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Written by Gene Morris
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 08:00 |
Tyson Roberts, a senior at Spring Hill High School, recently accomplished every young football player’s dream in signing to play at the college level.
Surrounded by family, friends, coaches and teammates, Roberts made his college official signing a national letter of intent to play football at Fort Scott Community College.
Roberts, who plays offensive and defensive line, also had interest from Kansas State.
He decided, for now, Fort Scott was the place to be.
“Fort Scott is a great fit for me,” Roberts said. “I figured I could go there for two years and get some one-on-one time with the coaches and then go play for a Division I school.”
Roberts said he liked the program at Fort Scott and the facilities were state of the art.
Head coach Jeff Sims made an impression, Roberts said.
“Coach Sims just gets you really pumped,” Roberts said. “He has so much passion for the game of football. He got me excited about it.”
Roberts was recruited by Fort Scott to play on the offensive line.
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Written by Gene Morris
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 08:00 |
Despite making just three baskets in the fourth quarter of its Class 4A substate semifinals game against Fort Scott, the Spring Hill High School girls pulled out a 49-43 victory Thursday evening. 
The Bronco defense dominated the Tigers in the first three quarters, allowing just 20 points.
Spring Hill opened the game with a 12-7 run and led 21-12 at intermission. A 12-8 edge in the third quarter made it a 13-point game, 33-20, as the contest went into the fourth quarter.
The Fort Scott Tigers roared back with a 23-point fourth quarter, fueled by 13 points from Jolee Sharp.
While they did not make many field goals in the final frame, the Broncos put down free throws. Spring Hill made 10 free throws in the fourth quarter to protect its lead and eliminate Fort Scott from the substate tournament.
As much as the late free throws helped, the Broncos could have buried the Tigers much earlier if they had hit shots from the line all night. Spring Hill missed 16 of 35 attempts.
“Free throws,” Spring Hill coach Clay Frigon said. “We made 19 of 35.”
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Written by Gene Morris
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 08:00 |
Luke Wilson was on the top of his game last spring, winning a pair of state track and field silver medals for Paola High School.
He helped lead the Panthers to the Class 4A state championship and has a nice big ring to prove it.
Wilson recently signed a letter of intent to become a collegiate athlete, heading to Pittsburg State next year to throw the discus and the shot for the Gorillas.
“I have always wanted to go to the next level,” Wilson said. “It feels good to accomplish that.”
Wilson made several visits to Pittsburg State and fit right into the program and the college.
“It is just my size,” he said. “I really like it out there.”
Pittsburg State has a great track and field program, but that is not the only aspect of the university that caught Wilson’s attention.
With an interest in working in the automotive industry, Wilson sought out their academic programs as well and liked what he saw.
“They have a great automotive technology program and that’s something I want to do,” Wilson said.
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Written by Gene Morris
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 08:00 |
There was electricity in the air at Osawatomie High School on Saturday evening. It was one the likes of which Spring Hill High School had not seen in a long, long time.
The 2009-10 Spring Hill Broncos girls’ basketball team accomplished something that had not been done since the 2002-03 season — advancing to the finals of the Class 4A substate tournament.
Spring Hill was one win away from state. 
No one expected them to be here.
Even when they advanced with a hard-fought upset against second-seed Fort Scott in the semifinals Thursday evening, no one gave the Broncos a chance against the top-seeded Cyclones from Ottawa.
No one, except the Spring Hill girls on that basketball team, who not only believed in themselves, but more importantly, in each other.
In the substate finals, the Spring Hill girls won a community over.
That community, the Broncos faithful, turned out in force, filling an entire quarter section on one side of the Osawatomie gymnasium with fans while a student section cheered on from the other side of the court.
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Written by Gene Morris
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 08:00 |
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Someone walking into the gymnasium at Osawatomie High School at the very end of the Class 4A girls’ substate between Spring Hill High School and Ottawa on Saturday evening might have thought the Cyclones breathed easy to the title. 
The scoreboard read 58-48, but it was a much closer game than that.
After falling behind 11-0, Rhi Lloyd drilled a jumper to end the run with 1:45 left in the first quarter.
A lot of teams would have buckled under the pressure of playing catchup against top-seeded Ottawa, but the Broncos dug in and made the Cyclones work for their trip to state.
Spring Hill (15-8) recovered to make it a one-point game (24-23) at the half, went ahead in the third quarter and pulled even with 2:45 to go in regulation before Ottawa (20-2) closed out the substate championship with an 11-1 run.
“That was something, how are we going to respond after getting in a hole like that,” Spring Hill coach Clay Frigon said. “We talked all year about poise and composure. We showed a lot of heart to get right back into it.
“I am proud of the girls for the way they responded to that adversity,” Frigon said. “We battled them right down to the end. We missed a couple of shots, and they put a couple down. This has been a special group to coach all season.”
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