Month: February 2018

Piper results

Piper High School cheerleaders recently competed at Baldwin. (Photo from Piper High School)

Piper High School – boys basketball at Tonganoxie
– Boys: varsity 67-53, JV 70-73, 9th 70-49
– Girls: varsity 63-13, 51-13, 52-27

Piper High School – debate at Lawrence
– 2nd Place Sweeps
– Improvised Duet Acting: Ally Viera and Marcus Wallace 2nd and qualified for State Champs. Amelia Stella and Gracie Petzoldt 5th
– Program of Oral Interpretation: Chris Baumli 3rd and Daijah Jones 4th
– Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking: Andrew Flory 3rd and Taran Kerst 8th
– Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking: Daijah Jones 8th
– Dramatic Interpretation: Jamike Unoke 4th and Sophia Ridnour 6th
– Humorous Interpretation: Ally Viera 4th and Martha Wolf 8th
– Public Forum Debate: Michael Gentry and Cara Bruce 3rd
– Poetry: Jamike Unoke 6th and Chris Baumli 8th
– Informative Speaking: Devin Rice 6th
– Lincoln Douglas Debate: Scout Molder 7th
– Oration: Taran Kerst 7th
– Info 10: Cristian Izurieta 7th
– Impromptu Speaking: Andrew Flory 8th
– Novice Poetry: Amaya Starks 1st and Darius McNeal 8th
– Novice Oration: Ariana Textor 1st
– Novice Congressional Debate: Brooke Reese 4th
– Novice Prose: Caroline Zimmerman 8th

Piper High School – cheer at Baldwin
– Team Routine – 2
– Small Stunt – 2
– Jumps – A. Dropplemann – 1, J. Simmons – 1, S. Frick – 2
– Tumbling – J. Simmons – 1, S. Frick – 2

Piper High School – wrestling at Schlagle (WyCo)
– 4th place as a team
– Nick Lawson finished third at 113 going 2-2
– Sean Stewart finished third at 182 going 3-1
– Tyson Lanter finished second at 120 going 3-1
– Anthony Ferguson finished second at 145 going 4-1
– LeMoses White finished second at 285 going 1-1
– Brandon Martin finished first at 152 going 4-0

Piper High School – regional piano festivals
– Scott Ladish I rating
– Heather Nguyen II rating
– Drew Novak II rating
– Philipp Bretschneider II rating

Because of weather expected Tuesday, the KVL Boys Swim meet scheduled for Tuesday at Turner High School has been re-scheduled to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7.

– From Doug Key, Piper High School activities director

Blue Devils’ major upset bid falls short against Highland

KCKCC freshman Malcolm Tate found tight going as he squeezed between two Highland defenders in the Blue Devils’ 60-59 loss Saturday, (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College didn’t pull off the Jayhawk Conference’s biggest upset of the year Saturday but boy, did the Blue Devils give it a whale of a battle.

Playing with just six players including redshirt Chance Scott playing his first college game, the Blue Devils led the first three quarters of the contest and trailed by just two points with less than three minutes to go before Highland escaped with a 60-51 win.

The win boosted the Scotties’ record to a conference-best 18-6 while KCKCC fell to 7-17 heading into an Academic Achievement home twin bill Wednesday against Labette.

A 3-point goal by Holden Redpath, his sixth of the game in just nine attempts, and a steal and layup by Taiveyhon Mason with 2 ½ minutes remaining, ignited a 9-0 run that finally gave the Scotties breathing room against the exhausted Blue Devils

The Blue Devil bench reduced to one by suspensions of seven players on Thursday, Juwan Davenport and Malcolm Tate played all 40 minutes for KCKCC, Tyson Beringer 39, Josiah Laws 36 and DuVonte Beard 34. And yet the Blue Devils led 28-22 at halftime, did not give up the lead until 10:38 remained and were down just 48-46 before the Scotties escaped in the final three minutes.

“I was so proud of these guys, they gave such a great effort,” KCKCC coach Kelley Newton said. “Under the circumstances, they left everything on the floor. You couldn’t ask for more, they gave everything they had.”

Davenport led the scoring with 20 points while Tate added 11, Beard and Beringer 8 each and Scott a 3-pointer on his first college shot. Beringer also had nine rebounds, Laws and Beard eight each and Davenport and Tate five apiece as KCKCC decisively won the battle of the boards 40-29.

With the odds stacked so heavily against them, the Blue Devils wisely kept the ball away from the high-scoring Scotties as much as possible. Working the 30-second clock and putting up clock-beating shots offensively, the Blue Devils stayed out foul trouble and shut down the Scotties defensively with an aggressive zone and controlling the rebounding.

Both team shots right at 37 percent and the Blue Devils were 16-of-25 from the foul line to only 6-of-8 for Highland. The difference was that KCKCC got off just 40 shots to 60 for the Scotties; Highland made nine 3-pointers (34 attempts) to 4-of-12 for the Blue Devils; and the dreaded turnovers. The Scotties converted 21 KCKCC turnovers into 14 points; Highland committed just seven.

Redpath finished with a game-high 22 points, Mason added 13 as they combined for 35 of the Scotties 59 points.

In other action Saturday, Johnson County (4-0) took undisputed possession of the Region VI lead by handing Fort Scott its first league loss 76-68.

With redshirt freshman Chance Scott, standing right, his only bench player, KCKCC coach Kelley Newton went over second-half strategy with, from left, Duwan Davenport, Josiah Laws, Malcolm Tate, DuVonte Beard and Tyson Beringer. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)
KCKCC freshman Tyson Beringer used his 6-9 height to elevate high above three Highland defenders for a jarring dunk in the Blue Devils’ 59-50 loss Saturday. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

No policy shift from Brownback, but Gov. Colyer looks to make quick mark

by Jim McLean, Kansas News Service

After promising for months to change the tone when he took charge, new Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer spent his first days in office trying to deliver on that pledge.

He was sworn in late Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday morning, he met with Democratic leaders that his predecessor, Sam Brownback, rarely consulted.

“We’re going to keep that dialogue open,” he said. “We’re going to keep working with people.”

That afternoon, he summoned Statehouse reporters to an already refurbished office for a chat.

On Friday, Colyer hit the road for a series of “local media visits” in El Dorado, Independence and Pittsburg, Kansas. His office announced a series of staffing changes, including the appointment of Rep. Larry Campbell, an Olathe Republican, to head the budget office.

Campbell is a banker, adjunct business professor and, according to his campaign website, “an accomplished songwriter and performer of contemporary Christian music.” He replaced Shawn Sullivan, who moved to the newly created position of chief operating officer.

A Friday new release also highlighted new leadership at the Department of Health and Environment and the Department for Children and Families, signaling that the acting secretaries of both agencies – while technically appointed by Brownback – were Colyer picks.

During his chat with reporters, Colyer said he would issue some executive orders in the coming week aimed at increasing government transparency and dealing with sexual harassment. Reports earlier this year indicated sexual harassment remains a persistent problem at the Statehouse.

The changes Colyer has made in the first days of his administration are more than window dressing, said Washburn University political scientist Bob Beatty, but they don’t signal any policy breaks from Brownback.

“There is still the question of tone versus direction,” Beatty said. “The direction may not change very much.”

Reporters pressed Colyer, but he declined to criticize Brownback or second-guess his predecessor’s policies.

“I’m not interested in looking backward,” the new governor said. “I’m interested in looking forward.”

Noting that Brownback departed as the least popular governor in state history, Beatty said “any change will probably look pretty good” to lawmakers and others looking to work with the administration.

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.

See more at http://kcur.org/post/no-policy-shift-brownback-kansas-gov-colyer-looks-make-quick-mark.