Tigers: boys 3rd, girls 5th
PITTSBURG -- Fort Scott High School's boys were picked to finish in a tie for third while the girls were tabbed for fifth place by Southeast Kansas League coaches in polls released Monday at a media conference hosted by KSHQ Radio.
Pittsburg was the team of choice in both polls, picking up five of the seven first-place votes from boys' coaches and four of seven from the girls' coaches. Labette County was picked second in both polls, receiving the remaining first-place votes in each one. Coaches could not vote for their own teams.
Fort Scott's boys (6-6 SEK, 11-10 overall last season) has one returning player who has started a varsity game after losing seven seniors from last tear's team. Head coach Jeff DeLaTorre said he expected 19 players in grades 10-12 and 14 freshmen to report to the first practice Monday.
"A lot of these guys are basketball oriented who are looking forward to their time," DeLaTorre said.
Defending champion Pittsburg (9-3, 13-8) compiled 34 points in voting while LCHS (2-10, 6-15) picked up 32. Fort Scott and Coffeyville each received the same number of points, 19. Parsons (5-7, 11-10) picked up 18 points, Independence (6-6, 11-10) had 17 and Chanute (7-5, 13-9) brought up the rear with 8 points.
Pittsburg head coach Kiley Roelfs was maybe a bit surprised to get the nod as his team lost six seniors. Elijah Harris will be his only returning senior. LCHS has three returning starters in Javon Reliford, Tanner Russell and Easton Dean as the Grizzlies look to rebound from a last-place finish -- the first for head coach Brad Smith in his 23 years at Labette County.
Coffeyville lost seven seniors but brings back Kameron Wilson, whom head coach Tyler Thompson praised for his work ethic. Parsons' Anthony Houk says he expects 35 kids out for his team but that 26 of them will be sophomores or freshmen. Indy's Marcus Lanning said that his team lost its top two scorers and rebounders. And Chanute's Max Ruark said his team lost five seniors from last year but has four returning letter winners for a team that will be fairly young.
Fort Scott's girls finished fifth last season at 4-8, 7-13 under head coach Pechone Stepps, how enters his third season. He said his team will have just two seniors, Haley Denton and Emily Hale, the latter of whom is recovering from knee surgery for an injury suffered while playing softball.
"We're just hoping to be competitive at our place and give you guys a good game at your place," Stepps told the assembled coaches and media.
Pittsburg (9-3, 15-6), which tied for second with Chanute (9-3, 17-5) last season, received 34 points in voting followed by defending champion Labette County (11-1, 21-4) with 33. Independence (6-6, 12-9) was voted third with 25 points, Chanute fourth with 18, Fort Scott fifth with 17, Parsons (1-11, 4-17) with 11 and Coffeyville (2-10, 6-14) at the back of the line with 8.
Pittsburg head coach Eric Flaton has experience seniors in Taylor Muff and Logan Lord. He said that Lord is an extension of her dad -- Pittsburg State women's head coach Lane Lord -- on the court. LCHS head coach Kristi Snider, who guided her team to fourth place in the Class 4A-Division I State Tournament last season, lost two seniors but returns possibly the league's best player, Tristan Gegg. Depth probably won't be an issue for her team, either, as she expects 40 out.
Independence's Dale Reynolds says his team has a "good nucleus." He has four seniors, two with significant varsity experience. He says his team will be fast but won't have a lot of height. Chanute's Dustin Fox says, "'New' is kind of a key word" for his team, which graduated seven seniors, including all five starters. He expects that six to eight sophomores will be on his varsity roster.
Parsons' Mike Krull says his team will have low numbers and that two sophomores will probably see a lot of playing time. Coffeyville's Nick Hart also expects lot numbers as his varsity will have just one returning player.
Smith also spoke during his time at the podium about a program that looks to raise funds for cancer research this season. It's called the "SEK 'Rivals' for Life 3-Point Challenge." This is backed by Coaches vs. Cancer with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.
SEK schools have been paired up with a rival as they look to raise money for each 3-point shot they make this season. This includes both the boys' and girls' teams from each school. Fort Scott is paired with Pittsburg, Labette County with Parsons and Independence with Coffeyville. Girard of the CNC League has agreed to participate as well and has been paired with Chanute. More information as available at the challenge's Facebook page, fb.me/SEKRivalsforLife. Pledges can be made directly by going to pledgeit.org/for/acs-southeast-kansas-basketball. Direct questions can be addressed to Allison Daly, ACS Staff Partner at allison.daily@cancer.org.
The season begins the first weekend of December. Fort Scott's teams will make their annual trip to Willard, Mo., Dec. 1-3.