What's happening, good people!

Well, as I often do at 4 a.m. in the morning, today I was thinking about the upcoming high school FB match ups. (No really, I have no life and have nothing better to do in the predawn hours of the morning). This is THE round that decides who gets to go off and play in the state championship venue. A real "Win or Go Home" situation. Which by the way, is one of my most hated cliches I hear from athletes and coaches.

Seriously. What's so bad about your home? Why don't you want to go back there?  And even if you win the game, at the end of the night, aren't you going home anyway?  I know when folks say it, they're just expressing that a win means they move on and a loss means the season's over. ... which would be terrible. So I think a proper sports cliche, that would show the awfulness of losing, should be like "Win or Not Be Able to Show Your Face in The School Cafeteria Again" or Win or Start Getting Ready for Pre-season Basketball and Suicide Sprints" and my personal favorite: "Win or The Smart Kid in Mr. Wilson's History Class Will Stop Letting Me Cheat Off His Work." To me, these would suck a whole lot more than simply going home. But hey, what do I know. ... I was one of those student athletes who went "home" far before reaching semifinal rounds. So here's to all our local teams playing for the right to go to the state title game... and not going home.

Better late than never, eh? Well, it's Thursday and I better take care of my picks. Last week I went 6-3 (I tried the upsets of Lee's Summit over Park Hill South and Truman over LS West but then the Panthers and Titans scoffed at those predictions before winning their games).

So let's try this again. Remember, I pick 'em and you post 'em on your bulletin board.

Gardner Edgerton at Baldwin. No match. Gardner has the depth and talent to play with the best in the state in 5A and will easily roll over every small-class opponent remaining on the schedule. Winner: Gardner Edgerton

Hey there, kids! I'm trying to get my NY tabloid headline writing on. Eh. Decent effort.

So you'll read in tomorrow's paper (March 28) that Brad Oyler is leaving the Liberty Blue Jays girls' basketball program after 11 years as head coach. Oyler, simply put, is the reason why Liberty girls' basketball is significant. Today, he reflected on what he wanted to do when he took over and he said he wanted to build Liberty into one of the elite girls programs in the metro - Bishop Miege, St. Thomas Aquinas, Blue Springs, Hickman Mills. I would say, mission accomplished.

Under Oyler, Liberty got the invite to the HyVee Shootout several times and the Blue Jays have an impressive winning record in those games. In 2007, Liberty had its most successful year ever, winning 27 games and the Missouri Class 5 state championship. Basketballheads will always remember Liberty's semifinal game against Columbia Hickman when the Blue Jays came back from 20 points in the THIRD QUARTER to win 50-49. Yes, it was completely awesome and one of those high school games that should be replayed for-ev-er.

I don't know why it is, but Martin Luther King Day and basketball go hand in hand like root beer and ice cream. T-Pain and autotune. Detroit and crime. (Just kidding, Terez!) 

So on this glorious day, I've been watching wall-to-wall NBA action, listening to reflections about the great man Dr. King and now, catching up on the prep scene. On Friday, I saw the undefeated Bishop Miege Stags take down Blue Valley. The Stags started red hot, making 14 of 18 shots in the first quarter and scoring 29 points! Those are amazing numbers for a high school team but it also helps when most of your field goals are scored two inches away from the hoop. I counted 10 lay ups in that quarter - rarely did Miege have to run a halfcourt set but who cares? The Stags converted steals into fastbreaks and even when Blue Valley missed, they were off running and getting good looks under the hoop. There was one point in the second half, when Blue Valley converted a free throw and four seconds (!) later, Miege had scored a lay up. How do you get a transition bucket after a made free throw? Now that's quick.

To Blue Valley's credit, Miege couldn't blow open the doors until the fourth quarter. The Tigers have some good shooters and the leading EKL scorer in Ryan Magdziarz. (Ten bucks if you can pronounce his last name correctly on the first try). He can score 'em a lot of ways but when you're going up against an athletic team like the Stags, it's easy for your 24 points to get overshadowed. Also, if you're an old school fan like myself, you'll appreciate senior Tyler Van Gerpen's eye wear. Nobody wears goggles these days but Van Gerpen was rocking a set, which if I'm not mistaken he wears for football, too. When you think of bespectacled players, you think of the dudes who grab offensive rebounds, take charges and set screens

So I know this guy, right. His name is Eugene. Eugene's a big Blue Valley fan and apparently only reads my stuff when I write about his Tigers. So it's no surprise that Eugene e-mailed Saturday, the morning after Blue Valley defeated Olathe North, 42-41 with this:

 CANDICE_______I HAVE BEEN PLAYING AND WATCHING HIGH SCHOOL
FOOTBALL FOR NIGH ON 50 YEARS  AND LAST NIGHT'S BLUE
VALLEY______OLATHE NORTH GAME WAS BY FAR THE BEST!!!!GAME I HAVE EVER SEEN!

I'll forgive Eugene for spelling my name wrong because clearly my friend here was still excited. I hate putting "best," "greatest" and other labels like that on things but I see Eugene's point.

Hey there, kids! Hope you're enjoying your weekend. I am. I'm writing this from my mom's house. I went back home to see my cousin 'P' and his Chaminade teammates take on Clayton. My cousin's team won so it was worth me breaking speed limits for 3 1/2 hours and baking in this ungodly sun. Seriously, when is Autumn weather coming?

Now on to teams that ya'll care about. First, a thousand apologies going out to the Raymore-Peculiar PANTHERS. In my Saturday morning column, I referred to Tom Kruse's boys as the 'Tigers.' Maybe I had Tigers on the brain because Ray-Pec's finest were back in town, Chase Coffman and Derrick Washington, enjoying their bye week and decked out in Mizzou Tiger gear. Or maybe I'm waging a one-woman campaign against the unethical treatment of the Panthera and am secretly trying to change the Ray-Pec mascot. Whatever the case, I'm sorry, Ray-Pec fans. I definitely know better. So from here on out, I will refer to your team as THE PANTHERS, only in bold type. There.

So THE PANTHERS came up short in knocking off The Star's No. 1 ranked Wildcats, losing 28-21. I like that Cameron Coffman-Gavin Lutman connection but you could tell they weren't clicking all night. The youngest Coffman has the tools - pocket presence and a good strong arm - but many times he and his receievers just weren't on the same page.