Sports

Monett may have a new girls basketball coach, but the goals still remain the same for the team as the 2019-2020 season gets underway. The Lady Cubs went 12-14 last season under Alyssa Kennedy, who left and took a position at Aurora. The search for her replacement did not go very far. In fact, it never left Monett High School, as the district hired assistant boys coach Zach Kleine to take the vacated position...

The Big 8 Conference is losing its longest-tenured coach after Scott Bailey announced on Monday that he was stepping down as the football coach at Lamar High School. Bailey has resigned from his position after 14 seasons at the helm. A member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bailey closes his career with the Tigers with a 151-41 overall record, while leading Lamar to seven consecutive state championships from 2011-2017. ...

Purdy’s Kinsley Mattingly was name to the Second Team of the SouthWest Central League All-Conference volleyball team. The complete list is as follows: First Team Bailey Groves, Billings, Player of the Year Kohnnar Patton, Blue Eye Avery Arnold,Blue Eye...

Seven Monett soccer players collected eight Big 8 All-Conference honors this season. Loger Rodriguez was name Co-Big 8 Player of the Year. Earning First Team honors for Monett were: Jony Perez and Loger Rodriguez. Second Team winners were: Joey Semerad, Gerardo Patino, Eduardo Rodriguez and Joshua Patino...

For the last four years, Verona fans could pencil in four names into the starting lineup long before they ever reached the gym. It was set in stone who would be starting, but as time has a way of doing, the Wildcats graduated a core group of players that were responsible for 90 percent of its scoring the last four season...

The annual Pierce City Invitational tips off on Monday, and this year’s field is loaded with talent. Greenwood, the defending state champion, earned the No. 1 overall seed. Pierce City returns all five starters from last season’s 19-win team and earned the No. 2 seed...

It was a 19-9 campaign for the Pierce City basketball team last year, as the Eagles won the Southwest Conference title but fell short of the second goal of claiming a district championship. The results exceeded expectations originally, but the team was left hungry for more...

The Monett boys basketball season officially gets underway on Tuesday in the opening round of the Forsyth Basketball Tournament. Tournament play opens on Monday, with No. 1 Strafford and No. 8 School of the Osage tipping at 6 p.m. That game is followed by No. 4 Berryville (Ark.) and No. 5 Reeds Spring...

The Monett girls basketball team travels to Fair Grove Tuesday for the 39th annual Fair Grove Girls Basketball Invitational. Tournament action begins on Monday with No. 1 Clever facing No. 8 Springfield Catholic at 6 p.m., followed by No. 4 Logan-Rogersville and No. 5 Fair Grove...

Wrestling fans will not have to go far to see one of the best team in Missouri, as Monett returns a roster chocked full of state champions for the 2019-2020 season. “I feel that we have the makings to score more points in the state tournament that we ever have (145),” said Daryl Bradley, Monett coach. ...

The final grouping of softball awards has been released and the results were largely positive for the Monett softball team. Kaesha George landed a First Team All-State honor for her play in the outfield. George was also named to the First Team All-Region team...

For the last few seasons, the Monett basketball coaches have been preaching a mantra of grit. They have strived to instill a defensive-first mindset. For the most part, Monett’s defense has kept the team in games, but the struggle has been putting enough points on the board to pick up victories...

It was an uplifting year for the Pierce City volleyball team. The Lady Eagles not only crossed the 20-win total this season, they also had several players earn All-Conference and All-District awards. Picking up First Team Southwest All-Conference honors was Leslie Jones. Katie Tindell garnered Second Team honors, and Storie Linn was an Honorable Mention selection...

THAYER — A furious comeback in the final six minutes of regulation was not enough as the Pierce City football team suffered a heartbreaking 22-20 loss, as the Bobcats hit a 30-yard field goal with 6.3 seconds left in regulation. Pierce City looked to be down and out earlier in the quarter. ...

A simple invitation her freshman season has blossomed into a college scholarship to Mizzou for Monett’s Kaesha George. The whole situation began innocently enough. Three years ago, George was asked by her track coach, who also happens to be her mother, Kelly George, to try a new event just approved for competition by the Missouri State High School Activities Association — the javelin...

Monett senior Kelsey Dalton was all smiles as she signed her nationally letter of intent to run track at Bradley University in Perioa, Ill., next season. The senior has been a standout for the Lady Cubs for three years, and Bradley coaches see her competing in the 100 and 200-yard dash, along with open relays, as needed. She also was asked to participate in the long jump...

There was no joy in Mudville on Wednesday, as the Monett soccer team fell 1-0 to Pleasant Hill in extra time at Burl Fowler Stadium-Kenley Richardson Field. The Cubs had multiple chances to score during regulation. In the 13th minute, Loger Rodriguez had an 8-yard shot barrel right into the chest of the the Roosters’ goalie. In the 76th minute, Jony Perez took a free kick and bent it from 35 yards out, glancing the ball off the near side corner of the posts...

A simple and straight-forward message is permeating the practice of Pierce City football this week from Coach Brad Hocker — If you don’t want your football season to be over, you have to beat Thayer Friday. “They don’t have any weakness and are a tremendous team,” Hocker said. “We are going to have to play an A-plus game and be perfect if we want to win.”...

Serving the public in a multitude of ways — one of which was taking the lead role in one of Missouri’s largest-ever deer poaching cases — has earned Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) agent Andy Barnes the 2019 Missouri State Employee Award of Distinction in the public service category...

Purdy’s Joy Grace finished 86th in the 164-person field at the Class 1 state championship cross country meet at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia on Saturday.

The sectional soccer game scheduled for today in Monett has been postponed due to inclement weather. The game between Monett and Pleasant Hill will be held Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Burl Fowler Stadium/Kenley Richardson Field. Gates open at 5 p.m. Admission is $7...

Chanse Ford scored three first-half touchdowns as Pierce City (11-0) rallied past Miller, 45-13, to advance to the district title game for the third straight year. Miller (9-2) came into the game looking to avenge the loan blemish on its record, a 13-7 loss to the same Eagles just three weeks ago...

A frigid night turned even colder for the Monett football team after the Cubs were ushered into the offseason following a 19-6 loss to Cassville in the district semifinals. The Cubs were bitten by the fumble bug, losing the ball four times in the game, including twice inside the 10-yard line when threatening to score...

In a game of inches where timing, precision and creating your own luck are necessities, it was Monett, for the eighth consecutive year, winning the district title. Monett (16-10) played two games in the Class 2, District 11 tournament and of the 160 game minutes, the Cubs controlled the pace of play for 145...

Monett‘s Alex Sparkman, Second Team and Harley McCully, Honorable Mention, were named to the 2019 Big 8 All-Conference West Division team on Monday night. The complete list is as follows: First Team Haley Nash, Seneca Stacy Pennington, Nevada Lindley Ferry, Nevada...