Stories from Friday, December 12, 2014

The Verona boys basketball team earned its first conference win of the season with a 75-23 decision over Wheaton Friday night. The Wildcats' pressure lead to a 47-12 halftime lead. "I felt our swarming defense, unselfish play and balanced scoring were the biggest keys to victory," said Brad Stewart, Verona coach...

Cold shooting and missed opportunities cost the Monett basketball team against McDonald County on Friday. Monett (3-2, 0-1) led 22-21 to start the final period, but a 4:45 scoring drought, combined with a 6-0 Mustang scoring burst, proved to be enough to tilt the scale...

Pierce City's girls basketball team erased a 29-21 halftime deficit to secure a 46-44 win Thursday night. The Lady Eagles used a 15-8 run to open the third period to cut the lead to 37-36 heading into the final period. Scoring for Pierce City: Belle Golubski, 14, and Bailee Hayward, 9...

The Lady Cubs basketball team fell 56-22 to Cassville on Thursday in Big 8 Conference play. Monett trailed 12-5 at the end of the first quarter and 26-11 at halftimes. The Lady Cubs were short-handed with only 7 healthy players and struggled against the Lady Wildcats' size and depth...

A Fairview man who was on the Barry County most wanted list pleaded guilty recently to a trio of charges stemming from an October arrest. Joseph Trolinger, 34, of Fairview, pleaded guilty to resisting arrest, a class D felony, possession of a controlled substance, a class C felony, and first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, a class C felony...

The city of Pierce City is facing major expenditures of funds to bring some of its sidewalks into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to officials with the Missouri Department of Transportation. Dan Salisbury, assistant district engineer with MoDOT, spoke to city leaders concerning the compliance issues required by that organization...

Officials on the Pierce City School Board have approved the option of renting or leasing a house on property the school owns in lieu of immediate demolition. The house and property, located at 400 N. Myrtle, was purchased by the school district for future improvements. The board has not decided which direction to go with the property and Superintendent Russ Moreland proposed renting the house after making some minor improvements...

Bringing in the Christmas spirit, Monett High School celebrated with the traditional holiday assembly on Wednesday. Miss Merrie Christmas Brooke Madison and her court, Hailey Pappas and Jennifer Rueda, presided over the festivities. For the first time, the assembly was held facing the west bleachers, which provides more seating room on the mezzanine for the larger student body...

The Barry-Lawrence Chapter of Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for tips that lead to the apprehension and arrest of Devin Rust, 20, of Monett. Rust is described as having red hair and blue eyes, standing 6-feet, 1-inch and weighing 265 pounds...

Second-graders at Monett Elementary School gave two singing performances of "Christmas at the OK Corrall" on Tuesday in the school gym. The program had two presentations to enable families of the students to split up and all have seating for the show. Singing in the 7 p.m. performance, front row from left, are: Isabela Hernandez, Tierney Garrison and Sarah Negre. Back row: Caiden Doty, Michael Pruitt and Elly Rodriguez...

Cars headed past the elf loading a stocking toward the end of the Festival of Lights at Monett's South Park. The Monett Chamber of Commerce reports traffic is up for the nightly displays, which remain open through Dec. 31. Murray Bishoff times-news@monett-times.com...

The Monett Christmas parade will take place at 11 a.m. tomorrow going west on Broadway. Santa Claus will meet with children at the grandstand at Fourth and Broadway after the parade. The Kings Prairie Special Road District commissioners will hold their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. at Angus Branch Steakhouse in Monett...

Monett's boys basketball team is off to a red-hot, 3-1 start to the season, and the Cubs show no signs of cooling off. For the first time in three years, the Cubs have veteran leadership on the floor that understands and can implement the coach's vision...

The 2014-2015 wrestling season could be one of the best on record for Monett. Those who spend just a few minutes talking with Cubs Coach Daryl Bradley can begin to see his red-blooded passion come through in regards to his team's potential. However, as any coach will say, it is one thing to have potential, it is another to achieve it...

Daniel Paul "Dan" Daniels, 53, of Cassville, died at 10:07 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 11. Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15, at Victory Baptist Church, Cassville, under direction of Fohn Funeral Home, Cassville.

Keely Nicole Lamb Grisham, 29, of Owasso, Okla., died Dec. 9. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, at Houston United Methodist Church. Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, at Evans Funeral Home, Houston. Burial will be in the Liberty Methodist Church Cemetery, Monett, under the direction of Evans Funeral Home...

M.V. "Johnny" Brown, 93, of Cassville, died Monday, Dec. 8, at Mercy Hospital in Cassville. Funeral services were held Thursday, Dec. 11, at White Funeral Home. Burial was at Maplewood Cemetery in Exeter.

Gaylard Franklin Garrison, 88, Monett, Mo., formerly of Neosho, died Dec. 10, 2014, in Springfield, Missouri, following an illness. Mr. Garrison was born Nov. 1, 1926, in Wheaton, Mo., the son of Orville and Ada (Santee) Garrison. He worked as an equipment operator for General Motors for 35 years. ...

The Cubs basketball team scored a 69-55 win over Neosho Tuesday night to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Cubs led 13-10 at the end of the first, and 32-21 at halftime. A 24-point performance in the third quarter gave the purple and gold a 56-40 edge...

The Pierce City boys basketball team improved to 2-3 on the season with a 62-30 win over Wheaton on Tuesday. The Eagles put the game to bed early, outscoring the Bulldogs 23-7 in the first and 21-4 in the second to lead 44-11 at the intermission. Scoring for Pierce City: Colton Drollinger, 15; Jordan Cruz, 9; Kole Kelley and Evan Burt, 8 apiece; Colin Garner, 7; Logan Deems, 6; Mason Moreland, 3; Ross Thompson. Devin Cox and Ian Burt, 2 each...

The Purdy boys basketball team fell 69-57 to College Heights in Ozark 7 Conference play on Tuesday. The Eagles trailed 13-12 after one and 32-22 at halftime. Scoring for Purdy: Robby Moody, 18; Sydney Burge, 10 Jonatan Salazar and Luis Cruz, 7 each; Tyler Keeler, 6; Hunter Cook, 4; and Dusty Viedemschek, 3...