Month: March 2021

Piper loses late at Lansing

Senior guard Evelyn Vazquez drove for a layup in the third quarter of Piper’s 5A substate final against Lansing Friday nght. Lansing won the game 35-32. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

The Piper Lady Pirates narrowly missed a return trip to the KSHSAA state basketball tournament, with a late, close 35-32 loss at Lansing in the 5A substate final on Friday evening.

Piper held a 5-point lead with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but wasn’t able to hold on as the Lady Lions surged past in the closing minutes. The Lady Pirates squandered a couple of late game-sealing opportunities at the free throw line. Lansing took advantage with a well-executed inbounds play under its own basket and took the lead for good with less than 5 seconds remaining.

The score was tied at 19 at the half, but Piper built a 5-point advantage in the third quarter by limiting Lansing to only 2 points with no made baskets. Lansing frustrated the Lady Pirates’ offense throughout the game by packing five defenders around the lane, denying all but a few penetration drives.

Senior guard Evelyn Vazquez led the Lady Pirates with 12 points. She was most successful on offense when the team used ball movement to stretch the Lansing defense to create openings. Senior forward Jennifer Guilbeaux added 10 points, and freshman guard Lauren Marron scored 5.

The 2021 tournament was the team’s first since being reclassified to 5A. Piper  defeated Basehor-Linwood 51-42 on Tuesday to advance to the substate final.

Piper finishes the season with a 13-6 overall record. The team won the Frontier League championship, its sixth league championship in a row.

Senior Jennifer Guilbeaux put back an offensive rebound. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

 

Sophomore guard Ryann Clark drove to the basket. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

 

Senior guard Dawnyale Bruce drove to the basket. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

 

The Piper cheerleaders performed during a break in the action. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

 

Freshman guard Lauren Marron put up a short range shot but was denied by Lansing junior Mackenzie Manth. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

 

Head coach Shane Stout talked strategy with his team during a timeout in the fourth quarter. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

 

Jennifer Guilbeaux set up the backcourt defense late in the fourth quarter. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

 

Marron pushed the ball up the court past a Lansing defender. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

 

Vazquez looked for a gap in the Lansing defense. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

 

Clark took a baseline jump shot. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)

Fire heavily damages vacant industrial building near railyard

A vacant industrial building at 451 S. 26th, Kansas City, Kansas, caught fire and burned on Friday.
A KC Scout photo showed a fire that was reported at 11:19 a.m. Friday at 451 S. 26th St., Kansas City, Kansas. (KC Scout phot0)

A vacant, industrial building caught fire and burned on Friday, March 5, at 451 S. 26th St., Kansas City, Kansas.

The fire caused extensive damage to the building, which was located next to the railyards, a spokesman stated.

The fire at the concrete structure, with a heavy timber roof, was fought in a defensive method, according to Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department Battalion Chief Scott Schaunaman.

Crews were sent to the fire about 11:19 a.m. Friday on a general alarm. About 35 were on the scene, fighting the fire.

The roof of the building was the only thing on fire, and had collapsed before firefighters arrived, Schaunaman stated.

Two aerial trucks fought the fire from the outside, and required about 3,500 feet of 5-inch supply line to furnish water from the hydrant to the apparatus, according to Schaunaman.

He said he spoke with the owner, who purchased the building about two months ago and had planned to redevelop itinto an industrial warehouse. The owner was told the building was used by the railroad to make ice blocks in the 1920s, he said.

It was a challenge to obtain enough water to suppress the fire, Schaunaman stated. One of the hydrants did not have enough pressure. Another hydrant was used, but some rail tracks had to be shut down as the supply line crossed the tracks, he said.

There were no injuries, and the cause of the fire is under investigation, he stated.

The warehouse building that caught fire Friday, top left, was located next to a railyard in Kansas City, Kansas.
Firefighters faced a challenge with getting enough water to fight a fire at a concrete warehouse on South 26th Friday.
The wooden roof of the concrete building on South 26th was completely burned in a fire on Friday.

79-year-old motorcyclist injured in I-70 crash

A motorcyclist was injured in an accident at 7:39 p.m. Thursday, March 4, on the ramp from the 18th Street Expressway to eastbound I-70 in Kansas City, Kansas, according to a trooper’s report.

A 79-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, man had a possible serious injury in the accident, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol trooper’s report.

The Honda motorcycle was exiting from northbound 18th Street when it lost control on the ramp, the trooper’s report stated.

The motorcycle then left the roadway and went into the right ditch, according to the trooper’s report.

According to the trooper’s report, the motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet. The motorcyclist was taken to a Kansas City, Kansas, hospital.