Ward girls advance over Hiawatha, 49-45

Junior Tina Rosales twisted to put up a shot past the leap of Hiawatha sophomore Lakyn Leupold. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)
 

by Brian Turrel

Coach Dominique Washington challenged the Bishop Ward Lady Cyclones after a half of being outplayed and outmuscled by the Hiawatha Redhawks. He reminded them of the obstacles and adversity they had faced all season and how they had come through.

“It’s up to you. It’s up to you to dig this one out. Get yourself out of the hole. I guarantee you we will advance,” Washington recalled after the game. “And that’s what they did. We came out strong.”

The team responded to Washington’s challenge, and Bishop Ward came back from an 11-point second quarter deficit to beat Hiawatha in the 3A KSHSAA sub-state playoffs, 49-45.

Bishop Ward went on a run in the third quarter, pulling even with the Redhawks with about 5 minutes to go in the querter. Hiawatha didn’t relent, and the two teams traded leads throughout the second half. Trapping defense with active hands on the ball and the ball-handler prevented any easy plays by either team.

The vocal Ward fans weren’t able to exhale until 4.2 seconds remained in the contest. With Ward up by 3, Jimena Lopez was knocked to the ground in the Redhawks’ last-chance attempt to regain possession. Lopez hit the second of two free throws for a 4-point lead, eliminating Hiawatha’s chance for a game-tying buzzer-beater.

Lopez finished the game with 18 points, 16 in the second half. She hit key baskets on drives in the third quarter, and made 4 of 7 free throws in the closing minutes to keep Ward ahead. Tina Rosales scored 10, and Perla Frayre-Delgado added 8.

Ward advances to the 3A sub-state semi-finals on Friday. The sub-state semi-finals and finals are being held at Hiawatha High School. Ward will face off against the Sabetha Lady Bluejays, tipping off at 6 p.m.

Other local playoff action:

3A: Bishop Ward boys lost to Marysville 63-25.
4A: Piper girls defeated Ottawa 64-36.
5A: Turner boys lost to Basehor-Linwood 70-40.
Schlagle boys lost to De Soto 68-62.
Washington boys defeated St. James Academy. They move on to play at De Soto in the sub-state final on Friday at 7 p.m.
Bonner Springs boys lost to Topeka West 71-54.
6A: Harmon girls lost to Olathe North 79-12.

Jimena Lopez wrestled for a rebound. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Both teams scrambled after a loose ball on the floor. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Bishop Ward head coach Dominique Washington encouraged his team during a break in the fourth quarter. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Senior Jimena Lopez tried a scoop shot to get out of the reach of her defender. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Sophomore Sofia Cook took a fall-away jumper. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Junior Tina Rosales was challenged as she went to the basket. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Tina Rosales got some push-back from a defender as she drove along the baseline. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Junior Vanesa Otero drove around the defense of Hiawatha junior Callyn Pavlish. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Hiawatha junior Katherine Madsen got back to defend a layup by junior Vanesa Otero. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Senior Jimena Lopez got congratulations from her mother after the game. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Senior Jimena Lopez drove for a layup. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Freshman Jaden Oropeza got a brushback from Hiawatha sophomore Clara Lindstrom. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Junior Perla Frayre-Delgado was defended by Hiawatha sophomore Clara Lindstrom. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Sophomore Sofia Cook put up a short jumper on the baseline. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Senior Aliana Rodriguez muscled a shot up past the Hiawatha defense. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

 

Hiawatha sophomore Sarah Madsen was surrounded by Ward defenders as soon as she came with a rebound. (Photo copyright 2020 by Brian Turrel)

No. 2 ranked Labette ends Lady Blue Devils’ season, 79-68

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s reign as NJCAA Division II national women’s basketball champion came to an end Tuesday night but not without a whale of a fight against the team ranked No. 2 in the nation.

Labette, the Jayhawk Conference champion and No. 1 regional seed, pulled away in the closing minutes for a 79-68 win in Parsons to advance to the Region VI championship game against Johnson County at the Hutchinson Sports Arena Friday night.

It was the third win by the Cardinals (24-4) over the Lady Blue Devils, who ended the season with a 25-7 record. The 25 wins are the seventh most in a single season and a remarkable record considering only two players returned from last year’s national championship team and only one of them for a half-season.

Labette’s accurate shooting and rebounding proved to be the difference Tuesday. The Cardinals knocked down 31-of-54 shots for 57.4 percent in winning their seventh straight game. The Blue Devils were limited to 20-of-53 for 37.7 percent and out-rebounded 35-22.

But even then the Blue Devils trailed only 63-60 with six minutes to go and had a good look at a tying 3-point shot that misfired and Labette pulled away with an 8-0 run.

“Very proud of our girls,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “They played extremely hard and pushed Labette to the very end. We had a few opportunities to hang our heads and let the game get away but we didn’t. We made Labette earn the victory so I can certainly go home a proud coach.”

Freshman Aliyah Myers had an outstanding night to lead the Blue Devils, scoring a game-high 25 points that included five 3-pointers, four rebounds and three steals.

“Aliyah Myers was fantastic tonight,” McKinstry said. “She was extremely aggressive and made some huge shots for us.

“Brodi Byrd and Caroline Hoppock did a great job playing extended minutes and multiple positions and I’ve never seen more teams game plan for one specific person than they do for Kamryn Estell. She’s a matchup nightmare for everyone and her presence opens things up for her teammates.”

Hoppock had 13 points and Byrd 11 in their final games while Estell was limited to just six shots, hitting four for 10 points along with four rebounds and three assists. Jada Mayberry with seven points was the only other Blue Devil with a field goal.

KCKCC actually shot better from 3-point than the field, converting 13-of-32 for 40.6 percent. In addition to Myers’ five treys, Byrd had three for a KCKCC career record of 132 while Hoppock and Myers each made two and Estell one.

Labette was led by the duo of 6-foot Angel Williams, who had 22 points on 11-of-13 shooting, and 5-4 Denijsha Wilson, who had 19 points including 8-of-10 free throws. Both teams dominated their own boards. The Blue Devils were credited with only three offensive rebounds; Labette five.

Elsewhere, No. 7 ranked Johnson County earned the other spot regional final with an 86-75 win at No. 13 Highland.

Judge allows wrongfully convicted Lamonte McIntyre’s civil case against Wyandotte County to proceed

by Dan Margolies and Peggy Lowe, Kansas News Service

A federal judge has declined to dismiss most of the counts in a civil lawsuit brought by Lamonte McIntyre and his mother over his conviction for a double murder he did not commit and his subsequent 23-year imprisonment.

The blistering 70-page ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil came in response to motions to throw out the lawsuit by the defendants — the Unified Government of Wyandotte County; Roger Golubski, a now-retired Kansas City, Kansas, detective who was instrumental in framing McIntyre; and other policemen involved in the investigation.

Although Vratil agreed to dismiss some of the lawsuit’s counts on technical legal grounds, she left standing most of the counts in the lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed to a possible trial.

Cheryl Pilate, one of the McIntyres’ attorneys, said she was gratified by the ruling.

“Lamonte and Rosie suffered enormously through the 23 years of Lamonte’s wrongful incarceration, and they look forward to presenting their case to a jury,” Pilate said in an email.

McIntyre was 17 when he was arrested in 1994 for the shotgun killings of Doniel Quinn, 21, and Donald Ewing, 34. He was convicted and given two life sentences. He was freed from prison in October 2017 after the two alleged eyewitnesses in the case recanted their testimony and the Wyandotte County district attorney concluded the case involved a “manifest injustice.”

Last month, the state of Kansas awarded McIntyre $1.55 million and a certificate of innocence under a new Kansas law enacted to compensate wrongfully imprisoned defendants.

In laying out the factual background of the case, Vratil was unsparing in her description of how Golubski acted to coerce witnesses into giving fabricated testimony and to railroad McIntyre.

“Since the early 1980s, Roger Golubski used his power as a police officer to exploit sex from vulnerable black women in the north end of Kansas City, Kansas,” Vratil wrote at the outset of her ruling. “To do so, he threatened arrest and prosecution, fixed tickets, made warrants disappear and paid money and drugs. He would often fixate on particular women, harassing them continually for months or even years. These predilections and abuses were well known among other officers and supervisors within the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department (‘KCKPD’). They knew – and even joked about – Golubski’s practice of arresting black prostitutes, forcing them to have sex (often at the precinct house itself) and then releasing them without pressing charges.”

Golubski’s attorney, Morgan Roach, said he did not have a chance to thoroughly review Vratil’s ruling and declined to comment. Golubski, who retired about a decade ago as a police captain after more than 30 years on the Kansas City, Kansas, police force, could not be reached for comment.

One of the women Golubski exploited was McIntyre’s mother, Rose McIntyre, whom Golubski sexually assaulted at his police station office, according to Vratil’s recounting of the facts. Another officer who opened Golubski’s door and saw what was happening left without saying anything.

Golubski’s harassment continued over time even after Rose McIntyre rejected his advances, ultimately leading her to move to a new home and change her phone number in the hope he would stop terrorizing her, according to the court documents.

In April 1994, Golubski ginned up evidence against McIntyre for the slaying of Quinn and Ewing as they sat in a parked car, court documents stated. Golubski coerced two women, one of whom he had a sexual relationship with, into identifying McIntyre as the killer, according to court documents. Both were pressured into picking out McIntyre’s photo from an array of five photos – three of which were of Lamonte and two of his close relatives.

Golubski and other police officers spent no more than six hours investigating the murders, Vratil said, before pinning them on McIntyre and arresting him.

Evidence later developed by McIntyre’s lawyers showed that the murder was committed by Neil Edgar Jr., better known as “Monster,” who worked for a local drug kingpin.

McIntyre and his mother filed their civil lawsuit shortly after McIntyre was exonerated in 2017. They amended the lawsuit in September.

The defendants “regularly engaged in improper and illegal acts to obtain unreliable and often falsified evidence for the purpose of closing cases and intentionally protected certain notorious drug dealers from arrest by wrongfully arresting other residents of the community for the dealers’ crimes,” the lawsuit states.

The nine-count suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for violations of the McIntyres’ constitutional rights and various state laws. While declining to dismiss most of the counts against the defendants, Vratil did agree with the Unified Government that, under Kansas law, it cannot be held liable for punitive damages. The judge did not dismiss the compensatory damage claims against the UG.

Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.
Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor at KCUR. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.

Peggy Lowe is a KCUR reporter and is on Twitter at @peggyllowe.

See more at https://www.kcur.org/post/judge-allows-wrongfully-convicted-lamonte-mcintyres-civil-case-against-wyandotte-county-proceed