Month: May 2014

Two Shawnee Heights basketball standouts sign with KCKCC

Flanked by his parents, Keya and Arnold, Shawnee Heights guard Tevin Downing signed a letter of intent to attend Kansas City Kansas Community College this fall. (KCKCC photo)

by Alan Hoskins

Two members of Shawnee Heights state tournament basketball team have signed to continue their basketball careers at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

Tevin Downing, a 6-3 wing guard, and Braeson Sester, a 6-2 combo guard, are the fifth and sixth in-state signees with KCKCC coach Kelley Newton.

Downing averaged 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists and Sester 8.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3 assists a game on a 16-6 Shawnee Heights’ team that won 10 in a row before losing in the state semifinals to Highland Park.

“Both Tevin and Braeson were vital to our success,” said coach Sam Stroh. “Braeson was second on our team in rebounding and Tevin did a great job of buying into the team and the coaching staff. Both players will have a bright future if they put in the time and commitment in the off season.”

Sester said being teamed again with Downing was just one of several reasons for choosing KCKCC.

“I felt comfortable,” Sester said. “I think the program is in good hands and running in the right direction. And the location is good for sure.”

“I felt like they’re pieces that we needed,” Newton said. “Tevin is a long athletic defender, a good one-on-one player; very versatile and a great kid on and off the floor. Braeson is a very good shooter. Very coachable, he’s a combo guard who can defend and handle the ball. I’m real excited about both of them and their abilities as players and good persons.”

Previous in-state signees include forward-center Joe Lendway and guard Zach Jackson from Lansing’s undefeated state championship team; C.J. Harper, forward from Piper; and guard Dehven Talley from Shawnee Mission Northwest;

With his parents, Brad and Andrea Sester and Kansas City Kansas Community College coach Kelley Newton, right, as witnesses, Shawnee Heights guard Braeson Sester signed a letter of intent to play basketball with the Blue Devils in 2014-15. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

Canaries fly past T-Bones with four homers

Sioux Falls, S.D. — The Sioux Falls Canaries have been waiting for their offense to get into a groove. Unfortunately for the T-Bones, the Canaries found that groove with four home runs in a 12-5 win over Kansas City on Thursday night.

Kansas City jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a two-run home run by T.J. Mittlestaedt off Sioux Falls starting pitcher Kyle Vasquez (2-1). That was the T-Bones’ only lead. And it was short-lived.

In the bottom of the second, T-Bones starter Matt Smith (0-1) plunked A.J. Kirby-Jones and then delivered back-to-back walks to Chris Valencia and Shelby Ford, which set up a grand slam by Chris Duffy. The Canaries took a 5-2 lead later in the inning on an RBI single by Carlos Mendez.

Smith lasted three innings and allowed seven runs on six hits and three walks. Free passes were once again a major problem to Kansas City’s woes. Kansas City pitching allowed four walks and hit two batters, all of which scored.

The Canaries added three more home runs in four at-bats later in the game when Kirby-Jones homered with two outs in the sixth, and then Ford and Duffy led off the Sioux Falls seventh with back-to-back home runs.

The T-Bones out-hit the Canaries 12-11, as every Kansas City batter reached base except Nick Giarraputo. Byron Wiley went 3 for 4 with a walk and an RBI.

The T-Bones look to even the series Friday night with Daniel Barone (1-0) on the mound. Sioux Falls will counter with Joe Bircher (0-1) for the 7:05 first pitch from Sioux Falls Stadium. The game can be heard on 1660-AM in Kansas City or worldwide at tbonesbaseball.com.
– Story from T-Bones

Substance abuse treatment center approved

A special use permit for a substance use disorder treatment facility was approved 7-0 May 29 by the Unified Government Commission.

The substance use treatment facility will be a building inside the Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Village at 6711 State Ave.

Mirror Inc. of Newton, Kan., will run the center, according to Beverly Metcalf, the organization’s president, who appeared at the UG meeting.

According to officials, the Salvation Army had provided similar services at this location since 2007.

Metcalf said Mirror operates programs in 16 to 18 communities in Kansas, including 22 locations in those communities.

A number of people spoke in favor of the project, while no one spoke against it. A person who worked for community corrections for a number of years said it was important to have a place in Wyandotte County where clients can be treated. Wyandotte County has had to send many clients to Topeka or Johnson County previously, she said.

Also, the current wait time is very long for services, she said, which adds to the time that some clients are spending in jail, with the county paying the jail costs.

In other action, the commission approved an ordinance that would allow up to $34 million in taxable industrial revenue bonds to be issued for the Village West Apartments project, Northpoint Development. According to UG documents, the 306-unit project is nearing completion, and the developer has met all the performance goals in the development agreement. Repayment of the bonds is entirely the responsibility of the developer, according to UG documents.