Brandon Kaufman was an at-large (the equivalent of 3rd team/honorable mention). Ward, as you already know, won a Super Bowl with the Giants, signed a large free agent deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers …. and dated Khloe Kardashian. On a personal note, my alma mater put three guys on there — first team running back Dusty McGrorty, who played for the St. Louis Rams, second-team safety Nick Daniken (played for the Omaha Beef and picks me up at the Portland airport when I fly to Oregon) and second-team punter Steve Baker (who played for Oakland, I believe).
To me, this is a must-read. I’m just saying. And Friends o-lineman Jacob Bruster shoulda been on there. Big ups to Dannelly for doing this.
I’m Fiesta-watching and doing this — be still, my beating heart!!
FIRST HALF
It’s 33-32 FHSU with just under two minutes left in first half and guess what? Dominique Jones has 16 points for Tigers already. But Sanijay Watts has 17 for UCM.
Jumper from Alex Moosman gave Mules a 34-33 lead at halftime.
SECOND HALF
Second half underway — UCM has pushed its lead to 46-40 five minutes in.
Uh-oh … UCM pushes lead to 53-43 at 12:00 mark … and Watts has 23 with Jones still stuck on 16 …
And FHSU JUST STORMED BACK and took a 63-60 lead with seven minutes to play. Whoa. Dominique Jones has 24 now with Corbin Kuntzsch and Ken Bowman sitting on 10 each. That’s the difference. This is a lot of fun, actually.
FHSU up 70-64 with four minutes left — Willie Hassel is the fourth Tiger in double digits with 11. This could really happen. And without their best player.
FHSU 74-69 with two minutes left … Jones has 26 points, 7 assists and 5 boards. Watts stuck on 23. Yeah this might happen.
FHSU up 76-69 with one minute left.
FINAL: NO. 13 FHSU 81, No. 1 CMU 71 at Warrensburg, Mo. WOW WOW DOUBLE WOW AND ON THAT NOTE …
First things first — I don’t think FHSU’s Tim Peintner is going to be playing in this one, which is a shame. He’s got a high ankle sprain he’s dealing with and the word I’m getting is that it’s uncertain when he’ll be back. If you don’t know much about high ankle sprains, let me give you a quick refresher course: It feels like you broke/tore something, and it ain’t far from it.
That being said, I still think the Tigers have a shot at winning this game, which is for an early-season lead in the MIAA men’s race. They’re as deep as all get-out, even without arguably their best player headed to play at the UCM multipurpose building (SIDEBAR: UCM needs to get a better name for their arena).
I’m kind of excited for this one, so check here if you want in-game updates tomorrow … we tip at 7:30 p.m.
2. Hornet hysteria — The Emporia State baseball team put together one of the best postseason runs I can remember, taking it all the way to the NCAA Division II national title game, where they lost to Lynn (Fla.) … make no mistake, ESU is the team to beat in the country in 2010, and hopefully it means a shot at a DI job for Bob Fornelli.
STEVE ECK
3. Steve Eck to Hutch — Did anyone except for a few people in Ark City think Steve Eck coaching at Cowley was going to be a permanent thing? Hutchinson had always seemed like the perfect fit for Eck, and after Ryan Swanson couldn’t get it done and the Blue Dragon fan base started to rumble … the two finally came together. When Eck wins his first Region VI title (yes, when) it’s going to be something to see.
LAMAR JAMES
4. Lamar James, RIP – At 31 years old, Independence football coach Lamar James died suddenly while visiting his hometown in Mississippi, right after the end of his first season as the Pirates’ head coach. A good man. Rest in peace, coach.
SECONDS FROM HISTORY
5. Heartbreaker for Greyhounds — Up by two points with just a shade over 30 seconds left in the national championship game, Fort Scott CC punted the ball to Blinn’s Chad Froechtenicht, who didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to take it 84 yards to the house in the national championship game. One of the more amazing finishes I have ever seen.
CLARENCE ANDERSON
6. Friends dethroned/Clarence comes home – The KCAC schedule-makers knew exactly what they were doing when they put the Ottawa-Friends game in the final week of the regular season in what amounted to the KCAC title game. And on a drizzly, cold day in Wichita, it was all about Clarence Anderson, the diminutive wide receiver for the Braves. Playing in his hometown, CA almost single-handedly took the league title from the three-time defending champs to cap Ottawa’s undefeated season. The Braves went on to win an NAIA playoff game and then lost to eventual runner-up Lindenwood in the second round. Anderson? He’s only a sophomore, people.
JACK CROWDER (15)
7. Are you in love with Jack? – I wrote about Southeast/Cowley and now-Southern Illinois forward Jack Crowder a lot last season, both in the paper and on the blog, so much so that one time Coach Eck asked me if I was in love with him. My answer? I told him I was in love with ihs game, most definitely. Crowder was a warrior who built his game from the ground up. My favorite JuCo player, ever, hands down. Is that love? Who can really say?
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1956
8. Region VI basketball tourney – On the women’s side, we had the upstarts from Hutchinson winning Region VI for the first time since 1978. Which was great, until you consider Kris Baumann’s Garden City team, which won it for the first time since 1956, upsetting Cowley in the finals. I keep telling people that KB can coach with anybody. They never believe me until his team beats theirs.
JARAY MATHEWS (MIDDLE)
9. Hello, Newman – There’s something going on over at Newman. It’s tangible and it’s real and it’s all about men’s basketball. The Jets were respectable last season in their first year as a full-fledged NCAA Division II school and they’re more than that this year. Senior forward Jaray Mathews had a big year last year and is playing like an All-American right now, and coach Mark Potter has figured out how to recruit at the D2 level and is only getting better. You heard it hear first. Oh yeah, and they played WSU tough.
10. (Tie, and yes, this is cheating) Washburn LB Zach Watkins named MIAA defensive POY, Cowley volleyball makes NJCAA DII title game, Cowley softball, Friends volleyball goes to NAIA tournament, Sterling and Southwestern women’s hoops, Butler football gets Jayhawk streak broken, Butler’s Zac Clark helps Oregon to Pac 10 football title. Did I miss something? Just e-mail me and let me know.
I don’t know if this should come as a suprise, but the Emporia State baseball team is opening up the season as No. 1 in at least one poll — the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. I wouldn’t be surprised if they catch this spot in a couple of more polls before things get started, either. With that pitching back … they’re gonnna be tough to beat. And then there’s Kenny Burkhead. And then there’s Bob Fornelli. Here’s the full release from ESU and the Top 25 rankings after the jump … Happy Holidays:
