For the second straight year, the girls programs from Trenton High School and Stanberry High School will battle for a Grand River Conference championship, with the two teams, in a scheduling quirk, set to play on back-to-back Friday nights.
Last season, Trenton, in a year that saw the program reach the “Show-Me Showdown” for the first time, beat SHS for the GRC title, only to have Stanberry return the favor in regular season play, on Trenton’s floor, the following week. This season, both programs come in ranked in their respective classes in the state of Missouri, with only one loss for both.
Trenton’s Lady Bulldogs, champions of the GRC East, are 20-1 and 7-0 in GRC play, boasting one of the strongest junior classes in the state. Behind returning All-State guard Ainsley Tolson, her back-court running mate Mykah Hurley, and a blossoming bench adding depth to Brian Upton’s roster, particularly with the forward tandem of Lexi Whitaker and Maci Moore teaming with junior starter Sidney Lynch, an argument could be made that Trenton is even stronger this year than last. THS did lose All-GRC forward Whitley Richman, currently a freshman at cross-town NCMC, to graduation, but did return junior Salem Croy from a season-ending ankle injury suffered in January 2017.
Stanberry returns the majority of the same pieces from the 2016-2017 squad, but that group has become stronger offensively, led by the floor balance of Lily Osborn and Madi Sager, while the continuing strong defensive play of the Lady Bulldogs has proved to be an overwhelming combination for GRC West foes, as Stanberry has rolled to a 19-1 overall record, and 7-0 in divisional play.
The Trenton at Stanberry showdown at 6 o’clock will be broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3, KTTNSports.com, and KTTN from Tune-In Radio, with pregame hitting the air at 5:45 on Friday night, as Tom Johnson presents the play-by-play from the Stanberry gym. Trenton is ranked #3 in Class 3, with Stanberry #7 in Class 2, coming into the game. The Trenton girls and boys, on Friday, February 9th, return to Stanberry for a doubleheader with the Lady Bulldogs, starting at 6.
At 7:30 on Friday night, KTTN FM 92.3 will present a state-ranked showdown between the GRC boys Eastern Division champion, the Milan Wildcats, against the unbeaten champions of the Western Division, the North Andrew Cardinals.
Milan, a very young yet talented group of boys, is led by Coach Andrea Dabney, who took the boys job with the Wildcats after leading the Lady Wildcats program earlier this decade, a run culminating with a district championship. Dabney’s sons, sophomore Ryan and freshman Dominic, have been key cogs in the Milan engine in 2017-2018, as Ryan’s tenacity, length, and quickness inside have been tough traits for opponents to slow down, while Dominic has played much stronger than his youth might portray, mostly as a “sixth-man” figure adding energy off the Wildcat bench, but, more recently, as a consistent starter as Eddie Gonzalez had a mid-January bout with the flu. A late-season key for Milan could be the play of sophomore Hunter Shaw, a wing player with eye-popping athleticism that has the capability of spreading the floor and keeping defenses from collapsing on Dabney’s interior strengths.
The Wildcats are deep, capable of going up to six or seven players strong off the bench, and have rebounded from the season’s only loss, at Trenton, to beat Putnam County and Gallatin and clinch the GRC East title by a game over the Trenton Bulldogs. Milan’s recent bounce-back from the Trenton loss was noticed by the pollsters, with the Wildcats moving up three spots, from #7 to #4, in this week’s MBCA Class 2 boys rankings.
Milan, with only one loss, will play one of the few teams in Missouri with a better record than them on Friday night in the Grand River Conference championship game, as from Rosendale, the North Andrew Cardinals can best be described in one word, “powerhouse”. The Cardinals are unbeaten, and have ascended to the top spot in the state in Class 1 boys. Like most top-ranked teams, North Andrew boasts a combination of speed and size sure to test the Wildcats. Top players for the Cardinals include senior post players Caleb Patterson and Jacob Powelson, in addition to guard Lance Streeby. Dennis Stephenson will have Friday night’s call from Rosendale, Missouri.
All eight schools and 16 teams will be in action on the GRC’s “Cross-Over Friday”, although it looks unlikely that South Harrison, a district being ravaged by the flu this week, and out of session since Monday, will play their games. As the schedule stands, the South Harrison girls will be at Pattonsburg, with the Bulldog boys at Worth County.
By the request of King City High School, the girls game hosted by the Lady Wildkats on Friday night will be the SECOND game of the evening, as Princeton is at King City in a 7:30 tip. In the boys game at 6 o’clock, the Polo Panthers play the Wildkats.
The Trenton Bulldogs, coming off a strong home-court victory over Putnam County on Tuesday night, clinched the #2 seed in the East, matching Jeremy Austin’s team with the West’s #2 seed, the Class 1 state-ranked St. Joseph Christian Lions. The Bulldogs and Lions will meet up on Friday night at 7:30 at Christian High School. SJSC was doubled up by North Andrew on Tuesday night, 56-28, but bounced back on Wednesday for a single-digit road win at Braymer, locking up the #2 seed. The St. Joseph Christian girls, in the 7 vs. 7 game, will host the Maysville Lady Wolverines at 6 o’clock.
The 2 vs. 2 seed girls game will be played at North Andrew prior to the boys championship game, with the Gallatin Lady Bulldogs playing the Lady Cardinals in Rosendale.
Other games slated for Friday night, February 2nd are:
GIRLS at 6:00 PM:
#4 Milan Lady Wildcats at #4 Worth County Lady Tigers
#5 Polo Lady Panthers at #5 Braymer Lady Bobcats
#6 Putnam County Lady Midgets at #6 Albany Lady Warriors
BOYS at 7:30 PM:
#3 Putnam County Midgets at #3 Stanberry Bulldogs
#5 Princeton Tigers at #5 Pattonsburg Panthers
#7 Maysville Wolverines at #7 Braymer Bobcats
#8 Gallatin Bulldogs at #8 Albany Warriors
