Month: February 2019

Warm front expected to increase temperatures today

After a cool start today, temperatures will rise to about 40 degrees, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

A warm front is lifting north into the area, and is expected to reach the Missouri River, the weather service said.

On Tuesday night, a cold front will move in, with freezing drizzle possible Tuesday night through Wednesday morning, according to the weather service. This could produce slick driving conditions.

Snow, freezing drizzle and sleet are possible on Wednesday night, according to the forecast.

Today’s forecast is sunny, with a high near 40 and an east wind around 8 mph, the weather service said. The temperature at 9 a.m. was 20 degrees, with a wind chill of 8.

Tonight, the low will be around 23 with a northeast wind of 7 to 9 mph, according to the weather service.

Tuesday, there is a slight chance of drizzle after noon, with a high near 44 and an east northeast wind of 6 to 8 mph, the weather service said.

Tuesday night, there is a chance of drizzle before 4 a.m., then a chance of freezing drizzle, according to the weather service. The low will be around 27 with a north northeast wind of 5 to 8 mph.

Wednesday, there will be a slight chance of freezing drizzle before noon, the weather service said. The high will be near 33 with a north wind of 8 to 10 mph.

Wednesday night, there is a 30 percent chance of snow, freezing drizzle and sleet between midnight and 1 a.m., then a chance of snow and freezing drizzle after 1 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 18, and less than a tenth of an inch of precipitation is expected.

Thursday, it will be mostly cloudy with a high near 33, the weather service said.

Thursday night, it will be mostly cloudy with a low of 23, according to the weather service.

Friday, there is a 40 percent chance of rain and snow between noon and 5 p.m., then a chance of snow after 5 p.m., the weather service said. The high will be near 36.

Friday night, there is a 40 percent chance of snow before midnight, with a low of 13, according to the weather service.

Saturday, it will be mostly sunny with a high near 23, the weather service said.

Saturday night, there is a 30 percent chance of snow with a low of 6, according to the weather service.

Sunday, there is a 30 percent chance of snow, with a high near 21, the weather service said.

KCKCC men to face Ft. Scott Wednesday after 61-56 loss to No. 9 JCCC

KCKCC forward Daiyon Taylor was confronted by Johnson County’s 6-6 David Turner (5) while Blue Devil teammate Calvin Slaughter (10) awaited a possible rebound in a 61-56 loss Saturday. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Just when it looked like Kansas City Kansas Community College was poised to spring a big upset, the roof fell in on the Blue Devils Saturday.

Led by Malcolm Tate, the Blue Devils surged to a 23-14 lead over No. 9 ranked Johnson County with less than six minutes left in the half. By the time KCKCC scored again with 14 seconds left in the half, the Cavaliers had scored 19 straight points and led 33-23 on the way to a 61-56 win.

The win gave JCCC a share of the Jayhawk Conference championship with No. 4 Highland, both with 9-1 records. The Blue Devils (4-6), meanwhile, finished fourth and will play host to Fort Scott (3-7) Wednesday at 7 p.m. in first round NJCAA Region VI playoff action.

KCKCC swept Fort Scott in the first two meetings of the two teams, the Blue Devils winning 65-58 at home and 70-67 at Fort Scott. A third win would send the Blue Devils to Highland Saturday in a semifinal contest. In Wednesday’s other opener, Labette (5-5) will play host to Hesston (0-10).

A sophomore from Wichita South playing his final home game, Malcolm Tate had four field goals including a pair of 3-pointers for 11 points and Taylor Turner and Calvin Slaughter each chipped in with a trey in building KCKCC’s 23-14 lead against JCCC.

“A really good 14 minutes but we’ve got to be mentally tougher when teams make a run at us,” KCKCC coach Kelley Newton said.

Sophomore General Williams fueled the JCCC run with a trio of 3-pointers, Xavier Womack converted a pair of 3-point plays and David Turner contributed two layups to the game-changing outburst. Williams finished with 21 points, Turner 13 and nine rebounds and Womack 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Trailing 33-25 at the half, KCKCC got within five points early in the second half only to have Williams connect on the fourth of his five 3-pointers and the Blue Devils never got closer until the final seconds.

Sophomore Arother Ratliff led the Blue Devils with 15 points and nine rebounds. Tate finished with 11 points, Slaughter nine, Turner six and Cody Dortch five. Kelyn Bolton led in assists with four and grabbed six rebounds.

Neither team shot well, The Cavaliers were 17-of-54 for 32.7 percent; the Blue Devils 20-of-61 for 32.8 percent. KCKCC had a slight 43-41 edge in rebounds but not enough to overcome a rash of turnovers – 17 in all that JCCC converted into a game-changing 27 points. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, got just five points out of 11 Cavalier miscues.

After split, Blue Devils baseball team back in action on the road Sunday afternoon

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

The Kansas City Kansas Community College Blue Devils headed south Thursday for a doubleheader to ready for the 2019 Jayhawk Conference season.

Playing at the U.S. Baseball Stadium in Springfield, Missouri, the Blue Devils blanked State Fair 8-0 behind the pitching of Carlos Soto and then dropped a 5-4 decision to Indian Hills Community College of Ottumwa, Iowa.

On Sunday, KCKCC (2-5) will meet State Fair again in a 1 p.m. doubleheader that will be played on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. If weather permits, the home opener will come Tuesday against William Jewell at 2 p.m.

Soto was nearly flawless in blanking State Fair, allowing only a two-out single in the third inning while striking out six and walking two. Max Storch finished up, walking one and strike out one.

The Blue Devil defense backed Soto with errorless play that included an outstanding catch in leftfield by Tyler Henry and a double play started by Brady Holder at second base.

“Soto had an outstanding performance,” KCKCC coach Matt Goldbeck said. “He wanted to finish the game but this early in the season we didn’t want to stretch him out. Also, it was a chance to get Storch an inning of work.”

Tyler Henry tripled twice and Kemper Bednar doubled and singled to pace a 9-hit KCKCC attack. Scoreless through three innings, the Blue Devils took a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Jose Sosa led off with a single and after walk, scored on a passed ball and Henry followed with his first triple.

The Blue Devils put the game out of reach in the fifth, scoring six runs on six hits. Consecutive singles by Eduardo Acosta, Brady Holder and Traice Harter scored one run and after two walks, JT Goodfellow singled in two more. The final three runs came on a Matt Schrick sacrifice fly, Henry’s second triple and a double by Bednar.

KCKCC rallied for two runs in the top of the fifth inning to tie Indian Hills 4-4 only to give up an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth in the 5-4 loss. The Blue Devils put two runners on base in each of the last two innings but could not score.

“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot and they took advantage of it,” Goldbeck said.

KCKCC tied the game in the fifth on a leadoff triple by Bednar, three walks and a run-scoring single by Eric Hinostroza. Bednar also drove in the game’s first run with a bunt single in the second and doubles by Holder and Hinostroza made it 2-0 in the third.

Indian Hills bunched four hits for four runs in the fourth inning to take a 4-2 lead. Back-to-back triples with two out and a run-scoring single scored the runs off Osvaldo Mendez, who gave up seven hits in five innings, striking out six and walking two. Jose Amaro pitched a scoreless sixth, striking out one.

Traice Harter’s single in the sixth kept a 7-game hitting streak intact while KCKCC started the seventh with a single by Sosa and a walk.