Senior kicker Blake Grupe leads the post-season honors for Smith-Cotton Tigers football players.
Grupe was selected All-State Second Team and made the Academic All-State team along with sophomore defensive back Kyler Simoncic.
Grupe also was selected for the Missouri Football Coaches Association All-District team, along with tight end Korbin Scott, middle linebacker Brice Pannier, defensive end Zach Gwaltney, offensive lineman John Carney, running back Gauge Young and outside linebacker Tyshawn Ward.
S-C boys basketball fall at Marshall semis
Smith-Cotton fell to Fort Zumwalt North, 65-49, on Friday night in the Marshall boys basketball tournament.
S-C was down 37-17 at the half, but went on a 18-8 run in the third quarter that included a steal and dunk by Kardell Sims.
Coach Bill Barton said, “Our effort was not there on a consistent basis. We allowed too many second-chance points and got away from the game plan. We will learn from this and get better as a team.”
Senior Zion Buckner led S-C with 19 points, with senior Derek Gehlken adding 8 points.
Lady Tigers edged in consolation final
In an early rivalry game with Warrensburg, Smith-Cotton lost 46-45 in the consolation final in the Marshall Tournament.
S-C trailed 14-5 after the first quarter. Kiara Williams led the team with 13 points. Darby Christian scored 11 with seven rebounds. Monique Grant had 10 points.
Smith-Cotton (2-2) hosts Nevada 5:30 p.m. Friday.
S-C freshman boys win again
Chris Staten led the way as the Smith-Cotton freshman boys basketball team posted a 65-54 home win Saturday over Battle.
Staten had 22 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks as the Tigers ripped off a 12-2 run to start the fourth quarter to secure the victory. Christian Finley added 14 points, four steals and three blocks for S-C (2-0), while Tyler Williams had 10 points, eight rebounds and five steals.
Lady Tigers swimmers open season
The Smith-Cotton girls swimming team opened its season with a seventh place finish Saturday at the Valkyrie Invitational, hosted by Poplar Bluff High School.
The Lady Tigers compiled 103 points; Joplin High took first place with 188 points.
Top finishes for S-C: Abby Osorio, sixth in 200-yard individual medley; Rachael Meyer, seventh in 100-yard breaststroke; Mariah Turner, 10th in 500-yard freestyle and 11th in 200-yard freestyle; Valentyna Usyk, fifth in 100-yard butterfly and 10th in 50-yard freestyle; Kayla Archambault, third in one-meter diving; Emily Burnett, 11th in 100-yard freestyle; Hunter Sparks, 10th in 100-yard backstroke. The 200-yard freestyle relay team (Turner, Burnett, Osorio and Meyer) was fifth and the 400-yard freestyle relay team (Usyk, Meyer, Burnett, Makenna Steger) was third.
S-C’s Snyder wins at 195 at Grain Valley Invitational
Senior Izaiah Snyder took first place at 195 pounds as the Smith-Cotton wrestling team opened its season with a seventh place finish Saturday in the Grain Valley Invitational.
Heavyweight Michael Laster took second for the Tigers, while Blake Pomajzl (138) and Gauge Young (160) each finished third. Younger Layton was fourth at 106 and Dalton Spencer was fifth at 132.
Belton won the tourney, with Grain Valley finishing second; 15 teams competed.
