Basketball

Good Sports is a column featured weekly in the Southeast Missourian and on semoball.com. It is primarily designed to showcase people who have impacted the sporting life of Southeast Missouri, so that readers may get to know them more fully. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity...

BENTON — On Wednesday evening, Kelly High School issued a statement of an athlete that tested positive for COVID-19. “School officials learned that someone who participated in football and basketball activities last Friday (July 17) has tested positive for COVID-19,” the statement said...

There may be no time of the year that is meant to have fun by young people than summer, and even though the SEMO Sizzle girl’s basketball teams are each working hard to prepare for their future, make no mistake about it, the athletes are definitely having fun in doing so.

There were a numerous reasons to be saddened by the cancellation of high school sports throughout Southeast Missouri this year. However, for Sikeston baseball fans, missing the opportunity to watch Payton Howard display his athleticism and skills one more time is near the top of that list.

Many high school student-athletes would be pleased to excel in one sport. Emma Brune, a 2020 Saxony Lutheran High School graduate, is exceptional in two: basketball and soccer.

CHARLESTON — Legendary basketball coach Danny Farmer recently called it a career after leading the Charleston boy’s squad to a 28-win season and an appearance in the MSHSAA Class 3 state championship game.

During this time of social distancing, the SuperFan series of articles focuses on fans who are geographically distant from the teams they support, who are fiercely loyal to a team outside the state of Missouri. Responses are edited for clarity and brevity...

Scott City High School boy’s basketball coach and athletic director Mark Dannenmueller doesn’t mince words when it comes to describing what it was like to coach former Ram athletic great Joe Panagos.

NEW MADRID, Mo. — New Madrid County Central senior Ke’von Williams singed on the dotted line Tuesday afternoon to Lewis and Clark College in Godfrey, Ill. The 6-foot-4 Williams was the second-leading scorer for the Eagles this past season, averaging 11.1 points per game. He also provided 5.9 rebounds per game and led the team with a 60 percent shooting percentage...

There a numerous ways in which you can measure the greatness of former basketball coach Danny Farmer numerically.

Each year the Semoball Awards recognizes outstanding high school athletes from around the region. That tradition continues Saturday albeit in a different format due to the lingering COVID-19 concerns and social distancing requirements.

Chris Trimmer’s 38-year tenure as a high school basketball coach came to an abrupt end Wednesday, as the 60-year old coach informed the school he is walking away from the game he loves because of the current pandemic. Trimmer led the Oak Ridge boys program to 53 wins in the past three seasons but he said he’s got to stop now...

Delta High School senior guard Isaiah Thomas recently signed to play basketball at NAIA program Crowley's Ridge in Arkansas.

SIKESTON — Basketball season doesn’t start for another four months, but that isn’t stopping multiple area girls players from improving. In June, a summer league started at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex and continues every Thursday night at the venue until July 9. Sikeston’s Karris Allen and Oran’s Katie Webb and Grace Davis, among others, all play on select teams and have bettered themselves as a result...

College basketball coaches don’t have to type Delta, Missouri into their GPS trackers often as they embark on quests for talent. However, they did this spring in wake of an historic season achieved by the Bobcats.

The controversial basketball coach who led Dora (32-2) over Delta in the Missouri Class 1 playoffs this spring en route to a state basketball title is moving to Viola High in northcentral Arkansas. Rick Luna’s contract at Dora was not renewed after the 2019-20 season despite the Falcons winning a MSHSAA championship. Dora’s school board failed to give a reason for voting 5-1 against extending Luna’s coaching job with the school...

Jeremy Walker has received ample opportunities to work with the players in the Gideon boys basketball program over the last three years. “Our returning seniors are the first group of freshman I coached when I became the junior varsity coach in 2017,” Walker said. ...

Jordan McGowan will not have a chance to repeat as Tri-County Conference Boys Basketball Coach of the Year. McGowan, who was named Conference Coach of the Year after Gideon finished 22-6 and won its conference tournament for the first time since 2016 earlier this year, is departing the Tri-County Conference to coach in the Bootheel Conference...

The coronavirus pandemic has altered the 2020 Semoball Awards into a production like never before, as the event will be conducted as a “virtual” event on Facebook Live on July 11 at 7 p.m. instead of a live show that the sports fans throughout Southeast Missouri have grown accustomed to through the years.

Halle Smith has a natural curiosity when it comes to solving problems. The Belle High School senior aspires to study psychology in college with the goal of becoming a psychiatrist one day.

Good Sports is a column featured weekly in the Southeast Missourian and on semoball.com. It is primarily designed to showcase people who have impacted the sporting life of Southeast Missouri, so that readers may get to know them more fully. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity...

Holcomb graduate Ronnie Lewallen got his first taste of sports when he was still in elementary. “I was the bat boy for the final four team at Holcomb in the sixth grade,” Lewallen said. “Coach McCullough gave me a uniform and everything to be a bat boy. I liked being around the guys and got to practice with them and everything. I felt like I fit in and really liked that surrounding.”...

Bootheel native Kurt Penn has made several memories at Senath-Hornersville High School in recent years. “I remember playing Senath-Hornersville in high school and they were always a team we circled on our calendar because they were always a tough team that was ready to play,” Penn said. ...

Good Sports is a column featured weekly in the Southeast Missourian and on semoball.com. It is primarily designed to showcase people who have impacted the sporting life of Southeast Missouri, so that readers may get to know them more fully. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity...

Country music singer Noll Billings was dribbling a basketball before he ever considered carrying a tune in Nashville. “The first love I ever had in life was basketball,” he said. “I was pounding a basketball as a little kid and watching Hoop Dreams and Hoosiers. My whole life I’ve always had a love for basketball and I was fortunate enough to have a lot of success playing it.”...

ORAN, Mo. — Becoming successful in athletics takes hard work and dedication, along with time and commitment. For multiple sports, it takes even more. Oran senior and three-sport athlete Kaylee Payne showed what all four characteristics lead to after a successful athletic year with the Lady Eagles, earning her the 2020 Standard-Democrat Girls Athlete of the Year...

CHARLESTON, Mo. — Charleston guard Ashanti Jones found her future college program after a senior season that didn’t end quite as she wanted. Jones signed her National Letter of Intent to Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo. What attracted Jones the most to the school, was the love from her future teammates and coaching staff, along with where she fits in the system...

Each year the Semoball Awards recognizes outstanding high school athletes from around the region. That tradition continues this summer albeit in a different format because of lingering COVID-19 concerns and social distancing requirements.

The 2020 Semoball Awards will be conducted in a "virtual" fashion on Facebook Live on July 11 at 7 p.m. Here is a list of the 2019-20 Winter Sports Finalists for the 2020 Semoball Awards. 2019-20 Winter Semoball Nominees Taydrianna Barnett, Sikeston...

Kennett High School didn’t look far to find its next boys basketball coach. The Kennett Board of Education approved the hiring of Dunklin County native Corbin Clark as its new varsity boys basketball coach at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night...

The Kennett Indians will have a new varsity boys basketball coach next school year. The Kennett Board of Education accepted the resignation of varsity boys basketball coach Andrew Halford at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting. “It was a very hard decision to make because the kids I had a chance to work with and be around at Kennett were great, hard-working kids,” Halford said. ...

Several assistant coaches at Kennett are shifting positions following Tuesday’s school board meeting. Noll Billings will be the new assistant varsity boys basketball coach at Kennett. Connor Gahr, who served as the assistant varsity boys basketball coach last season, is transitioning to the wrestling program and will be the new assistant varsity wrestling coach...

The term “new normal” has enveloped the entire world through the past months as the world adjusts to the coronavirus pandemic.

SIKESTON — Everyone deserves an opportunity to pave their path. That is what former Portageville boys basketball standout and co-director Roy Booker, along with his leadership team, are doing with the newly-installed Illinois Preparatory School. The Trojans' staff dedicates themselves in preparing athletes to advance to the next level, both athletically and academically, by developing a new way to get young men and women recognized and seen on a different level...

The athletic evolution of Notre Dame sophomore girl’s basketball player Lexi Rubel is unfolding exactly as it should. The 6-foot athlete had a solid freshman season in 2018-19 and built upon it – both as an individual and from a team perspective - this past year.

BENTON, Mo. — Softball is Kelly junior Alaney Moore’s first love. It’s the sport she wants to continue playing in college, and one that she has been successful at thus far in her career. Her junior year, Moore batted .446 with 22 RBIs, 11 doubles, and 28 runs scored, earning her all-district and second-team all-state honors in the process...

Connor Jackson is staying close to home to play college basketball. The Van Buren senior and Big Springs Conference Player of the Year recently committed to play for Williams Baptist University. “It seemed like the best fit for me, coming in as a freshman, getting to have experience on a JV team, so I don’t sit,” Jackson said. ...

Good Sports is a column featured weekly in the Southeast Missourian and on semoball.com. It is primarily designed to showcase people who have impacted the sporting life of Southeast Missouri, so that readers may get to know them more fully. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity...

CHARLESTON, Mo. — Southwestern Illinois Community College (SWIC) assistant coach Steve Campo enjoys recruiting the Southeast Missouri area. “Most of the guys that we’ve recruited from down that way have been successful basketball players,” Campo said. “The kids down there, they know how to play; they’re tough kids. They can handle being coached, so that’s always a plus, and they’re kids, that when you bring them up, you can get them out, and they’re easy to market after a year or two."...

Longtime Cape Central boys basketball and golf coach Dick Wadlington died Wednesday at the age of 74.

The truth of the matter is, from an athletic standpoint, the 2019-20 school year at Cape Central will forever be remembered as the “year of the coronavirus.”

There was no shortage of magnificent accomplishments performed by the athletic teams at Notre Dame throughout this school year. And there was not a dearth of individual achievements by the Bulldog student-athletes either.

SIKESTON — Scott County Central senior Rita Meeker signed her National Letter of Intent to continue her academic and athletic career at Central Methodist University on Tuesday. Meeker neared a double-double for the Bravettes on the court this season, as she finished with 8.7 points per game and eight rebounds. ...

Matthew Ball didn’t pass up a chance to coach at his alma mater when the opportunity presented itself. Ball, who is a 2004 graduate of North Pemiscot High School near Wardell, Missouri, signed a contract to be the new varsity boys basketball coach in his hometown earlier this month...

When you have made a career out of having a positive influence on young people, even in the relaxation of retirement one can miss the interaction and having fun with kids.

Good Sports is a column featured weekly in the Southeast Missourian and on semoball.com. It is primarily designed to showcase people who have impacted the sporting life of Southeast Missouri, so that readers may get to know them more fully. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity...

Kennett senior Jackson Henfling wasn’t thinking about breaking the state record for most charges in a high school career when he began his sophomore season. “It wasn’t really something I was planning on doing when I started high school,” said Henfling, who played three years on varsity. “But after my sophomore year I was already halfway to the record. I knew I was within striking distance and it was a mark I had a good shot at reaching if I continued on the same pace.”...

Kennett varsity boys basketball coach Andrew Halford has been around the game of basketball since he was in elementary. “Basketball was something that was fun to play as a young kid,” Halford said. “As I got older I started putting more time into it and got a chance to be around some really good basketball people.”...

When any basketball fan throughout Southeast Missouri thinks of Oak Ridge High School, the thought of senior guard David Layton comes to mind. However, the truth is, the Bluejays would never have won 53 games over the past three seasons without the effort and talent of senior guard, er, forward, er center, Zach LeGrand.

Five boys and three girls from the semoball.com coverage area were selected to the 2020 Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Academic All-State Team. Saxony Lutheran’s Luke Bartens, Notre Dame’s John Essner, Notre Dame’s Jack Floyd, Saxony Lutheran’s Ethan Koenig, and Sikeston’s Clark Steward were among the 100 boys selected academic all-state...