The 2012 Northern Plains League basketball tournament is in the books and the 2013 NPL tournament will already have a different look come next January as three teams will be leaving the new league after just one try. Here is a look at the news and notes from Friday and Saturday basketball action.
One and done - Logan, Northern Valley and Palco will exit the NPL after just one season in the league. The three teams will head to the Western Kansas Liberty League. Ironically, those three teams will replace Dighton, Sharon Springs and Tribune, who are headed to the Northwest Kansas League. Northern Valley's travel time to Weskan is about the same distance to Chase.
Town team - Friday's boy's semifinal contest between Rock Hills and Wilson may have featured five of the best town team basketball players of all time in the state of Kansas. Mark and Mike Spears along with Dave Stoppel, coaches at Wilson and Matt Hesting and Josh Schultz, coaches at Rock Hills probably can still get up and down the basketball floor. Practices could be pretty interesting at both schools if the mentors of both teams mixed it up in a scrimmage situation. Mark Spears, 1976 graduate of Lucas and brother Mike (1981 graduate of Lucas-Luray) dominated the town team circuit for years. Hesting, who graduated from Downs and Schultz, who is in his first year as assistant coach at Rock Hills, was on the White Rock team that made it to state under Hesting. Wilson advanced to the final with a 50-36 win over the Grizzlies.
Home cooked - About the only grumbling about this year tournament came Friday night when No.1 seeds Thunder Ridge on the girls side and Lakeside No.1 on the boys side where upset by Lincoln and Sylvan-Lucas respectively. The big complaint was not the size of the court or height of the basket but why the games where not held on a neutral court. Lincoln and Sylvan-Lucas hosted the championship semifinal on their home court and then proceeded to win the championship Saturday at Lincoln. One reason given was the home town ticket takers were volunteering and would not want to travel to opposite sites to take tickets or not get to watch their respective teams play at home.
No complaints - Southern Cloud Superintendent Roger Perkins said things ran very smoothly all week and the only complaint he had heard was from a cheer sponsor about an opposing teams cheer unit being on the floor at the wrong time or to close to the playing area at a specific time.
Prayers answered - Saturday's girls third place game featured two players from opposite teams that were involved with one of life's biggest challenges. Thunder Ridge junior point guard Brittany Kirchoff and Logan senior post Caley Greving, were leading their teams in a competitive contest Saturday. Kirchoff, the leading scorer for Thunder Ridge was involved in a sledding accident a couple years ago that sent her to Kearney for several days and weeks of recovery at home. Greving, a post player for Logan and the teams leading scorer, suffered from viral pneumonia that set her back several months and included a long hospital stay. Thunder Ridge won the contest 41-27. The girls' mothers are assistant coaches for their respective teams. Chris Kirchoff, is the Thunder Ridge assistant coach and Cher Greving, is the Lady Trojans assistant coach.
Earned income - Friday's attendance brought the tournament committee all smiles and the tournament proceeds had hit black marks with attendance and profit. Add to the total with a packed house for Saturday's finals and earned income should be enough to cover the $9500 that it cost to pay the officials.
Radio marathon - KDNS sports director, Dusty Deines, said in his post game analysis that of the 64 game played, two were not actually played because of forfeit, the radio station had broadcast over half the games (33) during the NPL tournament.
Old foes - Saturday's girl's games brought back old acguintances and bragging rights for the three former leagues that make up the new NPL. First off, Pike Valley defeated St. John's/Tipton 39-24 for fifth place. It was a battle of former Pike Trail league opponents. Then in the third place game, former Cheyenne Conference foes Logan and Thunder Ridge competed against each other. The Lady Longhorns have never been beaten by the Lady Trojans in any sport since the merger of Eastern Heights and Kensington. In the nights final girls game, Lincoln and Wilson played each other in an old Twin Lakes league rivalry with the Lady Leopards winning, 36-32. It was the second victory in seven days over Wilson for Lincoln. The Lady Leopards edged Wilson 40-37 in league play January 14.
Show Stoppel - Wilson post player Jake Stoppel didn't disappoint in Saturday's boy's championship game. The 6-5 senior, posted 21 points and despite missing the final points of the game at the free-throw line, junior college coaches were impressed with his will to win and effort throughout the week. No less than five junior college coaches were in attendance to watch Stoppel during the NPL Tournament, including Cloud County Saturday.
Bracket busters - School mergers are tough on everyone but after the smoke clears and the parents shake hands, the kids play ball. Sylvan-Lucas put the fist fights and put downs of years gone past behind them and rallied around long-time coach Jude Stecklein. Stecklein said from the beginning that he believed his team could advance to the championship Saturday. The Mustangs punched their ticket to the final Friday with a 52-45 upset of Lakeside, rated No. 2 in Division 1 of 1A and the tournament's No. 1 seed. Sylvan-Lucas, the No. 4 seed, opened the tournament with wins over Southern Cloud (59-33) and Lincoln 60-50. The Mustang fans and players whooped it up in a thrilling 42-40 win over Wilson in Saturday's boy's championship.
Cool Pool - No doubt the MVP of the NPL boy's tournament would have to be Sylvan-Lucas's Brandon Pool. Pool, a 5-6 point guard, answered every Wilson score and challenge thrown at the Mustang team. Time and time again when the Mustangs needed a bucket he would drive and hit a lay up or dump to a teammate who would finish the play. Pool scored a team high 12 points in the final. He is among a group of seven seniors on the tournament roster that raised the championship plaque.
Farris wheel - Lincoln junior, Jenna Farris, wheeled her team to the final with a 28 point performance Friday in the girl's semifinal victory (53-40) over Thunder Ridge. She added 17 points in the championship game against Wilson. On the year, Farris is the NPL's leading scorer (24 ppg) is shooting 50% from the field and 81% from the free-throw line. She has scored at least 28 or more points in five of 11 games played this season. The only question in the future for Farris will be if she runs or passes in college?
