East Carter County

ELLSINORE — While most of the teams in the Ozark Foothills Conference already have a fall softball season under their belt, Clearwater and Greenville are back on the diamond for the first time in nearly two years. “This is the first fall team we’ve seen and they can tell they were on kind of a different level there than we’ve seen already this spring,” Clearwater coach Shannon England said...

Following a year of missing out on gathering with friends and family due to the COVID pandemic, everyone, including sports fans, is anxious to spend time with those closest to us once again.

Local teams place in MCCA state cheer competition East Carter won its division at the Missouri Cheerleading Coaches Association's state championships, it was announced Sunday, while the East Prairie and South Pemiscot squads were honored for their work during timeouts. ...

SCOTT CITY — Six years ago, Scott City High School boy’s basketball coach Mark Dannenmueller reacted to a postseason loss to Charleston by strengthening the Rams’ schedule the following season to an insane degree.

High School boys and girls basketball district tournaments are finally upon us. Fans, players, and coaches have had to endure a strange, but sometimes fun, basketball season, which was filled with many postponements and/or cancellations due to Covid-19, as well as the weather. However, we can say that the 2020-2021 season has been one of the more entertaining ones in recent years.

At the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament seed meeting, East Carter boys basketball coach and athletic director Jordan Penn’s biggest concern was COVID-19. Everyone agreed to a few schedule changes to give all the teams an opportunity at an opening-round game...

ELLSINORE, Mo. — Back in December, it was a tip-in at the buzzer that gave the East Carter Redbirds a two-point over the Doniphan Dons and the top seed in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament. Friday night in the rematch in the conference tournament finals, the Redbirds couldn’t get the buzzer-beater to fall...

The seedings have been released for the Class 1-3 boys and girls district basketball tournaments. Postseason play begins Feb. 20 for schools in Class 1-3. Higher seeds are slated to host quarterfinals and semifinals. Some districts will also have the highest remaining seed host their district championship. Other districts have elected to designate a neutral host site for their district final...

A lot of things have gone well for the New Madrid County Central girl’s basketball program this season.

BROSELEY — East Carter has likely secured the top seed in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament. The Redbirds, who are also hosting the tournament this year, improved to 5-0 in conference play with a 74-43 win at Twin Rivers (8-7, 3-3 OFC) on Friday...

ELLSINORE – East Carter wanted to go into the halftime locker room on a positive note. It got just that with a six-point run capped by Preston Golden throwing down the best dunk of the night. East Carter went from up by four points after the first quarter to 13 on Golden’s dunk and stayed in control throughout the second half to win 75-51 on Tuesday in Ellsinore...

There were several great basketball performances throughout Southeast Missouri of late, but East Carter's Kyren West and Holcomb's Macy Houart were recently selected as the top performers over the last week by Semoball.com readers.

ELLSINORE, Mo. — After spending the past two years in Van Buren, the Yellow Sucker trophy has returned to East Carter. The Redbirds led by a point heading into the fourth quarter and held on to win 63-51 Friday in Ellsinore. “We worked a long time to get our program back to where it is steady and competitive like it was in the early 2000s. These guys just put in a lot of work,” East Carter coach Jordan Penn said...

Drum roll, please. After seeing a lot of chatter on who the top-10 boys and girls basketball teams are in the region, I have put together a list of who I think deserves to be mentioned. Here is the absolutely accurate (see the sarcasm) boys’ list: New Madrid County Central (9-0)...

ELLSINORE, Mo. — East Carter spent a lot of time in practice preparing for Doniphan’s press. The preparation worked wonderfully … until Doniphan changed defenses. The Redbirds scored five field goals in the first 4 1/2 minutes, largely after beating the press for an easy basket, and led by seven points...

Kamron Meese scored five of his game-high 41 points in overtime, and the Risco Tigers denied Bell City its first win of the season. Bell City (0-10) outscored the Tigers 18-14 in the fourth quarter to force overtime but lost 71-69 Thursday night at Bell City High School...

ELLSINORE – There were nine lead changes in the first half and none in the second. Ellington ratcheted up its pressure in the third quarter, and East Carter briefly tied the game one last time. The Whippets soon built the first double-digit lead and never looked back for a 72-61 win Tuesday in Ellsinore...

ELLSINORE — East Carter went into the half with momentum, and came out with even more. The Redbirds went from down by four to ahead by 17 in the span of 8 minutes spread evenly on both sides of halftime and went on to beat Ellington 74-37 on Tuesday in Ellsinore...

BROSELEY — Once they were able to take care of the ball, the Dexter Bearcats were able to take care of business and East Carter in the fifth place game at the Lady Royals Classic. The teams combined for 27 turnovers in the first half alone, but Dexter didn’t have any over the final five minutes of the third quarter during a 12-1 run...

BROSELEY — East Carter was the only team to earn an upset in the first round of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic. Now the 11th-seeded Redbirds had a shot to finish fifth. East Carter (4-4), which lost to Neelyville in the quarterfinals, earned its second upset with a 57-55 win against seventh-seeded Holcomb on Tuesday...

BROSELEY — The defending champs are lurking, ready to pounce. Neelyville advanced to the semifinals for an 11th straight year using the same formula that has worked for the Tigers in the past at the Lady Royals Classic. Makenzie Davis and Payton Reinbott each had double-doubles, leading Neelyville in a 71-48 win over East Carter in Monday’s quarterfinal...

BROSELEY - East Carter Redbirds girls basketball coach Angela Rodgers elected to make a defensive change at the end of the first quarter even with her team enjoying a 12-11 lead against the Kennett Indians. “We started the game playing man to man defense,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t think we did bad in man in the first quarter. But I decided to switch to a 1-3-1 after the first quarter to try to slow Patton down along with Kennett’s other players who were penetrating past us to the basket.”...

CLARKTON — East Carter didn’t score over the opening six minutes and the final three Friday night in the championship game of the Clarkton Christmas Tournament. The Redbirds had 11 more points than Portageville the rest of game, but the Bulldogs took advantage of those two droughts...

Top seeds East Carter, Portageville reach final By Scott Borkgren Sports Writer CLARKTON — After upsetting third-seeded Doniphan in the first round, sixth-seeded Neelyville wasn’t able to pull it off a second time in the Clarkton Christmas Tournament semifinals...

New Madrid Central has earned the top seed in the Lady Royal Classic with a trio of Ozark Foothills Conference teams behind it. The Eagles, one of three teams in the tournament along with Kelly and Greenville to have played more than five games, earned the top spot after picking up wins against Jackson, Sikeston, Dexter and Kennett with losses against Notre Dame and Cape Central...

The postseason for winter sports in Missouri will look different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MSHSAA announced Friday. MSHSAA released district assignments for winter sports and also announced that it will modify some postseason activities due to concerns with the virus...

ELLSINORE — Levi Boyer rose just a little higher than everyone else. The East Carter big man stood underneath his own basket and leaped inches higher than the Doniphan defenders on either side of him, to earn a game-winning tip-in that barely beat the buzzer and Doniphan, 58-56...

The seedings have been released for the Clarkton Christmas Tournament. The eight-team varsity boys basketball tournament takes place Dec. 14-18 at Clarkton High School. Defending champion East Carter County, which is off to a 1-1 start after beating Willow Springs 70-49 and suffering a 73-62 loss to Park Hills Central, has received the No. ...

VAN BUREN — Preston Golden was money in the third quarter for East Carter while Senath-Hornersville overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter Saturday at the Current River Challenge. Golden scored 20 of his game-high 33 points in the third quarter, helping East Carter pull away for a win...

East Carter has improved its record every year under coach Jordan Penn. To do that again, they’ll have to improve on arguably the Redbirds’ best season since 2004. Penn, entering his fifth season as coach, has led the program from a 2-19 record in his first year, to 7-16, 11-15, and then last year to 18-10 and the program’s first Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament championship since 1997...

East Carter lost four starters from last year’s Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament championship team, but returns lots of size and plenty of talent. “We’ve got a good group of guys coming back,” coach Jordan Penn said. “These kids got a taste of winning last year and it’s really fueled them.”...

The Missouri State High School Activities Association is pushing back the announcement of class and district assignments for winter sports to Friday, December 11. District assignments and classifications were originally scheduled to be released Friday, November 13...

SIKESTON — Postseason honors are out for area softball teams. For the SEMO All-Conference First-Team, Kelly had two representatives, while Sikeston had one. Notre Dame had the most, with six. Senior outfielder Kate Hughes and senior infielder Alaney Moore earned spots on the first team for the Lady Hawks, while sophomore pitcher Nayla Bonner earned a spot for Sikeston...

IRONTON, Mo. — Kennett Rampley scared himself on Halloween. The Zalma sophomore surged into the lead at the two-mile mark of the 3.1-mile race Saturday in the MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 meet at Arcadia Valley Sports Complex. In passing Ellington’s Carson McNail, an all-state medalist the previous year, Rampley said, “scared the crap out of me.”...

There was no shortage of intense moments on the athletic fields and courts throughout Southeast Missouri last week, as area athletes prepare for the looming postseason competition. Sikeston boy’s soccer player, Brice Gordon, and Kelly softball player, Ava LeGrand, each excelled in their endeavors and were voted by fans as the Semoball.com Athletes of the Week...

CAPE GIRDARDEAU, Mo. — The East Carter girls cross country team won the Heartland Conference meet after placing all five runners in the top 30. While the Redbirds did not have an individual in the top 10, East Carter was one of three teams to field a full team. In team scoring, all five runners finished in the top 10 to give East Carter 30 total points. Woodland finished second with 44 points and Oak Ridge was third with 46 points Tuesday in Cape Girardeau...

ELLSINORE, Mo. — Jacob Saffle broke up a perfect game with his first home run. It was the second home run of the entire Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament, and the first damage by either team during a scoreless pitching dual in the championship game Thursday...

ELLSINORE, Mo. — It took a while, but there was no need for extra innings between Twin Rivers and East Carter on Thursday. The Lady Royals scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to defeat the Lady Redbirds 2-1 in a Class 2, District 1 semifinal at East Carter High School...

MSHSAA SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS Royals, Redbirds advance to semifinal Staff Reports ELLSINORE — Twin Rivers and East Carter advanced to the semifinals of the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 softball tournament and will meet Thursday. East Carter, the third-seeded defending champions, beat Alton 7-1 in a quarterfinal Wednesday after second-seeded Twin Rivers beat Gainesville 11-1...

The Missouri State High School Activities Association has partnered with HomeTown Ticketing to serve as the official digital ticketing partner for MSHSAA state championship events this fall. Digital tickets will also be an option for all other playoff contests, at the discretion of the host manager...

ELLSINORE, Mo. — A week after losing by 19 runs, Naylor gave East Carter a much tougher challenge. East Carter trailed 6-4 after three innings, but then Redbirds scored eight unanswered on their way to winning 12-9 in the quarterfinals of the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament in Ellsinore...

NAYLOR — Both East Carter and Naylor struggled defensively. There were 13 combined errors, and the winner was likely going to be the team to clean things up first. The Redbirds didn’t make an error after the fourth inning and retired the side in the sixth and seventh to win 9-7 Monday...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Both the Sikeston and Kelly softball teams competed in the 30th Annual Jackson Varsity Softball Invitational Tournament, Friday and Saturday, at the Shawnee Park Center in Cape Girardeau. The Lady Bulldogs finished 1-3, while the Lady Hawks went 2-2...

The Malden Green Wave scored three runs in the bottom of six inning Tuesday to beat Bloomfield 5-2 at Malden. Bloomfield tied the score at 2 with a run in the fifth. Ethan Campbell picked up the win, allowing two unearned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in seven innings...

ELLSINORE — There were seven combined strikeouts through two innings. Both East Carter’s Ray Ochoa and Neelyville’s Parker Jeffries worked quick and well from the mound as both teams looked to turn rare baserunners into runs. Neelyville adjusted at the plate midway through the game for a 4-2 win and Jeffries added two more strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh to get the complete-game victory...

Perryville could not string together the offense to come back, getting behind early in the game, to mount a comeback as they lost to Hillsboro Thursday at home 7-3. The Hawks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first. They would then score three more runs in the top of inning three, with the home-team Pirates getting on the scoreboard one-half inning later, pushing a lone run across the plate...

There is a reason why Kennett football coach Joel Wyatt is an extraordinarily successful coach and not a member of the media or even a fan, per se. His task is to focus on the here and now, not some possible, but not definitive opponent off into the future. However, the Indian Nation – and the rest of the prep football fans (and media) throughout Southeast Missouri had to have had their interest piqued a tad when MSHSAA released its District assignments Monday.

Cape Central scored three runs in the top of the first inning and never relinquished the lead to Festus, winning 5-2 at the Seckman Tournament. The Tigers manufactured five runs on eight hits, with Kayleigh Turk providing two of the hits. K. Turk also drove in two runs...

Cape Central would make quick work of East Carter as the Tigers would win going away in just three innings. The Tigers would score five runs in the bottom of the first inning, then plate eight more in the bottom of the second. They would then shut down the Redbirds in the third inning to win by 10 run rule...