East Carter County

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.

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. ...

East Carter High School SPORTS: Softball, cheerleading, basketball. PARENTS: Jason and Christy Moore SIBLINGS: Jordan Moore and Zoey Moore PETS: A dog named Memphis PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Attend Three Rivers college to continue my academic and softball careers...

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...

Columbia, Mo. - The Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Board of Directors voted to grant relief of portions of the MSHSAA By-Laws that include summer limits on contact between coaches and student-athletes at its April meeting on Thursday...

Host sites are set for most district tournaments if spring sports resume in Missouri. Missouri high schools remain out of session and all springs sports activities and practices are currently suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Indiana High School Athletics Association canceled spring sports in Indiana Thursday due to the VOVID-19 pandemic...

The Missouri State High School Activities Association issued an update regarding the status of spring sports amidst the COVID-19 pandemic Tuesday. “While schools across the state are determining the best course of action during this unprecedented time, the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) office staff continues to prepare for Spring Championships,” MSHSAA said in a press release. ...

The preseason Missouri high school baseball state rankings were released Wednesday by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association. Six baseball teams from the semoball.com coverage area are state-ranked. Cooter, which placed third in Class 1 last spring and finished 22-1 in its fall campaign, is ranked No. ...

Spring sports for Missouri high schools will start as planned next week, MSHSAA announced Friday after releasing district assignments. "We re monitoring what is happening from the Missouri Department of Health, the Governor's Office, and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education," MSHSAA said in a statement Friday...

VAN BUREN — “Defense wins championships” is one of the best known cliches in sports, so it should not come as a surprise that the top two seeds at the MSHSAA Class 2 District 2 Tournament used it to win their respective semifinal contests Tuesday night...

St. Vincent (19-6) will advance to semi-final action in Class 2, District 3 at Bloomfield after a forty-point blowout over Puxico (8-16).

Five boys basketball teams and two girls basketball teams from the Semoball.com coverage area are ranked in the final regular-season state poll released by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. Delta (21-5), which is the No. 1 seed in Class 1, District 2, drops two spots to No. 9 in the Class 1 boys poll...

East Carter has won its first Ozark Foothills Conference tournament in 23 years. "We knew this was our year. This is the most talented group that we've had," East Carter senior Conner Powell said. "We put in a lot of work." The Redbirds took advantage of Neelyville foul trouble early and led by double-digits for most of the game, but had that lead cut to two points early in the fourth quarter. ...

The postseason for MSHSAA basketball is nearing and the seedings and schedule for District play throughout Southeast Missouri were recently set.

Six boys basketball teams and three girls basketball teams from the Semoball.com coverage area are ranked in the latest state poll released by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Thursday. Delta (19-4), which has won nine of its last 10, drops a spot to No. 7 in the Class 1 boys poll...

NEELYVILLE - Neither team held a double-digit lead. In the third quarter, neither team even held a two-possession lead. In a game destined to go down to the wire, East Carter led by three points with 13 seconds left and Doniphan's ball. After a timeout, Doniphan ran a set to try and get Ethan Jones open, coming off a pick the picker play, but East Carter defended it and after Jones wasn't open for a shot, the Dons tuned it over with 3 seconds left...

There is rarely a shortage of excellent athletic performances throughout Southeast Missouri by high school athletes each year and the fall season in 2019 was no exception.

Six boys basketball teams and two girls basketball teams from the Semoball.com coverage area are ranked in the latest state poll released by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. Delta, which had won nine straight as it beat Oak Ridge 105-86 in the semifinal of the Scott-Mississippi County Conference Tournament Friday, remains No. 6 in the Class 1 boys state poll. Oak Ridge (12-9) moves into the rankings at No. 10 in the Class 1 boys state poll...

NEELYVILLE - Clearwater used a seven-point run late in the fourth quarter and held on to advance in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament. The fifth-seeded Tigers held fourth-seeded Twin Rivers to five points in the third quarter and went on to win 49-44 in the first round...

Prep Roundup BOY’S BASKETBALL East Carter 72, Puxico 37 East Carter (14-7) parlayed a big second half into an easy win against Puxico (7-12). Ahead by eight at the break, the home team picked it up to the tune of 38-11 thereafter. Four Redbirds netted double-digits, led by Dalton Rudd with nineteen. ...

Advance (12-8) outscored Puxico (0-15) on Thursday, ending the first half 24-7 and finishing the game 42-21. Alandry Below led the Hornets to a victory by scoring 23 points. Advance will play Holcomb at home on Monday at 6 p.m. Puxico will play Campbell at home on Monday...

Can Neelyville hold serve in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament? The Tigers are hosting this year and both the boys and girls teams earned the top seed for the third year in a row heading into next week’s tournament, which starts Saturday. The championship will be played at the Libla Family Sports Complex and all other games will be played at Neelyville High School...

Seven boys basketball teams and two girls basketball teams from the Semoball coverage area are ranked in the latest state poll released Wednesday by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. Delta (16-3), which is unbeaten in the month of January, has moved up two spots to No. 6 in the Class 1 boys poll...

NEELYVILLE, Mo. — Tuesday’s boys basketball game between the East Carter Redbirds and the Neelyville Tigers was billed as a battle between two of the top teams in the Ozark Foothills Conference. And it definitely lived up to its billing, as the game was not decided until Neelyville’s Curtis Fowler sank a pair of free throws with 2.5 seconds left to ice the Tigers’ 51–47 win Tuesday night in Neelyville...

Staff Reports PIEDMONT — The Ellington girls basketball team defended its Black River League Tournament title with a come-from-behind win Saturday. The Whippets gave up just one basket in the third quarter to erase a nine-point halftime deficit, then held off South Iron 53-51 at Clearwater High School...

PIEDMONT — Ellington's 21-point lead was whittled down to a single point over the course of six minutes Friday night. East Carter, however, was never able to complete the comeback. The Whippets withstood the rally in the third quarter then finished the game as they started it — with a double-digit run — for a 61-48 win to earn a spot in the Black River League Tournament championship game...

PIEDMONT — After overcoming a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit, Dalton Rudd and the East Carter boys basketball team took advantage of their second chance Friday night. Rudd forced overtime at the foul line with 4 seconds left and put the Redbirds ahead for good when he knocked down a pull-up jumper in the paint with 11 seconds left in the extra session...

Six Semoball boys basketball teams and two Semoball girls basketball teams are ranked in the latest state rankings provided by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. Delta (14-3), which is unbeaten in the month of January, is ranked No. 8 in the Class 1 boys poll...

The Blue Jays used a 20-9 third quarter to pull away from the Hornets and pick up the home victory.

ELLSINORE — Naomi Crowly scored all nine of her points in the second quarter as East Carter surged ahead Thursday night in a 50-36 win over Van Buren. The Redbirds used a 21-7 second quarter to go from down 9-6 to up 11 heading into halftime. Makenna Moore sank a pair of third-quarter 3-pointers while Brooklyn Kearby scored nine of her team-high 16 points in the second half for East Carter (9-6)...

Brooklyn Kearbey scored nine of her game-high 21 points in the opening quarter as the host Redbirds jumped out to a 20-6 lead Tuesday and East Carter earned a 62-43 win over Clearwater in an Ozark Foothills Conference game. Makenna Moore sank four of her five 3-pointers in the third quarter and had 19 points for East Carter (8-6, 1-2 OFC) while Naomi Crowley added eight points...

BROSELEY - With both teams coming off exhausting down-to-the-wire losses in Friday's semifinals, Saturday's third place battle at the Lady Royals Christmas Classic could fittingly be called the 'survival of the fittest game.' New Madrid Co. Central took the third-place trophy and the unofficial title of fittest in running past the Naylor Eagles 49-29...

BROSELEY, Mo. — Alaney Moore scored 26 points for the Kelly girls’ basketball team on Saturday, as the Lady Hawks defeated East Carter 52-48 to win the consolation championship of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic. Moore led all scorers, while Allison Owens pitched in with 14 points of her own. Allison Riley finished with nine, while Mallory Glastetter had eight to round-out the totals...

EAST CARTER — The Redbirds are sending a player to Division I. “It feels pretty good, pretty exciting. I’ve always wanted to play Division I and to finally get to fulfill that is something I’ll always remember,” said East Carter senior Dalton Rudd, who recently signed to play baseball for Western Kentucky. “It’s a lot of weight (off my shoulders). It’s hard to explain. It’s just really exciting.”...

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The Holcomb Hornets varsity girls basketball team pulled off the lone upset of the opening round at the Bloomfield Invitational girls basketball tournament. No. 4 seeded Holcomb rallied from a 30-25 third-quarter deficit to beat the No. 3 seeded Campbell Camels 68-47 in the first quarterfinal of the six-team tournament Monday night...

VAN BUREN — The Yellow Sucker trophy is staying in Van Buren. The Bulldogs made one significant run to start the second half and it was enough to hold on and beat East Carter 59-50 on Friday in Van Buren. “As a player, it was nice. As a coach, it’s great,” Van Buren coach Jacob Black said of winning the trophy...

DONIPHAN — When a defense forces 32 turnovers good things normally happen. Senior post Emily Ederer scored 26 points and the defense averaged creating one turnover per minute for four quarters as the Doniphan Donettes opened Ozark Foothills Conference play with a 62-29 win over the East Carter Lady Redbirds...

DONIPHAN — After dropping their Ozark Foothills Conference opener Friday to Clearwater by 22 points at home, the East Carter Redbirds got down to the business of staying in the league race Tuesday night. The Redbirds applied an aggressive defense to hold the Dons to 17 points in the first half and evened their league record with a 46-38 victory...

VAN BUREN — Neelyville boys basketball coach Patrick Morton was hoping his players had not noticed the preseason state rankings released by his fellow coaches. He was sure the Tigers’ first opponent took note. “You know they’re going to come out and they’re going to be gunning for you and get that win,” Morton said...

Poplar Bluff moved up to the largest class in wrestling and will face the same opponents in basketball while hosting the district this winter. Poplar Bluff Athletic Director Kent Keith announced in a statement that the school’s bid to host the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 boys and girls basketball tournament had been accepted...

Notre Dame senior Blake Morris did not achieve his goal of first place but did finish in the Top 10 at Saturday’s MSHSAA Class 3 Boys Cross Country State Finals at the Gans Creek Recreational Area in Columbia, Mo.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Van Buren girls cross country team placed in the top four for the first time in program history at the MSHSAA Cross Country championships on Saturday at the new 5,000-meter Gans Creek course. Poplar Bluff junior Jaden Deaton earned all-state honors with a late comeback for 22nd place to become the fifth Mules runner to place in the top 25 at state and first since 2005...

A new era of cross country in Missouri starts Saturday when the MSHSAA state championships is held for the first time at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia. It’s the first time since 1975 the race will not be held in Jefferson City’s Oak Hills Golf Course in Hough Park where Poplar Bluff’s John Meyers won the 4A title in 1986...

In his last race on his home course, Notre Dame senior Blake Morris took top honors Saturday in the Class 3 District 1 cross country championships.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - One year later, another frustrating result. The East Carter Redbirds had three hits and put five other balls in play against Sherwood and lost 5-0 in the MSHSAA Class 2 semifinals on Friday at the Killian Sports Complex in Springfield, Mo...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - "I wanted this so much for them. They worked so hard," East Carter coach Teresa Kearbey-LeGrand said. "I don't know if it was nerves, if it was the waiting game, the anticipation, the air out of their sails because of the first game. I just don't know, but we just did not look like ourselves."...

With one senior and a large junior class on last year’s softball team, East Carter gave itself a two-year plan. The due date is Saturday. The Redbirds (22-6) are back in the state semifinals for the second year in a row and will face Sherwood (24-3) in the MSHSAA Class 2 semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield. Palmyra (20-8) and Marceline (22-4) will play in the other semifinal. The third-place game is 5 p.m. Friday and the championship is 2 p.m. Saturday...

ELSBERRY, Mo. — The Redbirds had another banner day Monday. With the help of a perfect relay throw, Makenna Moore tossed another shutout and provided the big hit as the East Carter softball team beat Elsberry 3-0 in the MSHSAA Class 2 quarterfinal. "I was nervous, obviously," Moore said of her sixth inning at-bat with the bases loaded. "My heart was racing."...

It will be a busy weekend for five East Carter softball players. First, the Redbirds will play in the MSHSAA Class 2 quarterfinal in Elsberry at 3 p.m. Saturday. Then, Kennedy Thies, Audrey Carter, P.J. Gholson, Makenna Moore and Abagail Dinsmore will head to St. Francis Borgia High School in Washington, Missouri with the East Carter cheerleading squad to perform in the MCCA regional on Sunday...