Pittsburg State standouts Marques Nelson and Caleb Farabi had big days at the Division II All-Star game in Texas — The Cactus Bowl — with Nelson scoring a go-ahead touchdown and Farabi leading the West in rushing as their team grabbed a 28-27 victory, the first in four tries. They were among a gaggle of MIAA stars who had big days. Here’s the release from the MIAA, pretty pictures and all:
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D. JOHNSON-ODOM
Let’s take a look around some highlights from the state before we hit the weekend, beginning with (once again) Hutchinson Community College’s Darius Johnson-Odom, who gets above-the-fold billing because he’s a baaaaaad man:
Jayhawk
-Wednesday night in Dodge City Johnson-Odom put up his ninth straight 20-point game, hitting for 24 in an 86-74 win over the Conqs. As of right now, there is no other MVP in the Jayhawk. Maybe not in the nation. The Blue Dragons are 13-3 and 2-0 in league play and have got me thinking that if they beat Garden City on Saturday in Hutch (no easy task) that they’re back in the Top 25. With Cliff Dixon back, watch out…
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PHIL LOADHOLT (6-foot-8, 337 pounds)
Thought this was interesting and maybe not a lot of people omay have noticed … but there’s a trio of former Jayhawk Conference all-stars playing in Thursday’s BCS title game for Oklahoma and one for Florida.
Offensive linemen Phil Loadholt (Garden City) and Brandon Walker (Coffeyville) both start, and are both seniors, and junior LB J.R. Bryant (Garden City) is a backup who helps the Sooners on special teams and has 18 tackles this season. Florida has defensive tackle Troy Epps (Coffeyville). I covered Loadholt and Bryant when I worked for the Garden City paper and got to see their exploits first hand — definitely followed Walker and Epps, too, as they’re former Red Ravens like myself. Walker had 102 knockdowns in 553 plays last season and he and Loadholt are both All-Big 12 guys. A knockdown is when you put a defensive player on his back … I think they used to call them pancakes?
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It was upset after upset in MIAA women’s basketball on Saturday night, and some of the games kind of blew me away. It’s not that I thought No. 2 Washburn or No. 9 Emporia State was going to run the table in the MIAA this season, or even come close. But to lose this early? At home? Maybe it’s more wide open than I thought?
Here’s a modified release from the MIAA on the big upsets, with C. Mo handed the Blues their first loss of the year (despite another big game from Janice Bright) and Southwest Baptist rallying to beat the Hornets, who seem to be having a bit of a post-Michelle Stueve hangover.
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GARRIUS HOLLOMAN
Just learned that Cowley freshman forward Garius Holloman is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Holloman, a 6-foot-6 Wichita East product, was averaging 7.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game for the 11-1, No. 4-ranked Tigers. He tore it while playing 1-on-1 with a teammate. Tough break for him but I’m sure he’ll bounce back.
