BROWN COUNTY — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has cancelled an endangered person for a missing Brown County girl. According to a media release, Gianna Hazelton, 11, Horton, was found safe and is on her way home. Authorities release no additional details.
—————
BROWN COUNTY – The Horton Police Department has requested that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) issue an endangered person advisory for a missing Kansas girl.
photo courtesy KBI
The whereabouts of Gianna Hazelton, 11, Horton, are unknown, according to a KBI media release.
Hazelton is a white female, 4 ½ ft. tall and approximately 125-135 pounds.
She has black hair and brown eyes. Hazelton was last seen Saturday night between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at 1640 Euclid Ave in Horton, Kan. Hazelton is believed to be accompanied by the non-custodial parent, Casey Hazelton.
The Horton Police Department asks anyone who comes in contact with Hazelton, or has any other information known about this case, including past sightings, to immediately call 911 or Horton Police Department at 785-486-2694.
St. Louis (AP) — Residents in parts of southwestern Iowa were forced out of their homes Sunday as a torrent of Missouri River water flowed over and through levees.
Heavy rainfall and snowmelt forced river levels across several Midwestern states to dangerous levels. At least two deaths were blamed on flooding, and two other men have been missing for days. While river levels on Sunday were starting to level off in Nebraska, other residents in Iowa, Kansas and Missouri were bracing for worse flooding to come.
The Missouri River reached 30.2 feet (9.2 meters) Sunday in Fremont County, Iowa, in the state’s far southwestern corner, 2 feet (0.6 meter) above the record set in 2011. People in the towns of Bartlett and Thurman were being evacuated as levees were breached and overtopped.
County Emergency Management Director Mike Crecelius said it wasn’t just the amount of the water, it was the swiftness of the current that created a danger.
“This wasn’t a gradual rise,” Crecelius said. “It’s flowing fast and it’s open country — there’s nothing there to slow it down.”
Thurman has about 200 residents. About 50 people live in Bartlett.
Lucinda Parker of Iowa Homeland Security & Emergency Management said nearly 2,000 people have been evacuated at eight Iowa locations since flooding began late last week. Most were staying with friends or family. Seven shelters set up for flood victims held just a couple dozen people Saturday night.
Hundreds of people remained out of their homes in Nebraska, but rivers there were starting to recede. The National Weather Service said the Elkhorn River remained at major flood stage but was dropping. It was expected to dip back below flood stage by Tuesday. U.S. 30 reopened near Arlington on Saturday.
The flooding is blamed on at least two deaths. Aleido Rojas Galan, 52, of Norfolk, Nebraska, was swept away in floodwaters Friday night in southwestern Iowa, when the vehicle he was in went around a barricade. Two others in the vehicle survived — one by clining to a tree. On Thursday, James Wilke, 50, of Columbus, Nebraska, died when a bridge collapsed as he used a tractor to try and reach stranded motorists.
Two men remain missing. A Norfolk man was seen on top of his flooded car late Thursday before being swept away. Water also swept away a man after a dam collapse.
In St. Joseph, Missouri, home to 76,000 people, volunteers were helping to fill sandbags to help secure a levee protecting an industrial area. Calls were out for even more volunteers in hopes of filling 150,000 sandbags by Tuesday, when the Missouri River is expected to climb to 27 feet — 10 feet above technical flood stage.
The rising Mississippi River also was creating concern. The Mississippi was already at major flood level along the Iowa-Illinois border, closing roads and highways and swamping thousands of acres of farmland. Moderate Mississippi River flooding was expected at several Missouri cities, including St. Louis.
Flooding has also been reported in Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities were using boats and large vehicles on Saturday to rescue and evacuate residents in parts of the Midwest where a recent deluge of rainwater and snowmelt was sent pouring over frozen ground, overwhelming creeks and rivers, and killing at least one person.
The scramble to move people out of harm’s way was expected to subside going into the new week, as rivers and creeks in flooded eastern Nebraska and western Iowa were expected to crest Saturday and Sunday. That left officials downstream looking to prepare for likely flooding.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson had already met with emergency management team members Friday to review and update flood-response plans, and the Missouri Highway Patrol was preparing additional equipment and putting swift water rescue personnel on standby. The Missouri National Guard also temporarily relocated the 139th Airlift Wing’s C-130s from Rosecrans Air National Guard Base in St. Joseph as a precaution.
The National Weather Service said the Missouri River at St. Joseph reached nearly 26 feet on Saturday, about a foot below what’s considered major flooding at the northwest Missouri city. But it’s expected to crest Wednesday or Thursday at 29.3 feet — more than two feet above major flooding level.
Evacuation efforts in eastern Nebraska and some spots in western Iowa on Saturday were hampered by reports of levee breaches and washouts of bridges and roads, including part of Nebraska Highway 92, leading in and out of southwest Omaha. Authorities confirmed that a bridge on that highway that crosses the Elkhorn River had been washed out Saturday. In Fremont, west of Omaha, the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office issued a mandatory evacuation for some residents after floodwaters broke through a levee along the Platte River. And in Mills County, Iowa, authorities ordered people in some rural areas to evacuate after the Missouri River overtopped levees.
The flooding followed days of snow and rain — record-setting, in some places — that swept through the West and Midwest. The deluge pushed some waterways, including the Missouri River, to record levels in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. The flooding was the worst in nearly a decade in places.
The family of farmer James Wilke, 50, of Columbus, Nebraska, said he was killed Thursday when a bridge collapsed as he was using his tractor to try to reach stranded motorists on Thursday. His body was found downstream, his cousin Paul Wilke told the Columbus Telegram. Gass Haney Funeral Home confirmed James Wilke’s death.
At least two other people were missing in floodwaters in Nebraska. Officials said a Norfolk man was seen on top of his flooded car late Thursday before being swept away in the water and another man was swept away by waters when a dam collapsed on the Niobrara River.
Officials in Sarpy County, south of Omaha, said Saturday that power may be shut off to communities along the Missouri, Platte and Elkhorn rivers for safety reasons. They warned those who choose to ignore calls to evacuate that rescues would be attempted only during daylight hours. Some cities and towns, such as North Bend on the banks of the Platte River, were submerged. Others, such as Waterloo and Fremont, were surrounded by floodwaters, stranding residents in virtual islands with no access in or out.
“There is no way out of here unless you’ve got a helicopter — or a boat,” the Rev. Mike Bitter, pastor of Christian Church of Waterloo, told the Omaha World-Herald.
Officials in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska were urging people not to drive unless necessary. In Iowa, a section of northbound Interstate 29 that runs parallel to the Missouri River was closed due to flooding. Authorities were rerouting motorists at Kansas City, Missouri, using a detour that took people almost 140 miles (225 kilometers) out of the way.
Farther east, the Mississippi River saw moderate flooding in Illinois from Rock Island south to Gladstone. Meteorologist Brian Pierce with the National Weather Service’s Quad Cities office in Davenport, Iowa, said flooding on the Mississippi could get worse a few weeks as more snow melts in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
“What we’re having now is the dress rehearsal for the main event that’s going to happen in early April,” he said of the flooding on the Mississippi.
Rising waters along the Pecatonica and Rock rivers flooded some homes in the northern Illinois cities of Freeport, Rockford and Machesney Park. The National Weather Service said record crests were possible along the rivers, with water levels forecast to continue to rise over the next several days and remain above flood stage through most of the weekend.
Freeport resident Mary Martin told the (Freeport) Journal-Standard that she went to the store to get milk and bread when she saw floodwaters were rising Friday.
“Within an hour of going to the store, I could not get back in. That’s how fast the water was coming up,” Martin said.
___
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities were using boats and large vehicles on Saturday to rescue and evacuate residents in parts of the Midwest where a recent deluge of rainwater and snowmelt was sent pouring over frozen ground, overwhelming creeks and rivers, and killing at least one person.
Authorities reported a levee break near Corning, Missori, just north of Kansas state line.
In addition, rescue efforts in eastern Nebraska were hampered by reports of levee breaches and washouts of bridges and roads, including part of Nebraska Highway 92, leading in and out of southwest Omaha. Authorities confirmed that a bridge on that highway that crosses the Elkhorn River had been washed out Saturday. And in Freemont, west of Omaha, the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office issued a mandatory evacuation for some residents after floodwaters broke through a levee along the Platte River.
The flooding followed days of snow and rain — record-setting, in some places — that swept through the West and Midwest. The deluge pushed some waterways to record levels in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. The flooding was the worst in nearly a decade in places.
The family of farmer James Wilke, 50, of Columbus, Nebraska, said he was killed Thursday when a bridge collapsed as he was using his tractor to try to reach stranded motorists on Thursday. His body was found downstream, his cousin Paul Wilke told the Columbus Telegram. Gass Haney Funeral Home confirmed James Wilke’s death.
At least two other people were missing in floodwaters in Nebraska. Officials said a Norfolk man was seen on top of his flooded car late Thursday before being swept away in the water and another man was swept away by waters when a dam collapsed on the Niobrara River.
Officials in Sarpy County, south of Omaha, said Saturday that power may be shut off to communities along the Missouri, Platte and Elkhorn rivers for safety reasons. They warned those who choose to ignore calls to evacuate that rescues would be attempted only during daylight hours. Some cities and towns, such as North Bend on the banks of the Platte River, were submerged. Others, such as Waterloo and Freemont, were surrounded by floodwaters, stranding residents in virtual islands with no access in or out.
Farther east, the Mississippi River saw moderate flooding in Illinois from Rock Island south to Gladstone. Meteorologist Brian Pierce with the National Weather Service’s Quad Cities office in Davenport, Iowa, said flooding on the Mississippi could get worse a few weeks as more snow melts in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
“What we’re having now is the dress rehearsal for the main event that’s going to happen in early April,” he said of the flooding on the Mississippi.
Rising waters along the Pecatonica and Rock rivers flooded some homes in the northern Illinois cities of Freeport, Rockford and Machesney Park. The National Weather Service said record crests were possible along the rivers, with water levels forecast to continue to rise over the next several days and remain above flood stage through most of the weekend.
A new $12 million waterpark. A shiny new craft brewery — not far from the new whiskey distillery. And, yes, that trendy new downtown cafe.
Dodge City officials want students at the local community college, such as these nursing students, to have more options for pursuing bachelor’s degrees without leaving town. BETHANY WOOD / FOR THE KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
A nearly $6 million addition to Boot Hill Museum just kicked off last fall. That’s about when Dodge City wrapped up $86 million in renovations and expansions to its schools.
Much of rural Kansas is withering. Not Dodge City. It offers a growing anchor in the state’s southwest, grounded in the meat industry and energized by the thousands of people who work at its slaughterhouses.
But the town’s success story risks hitting a 21st century ceiling. It lacks a four-year college.
That complicates upward mobility for blue-collar workers, costs the town services it sorely needs and hinders efforts to diversify the local economy.
Some residents leave the region to chase the schooling that leads to higher-paying jobs. Others can’t afford to. Meanwhile, plenty of middle-class jobs in the region go unfilled, such as teaching positions and better-paying health care work.
That’s why community leaders dream of bringing four-year college to this icon of the Old West.
“It’s the only way,” said Joann Knight, head of economic development, “to really address our health care issues and the lack of education out here.”
Dodge City has become west Kansas’ biggest city, at the heart of a 28-county region that lacks any state university.
Give southwest Kansas a satellite campus, they propose, where universities based elsewhere offer bachelor’s degrees that build on the region’s community college programs. Make four-year degrees a realistic option for more students. Keep down costs of the project by reviving classrooms at a local Catholic college that closed decades ago.
“If we drop the ball,” Knight said, “I’d hate to see what our health care access is going to be in 10 years.”
In many southwest counties, you can’t get a tooth filled or help for a child’s anxiety attacks. There’s no dentist or mental health provider in sight.
Even in bustling Dodge City, residents express frustration with difficulty making appointments and with turnover.
“I’ve gone to the doctor quite a few times,” Dodge City High senior Jacquelyn Martinez said, “And I swear, like every time I go, it’s always a different person.”
Martinez wants to be a physician’s assistant — just one of the many kinds of health workers that nurse practitioner Jacque Kemmerer says the region urgently needs.
Patients requiring more specialized care have it the worst, says the founder of a women’s health clinic in Dodge City that’s now part of Pratt Regional Medical Center. Thyroid problems? Seizures? Diabetes? All those can mean long car trips.
“If the diabetes becomes uncontrolled,” she said, “they have to go two-and-a-half hours to Wichita to see an endocrinologist.”
A Wichita State University report prepared for Dodge City scrutinized health outcomes in southwest Kansas and surveyed hundreds of health experts and community leaders.
People die younger in southwest Kansas than the rest of the state and nationwide, researchers found. They’re hospitalized more often with conditions like diabetes and asthma that regular primary care can help keep in check.
The survey’s respondents said population decline across west Kansas has worsened the care shortage — but so has the surging cost of college and the absence of a close-to-home campus.
In the region’s three biggest counties, where Dodge City, Liberal and Garden City lie, around 10 percent of adults work in health care. Elsewhere in Kansas 14 percent do.
An education desert, too
Dodge City High School senior Leslie Rodela doesn’t know yet whether she should aim to become a nurse practitioner or a family physician, but she knows either path will take her away from here for several years at least.
“I like this town,” she said. “I’m kind of sad that I would have to move away.”
Southwest Kansas parents with college-bound kids pack them off and hope some, at least, will bring those coveted bachelor’s and graduate degrees back — as Rodela hopes to do.
“Unfortunately,” said Bud Estes, a state senator from Dodge City, “much of the time they do not.”
Three of his four children didn’t return. Estes the parent doesn’t begrudge anyone that. Estes the senator needs a solution to fill his district’s demand for degrees.
Nationally, most freshmen enroll in college within 50 miles of home. People who live farther away are less likely to go. Dodge City sits 105 miles from Fort Hays State, the closest state university. Wichita State lies 160 miles away.
Kansas has seven public universities. None of them has a campus in the state’s 28 southwestern counties — Kansas’ only quadrant without that. Barclay College, a Christian school of about 250 students and the region’s only four-year campus, lies 60 miles east of Dodge City in tiny Haviland.
Neither that nor the community colleges in Dodge City, Liberal or Garden City provide the broad access to four-year degrees that University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Nick Hillman says open a critical level of economic opportunity.
“That’s where the big jumps are going to happen,” he said, “with that four-year credential.”
On average, Kansas adults add about $4,500 to their annual earnings if they study beyond high school and get a year or two of college under their belts. A four-year degree is a nearly $20,000 jump.
Many educators hope the age of online learning can fill the void. But Hillman says studies suggest distance learning isn’t producing widespread success. For viable, broader access, he thinks states need to find other ways to fit into the lives of the students they hope to serve.
That could mean testing a mix of in-person and web-based instruction, or rethinking the mission of community colleges to help students earn four-year degrees.
Otherwise, many people eyeing bachelor’s degrees will continue either to leave the area or simply miss out. Comparatively few will go wholly online.
Xiomara Garcia enrolled in Dodge City Community College to earn an associate’s degree in nursing. Ultimately, she wants bachelor’s and graduate degrees, and to become a nurse practitioner.
She has doubts about online options for those higher credentials.
Dodge City Community College and other community colleges in the region offer two-year degrees that city officials see as the starting point for rolling out bachelor’s programs.
CREDIT BETHANY WOOD / FOR THE KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
“When you’re together with your professor, they teach you more,” she said. “Their doors are open. You’re more than welcome to ask questions after class.”
So Garcia has thought about moving instead, but she says if state universities offered a satellite campus in her region, that option would suit her well.
“This is where I’m from,” she said. “I have my family here, all the resources I need are here. The only thing missing is the actual education.”
‘University centers’
Some states eager to expand access let community colleges offer bachelor’s programs. Others have created collaborative, multi-college satellite campuses — sometimes called “university centers.”
Educators and civic leaders in Dodge City, Liberal and Garden City want a university center — a partnership among local community colleges and state universities that could start with a focus on health care and expand from there.
Only in Garden City do students go on to college at rates akin to the rest of Kansas, tallies from the state education department indicate. Fewer than one-third of teens in Liberal and Dodge City graduate and continue to college within a few years.
“There’s the financial barrier,” said Annie Martinez, who teaches anatomy and other sciences at Dodge City High School. “But also, just — we have a lot of kids who are very connected with their families.”
A university center could let her students earn an associate’s degree in nursing at Dodge City Community College, for example, and top it off with a bachelor’s without leaving town.
Professor Mechele Hailey directs the community college’s nursing program and encourages all her graduates to keep studying.
Hospitals, clinics and nursing homes crave those higher degrees. Research shows links to healthier patients, and graduate-level nursing degrees can help doctor’s offices serve more people.
“The more education we can get,” Hailey said, “the better nursing is in general.”
‘The more education we can get, the better nursing is in general.’
Students say a university center could let them live at home during their studies, sparing them thousands of dollars in dorm fees on the way to earning a bachelor’s degree.
“I would have my family to help me throughout the entire process,” said Alexandra Garcia, a Dodge City high school senior who wants a bachelor’s and, eventually, a physician’s assistant master’s degree from Wichita State. “That would help a lot.”
Gauging demand
Over the past decade, the Kansas Regents set urgent annual targets to get thousands more students earning two or four-year degrees.
Without those degrees, they worry, businesses will struggle to hire and grow. Kansans will struggle to reach or stay in the middle class.
But the state hasn’t come close to hitting its goal. Doing so would require enrolling many more of the students who often face greater hurdles to higher education. Black and Hispanic students, and those from low-income families or families with no college history, remain less likely to study beyond high school.
Thousands of students from those groups live in Dodge City, Liberal and Garden City.
Their schools bring together a mix of stunningly diverse heritages — the product of the region’s many agricultural jobs. Dozens of languages from around the world are spoken in southwest Kansas homes, ranging from Spanish and Congolese French to Guatemalan K’iche’, Somali and Burmese.
Think of the social and economic implications of failing to open doors to college, says Terri Mujica-McLain. She’s a Kansas City consultant who hails from southwest Kansas and is helping with the push for a university center.
“If you’re not educating your minority population,” she said, “you’ve totally missed the bus.”
Think big, start small?
Posters hanging at the library of Dodge City High School. CREDIT CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Yet Southwest Kansas faces a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation.
Calculating the costs of a satellite campus depends on how many students would enroll. Pinning down demand is difficult for programs that don’t yet exist.
But Dodge City leaders pursue the concept doggedly, with help from federal and foundation grants, and are gaining momentum. At least three universities have visited to gauge the prospects. Fort Hays State will soon finish a feasibility study on rolling out a few bachelor’s programs as early as next fall.
“It needs to be a win-win for the institution, for the local community and obviously for the student,” said Shane Bangerter, a Dodge Citian and vice chair of the Kansas Board of Regents. “What I would like to see happen is to get some of these programs started and then we can better judge.”
Wichita State economists think west Kansas will keep losing residents in the coming decades. But they predict two of the west’s four main population centers will continue to grow: Hays (which already has a university) and Dodge City.
At around 35,000 people today, Dodge and surrounding Ford County may reach nearly 50,000 by the mid-2060s.
Liberal and Seward County, researchers predict, will hold steady. Garden City and Finney County could shrink as much as a third.
Dodge City officials suggest a satellite campus there could serve Liberal and Garden City, too, with courses potentially offered at all three locations.
The project could keep costs down by teaming up with the community colleges in all three towns — and using the ample space at Hennessy Hall.
A hulking yet elegant structure built in the 1950s, Hennessy once housed St. Mary of the Plains College. Today, Dodge City puts it to a wide range of uses. A Catholic college in Wichita — Newman University — already offers a small program for aspiring teachers there. Dodge City officials see that as one piece already in place for its satellite campus vision.
St. Mary closed in 1992. A press release from that year pins blame for the Catholic college’s demise largely on a “disastrous” deal-gone-awry with an out-of-state trucking school that sunk it into deep trouble with the U.S. Department of Education.
Until then, 160 faculty and staff served more than 800 students a year, churning out young professionals.
Business, education and nursing ranked among the most popular majors, says Tim Wenzl, archivist for the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City. Many of the graduates stayed.
R.C. Trotter co-owns a five-physician family medical practice in Dodge City with mental health counseling and a nurse practitioner.
“Everyone in my office grew up out here,” he said.
“Come to the product,” he urged Kansas universities. “Come to where the kids are if you really want to make a difference in education down the road.”
Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ.
MARYVILLE, Missouri – The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team cruised past Minnesota State 91-62, as they avenged last year’s first round upset and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II basketball tournament.
The Bearcats fell victim to NCAA Division II March Madness last year against the Mavericks when MSU upset the No. 1 seeded Bearcats, 60-50.
This story played differently as Northwest got on a roll early with a 12-point lead in the first five minutes of the game. That stretch set the tone early as the Bearcats continued their hot shooting tendencies up until halftime when they carried a 54-35 advantage
Joey Witthus lead the Bearcats in scoring as he finished with a career-high 39 points. It’s the sixth time this season that Witthus scored 30 or more points in a game.
Northwest was granted their largest lead of the night with two minutes left to go in the game as they went up by 31 points. This surge of offensive power was helped by a sold-out crowd at Bearcat Arena.
Other key players from the game were Trevor Hudgins who neared a double-double with 16 points nine assists. Diego Bernard also scored double digits as he tallied 20 points in the victory.
The Bearcats will face-off against Southern Nazarene in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
ST. JOSEPH – A six-run eighth inning by Washburn (9-10, 4-6) spoiled a Griffon Baseball (9-8, 7-3) comeback effort in Missouri Western’s home opener Saturday afternoon as the Ichabods beat MWSU 8-4.
Missouri Western took a 4-2 lead with a three-run seventh, but Washburn’s big eighth inning handed the Griffons just their third MIAA loss of the season.
NOTABLES
Andrew Curry led off the fifth with a solo home run to center for Missouri Western’s first hit off of Washburn starter Josh Ramirez
With one out in the seventh, Curry tripled to start a string of seven-straight Griffons reaching base that gave the Griffons a 4-2 lead on a three-run inning
Wyatt Meyer gave MWSU the lead with a pinch-hit single in the seventh that drove in Josh Robinson
The Ichabods rallied with a six-run, six-hit eighth inning that put them on top 8-4
Missouri Western had six hits in the game and left seven runners on base
LEADERS
Curry went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI
Zach Pych returned to the lineup and went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI
Meyer drove in the other run
Jacob Purl pitched the first 4 2/3. He allowed two runs on three hits with six strikeouts and five walks
Levi Abrahamson took the loss, he pitched one inning-plus, allowing four runs on four hits
UP NEXT
The two teams play game two of the three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lindell Wigginton found his way to Iowa State from Canada, Marial Shayok took a detour through the University of Virginia, and Michael Jacobson started his career at the University of Nebraska.
Three players from three very different backgrounds now have something in common: a title.
The trio helped the fifth-seeded Cyclones race to a big early lead against No. 17 Kansas on Saturday night, then contributed to enough crucial stops down the stretch, preserving a 78-66 victory over the Jayhawks in the Big 12 tournament finale at Sprint Center.
“When you do something special, you win a championship, you got a connection for the rest of your life,” said Cyclones coach Steve Prohm, who brought together his team from far and wide.
“Hopefully this is just step one. We’ll enjoy this for a while, figure out where we’re going for the NCAA tournament and then we’ll focus on that.”
Wigginton finished with 17 points, Shayok had 15 on his way to winning tournament MVP, and Jacobson finished with 14 for the Cyclones (23-11), who became the lowest-seeded team to win the conference tournament. They also improved to 2-0 against Kansas (25-9) in the finals.
“I think it was our best team win of the year because it was gritty,” said Shayok, who like Jacobson sat out last season after transferring. “Everybody stepped up.”
Dedric Lawson had 18 points and Devon Dotson had 17 for the third-seeded Jayhawks, whose last chance to win some hardware will be the NCAA tournament. Their run of 14 consecutive regular-season crowns ended last weekend, and they failed to defend their Big 12 tournament title.
“The way we competed, we showed some signs where we really wanted to win this game,” Dotson said. “But they hit some tough shots. We were missing some of our easy shots we usually make.”
Meanwhile, the Cyclones made a tremendous about-face during their stay in Kansas City.
They arrived having lost five of their past six regular-season games, and looked rudderless in losses to Texas and lowly West Virginia. But beginning with a blowout of Baylor and continuing with a quarterfinal win over regular-season champ Kansas State, the Cyclones found their stride.
The Jayhawks, still looking for their own, were fortunate to trail only 32-22 at halftime.
Lawson, who had 24 points in the semifinals, was 2 of 11 from the field. Marcus Garrett was 0 for 6 shooting and 1 of 4 from the foul line. Quentin Grimes was 0 or 4 from beyond the arc after hitting five 3-pointers in their win over the Mountaineers on Friday night.
All told, the Jayhawks shot 27.8 percent from the field and missed all nine of their 3-point attempts in the first half. They also were just 2 of 8 from the free throw line.
“Just one of those nights,” Grimes said. “Every one of the shots we put up was a good shot.”
Iowa State had its own trouble on the offensive end of the floor, getting five shots swatted into the seats. But the Cyclones were effective at getting to the rim, and easy layups by Wigginton and Tyrese Haliburton allowed them to take control.
Their lead swelled to 41-24 early in the second half. And even when the Jayhawks managed to cut into it, they would inevitably miss an open layup or throw the ball away.
Or, Jacobson would knock down an unlikely 3-pointer.
That was the case when the Jayhawks trimmed the deficit to 45-35 with 14 minutes to go. Iowa State’s big man calmly drained one from the top of the arc — all Kansas coach Bill Self could do was smile in disbelief — and Steve Prohm’s squad promptly ripped off seven straight points.
“We just didn’t make those plays that you need in order to put some real game pressure on them,” Self said. “They were better than us, make no mistake.”
Frustration eventually set in for the Jayhawks down the stretch.
After cutting their deficit to single-digits on several occasions, including 72-63 with 1:21 to go, the Cyclones kept answering. And after Grimes was called for a foul on Wigginton, Lawson spiked the ball under the basket and was whistled for a technical foul.
Shayok made the two technical foul shots, Wigginton made two more, and the chants of “Let’s Go Cyclones!” began to reverberate throughout Sprint Center in celebration of another title.
“This is a special night. Kansas is a tremendous program,” Prohm said, “and you can talk about Coach Self forever. But our guys answered the bell. We came down here and won each game in different ways. We showed our toughness. We showed our togetherness.
BIG PICTURE
Iowa State has leaned on Shayok and Talen Horton-Tucker much of the season, but Wigginton and Haliburton shined in Kansas City. Wigginton is averaging more than 15 points over his past five games while Haliburton continues to lead the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Kansas started freshman center David McCormack, but the Cyclones’ guard-oriented lineup forced the Jayhawks to match their personnel. Charlie Moore and the rest of their guards struggled shooting the ball, and they were unable to get crucial defensive stops down the stretch.
UP NEXT
Both teams will learn their NCAA tournament destinations Sunday.
PITTSBURG, Kansas – The Pittsburg State University Gorillas scored a 3-2 extra-inning win over the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcat baseball team in game two of a three-game set.
After a quiet three innings to open the ball game, the Bearcats (9-12, 5-6 MIAA) struck first by scoring two runs in the top of the fourth.
Junior first baseman Conner Quick led off the fourth by doubling to centerfield. Senior catcher Alixon Herrera recorded his first RBI of the game, knocking a double to center to score Quick. A third double of the inning was laced by senior outfielder Derek Hussey, scoring Herrera. Senior infielder Logan Rycraft grounded out to end the inning, stranding Hussey at second.
Junior pitcher Quintin Van Ackeren got the start on the bump for the Bearcats, throwing six and 2/3 scoreless innings while allowing three hits and striking out six.
The Gorilla offense notched their first runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth, scoring two and tying up the game heading into the ninth inning. Junior infielder Ty Herrenbruck smacked a two-run home run for Pittsburg State to knot it up.
Both the Bearcats and the Gorillas went three-up, three-down in the ninth, forcing the game into extra innings.
After holding Northwest scoreless in the top of the 10th, Pittsburg State added the game winner in the bottom half of the 10th.
Freshman Gibson Brown and senior Trevor Dudar also made appearances on the mound for the Bearcats. Dudar received the loss, bringing his record to 1-1 on the season.
The Bearcats will be back in action for game-three of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Pittsburg, Kansas.
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Missouri Western women’s tennis team (8-6) fell in a road matchup with Arkansas Tech (5-3) Saturday as the Golden Suns topped the Griffons 6-1.
The match began with Arkansas Tech sweeping the doubles, as the Griffons’ closest match being Karolina Ström’s and Joanna Abreu Roman’s 6-3 loss on the number one courts.
The Golden Suns won five of the six matches in singles play. Both Federica Salmaso and Bojana Vuksan lost close second sets, each falling by two points of less in the last set. Saturday’s defeat snaps a six-match winning streak for Vuksan.
Abreu Roman earned the lone victory for the Griffons in the singles. The senior earned the win on the number four court with a three-set victory to give Missouri Western the point.
Missouri Western will return home for a pair of MIAA matchups, beginning with a match against Emporia State on March 22.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Nonprofit organizations and state bodies are already planning a celebration of 200 years of Missouri history and culture when the state reaches its bicentennial in 2021.
Michael Sweeney of the State Historical Society of Missouri is leading the planning for the bicentennial. He told the Columbia Missourian that the celebrations won’t just look to the past but will also consider the future of Missouri.
“As much as we are a history-based organization, in many ways, this is not about history,” Sweeney said. “It’s about Missouri’s third century, and why this is a place you want to call home.”
Missouri became the 24th state on Aug. 10, 1821.
Residents can get involved in a variety of community engagement projects to mark the state’s 200-year anniversary.
The State Historical Society and the Missouri Star Quilt Company are working together to create a bicentennial quilt, which will consist of block submissions from all of Missouri’s counties. Residents can also submit photographs to the “My Missouri 2021 Photograph Project,” which aims to “build a permanent visual record of Missouri at its bicentennial of statehood,” according to its website.
The Historical Society is also creating an online encyclopedia that will provide information on the important people, events and places that have shaped the state.
The Missouri Humanities Council plans to run a penny drive to raise funds to conserve the state’s founding documents.
The preparations are being supervised by the Bicentennial Alliance, which includes the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, the Missouri Arts Council and the Missouri State Fair.
Gavins Point Dam/US Army Corps of Engineers file photo
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Water releases from Gavins Point Dam upstream on the Missouri River are being scaled back by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the projected crest of the river has been lowered by the National Weather Service.
The Corps says it reduced releases from the dam at Yankton, South Dakota from 90,000 cubic feet per second to 73,000 Saturday morning. The Corps says it will continue to reduce releases from Gavins Point over the next few days, dropping to 20,000 cubic feet per second on Tuesday.
Widespread, devastating flooding in Nebraska prompted the Corps to increase flows from the upstream dam from 50,000 cubic feet per second to 90,000. While the move relieved pressure on Nebraska’s saturated river system, it increased fears the added water would cause additional flooding along the Missouri River downstream.
The National Weather Service reports the Missouri River actually dropped from just over 25 feet in St. Joseph to 24.85 feet at 5:30 Saturday evening. Still, NWS projects the Missouri will reach 29.3 feet by the middle of next week. That is lower than an earlier projection of 30 feet. The record crest of the Missouri River at St. Joseph is 32.1 feet, reached during the devastating flood of 1993.
MARYVILLE, Missouri – The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team cruised past Minnesota State 91-62, as they avenged last year’s first round upset and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II basketball tournament.
ST. JOSEPH – A six-run eighth inning by Washburn (9-10, 4-6) spoiled a Griffon Baseball (9-8, 7-3) comeback effort in Missouri Western’s home opener Saturday afternoon as the Ichabods beat MWSU 8-4.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lindell Wigginton found his way to Iowa State from Canada, Marial Shayok took a detour through the University of Virginia, and Michael Jacobson started his career at the University of Nebraska.
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Missouri Western women’s tennis team (8-6) fell in a road matchup with Arkansas Tech (5-3) Saturday as the Golden Suns topped the Griffons 6-1.
