Three of the four teams involved in Friday night’s Grand River Conference championship games have completed unbeaten runs through divisional play, while the fourth team, the state-ranked Stanberry boys, had a January 3rd blemish against Worth County (60-48 loss) virtually erased with a 65-59 head-to-head win over North Andrew on Tuesday, January 17th, giving the Bulldogs the head-to-head tiebreak advantage over the Cardinals, and sending Stanberry to Trenton to compete for a Friday night title.
That mid-January victory for Stanberry served as the impetus to get the powerhouse Bulldogs into the first-ever GRC boys championship game, where a Trenton Bulldog team having one of its best seasons in the decade-long run from Head Coach Jeremy Austin lies in wait for Nick Groomer’s group.
With the GRC East holding home-court advantage, sixteen games will be played among northwest Missouri’s newest super conference on Friday night, with the Stanberry at Trenton doubleheader serving as the championship venue.
In the girls title game (6 PM Friday), a Stanberry team enjoying one of its finest seasons in school history takes a 17-3 mark to play the powerhouse Trenton Lady Bulldogs, where a bruised and battered, but supremely talented team led by veteran Head Coach Brian Upton awaits. Combined, Stanberry and Trenton have a 14-0 mark in conference play, only five losses (Trenton’s against Chillicothe and Smithville and Stanberry against Mound City, Jefferson, and King City) and a history, albeit it brief, of meeting in a GRC girl’s conference championship game. In late September, Trenton, on its way to a state quarterfinal appearance, won the GRC softball title game at Stanberry by a score of 3-0.
Trenton’s basketbal strength comes from a deep and talented sophomore class and the abundant energy and efficient play of the program’s only senior, Whitley Richman. However, both of those Lady Bulldog virtues have taken a hit in recent days, as sophomore small forward Salem Croy has missed three consecutive games, with Richman joining Croy on the bench for Wednesday’s win over South Harrison, as both Trenton players deal with ankle injuries. Croy was injured in last week’s Hamilton Tournament, suffering a significant ankle sprain in a semifinal win over East Buchanan. Richman’s injury occurred late in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s GRC East-clinching victory at Putnam County. The availability of either player for Friday’s title tilt remains unknown, although Croy’s injury is being viewed as more serious than Richman’s.
The 7:30 boys championship game from Trenton High School should be the type of showcase the Grand River Conference was looking for when the 16-school super conference set-up was announced. In Trenton, the largest GRC school by enrollment, a high-octane, fast-paced style has flourished with a team bolstered by a high-scoring group of seniors that are difficult to slow down. As Connor Cotton patrols the paint with efficiency and agility, Corbyn Guile slashes and shoots for opportunities, while Spencer Harris’s overall floor game has put himself right to the top of the conference’s MVP race. THS has gone 7-0 in its first season in the GRC Eastern Division. All of Trenton’s losses have come against high-level competition, including Class 1 #1 ranked Winston, the Marceline Tigers, the rival Chillicothe Hornets, the MEC’s Maryville Spoofhounds, and most recently, two close losses to junior LaTroy Harper and the talented Penney High of Hamilton Hornets.
The season at Stanberry has had plenty of storylines for Coach Nick Groomer and the Bulldogs, first with the move of the recent Class 1 state power up to Class 2, likely meaning that while possible, a run to another “Final Four” in Columbia for SHS could prove more challenging. Of three losses suffered by the Bulldogs, two have come in tournament (Stanberry and King City) play to Class 1, #3 ranked North Andrew, with the other against Worth County, at the time ending a long-winning streak for a Stanberry team used to state trips in both eight-man football and boy’s basketball. This season also brought the 200th coaching victory for Nick Groomer at SHS.
Stanberry’s most recent set-back to North Andrew, 55-48 on Saturday night in the King City championship game, has dropped the Bulldogs to their lowest Class 2 ranking of the season, at #9 in the MBCA poll released on Thursday morning. Players the likes of Cole Craig, Cory Luke, and Brad Hailey will have another ‘big stage’ to play on, 7:30 Friday night at Trenton High School.
The Stanberry at Trenton doubleheader will be broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7, with video coverage on KGOZ-TV (YouTube.com/KTTNRadio). Pregame hits the air at 5:45 from the THS gymnasium.
With the end of divisional play after Wednesday night’s games in Trenton and Maysville, here are the match-ups for the GRC’s “Crossover Friday”.
At Trenton High School (Trenton, MO): (GRC CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES)
#1 Stanberry girls (7-0) at #1 Trenton girls (7-0) – 6:00 PM
#1 Stanberry boys (6-1) at #1 Trenton boys (7-0) – 7:30 PM
At Putnam County High School (Unionville, MO):
#4 Braymer girls (4-3) at #4 Putnam County girls (4-3) – 6:00 PM
#2 North Andrew boys (6-1) at #2 Putnam County boys (6-1) – 7:30 PM
At Maysville High School (Maysville, MO):
#8 Albany girls (0-7) at #8 Maysville girls (0-7) – 6:00 PM
#3 Braymer boys (4-3) at #3 Maysville boys (3-4)
At Gallatin High School (Gallatin, MO):
#2 King City girls (5-2) at #2 Gallatin girls (6-1) – 6:00 PM
#4 Worth County boys (4-3) at #4 Gallatin boys (3-4) – 7:30 PM
At Milan High School (Milan, MO):
#6 Pattonsburg girls (2-5) at #6 Milan girls (2-5) – 6:00 PM
#5 King City boys (3-4) at #5 Milan boys (3-4) – 7:30 PM
At South Harrison High School (Bethany, MO):
#3 North Andrew girls (5-2) at #3 South Harrison girls (4-3) – 6:00 PM
#6 St. Joseph Christian boys (3-4) at #6 South Harrison boys (3-4) – 7:30 PM
At Princeton High School (Princeton, MO):
#5 Worth County girls (4-3) at #5 Princeton girls (4-3) – 6:00 PM
#7 Pattonsburg boys (2-5) at #7 Princeton boys (2-5) – 7:30 PM
At Polo High School (Polo, MO):
#7 St. Joseph Christian girls (1-6) at #7 Polo girls (1-6) – 6:00 PM
#8 Albany boys (0-7) at #8 Polo boys (1-6) – 7:30 PM
