The 2012-13 season has faded into a memory for many and a focus has already begun for the next season with open gyms and camps planned for the summer months.  But few will forget the great times of watching these high school athletes as they filled area gymnasiums with the excitement of competition.

The Stoddard County Athletic Association continues to provide some of the best basketball in the area.  Countless hours spent shooting and conditioning all wraps up in only a few shorts months of games.  But all the effort extended by these young athletes will remain a great memory for a lifetime.

The SCAA has met to honor a few of the many athletes from the area with the naming of the All-Conference teams from their association.  The are three teams honored of 1st, 2nd and Honorable Mention teams, as well as a Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. 

Coach of the Year for the 2012-13 season is the head coach of the Bernie Mules, Brad Botsch.  Even more of an honor to a coach is when your own players are offered the highest award for the season.  Thus is the case for Coach Botsch with David Baker receiving the Player of the Year award and Landon Baker awarded the Defensive Player of the Year.

The Advance Hornets gathered in two positions of the SCAA First Team honors with Ethan Barr and Lane Below.  David Baker of Bernie was also named to the First Team along with Brett Ruch of the Bloomfield Wildcats.  Rounding out the honors was the dominant center for the Richland Rebels, Richard Forshe.

D.J. Dowdy of the Dexter Bearcats was named to the SCAA Second Team, along with B J Jennings of Bernie, Caleb Baker of Bloomfield and Jacob Plunkett of Puxico.  The final position on the 2nd Team was a tie between the Bernie Mules' Landon Wood and Puxico's Zach Tucker.

Dexter's Chase Young and Brad Potts received honorable mention for their performances during the 2012-13 season.

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Dexter, Missouri - The action around Charles "Seed" Bland Stadium was at a premium today as DHS hosted their one and only home track event, the Dexter High School Open.  Threatening rain throughout the afternoon, the weather cooperated with organizers and the full event was completed without delay.

With ten area teams filling the stadium, the meet was a chance for the athletes to compare their strength, quickness, speed and jumping ability in 17 individual and team events.  The teams included Dexter, Chaffee, Delta, Charleston, Zalma, Saxony Lutheran, Oran, Poplar Bluff, Sikeston and Bell City. 

A track and field event is a very big undertaking for coaches and school officials.  The event requires a large number of  volunteers willing to run each event and tally the scores 

"We really need a large number of people to make the meet a success," noted girls track coach, Jill Becker.  "We are so fortunate that so many stepped out to from the school and the community to help us.  We certainly want to thank them."

Dexter High School Girls Track

The Lady 'Cats team had a tremendous day winning first place overall in the meet.  With a total of 116 points in all events, the Lady 'Cats collected points in 13 of the 17 events. 

Leading the day for the Lady Bearcats was Makayla Waldner.  She finished first in three of her individual events of 400 meter run, 110 hurdles and long jump.

Samantha Midget finished second in the 200 meter run for the Bearcats with a time of 29.14, and in the 100 meter race, Melanie McKuin received a sixth place finish clocking a time of 13:85. 

The Bearcats turned in a great performance overall in the distance runs with Katie Justice finishing fifth in the 1600M and Alexis Smith finished in second place in the two-mile run or 3200 Meter.

Other notable finishes for the Bearcats were Shana Bess finished third in the discuss throw with a throw of 76' 8.5".  Chandler Crowley and Karoline Keirsey finished first and second respectively in the high jump event with jumps of 4' 8" and 4' 4".  

Kelsey Wood finished second place in the 800 meter run only slightly off the winning time of 2:38:48.  Julia Hahn had a strong third place finish in the 400 meter. 

The girls relay teams were equally dominant on the day winning the 4x800 meter, 4x200 meter and 4x100 meter events.   The 4x8 team was comprised of Alexis Smith, Julia Hahn, Kelsey Wood and Katie Justice.  Brooke Baker, Samantha Midget, Julia Hahn and Melanie McKuin make up the 4x200 relay team.  The 4x100 relay team is Makayla Waldner, Samantha Midget, Brooke baker and Melanie McKuin. 

"I was pleased with some events, our kids competed well," said Coach Jill King.  "They are working hard this season and that is what we want."

Overall this was a competitive event that the DHS girls performed up to their normal standards.  It always feels good to get the home win. 

Dexter High School Boys Track

The Dexter Boys Track team was equally competitive on the day finishing in seventh place overall for the meet with a total of 34 team points on the day. 

Alex Rybolt was a strong performer on the day in the 800 and 1600 meter runs.  Alex finished 4th and 5th respectively. 

An outstanding performance was turned in by Cole Renken as he was able to capture a second place finish in the long jump competition with an 18' 0" jump for the day.  Renken missed first place by a mere 1 inch.  He also finished sixth in the 400 meter run.

Other notable performances by Bearcat Jonathan Foels with 39' 0" Triple Jump to earn a 2nd place while Dalton Rickel finished fifth.  Hunter Hays finished in a tie for 4th place in the boys shot put with a throw of 34' 8.5".  Josh Ladd finished sixth in the 3200 meter (2 mile) run with a time of 12:46:05.  Houston Burnett turned in a fifth place finish in the 400 meter event.

The Bearcats relay teams were able to gain some points in both the 4x100 and 4x200 events finishing sixth and fourth respectively.

"We are extremely happy with how both our male and female teams went out and competed,"  said coach Greg Lummakka.  "There has been a great deal of improvement this year, as well as several athletes who achieved personal bests."

"We are looking forward to seeing more improvement as we prepare for our conference meet on April, 29th," added Coach Lummakka.

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Stoddard County, Missouri – The 2013 SCAA Baseball Tournament is under way with #1 seed Bernie Mules taking on #4 Bell City at 4 pm in Bernie.

Bell City was able to defeat Advance in the first round of play with a final score of 13 – 6. 

#2 ranked Woodland Cardinals will play #3 Bloomfield at 4 pm in Marble Hill.

Woodland defeated Richland 15 – 0 as Ben Lincoln threw a no-hitter. Bloomfield defeated Puxico 5 – 1 in the first round of action.

Thursday evening will be the Championship Game at the higher seed's location and the Third Place Game at the higher seed’s location, both games at 4 pm. 

Dexter, Missouri - The 11th Annual BA All-Star Extravaganza featured the top High School Seniors from over 65 area schools who competed on the court in Volleyball and Basketball.

The All-Star Volleyball teams competed early in the morning followed by the Class 1 & 2 Boys Basketball, Class 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 girls Basketball and Class 3, 4, & 5 Boys basketball games. 

 

Also included throughout the day were skills competitions and the popular 3-point shoot out and slam-dunk competitions sponsored by the Bank of Advance.  Following each of the games and competitions, awards were presented to the players and coaches.

Please visit www.bapromotions.com for the list of All-Star Coaches and Teams who participated in this year’s event.

Congratulations to Brad Potts, Katelynn Frazier and Brittany Harris for making the BA Basketball All-Star Teams!

Volleyball

Best Defensive Player: Paige Mays Bernie

Best Offensive Player: Natalie Gremand  Perryville

Best Setter: Katie Baker Bernie

Player of the Year: Natalie Gremand Perryville

Coach of the Year: David Mirly Perryville

Girls Basketball

Best Defensive Player: Tori Cole  Twin Rivers

Best Offensive Player: Brittany Harris Dexter

Player of the Year: Brittany Harris Dexter

Coach of the Year: Chad Allen Dexter

Class 1 & 2A Boys Basketball

Best Defensive Player: Larenzo Cornell  South Iron

Best Offensive Player:  Tie  David Baker Bernie

and Kyle Stroder Leopold

Player of the Year: Kyle Stroder Leopold

Coach of the Year: Joe Shoemaker Oran 

Class 3,4,5A Boys Basketball

Best Defensive Player: Ryan Parham Charleston

Best Defensive Player: Va’Shawn Ruffin Sikeston

Player of the Year: Va’Shawn Ruffin  Sikeston

Coach of the year: Gregg Holifield  Sikeston

Athletic Director of the Year: Andy McGill  Sikeston

Best Fans Class 3,4, 5A: Perryville Pirates

Best Fans Class 1 & 2A: Leopold Wildcats

2013 BA Extravaganza Volleyball

Controlled Passing:  Amy Johnson Kennett

Hardest Spike: Liza Gray Advance

MVP: Danielle Farmer Poplar Bluff

2013 BA Extravaganza Basketball 3 Point Shootout

Boys: Michael Hull Charleston

Girls: Danielle Farmer Poplar Bluff

Bank of Advance Slam Dunk: Dominique Walker Portageville

2013 BA Extravaganza MVP

Girls: Brittany Harris Dexter

1&2A: Maurion Newbill Haytie

3,4,5A: VaShawn Ruffin Sikeston

Bloomfield, Missouri - The Bloomfield Wildcats hosted the Puxico Indians on Monday of this week in the first round of the Stoddard County Athletic Association Tournament.  Bloomfield added a 5 to 1 win to their 2013 season record (6-2) and will advance to the semi-final game today against Woodland.

"Took us a while to get our bats going, and that’s credited to Puxico’s pitching and defense," commented Coach Jason Karnes.   "We were able to capitalize on a few mistakes in the 4^th inning to push a couple of runs across."

The game was held scoreless until a big fourth inning by the Wildcats were able to bring in four runs on one hit and a sacrifice fly.  That big inning proved to be the extent of the offense until the sixth inning.

Hancock for Puxico was able to belt a big homerun in the 6th inning.  That run was matched by a Bloomfield's Noah Vandiver who powered a shot over the fence in the same inning. 

"Noah Vandiver hit a big home run in the 6^th to push our lead back to four runs, added a little cushion as we went to the last inning," added Karnes.

The winning pitcher on the day was Tim Fox, who went 6 innings only giving up 4 hits, 3 walks and had 12 strikeouts.  Travis Phillips came in to relieve Fox in the final inning by adding two more strikeouts for the Wildcats. 

Bloomfield will travel today to Woodland to take on the WHS Cardinals in the semi-final bracket of the SCAA tournament.