Fire At I70 & Carlson

From the Capital-Journal:

An out of control brush fire has shut down traffic as of 3:30 p.m. Sunday on Interstate 70 at Carlson Road, according to Kimberly Qualls with Kansas Department of Transportation.

Fire Chief Dirk Christian, of Shawnee County Fire District 4, said the fire was reported at 11:45 a.m. near Maple Hill.

High winds, clocked at 30 mph according to Christian, caused the “pretty significant fire” to spread.

The fire came “right up to the highway,” he said. Crews worked to protect nearby structures and no damage was reported to any structures.

The blaze is believed to have been started after a fire at Stallion and Creek Road yesterday was rekindled.

A number of fire and emergency response agencies were on scene from Shawnee, Wabaunsee and Jefferson counties. Christian said 15 fire departments had responded with more than 100 firefighters battling the blaze throughout Sunday.

As of 5:35 p.m., the fire had been contained and crews were working to extinguish small spots still on fire and flare ups, Christian said.

Carlson Road is near the Wabaunsee and Shawnee County border. Wabaunsee County is under a wind advisory while Shawnee County is under a red flag warning, according to the National Weather Service. Christian said a burn ban for the Dover area, in effect until noon on Monday, is likely to be extended.

Town Team Baseball Showing Schedule

Message from Mark Honer about the Town Teams Baseball documentary filmed last summer.

Hey everybody. We're now in post production on the Town Teams film and we have been busy working with various organizations around the state to set up a screening schedule. 
And here it is: 

- April 28th, 7pm, Shawnee 18 Theaters - 16301 Midland Dr, Shawnee, KS. Film and panel discussion. Free admission 
- April 30th, 7pm, Central Cinema 7 - 300 East Central 
El Dorado, KS. Film and panel discussion. $20 tickets(proceeds go to the YMCA and The KS Oil Museum) 
- May 28th(tentative), time tba, Jayhawk Theater Topeka - film and panel discussion. 
- There will be one other screening in Wichita at the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. The date is tba. 

We'll have more updates and panelists announcements here in the weeks ahead.

RHS Vs Osage City

    The boys basketball team played Osage City for the Sub-State Championship at 7:30 Sat. night at Council Grove.   The final score was 61-51 in favor of Osage City which now heads to the state tournament.

Rossville     9 12 13 17 = 51

Osage City 10 18 16 17 = 61

Rossville scoring:
Roduner        4 (1)      4-6      13
Mason           5 (3)      0-0      13
Schumacher  4            0-0       8
Bradshaw       2            2-3      6
Horak             2 (1)       0-0      5
Hammes        2            0-2      4
Morris            0            0-0      2 

Totals           19 (5)      6-11    51

Rossville Defeats St. Marys

    Rossville easily defeated St. Marys in the Sub-State semi-final at Council Grove 56-32.  The Dawgs now face Osage City in the Sub-State Championship game on Sat.

Rossville     15   16   13   12   =   56

St. Marys      8     5   10     9   =   32

Rossville scorimg:
Mason          6 (4)     1-3     17
Schumacher 8 (1)     0-1     17
Roduner       4 (2)     2-2     12
Horak           1 (1)     2-2       5
Hammes       1          1-2       3
Bradshaw      1          0-0       2 
Totals         21 (8)     6-10    56.

St. Marys  scoring:
Mioni               4 (1)    2-2    11 
Schoemann     4         1-4      9
Kleinsmith        2         0-0      4
Schindler          2         0-4      4
Rabe                 0         3-4      3
Flanagan          0          1-3      1 
Totals              12 (1)    7-17  32.

Record Setting Game On Replay

    The Rossville-Royal Valley record setting game can be viewed on REPLAY at:
http://thecube.com/event/rossville-vs-royal-valley-kshsaa-sub-state-622576

Laura (VanVleck) Thomas Passes Away

    Laura L. Thomas, 68, of Topeka passed away on March 2, 2016 at St. Francis Hospital.
    She was born July 30, 1947 in Rossville, Kansas the daughter of Gerald VanVleck and Luella Beck VanVleck. She attended Rossville schools. During high school she moved to Topeka and lived with her aunt and graduated from Highland Park High School. She enjoyed playing bingo at Post 400 and the lottery, fishing and Coca-Cola. She also enjoyed hanging out at Walmart. Laura was a devoted mom and grandma. She just loved everybody. She also enjoyed watching old episodes of Gunsmoke.
    Survivors include her husband, Albert Christian of Topeka; two children, Jeff Lance Thomas (fiancé Angelica) of Topeka and Korinna Osipovitich and husband Jerry of Overbrook; brother, Clifford VanVleck, sister, Mary Kay Neidfelt, Wamego; grandchildren, Casey, Jeffrey, Isiah, Iluvani, Angel, Brenda, Monica, Austin, Alexander and Cheyanne; step-daughters, Kellie Thompson of Ionia, Michigan and Christina Christian of Bay City, Michigan.
    She was preceded in death by Parker, Charles, and Richard VanVleck.
    Memorial services will be 6:00 p.m. Monday, March 7, 2016 at Davidson Funeral Home with Paster John Cross officiating.
    To read or post on the guest book,  go to: 
https://www.meaningfulfunerals.net/home/index.cfm?action=public%3Aobituaries.view&CFID=c0bdc150-31b1-4b87-ab88-96d4aa72d91a&CFTOKEN=0&o_id=3615951&fh_id=14610

Willard Bridge Photos

    Here are some recent photos of the construction of the Willard Bridge.
http://www.snco.us/publicworks/willard_bridge_photos_feb_29.asp

Royal Valley RHS Record Setter

Royal Valley-Rossville 4-OT thriller one for the record books

Panther girls' 98-94 win sets state record for most points in game
Posted: March 2, 2016 - 1:47pm
By Brent Maycock

brent.maycock@cjonline.com

When Corey Katzer took over the Royal Valley girls basketball program last year, one of his points of emphasis was increasing the Panthers’ scoring.

“I wanted to run an up-tempo-paced offense with the opportunity to put points on the board,” Katzer said.

But never in his wildest dreams did he imagine Royal Valley would put itself in the record books.

Royal Valley and Rossville waged a game for the ages to open Class 3A sub-state play Tuesday night in Rossville. Regulation and three overtimes couldn’t decide it.

Instead, it took four overtimes for Royal Valley to pull out a wild 98-94 victory and advance to Friday’s sub-state semifinals.

“I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of anything like that in the 16 years I’ve been coaching,” Katzer said. “It was just a giant roller-coaster of ups and downs. You’d think you have it salted away and they make a run back. They go up by five or six and you’re hanging on by your fingernails, and ... oh, I don’t know how to describe it other than it was a giant teeter-totter.”

It was also a record-setting night with the 192 total points scored in the game breaking the old state record of 185 set in 1998 when Beloit-St. John’s topped Lucas-Luray 96-89 in overtime. Rossville’s 94 points are the most scored by a losing team in state history as well.

While the victory, which earned the Panthers (9-12) a shot at 3A No. 1 and unbeaten Silver Lake in Friday’s semifinals, was a big deal, Katzer said the record was just as exciting for his team, which learned about it on the ride back to Hoyt.

“They got word of it about five minutes into the bus ride home,” Katzer said. “It got really loud, really excited and turned into a party atmosphere really quickly.”

Royal Valley was in position to avoid all the drama, holding a seven-point lead with just more than a minute to play in regulation. But Rossville’s full-court press produced a quick 6-0 run and the Bulldawgs were able to force overtime tied 59-59.

Then things got crazy. Rossville rallied from a six-point deficit in the first overtime to force a second OT on Lauren Steckel’s 3-pointer with six seconds left to tie it 66-66. After Royal Valley took another lead in the second overtime, Bulldawg Heidi Nitsch hit a late 3-pointer to send it to a third overtime at 76-76.

In the third extra period, Rossville pulled ahead only to see Panther Tamo Thomas make her own game-tying 3-pointer to force the fourth overtime at 87-87. Royal Valley finally put the Bulldawgs away with an 11-7 edge for the victory.

Kate Hanson scored a career-high 29 for the Panthers, while Thomas added 25 and Lexi Baker had 19. Rossville countered with a career-best 30 points from Nitsch and 28 from Amanda Hill.

“In a game like last night, unfortunately there had to be a winner and a loser,” Katzer said. “Really, both teams just laid everything on the line. Rossville played one heck of a game. Between Nitsch and Hill, you can’t ask any more from two kids than what they did. And the same thing with our two big scorers, Tamo and Kate.

Jr. High Video On You Tube

    Here is a new video from Rossville Junior High with news, announcements and interviews.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BKz6Blsnyo&feature=em-subs_digest

WIBW Report Of Record Setting Game

ROSSVILLE, Kan. (WIBW) -- After two buzzer-beaters, an impressive comeback, and 52 minutes and four overtimes, the Royal Valley Panthers defeated the Rossville Lady Dawgs 98-94.

In the first overtime, Rossville hit a three-pointer with six seconds remaining to force the game into a second overtime.

With 1:37 left in double overtime, Royal Valley led 73-66. Just 97 seconds later, it was 76-76 and heading to a third extra period.

Royal Valley trailed by three with just seconds left, but sophomore Tamo Thomas connected on a three to force the game into a fourth and final overtime.

In the final frame, Rossville missed a few chances to tie it with about ten seconds remaining. After two free throws, Royal Valley held a four-point lead and the game ended 98-94.

Royal Valley's Kathryn Hanson scored 29 points. Toma Thomas scored 26.

Rossville's Heidi Nitsch led all scorers with 30 points. Amanda Hill chipped in 27 points.

According the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, the combined 192 points is a state record. The record was 185 points in an overtime game in 1998.

There is video of the game at:  http://www.wibw.com/content/sports/370707441.html

Isaac Luellen Is Area Athlete Of Week

Area athletes of the week: Rossville's Isaac Luellen and St. Marys' Corey Tyler

Mid-East League standouts go undefeated for back-to-back state wrestling titles

Posted: March 1, 2016 - 5:46pm

Read more prep stories at PrepZone

Isaac Luellen/Corey Tyler

Rossville/St. Marys senior wrestlers

Luellen’s performance: Luellen capped a 46-0 season by winning his second straight 182-pound Class 3-2-1A state title Saturday in Hays. Luellen posted a 16-3 major decision victory over Lyons’ Cody Clarke in the finals and his closest match of the year was a two-point win. Luellen went undefeated for the second straight year, was a three-time state finalist and finished his career 141-23.

Tyler’s performance: Tyler also captured his second straight state title at 145 pounds, concluding a 43-0 season with a 23-6 technical fall win over Wabaunsee’s Kolby Droegemeier in the championship match. Tyler went 94-1 the past two seasons, concluding his career with a 165-22 record.

Rossville Girls Lose In 4th OT

     The RHS-Hoyt-Royal Valley sub state game is a close and exciting game with the Lady Dawgs having a 30-24 lead at the half.  Rossville inbounded the ball with 1.3 seconds on the clock and a quick shot went in to give them the six point half-time lead.

    Hoyt had a rally in the third quarter tying the score several times and taking the lead a couple times before the third quarter ended with the teams tied at 42-42.
    Tied at the end of the 4th quarter at 59-59
    Tied at the end of the first OT at 66-66.
     Tied at the end of the second OT at  76-76.
     Tied at the end of the third OT at 87-87.
      Lady Dawgs lose at end of fourth OT 98-94.  It almost went into the fifth OT but Rossville,
      down by 2 pts,  missed several shots near the basket in the closing seconds.  A foul allowed
      Hoyt to make two free throws with 1.3 seconds remaining to stretch the lead to 4 pts.

Hoyt       10    14  18  17    7    10   11    11  =  98
Ross       16    14  12  17    7    10   11      7  =  94

Rossville scoring:
Nitsch                9 (5)      7-8       30
Hill                  11 (2)       4-7       28
Steckel              3 (2)       1-3        9
Day                   3            1-2        7
Porter                3             0-2       6
Hill                    3             0-1       6
Shinn                 2             0-2       4
Conley               1             0-0       2
Shinn                 1             0-0       2
Totals              36 (9)      13-25     94

Boy's BB Mid-East League Standings

Boys Basketball Standings for Mid-East League at the end of 2015-16 season,

Team              League   Overall

Rock Creek      9-1          18-2

Rossville          7-3          12-8

St. Marys         6-4         10-10

Silver Lake      5-5          11-9

Riley County   2-8         6-14

Wabaunsee      1-9          7-13

Mid-East Girls BB Standings.

2015-16 Mid-East League Basketball Standings at end of season.

Team           League Overall

Silver Lake     10-0    20-0

Riley County    8-2     15-5

Rossville           6-4     15-5

Wabaunsee       4-6      12-8

Rock Creek      2-8       4-16

St. Marys         0-10      8-12