Sophomore guard Mercedes Dominguez launched a three-point shot from the corner in the first half of Bishop Ward’s substate tournament match against Wellsville. Wellsville won the game 37-35. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)
by Brian Turrel
A winning season came to a disappointingly early end for the Bishop Ward Lady Cyclones on Monday evening. After finishing the regular season 11-2, they lost their opening substate match to the Wellsville Lady Eagles, 37-35.
The 2020-2021 basketball season came with many challenges, and Ward has been able to field only six players on the girls team. Many families opted not to participate this year due to the pandemic. Head coach Dominique Washington and assistant coach Holland Craise were faced with integrating two freshmen and an inexperienced sophomore into the core of the team. In response, they developed a detailed plan for keeping every player in the game every time.
The season started in mid-December, but went on hiatus until Feb. 2 due to virus restrictions. With such a long layoff, the coaches included an hour of 3-on-3 scrimmage at the end of each practice to keep the players in condition.
Once the season resumed in February, in-game management was key, and the coaches “micro-managed” the players by stepping up their verbal instructions on the court. With three games per week, the players needed to stay as fresh as possible mentally and physically. The Lady Cyclones rolled through the compressed schedule with only two losses.
Monday night’s substate game was held at Kansas City Christian School in Prairie Village, since Bishop Ward’s traditional home field at KCKCC is unavailable due to Covid restrictions. A masked crowd of about 150 fans was on hand to watch the contest.
Ward opened with the advantage, getting an early three-pointer from forward Perla Frayre-Delgado and ending the first quarter with an 8-7 lead. Strong inside rebounding from forward Tina Rosales limited the Lady Eagles’ chances.
Foul trouble caught up with the Lady Cyclones in the second quarter. With the short bench, Washington had little opportunity to rotate out guards Nieves Vazquez and Vanesa Otero as they picked up three fouls each in the first half. Wellsville gained some offensive momentum in the second quarter, and went to the break with an 18-17 lead.
In the third quarter, the game remained in reach, but cold shooting and ball-handling turnovers from the Ward offense short-circuited each comeback attempt. With only 4 points in the quarter for Ward, Wellsville went to the final quarter with a 28-21 advantage.
Ward threw its effort into a fourth quarter comeback, but came up just short. Sharpshooter Mercedes Dominguez hit two 3-pointers from the right corner, and Vazquez took two steals for breakaways. With two minutes remaining, Rosales came down hard on her ankle, sending her to the bench. Wellsville hit just enough timely shots to stay ahead until a turnover closed off Ward’s bid for a final shot to win or tie in the closing seconds.
Dominguez led the team with 14 points, including four 3-pointers. Washington praised her shooting after the game, noting, “It’s kind of crazy to see teams ever give her the green light because she’s become very confident in her shot.” Delgado dropped in 9 points, including 4-of-5 at the free throw line.
The Lady Cyclones earned second in the Crossroads Conference this year behind Barstow. They’ll open next year in the new Kaw Valley Conference, a group of six private and religious schools in Kansas City and Topeka.
The Lady Cyclones will lose key seniors Otero and Frayre-Delgado, and they will have some rebuilding to do. Washington is optimistic that some players who didn’t participate this year will be back next seasons to join returning all-conference players Rosales, Dominguez and Vazquez.
Senior forward Perla Frayre-Delgado drove through the block of Wellsville’s Alexis McDaniel. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)Freshman guard Nieves Vazquez scored on a breakaway layup. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)Junior forward Tina Rosales made a move against the interior defense of the Lady Eagles. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)Head coach Dominique Washington pulled the team together in a timeout in the fourth quarter. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)Senior guard Vanesa Otero brought the ball up the court. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)Freshman guard Mercedes Dominguez was stymied by the Wellsville defense on a drive inside. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)Senior forward Perla Frayre-Delgado put up a shot in the lane. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)Frayre-Delgado wiped away a tear as she left the court for the final time as a Lady Cyclone. (Photo copyright 2021 by Brian Turrel)
High school spring sports will start March 1 in the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools district.
The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education approved a spring sports schedule at a four-hour meeting Tuesday, Feb. 9.
Tammie Romstad, the district’s athletics director, said at the 5 p.m. school board meeting that students have not competed in spring sports since May 2019. They lost last year’s season because of cancellations to reduce the risk of COVID-19.
According to Romstad, all the surrounding schools in Wyandotte and Johnson counties will participate in the Kansas State High School Activities Association’s spring sports.
Romstad said the district will continue to follow Unified Government Health Department sports recommendations for high school students. The district plans to cohort athletes, do health screenings, sign-in sheets for tracing, and take temperatures every day, she said.
No spectators will be allowed at games, according to Romstad. Also, everyone, participants and officials, will wear a mask, she said.
Conditioning for spring sports is scheduled to begin Feb. 15, Romstad said. They will follow the Health Department and district’s protocols, and forms must be signed.
Board vice president Wanda Brownlee Paige said she wanted to make sure that the district supports girls’ and boys’ teams equally.
In answer to a question from board member Janey Humphries about whether the Health Department has issued guidelines for spring sports, Romstad said they have not issued any new guidelines since earlier, when the district approved wrestling. The guidelines include wearing masks and restricting crowds. The last sports guidelines from the Health Department were posted on Nov. 13.
Dr. Valdenia Winn, a board member, asked whether students had to be in good academic standing in order to train and play in competitions.
Romstad said the district eligibility policies are in effect now, with the same rules about maintaining grades. The KSHSAA does not let students play if they don’t pass. Under the district eligibility policy, the first week after an F, a student won’t get to play but will be able to practice, and the second week, the student is restricted if the F isn’t raised, she said.
The high school policy passed unanimously, with Paige stating that she wishes the district would check on student athletes’ grades all the time, and not wait for the progress report, in order to keep everybody’s grades up.
The school board also approved intramural competition for middle school spring sports. According to Romstad, the sports include track and field, and boys and girls soccer.
Similar health recommendations will be followed for middle school as for the high schools, with no spectators allowed.
The middle school intramural programs begin April 19, and this will be an opportunity for students in track and field or soccer to learn skills and play, she said.
The students will practice and play within their own schools, with no outside school competition, she said. This fits the needs of the schools better, Romstad said.
With the hybrid plans of attending school two days a week in April, it will be really hard for middle school students to participate in the KSHSAA programs, since they would miss a lot of practices and not be prepared for contests, she said. Some schools may have a lot of participation, while others may have a minimal amount, she said. This plan will allow coaches to teach skills, she said.
Dr. Alicia Miguel, acting superintendent, said the Health Department has relaxed school guidelines a little, allowing for more changing of classes.
The school district also did not play sports last fall, and the fall season sports were moved to this month. A shortened fall sports season began on Feb. 1 in the KCK schools, with high school teams able to play other high school teams in the district.
Doctors said they were able to find a way to continue youth sports safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. David Smith, medical director of youth sports medicine at the University of Kansas Health System, said although many sports events had to be canceled in the early days of the pandemic, eventually many athletes were able to safely compete in indoor and outdoor sports.
Youth sports have been slowly increasing as they see the community spread of COVID-19 decrease, he said.
The doctors discussed the challenges and accomplishments of youth sports medicine at a news conference on Monday morning at the University of Kansas Health System.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association recently passed a measure allowing more participation on the court, but still requiring masks and requiring athletes and others to stay in their bubbles.
Not too surprisingly, some Kansas communities were up in arms about not being able to go to the gym and watch their kids play, and some of them did not want to wear masks, Dr. Smith said. But the youth sports organization stood by its decision to require masks and to limit the number of people at events.
Not having school in session for long periods of time has had a devastating effect on youth, he said, but if athletes and others keep wearing their masks, eventually life will return to normal.
Dr. Smith also said that the infection rate in the community played an important role in the infection rate of athletes.
For the most part, COVID-19 wasn’t spreading among athletes during their practices and games, he believes. It’s usually social activities that spread it.
For example, in track, an outdoor sport, athletes usually like to congregate, socialize and eat snacks together – all things they have to be careful about, he said. It’s important to keep athletes out of the social circles.
In the fall, he saw sports where some athletes were very good about adhering to social distancing, hand washing and mask-wearing, and some were not, he said. The same could be said for coaches. He recalled one instance of a person eating a candy bar while handing out water, not a safe practice.
Although outdoor sports are generally safer than indoor sports, Dr. Smith said indoor sports can be made just as safe if people adhere to safety measures, and a low-risk sport could be turned into high-risk if the athletes are not following the safety precautions. He does not like the distinctions that were made earlier between low-risk and high-risk sports.
Dr. Smith also discussed the risk of heart damage to athletes who have had COVID-19. There are guidelines for clearing athletes for competition, he said.
There are protocols for a graduated return to play, starting with exercise at a low level and working up gradually over a number of days to full return to play, he said. These decisions on returning to competition should be made with the athlete’s doctor.
With case numbers and hospitalization numbers trending down, Dr. Nathan Bahr, infection control physician at KU Health System, said it was so important for people not to let their guard down. They have to try to keep limiting the spread the best they can, he said.
Dr. Bahr also discussed the recent news that the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the South African strain of COVID-19 is being questioned. Dr. Bahr said vaccine manufacturers should be able to adjust vaccines quickly to fight variants.
He also said that vaccines are just one tool to fight the virus, and that wearing a mask and maintaining distance are just as important. Letting your guard down now because case numbers are starting to decline is a recipe for disaster and higher infections, according to Dr. Bahr.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said it’s not safe to visit with people outside your bubble if both have not been vaccinated. Even with vaccination, it’s best to wear a mask, he said.
Vaccines stop people from getting seriously ill and dying, but they don’t stop people from getting infected, he said. He compared the COVID-19 vaccine to the flu shot, You can get sick after getting the vaccine, but not as sick as you might otherwise have been.
Dr. Stite said it’s still possible to spread the virus after being vaccinated. Because of that, mask wearing will still be important, probably for much of this year.
COVID-19 case numbers reported
The total number of COVID-19 active and recovering COVID-19 patients at the University of Kansas Health System was 79 on Friday, a decrease of 10 since Friday, according to Dr. Nathan Bahr, infection control physician at the University of Kansas Health System. There were 27 active COVID-19 patients in the hospital, a decrease of three from Friday. Ten of those patients were in the intensive care unit, the same as Friday, with five on ventilators, an increase of one since Friday. There were another 52 patients hospitalized because of COVID-19 who were out of the acute phase, a decrease of seven since Friday.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 8 COVID-19 cases on Monday, Feb. 8, according to the Unified Government’s COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative 17,209 cases. There was a cumulative total of 237 deaths, no change since Sunday.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 150,805 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Monday. There were 1,930 cumulative deaths, and 103 was the daily average of new hospitalizations.
The state of Kansas reported 282,960 COVID-19 cases statewide on Monday, an increase of 1,398 cases since Friday, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The increase in cases from Friday to Monday was about half of the increase from Wednesday to Friday. There were an additional 96 deaths reported, with a cumulative total of 4,197.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Monday night reported 27,094,014 cases in the United States, with 464,941 total deaths nationwide.
Free COVID-19 tests Tuesday
Free COVID-19 tests will be offered from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, at All Saints parish, 811 Vermont Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. An appointment is not needed.
The test is offered through the Wyandotte County Health Task Force.
COVID-19 tests also will be available Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the Pierson Community Center parking lot, 1800 S. 55th St., Kansas City, Kansas. Hours are subject to change depending on the weather and other factors. These tests are through WellHealth Management. Appointments are required at the Pierson Community Center. For more information and to schedule a test, visit www.GoGetTested.com/Kansas.
The Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 test site at the former Kmart building at 78th and State will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9. Appointments are not needed for COVID-19 tests. To see if there is any change to the schedule, visit https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.
The Health Department is now offering saliva COVID-19 tests to the public.
Tests from the Health Department are free for those who live or work in Wyandotte County.
The tests are open to asymptomatic people as well as those who have symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19. Check with the UG Health Department’s Facebook page to see if there have been any changes in the schedule. Bring something that shows that you live or work in Wyandotte County, such as a utility bill.
Wyandotte County residents who are interested in getting a COVID-19 vaccine may fill out a survey form at the UG Health Department at https://us.openforms.com/Form/2f2bcc68-3b6a-450b-9007-d39819db6572. Residents will be contacted to make an appointment when vaccine becomes available. The Health Department currently is vaccinating high-contact critical workers, as well as residents over 85.
Cards and letters of encouragement for caregivers at KU Health System may be sent to Share Joy, care of Patient Relations, 4000 Cambridge St., Mailstop 1021, Kansas City, Kansas, 66160. Emails can be sent to [email protected].
Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask and social distancing order.
