March 2016 – Page 35 – Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!

Tough conference prepared KCKCC for national championship

Blue Devils third Jayhawk team in last three years to reach national title game

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

(Note: The KCKCC women’s basketball team is being honored this morning in the Kansas Legislature.)

If there were ever any doubts about the strength of the Jayhawk Conference, Kansas City Kansas Community College’s cruise to the 2016 NJCAA Division II women’s national basketball championship added yet another jewel to an already glimmering conference crown.

It was the second straight year that the Jayhawk has claimed the Division II national championship and the third consecutive year the conference has had a team in the championship game. Johnson County won the women’s national title in 2015 and Highland finished runnerup to Mesa (Ariz.) in the 2014 championship game.

Add Hutchinson’s second place finish in this year’s Division I men’s championship and it was another banner year for Jayhawk basketball.

“If it were not for Highland and Johnson County, we would not have been prepared for the national tournament which says a lot for our conference,” said KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry. “Our region really prepared us for the national tournament. I don’t think those other teams in the national were tested like we were tested.”

As it turned out, KCKCC’s two toughest tests on the way to the national title came in the Region VI tournament. Giving up only one fourth quarter field goal, the Lady Blue Devils came from 11 points back in the final period to defeat No. 4 ranked Highland 54-50 in the semifinals after the two teams has split during the regular season.

Faced with a third meeting with No. 1 ranked and unbeaten Johnson County whom they’d lost to twice including a 30-point humiliation 22 days earlier, the Blue Devils held the Cavaliers to just one free throw in the final five minutes for a 63-56 win in the title game.

The rest of the way was much easier. In a span of four days, the Lady Blue Devils took down the No. 1, No. 2, No. 5 and No. 12 seeded teams by an average of 19 points per game. After a 72-53 win that ended Waubonsee’s 18-game winning streak on Wednesday, the Blue Devils defeated No. 5 Owens 78-64 on Thursday, unbeaten and No. 1 ranked Monroe 81-59 Friday and No. 2 Illinois Central 81-59 in the national championship game.

The pivotal game, said McKinstry, came in the quarterfinals against Owens.

“A very good team,” McKinstry said. “If you didn’t know anything about either team, you’d look at Owens and think they would probably run away with the game because of their size and athleticism.”

Leading 40-28 at the half, the Blue Devils had their lead cut to five points midway through the final quarter. Just as in the two regional wins, the KCKCC defense took over, holding Owens to just two free throws the final five minutes in the 14-point win.

“We got the stops and we showed we could rebound and stay with teams bigger than us,” McKinstry said. Despite not having a 6-footer on his lean (only nine healthy players) roster, the Blue Devils were outrebounded by only one (43-42).

The Blue Devils were led by 5-11 sophomore Cheyenne North, who had a spectacular all-around performance with 20 points, 19 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 blocked shots. Unfortunately, she also suffered a painful shoulder injury which nearly kept her out of the semifinals. Despite the injury, she had 13 points and 9 rebounds against Monroe and 14 points and 16 rebounds in the title game to earn the tourney’s Most Valuable Player award.

Offensively, all five starters averaged in double figures. Erin Anderson (15.5) and Brooklyn Wagler (15.3) led followed by North (13.3), Sierra Roberts (12.0) and Aricca Daye (44) while Brie Tauai averaged 8.8 off the bench. The Blue Devil floor general at just 5-4, Daye also led in assists with 21.

“It just shows how unselfish this team was,” McKinstry said.

The biggest difference, McKinstry said, was the intensity.

“We were able to stay with bigger teams because of how hard we played, especially as thin as we are,” McKinstry said. “The defensive effort and the intensity all week I thought was the difference. We aren’t talented enough if we don’t stay focused and play hard. If we let up, we can get exposed very quickly. In the end, I felt we just played harder and more aggressively than anyone in the tournament.”

Red flag warning, wind advisory today, with storms possible

Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible this afternoon and early evening, according to the National Weather Service.

While damaging winds will be the primary threat a few of the stronger storms may produce marginally severe hail, the weather service said. The tornado threat is low with the best chance for a brief touchdown over far northwest Missouri and within the “slight risk” region, according to the weather service.

A red flag warning is in effect from noon to 7 p.m. today for eastern Kansas and west central Missouri, the weather service said. Residents should avoid open burning today and any activity that could start a fire.

Today’s high will be near 75, according to the weather service. There is a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3 p.m. A south southwest wind of 21 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph.

Tonight, the low will be around 36. There is a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, the weather service said. A south southwest wind of 15 to 18 mph will become west northwest after midnight.

Thursday, the high will be near 47. It will be windy with a northwest wind of 16 to 20 mph, gusting as high as 28 mph, according to the weather service.

Thursday night, the low will be around 32, according to the weather service. A north northwest wind of 8 to 13 mph will become light and variable after midnight.

Friday, the high will be near 61 with mostly sunny skies, the weather service said. There will be a south wind of 5 to 13 mph.

Friday night, there is a 40 percent chance of showers. It will be mostly cloudy with a low of 45, according to the weather service.

Saturday, there is a 50 percent chance of showers, with a high near 59, the weather service said. Saturday night, there is a 60 percent chance of showers, with a low of 36.

Sunday, there is a 40 percent chance of showers, with a high near 49, according to the weather service. Sunday night, the low will be around 34.

Red flag warning (National Weather Service graphic)

Wind advisory (National Weather Service graphic)

Kansas House defeats attempt to repeal common core standards

by Mary Rupert

After a debate that lasted hours this afternoon, a bill that would repeal the common core standards was defeated 78-44 in the Kansas House.

“It was a very contentious debate,” said Rep. Val Winn, D-34th Dist., who was one of the legislators challenging the bill today. “There were a lot of attempts to improve a bad bill but it didn’t work.”

Those participating in the debate did not agree on a lot of the basic information. Supporters said Kansas could just write its own standards without problems, while opponents said it would have created havoc, extensive changes and extra costs for the state and school districts.

The Legislature has not yet come to an agreement on another major education issue, the school finance bill. It has already discussed two school finance bills, and a third one may come up for a hearing on Wednesday in the House.

The costs of the proposed common core repeal bill were a major topic in the discussion. A fiscal note said it would cost the state about $2 million for two years if they rewrite assessments for reading and math, plus about $9 million more to redo everything connected with the common core standards, and then districts also would face separate costs connected with changing the standards.

“We’ve been working on this since 2010 and the cost to throw all that away would at a minimum be $10 million to $12 million at the state level,” said Rep. Winn, who is a college professor and a member of the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools board.

Individual districts might have been forced to redo their curriculum, she said, citing the McPherson school district as an example. It spent $300,000 to redo one reading program, she added.

“So to rewrite the curriculum for 286 districts would just be crazy,” she said.

Rep. Winn believes since so many different items are tied to the common core, that a change would have also affected advanced placement and individual baccalaureate classes, and the use of the ACT and SAT tests, as well as current textbooks that are tied to the common core.

They would have had one year to rewrite all curricular standards under the proposed bill, she said, and that wasn’t possible.

The language was so vague in the amended bill that some legislators weren’t sure what it meant, and many said they would not risk the progress that has been made, Rep. Winn said.

The state Department of Education is already rewriting standards anyway for some of the content areas, and they do it every seven years, she said. The standards for English, language and math were added previously.

The state board has self-executing power, Rep. Winn said, but the sponsor of the bill said the Legislature created the state board and could tell the state board what to do.

Several major groups opposed this bill to repeal the common core standards, including the State Department of Education and other education groups.

Rep. Amanda Grosserode, who sponsored the repeal bill, expressed a concern about the potential for data to be stored about children. During the debate, she said she had a lot of complaints about the common core standards from parents.

Rep. Winn said the common core standards are “what you want to know,” while the curriculum addresses “how you teach it.” The curriculum is set at the district level.

House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs issued this statement on the topic:

“Today, a bi-partisan coalition of legislators voted overwhelmingly to maintain high-quality education standards. But our work is not done. The legislature must still take up how to equitably and adequately fund our public schools. Both high standards and suitable funding are essential to ensuring all Kansas children have the opportunity to succeed.”