Tiger News » Sports

BV Tiger Boys Take on BV Huskies

dbrand — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:13:21 +0000

BV Tiger Girls Beat Northwest Huskies

dbrand — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:09:38 +0000

BV falls to BVNW Huskies in varsity boys basketball

webeic — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:46:48 +0000

The Tiger basketball team took on the 11-1 Huskies from Blue Valley Northwest tonight.
A few dozen fans in the student section dressed up for the white out game.
Seniors Jack Porter and John Stoothoff and juniors Connor Hurst, Andrew Reinkemeyer and Mitch Sundquist started the game for the Tigers.
The Huskies won the first posession and came out quick with a three-pointer from BVNW sophomore Clayton Custer.
BV combated these points with a solid jump shot from Stoothoff, scoring the first basket for the Tigers.
However, the Huskies were a force to be reckoned with. It seemed Custer, who is being recruited by several Division I universities as a sophomore, could not miss a three-point shot. He provided several points for BVNW to take a strong lead.
The Tigers had many turnovers, most of which resulted in breakaways and easy layups or quick jump shots for the Huskies, giving them a convincing lead.
The scoreboard read 11-33 going into the locker room at half time.
BV picked up the pace a bit in the third quarter, with senior Brady Buescher, Stoothoff and Hurst making aggressive drives into the lane, racking up a few points for the Tigers.
However, after each valiant effort by BV, the Huskies would come right back and make up for it.
The Tigers still trailed 27-49 at the end of the third quarter.
BV had quite a bit of ground to make up in the fourth quarter if they were to stand a chance at making a comeback.
The Tigers scored several baskets, but BVNW always scored the take the lead back soon after. There was a pretty consistent 20-point margin between the teams throughout the fourth quarter.
Junior Chandler Butler knocked down a nice three-point shot with 20 seconds left in the game, but, unfortunately, this was not enough to make a dent in the Huskies lead. The final buzzer sounded with a score of 48-61.
The Tigers will face the Mustangs of Blue Valley North on Thursday, Feb. 2 at BV.

Off-season training keeps athletes fit

enteditor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:53:09 +0000

Their alarm clocks ring at 5:15 a.m.
They could hit the snooze button a few times.
But they don’t.
Juniors Xavier Adams and Colton Donohue wake up early every morning to run together. Adams and Donohue are training for the upcoming track season.
“After our freshman year, we were one spot off from making State for our relay team,” he said. “We don’t want that to happen again, so doing this is going to make us the best that we can be.”
Adams said he and Donohue have run together for years but just recently became training partners.
“We ran together a little in middle school,” Adams said. “But we really started training together in high school. It’s kind of like our lives now.”
Seniors Mackenzie Gorthy and Miranda Loats also train by participating in indoor track meets to stay in shape for high school track season.
“We’ll do running, bleachers, weights and abs for training,” Loats said. “We train outside, then we have meets inside.”
Loats said she hopes the extra off-season training will prepare the team for a successful track season.
“Last season at State, we didn’t perform as well as we wanted to,” she said. “Last year, I fell just short of a medal for the open 800. I’d really like to medal in that at State and for our team to medal in the 4×800-meter relay. We’re all working hard to get where we want to be.”
The runners’ determination goes beyond simply seeking recognition.
“Our coach knows that we do all the extra running,” Adams said. “But even if she didn’t know, we would still do it anyway. Knowing that no one is training as hard as us — that makes me want to do more.”
Loats said it has been important to keep an optimistic attitude.
“It’s hard when people ask you, ‘Why are you running?’” she said. “It’s hard to explain. But you have to make it positive. Running is such a mental sport, so you have to stay positive.”
Loats said she has held herself accountable and worked hard for four years to accomplish a big task.
“My goal since I was a freshman was to break the school record for the 800,” she said. “The record’s, like, a million years old. It’d be cool to break, but we’ll see.”
The current record for the 800-meter is 2:18, and Loats timed in at 2:26 at State last year.
Donohue is hoping to win State in the mile, and both Donohue and Adams would like to qualify in the open 800-meter and the 4×800-meter relay.
“We’re excited to do this because we want to win State,” Adams said. “Waking up at 5:30 sometimes isn’t as fun as you might think. It’s cold. But we’re out there every morning no matter what.”
Loats said running is a difficult sport but is very rewarding.
“When it’s snowy and cold, it’s hard to get motivated,” she said. “You’re like, ‘Wow, this is not fun.’ But you have to remind yourself why you’re out there. We all have bad days, but the good days make it worth it.”

Bacon inducted into Hall of Fame for coaching, administration

enteditor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:52:27 +0000

On Saturday, Dec. 15, Principal Scott Bacon was inducted into the Blue Valley Hall of Fame for his work as both a coach and an administrator at BV. Athletic council member Andy Unrein said Bacon’s induction was encouraged by both coaches and administrators on the committee.
“With Mr. Bacon, it was a fairly informal process,” Unrein said. “Everybody recognized it as something that needed to be done.”
Unrein said the criteria for nominating Hall of Fame inductees varies depending on the situation, but nominating coaches and administrators is decided by the committee.
“In Mr. Bacon’s case, he was inducted as much from the coaches’ point of view as from the administrators’ point of view,” he said. “Obviously, his role as a principal is the thing that everybody sees, but there was a time where he was a very, very good teacher and a very, very good coach here, too.”
Bacon was inducted during the Johnson County Classic wrestling tournament, an event that he helped launch when he was a wrestling coach.
“In ‘94 I had a dream,” Bacon said. “I wanted to develop a wrestling tournament at BV that would host all the Johnson County schools, and I wanted it to be called the Johnson County Classic. I just needed someone to run it. Dennis Ortman was a very smart guy. I shared my dream, and he said ‘I’ll run it. You design it, organize it, and I’ll run it.’”
Unrein said the event was the obvious choice because of its connection with Bacon’s coaching history.
“You want it to be memorable and worthwhile for the people that you present it to,” he said. “[The tournament] is something he always supervises every year, he’s very interested in it still, and it was a pretty natural decision to do that for him. It wasn’t an earth-shattering decision; it was just an obvious thing that we wanted to do.”
When Bacon began his coaching career in 1989, 16 boys made up the wrestling team. When he turned the program over to current wrestling coach Chris Paisley 13 years later, about 60 wrestlers participated.
“Wrestling is a very hard — physically and mentally — sport,” Bacon said. “It takes you to the edge a lot. You develop a bond that lasts a lifetime. I still get Christmas cards or emails asking to be a job reference. I think it’s a time they value.”
Administrators worked together with Bacon’s family to surprise him with the induction on the day of the tournament. Unrein said athletic director’s secretary Karen Kaman was instrumental in keeping the ceremony and the family’s attendance a secret.
“That was fun,” Kaman said. “The day of the tournament, I kind of snuck them in, and we had [Assistant Principal Bob] Whitehead keep Mr. Bacon busy. It went really well.”
Bacon said he felt both surprised and honored by the impromptu ceremony.
“I was totally shocked,” he said. “I like to think that I know what’s going on around here, but that’s certainly one instance where I had no clue. It was, needless to say, a very humbling and a very meaningful occasion.”
Kaman said that making Bacon’s induction a surprise made the ceremony much more enjoyable for the staff members present.
“Mr. Bacon always puts everyone else first,” she said. “He’s so humble he probably would’ve said, ‘Oh, let’s skip this whole thing.’ Our ability to do something for him and have it be a surprise made it special. It was finally our turn to do something for him after all he’s done for us.”
Bacon said he loves working at BV and hopes to continue working here for years to come.
“I’m a Tiger like crazy,” he said. “I’ve been at BV for 21 years, and there’s no place I’d rather be.”

Younger players look up to 3 returning athletes as role models

enteditor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:52:02 +0000

He dribbles down the court.
He’s used to searching for a senior to pass the ball to, but he soon realizes that he is that senior.
Jack Porter, John Stoothoff and Brady Buescher are the three seniors on the varsity boys basketball team.
Porter and Stoothoff are the only returning varsity players from last year’s squad.
“Last year, John and I were the only real underclassmen,” Porter said. “This year it’s kind of the opposite.”
Buescher played on JV last year and said the move to varsity hasn’t been too difficult.
“It wasn’t a giant jump from JV to varsity,” he said. “It’s definitely faster and more physical. But a lot of working hard over the summer got us prepared.”
Transitioning from a team full of seniors to just three this year, Porter said the team focuses less on age differences and more on a team mentality.
“Last year, you’d look up and just about every guy you passed to was a senior,” he said. “Now we don’t really look at each class. We’re all just one team.”
Porter said with less upperclassmen, the team is more balanced.
“We share the ball well, and there’s more balanced scoring,” he said. “We don’t rely on one guy. On any given night, it could be anyone.”
Buescher said the entire basketball program is like a big family.
“When coach talks, he says he feels something different about this team,” he said. “Usually it’s more stratified — the older guys, the JV and the sophomores. But now everyone meshes together.”

Basketball coach Chris Hansen said the boys on the team genuinely like and care for one another.
“When you look across the court, and you really care about the other guys, you’re going to be a teammate,” he said. “We definitely have that going for us.”
Hansen said the seniors have naturally filled the leadership roles on the team.
“It’s a good situation,” he said. “They take ownership of the team. We don’t even have to tell them. They know this is their last time to play together, so they’re taking initiative. It’s been a smooth transition.”
Hansen said Porter and Stoothoff provide a good example for younger players on and off the basketball court.
“Jack and John are really good guys,” Hansen said. “Off the court, they have great character. And from a basketball perspective, they work extremely hard.”
Buescher said each underclassman brings a lot of talent onto the court and plays a big part in the team’s success.
“Our point guard,[sophomore] Ryan Brady, brings a lot of energy, and he’s a really good game manager,” he said. “Then Connor [Hurst], Mitch [Sundquist], Andrew [Reinkemeyer], all the juniors, are all good scorers and great rebounders. They bring a lot of athleticism to the table.”
Porter said some of the younger guys are still learning their roles on the team.
“They just need to step back, and take a breath,” he said. “They’re playing the same game they’ve always played.”
Stoothoff said the student section contributes greatly to the positive atmosphere at home games.
“We definitely have the best student section — the best front row,” he said.
Porter and Stoothoff said all the fan support is encouraging, especially on theme nights.
A list of theme nights is posted on the bulletin board in the senior hall.
Any student can suggest ideas for theme nights, and Student Council finalizes the decision.
Stoothoff said he wants the team to finish stronger than previous seasons.
“Each year, it seems like we’re beaten down by the end of the season,” he said. “I want us to finish on a high note and build up some momentum for next year.”
Hansen said his main priority for the team is for each player to improve every single day.
“We’re different than an experienced team,” he said. “We’re learning on the go. Where we are now is significantly better than we were a month ago. I hope I can say that same thing about a month from now. It’s a process.”
Stoothoff said the team is still discovering its potential.
“There are a lot of people who don’t know what we’re capable of — we don’t even know what we’re capable of,” he said. “We’re just going to learn as we go, and I think we’re going to surprise some people.”

Girls and boys basketball teams defeat respective BVSW teams

webeic — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:59:52 +0000

Girls Basketball:

The Lady Tigers basketball team took on the Timberwolves of BV Southwest on Friday night and racked up another win, with a score of 45-19.
Seniors Mackenzie Johnson and Taylor Leathers, juniors Sara Hanna and Bailey Geiman and sophomore Sydnie Hanson started the game for the Tigers.
BV came out strong, with Leathers scoring the first points under the basket to put her team ahead.
The Tigers scored 11 points and kept the shutout until only seconds remained in the first quarter. The scoreboard read 11-1 at the of the first quarter.
During the second quarter, BV put even more points on the board, with the help of several great steals by Sara Hanna and exceptional free throw shooting from the whole Tiger team. BV went into halftime winning by a score of 28-5.
The Timberwolves came out with a tight back-court press, but the press was quickly conquered by the Tigers with quick passes and resulted in several easy layups for BV.
Scoring continued for both teams throughout the third quarter, but BVSW reached double digits with only two minutes left in the third quarter.
At the end of the third quarter, the Tigers were ahead 38-10.
In the fourth quarter, coach Andy Unrein played every player on the bench, and the BV came out with the win, with a final score of 45-19.
The Tigers will take on the Gardner-Edgerton Trailblazers next Friday night at 7 p.m. at BV.

Boys Basketball:

On Friday, Jan. 13, the Tigers took jaunt over to BVSW to take on the Timberwolves, hoping to advance their record to 3-4. The Tigers did just that, winning the game 55-52.
The Tigers lagged behind early in the first quarter, but slowly closed the gap. The first quarter ended with a score of 14-13, Timberwolves.
BV got the huge boost they needed in the second quarter with key rebounding and defensive plays from junior Andrew Reinkemeyer and key scoring plays from senior John Stoothoff.
With SW only putting 9 points on the board in the second quarter, they left an opening for BV to take the lead. The Tigers capitalized on this opportunity and ran into the locker room at halftime leading the T-wolves 34-23.
The third quarter wasn’t one of BV’s best –– they only scored 6 points. But rebounds and defense is what kept the Tigers out in front. Although their lead diminished significantly, the Tigers led 40-35 at the end of the third quarter.
Three-point shots seemed to be the strategy from both teams in the fourth quarter. Senior Jack Porter played an important role in keeping the Tiger lead, but every time he drained his threes, SW seemed to answer. Before long, the deficit was decreased to three with various lead changes throughout the last few minutes. With 14.7 sec. left on the clock, the score was tied 52-52. Hoping for the last shot, BV ran their offense until the ball was knocked out of bounds by SW.
The game clock read 2.2 sec.
Tiger basketball.
It was quiet, both teams’ fans holding their breath wondering if the Tigers can pull it off.
The ball is inbounded to junior Connor Hurst, just outside the 3-point line.
He squares up to the basket and lines up his shot.
One second remaining on the clock.
He shoots.
The buzzer sounds.
The basket is good.
The sophomore and JV basketball teams storm the court to congratulate Hurst on the shot and the BV student section goes crazy.
The Tigers improve their record to 3-4 after the 55-52 win.
Look for the boys to be back on the court at the SMW Tournament next weekend, Jan. 19-21, times TBA.

BV girls bowling team has first meet of the season

dbrand — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:38:15 +0000

BV Girls Defeat Miege

dbrand — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:56:25 +0000

BV Boys Varsity Basketball falls to BVNW

webeic — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:38:41 +0000

The boy’s varsity basketball team fell to the Blue Valley Northwest Huskies in their sixth game of the season with a score of 61-37.
With the way the first quarter went, no one would ever expect such a loss for the Tigers.
At the end of the first, the Tigers trailed 11-8. Junior Connor Hurst hit a last second 3-point shot at the buzzer, but it was waved off by officials. The shot would have tied the game at the end of the quarter.
In the second quarter, BV had four more turnovers than the Huskies and the scoreboard proved it. By half time, the score was 24-12, Huskies.
The Huskies continued their beat down on the Tigers throughout the third quarter –– by the end they lead 43-23.
In the second half, senior Jack Porter drained some threes, but the Tigers could never catch up to the Huskies.
When all hope was lost, coach Chris Hansen entered his JV players to finish the game.
The games ended in a 61-37 loss for the Tigers, their record now 2-4.
The boys are back in action on Jan. 10 against Bishop Miege at home. Tip off is at 7 p.m.