High School Sports

By Calvin Silvers Out at Central High School, the tennis courts are being used heavily, as Missouri Western and local high schools are preparing for their postseason. Central tennis junior Kevin Poggemiller is one of those still out on the courts, as he’s preparing for the 2024 singles state tennis tournament, and he couldn’t be

By Jacob Meikel The next time Talicia Byrd and Honor Mannings are on the court may not be in a Lafayette uniform, but the stars align for them to continue their basketball journeys together. The Fighting Irish senior duo, both St. Joseph natives, will move on to play college basketball at North Central Missouri College

By Jacob Meikel Monday’s heavyweight bout between two 16-win teams in Mid-Buchanan and Winnetonka saw the Grffins take down the Dragons 8-5. Scoring came early and often for both teams and neither wasted any time adding runs to the scoreboard. Winnetonka would get things rolling with a pair of runs in the top of the

By Jacob Meikel A rematch with Lindbergh in the Class 6 state championship ends in a second place finish for Central’s scholar bowl team. The Indians fell by a score of 490-220 on Saturday afternoon in Rolla, Missouri, claiming their fifth second-place finish in program history.  For Lindbergh, in its short time as a scholar

By Calvin Silvers A local student-athlete known for his electric play on the field and court is facing one of the most important decisions of his life — where to continue his athletic and academic career. Running back Gabe Fields is seen as a dominant athlete on the field, helping surge Central High School’s football

By Calvin Silvers The city of Plattsburg, Missouri, and surrounding areas have come accustomed to hearing the name Isaia Howard, as the senior has cemented a legendary athletic career, especially on the basketball court. On Thursday in front of family, friends and the Plattsburg community, Howard shared where his new athletic career will take place,

By Calvin Silvers Due to the weather, two of the stronger high school girls soccer programs battled it out an hour earlier than intended, as the Mid-Buchanan Dragons took a small trip to Bishop LeBlond to take on the Golden Eagles. LeBlond entered the game on a two-game win streak, while the Dragons entered on

By Jacob Meikel For the last decade, Central’s scholar bowl team has made a habit of winning, bringing home hardware year after year. The Indians have locked up their 10th-straight trip to state after securing yet another district championship last week and will also mark the ninth consecutive trip to the state final four. “We’ve

By Calvin Silvers Phil Welch Stadium was prettied up after some weather damage from Tuesday’s storm, and the sun shone on the diamond for the Pony Express High School Baseball Tournament semifinal matchup between the Benton Cardinals and Smithville Warriors. Despite a slow start, the Cardinals used the back half of innings to find their

By Jacob Meikel Lafayette senior Jackson Perkins’s competitive drive helped earn him All-American status in Virginia last week. Perkins came out of the National High School Coaches Association Wrestling Tournament in Virginia Beach with a 6th place finish in the 182 lb weight class, adding to his already impressive resume. Perkins was crowned a state

By Jacob Meikel The Red Division of the first-ever Walkoff Wood Bat Co. High School Wood Bat Tournament was dominated by one team, and it’s the team that has asserted itself as the best in St. Joseph this season. The Benton Cardinals capped off the championship of the Red Division with a 8-2 win over

By Calvin Silvers The past two weeks have been busy for Northwest Missouri State and Drake University basketball, as former Bearcat coach Ben McCollum announced he would make the jump from Division II to Division I in taking the Bulldogs’ head coaching job. McCollum has now figured who his assistant will be, and it’s a

By Calvin Silvers The Mid-Buchanan baseball team is off to a hot start for the spring baseball season, as they jumped out to an impressive 10-1 overall record, including an 8-game win streak in that span. Almost eclipsing their total season wins from last year already, the team is feeling confident, but the second half

By Jacob Meikel East Buchanan baseball didn’t let its loss to Lafayette on Monday linger into its Tuesday contest with St. Joseph Christian. Tuesday proved to be a blissful conclusion of the short St. Joseph tour for East Buch, as the Lions had no answer for the Bulldog offense, resulting in a 7-3 win for

By Jacob Meikel The Savannah Savages took care of business against Lafayette on Wednesday at Phil Welch Stadium, improving their undefeated record to 6-0 after a 14-1 win over the Fighting Irish. The Savages didn’t take long to assert themselves as the more dominant team in Wednesday’s contest, scoring three runs in the top of

By Calvin Silvers On Tuesday, Central High School made history, playing its first boys volleyball contest under the Indians’ name against Grain Valley. While it was a 3-0 sweep of the Indians, the team was thankful for the opportunity to host a boys team. On Thursday, more history was made for Central as its volleyball

By Jacob Meikel A Lafayette senior put pen to paper on Thursday morning to sign his National Letter of Intent that will continue his wrestling career at the college level. Jackson Perkins will join the wrestling program at Benedictine College after signing his NLI while joined by his family and his head coach Josh Walters

By Calvin Silvers The transition to spring sporting events at the high school level is nearly complete, as the girls soccer season officially got underway for Mid-Buchanan, who hosted the Excelsior Springs Lady Tigers. Despite two quick goals from the two teams combined to start, it would slow down and the Dragons’ started the season

By Calvin Silvers Winter sports are nearing a close at both the high school and college levels, paving the way for athletes to begin their transition back outside for the spring season. In Missouri, this time of the year rolls into baseball season, and in a community where many love and support the game, it’s

By Jacob Meikel The Lafayette boys basketball team’s season came to an end on Saturday at the hands of Maryville 63-51 in the Class 4 District 16 championship. Some late heroics against Benton in the semifinals got the Fighting Irish into the district championship game on their home floor, but a talented Maryville team would

By Calvin Silvers It was a beautiful day in Gower, Missouri, on Saturday, but the true place to be in the town of 1,500+ individuals was East Buchanan High School, as the Class 3 quarterfinals were being played between the East Buchanan Bulldogs and the Summit Christian Eagles. The contest began with an Eagles basket,

By Calvin Silvers The state of Missouri is still in the thick of the high school basketball postseason as teams continue to keep their seasons alive in win or go home games, and that rings true for the city of St. Joseph. On Thursday, the town was gifted an all-time classic between Benton and Lafayette

By Calvin Silvers The journey for a state championship continues in basketball, and this week it’s been classes 4-6 thinning out the pool of teams that can go onto sectionals and beyond. The Class 4 District 16 Tournament had two city schools still alive, and those two programs battled it out at Lafayette High School.

By Calvin Silvers Classes 4-6 continue their journeys to try and punch their tickets to the state tournament, and on Wednesday the Lafayette and Benton girls faced each other for the second time this season, as Lafayette was able to defeat the Lady Cardinals on Feb. 6 with a 48-43 victory. It was the semifinals

By Calvin Silvers Classes 1-3 competed in their district tournaments last week, paving the way for Classes 4-6 to get their opportunity this week to punch their tickets to the state tournament. It was the opening round for Class 4 District 16 out at Lafayette High School, and the four-seeded Fighting Irish were able to

By Calvin Silvers Classes 1-3 continued their district basketball tournaments, and on Thursday it was back to the boys side, as they had semifinal play. The hot competition continued out in Gower, Missouri, where two Class 3 District 15 matchups took place. The first semifinal contest was between four-seeded Bishop LeBlond and one-seeded KIPP KC

By Calvin Silvers District tournaments for high school basketball continued on Wednesday, as classes 1-3 are competing. The girls’ teams kicked things off on Monday in the state of Missouri, meaning Wednesday was the semifinal rounds. Class 3 District 15 Girls Tournament continued out in Gower, Missouri, with the three-seeded South Harrison Bulldogs taking on

By Calvin Silvers On Tuesday, it was the boys’ turn in classes 1-3, as Missouri High School District Basketball Tournaments got underway. The first contest of the night featured the fifth-seeded Mid-Buchanan Dragons and the four-seeded Bishop LeBlond Golden Eagles. The first quarter was slow paced, as the Eagles got a handful of points from

By Jacob Meikel The practice mat gets slightly emptier this time of year, and what that’s meant for three Central girls wrestlers, is a chance to prove themselves on the big stage. Juniors Ashley Slade and Hailie Wagner will get another crack at the state tournament bracket. Both finished in the top four of Class

By Jacob Meikel Ryan Madison’s first year back with the Lafayette girls basketball program continues to run smoothly, as they defeat rival Benton 48-43 on Tuesday. With bragging rights on the line for the Southside and Northside teams, the Cardinals and Fighting Irish traded blows through most of the contest. The Cardinals were able to