The Scott County Record • Page 19 • Thursday, March 20, 2014
inside the numbers
Outcome of state title game could have hinged on one call During the course of a game it’s almost impossible to make the case that a single play . . . a single call . . . can determine the outcome. Coaches, players and even the fans like to think that even when a questionable call is made things will balance out over the course of a game - and they usually do. Now that all the politically correct things have been said it’s time to elaborate more on how a single call had a huge impact on Saturday’s championship game and, most likely, the final outcome. The Beavers were trailing by five when Eudora had a 2-on-2 fastbreak opportunity. At the end of the play, a Eudora player was on the receiving end of a pass near the free throw line and took two, if not three, steps to the basket without dribbling. Instead of a travel, Scott City junior Brett Meyer was called for his third foul. Head coach Glenn O’Neil doesn’t dispute the foul . . . just the fact it never should have been a factor. With Meyer off the court the Eudora defense was able to focus its attention on guard Trey O’Neil. It’s no coincidence that O’Neil and Meyer were limited to a total of eight points in the first half or that Eudora put together a crucial 11-4 scoring run with Meyer on the bench. Want to know what a difference it makes having O’Neil and Meyer on the floor at the same time? Meyer scored 20 second half points after scoring a single bucket in the first half. Don’t think a single call can change the tide of a game? Saturday’s numbers speak for themselves. * * * There’s also no doubt that the Beavers didn’t take care of the ball in the championship game with 17 turnovers. Part of it was probably nerves since only T. O’Neil had any kind of previous state experience. Fatigue was also an unavoidable fac-
.757
SCHS head coach Glenn O’Neil’s winning percentage in 18 seasons at Scott City. 327-105
17
total winning seasons during O’Neil’s head coaching tenure at SCHS. The only losing season was 2003-04 (9-12) that was followed by 3 straight 20-win seasons
11
tor when you consider the Beavers had the late game on Friday that went into overtime. Trey and Brett played all 37 minutes and Sloan, even with foul trouble, played 34:38. However, Coach O’Neil wasn’t looking for an excuse. “Eudora was also involved in an intense semi-final, too,” he notes. “That’s not an excuse. We can’t say we were any more fatigued than they were.” Though the game did provide one of the more bizarre turnover calls that O’Neil has seen. After Dylan Hutchins had made a pass he cut along the baseline and, in doing so, took two steps out of bounds. He was whistled for voluntarily leaving the floor and the ball went back to Eudora. “It’s been in the rule book for the last eight or nine years, but I’ve never seen the call made,” O’Neil says. “It also seemed that the calls were inconsistent on contact at both ends of the floor,” he says. “The kids didn’t know what to expect and that went both ways.” Bottom line, says O’Neil, is that after making the huge comeback in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter “we ran out of gas.” Andale the Favorite Despite the Beavers returning a great nucleus of players, O’Neil isn’t about to cast this team into the role of Class 4ADivision II favorites. First of all, there’s no guarantee the Beavers will remain in 4A. Secondly, O’Neil is willing to con-
cede that Andale - this year’s third place team - is the early favorite. “Right now, Andale belongs by themselves. They have their top 12 players coming back along with a freshman starter who missed (this year) because of an injury. They are the favorite until someone else can step up,” O’Neil says. Concordia and Eudora figure to be good, but they also lose some key starters - and a lot of points. Plus, there are always the surprise teams. “There are always a couple of teams who are just a little ways away from getting to state who will close that gap,” O’Neil says. “When you look at the way kids are progressing, even as freshmen, you have to wonder if there aren’t some more Mitchell Ballocks out there who will make a difference. Ottawa has a freshman who is a similar player and you hear about others in some of these eastern Kansas programs.” And there are always transfers which can change a team overnight. The Beavers also figure to be better with freshman Kyle Cure and Bo Hess getting a lot more varsity time. Sloan Baker needs to stretch out his shooting range to the 10-foot mark and even to the three-point line, says O’Neil. “Chance Yager and Dylan Hutchins have to improve their ball handling and passing skills,” he says. “Both are very good set shooters, but they have to learn to get their shots off quicker. We saw during the tournament they had some (See OUTCOME on page 23)
consecutive wins in state tournament games for the SCHS boys over the past four seasons. The streak ended with Saturday’s loss.
7
number of 20-win seasons in Glenn O’Neil’s 18 years at SCHS
11
number of lead changes in the fourth quarter of the state semi-final game against Concordia
Slam Jam tourney March 29 The Scott Recreation Commission will sponsor its annual Slam Jam men’s basketball tournament on Sat., March 29, at the Scott City Elementary School gym. The format will include 5-on-5 teams with each allowed to have only one player over 6-foot-3, but not taller than 6-foot-6. Registration for each team is $200. Deadline to register is Mon., March 24. Players must be at least 16.
Sanders fiasco fuels the fire between KC, Denver The biggest free agent news in Kansas City this past week is the deal that didn’t happen. Kansas City looked like they were going to give their receiving corps an upgrade with the signing of Emmanuel Sanders a free agent who has been with the Steelers. From all indications, the Chiefs and Sanders’ agent Steve Weinberg had reached a deal “in principle.” And this is where it supposedly gets interesting.
Inside the Huddle
with the X-Factor
While no one is confirming exactly what happened, the general belief is that Weinberg began shopping around, reportedly taking KC’s offer to Tampa Bay, before getting the deal they
were looking for from Denver. Along the way he also made team officials in San Francisco angry because he blew off a meeting that was to involve discussion about Sanders. Now, it’s okay for an agent and player to visit with different teams and hear their offers. There’s nothing wrong with telling a team, this is what I’ve been offered, “Can you do better?”
But, it’s an accepted practice that once a team and a player have reached an agreement in principle - even if the signatures haven’t been put onto the actual contract - that all other teams are to stay out of the picture. Are the Broncos at fault? Sure. They had to be aware of the status of negotiations between KC and Sanders. Most of the fault rests with Weinberg whose reputation as an agent has been drug through
the mud once. Weinberg was decertified as an agent with the NFL in 2003, at which time he had 42 clients. He’s been recertified and today has only a handful of players. While Weinberg may not have done anything illegal that the NFL can pursue, the bigger penalty for Weinberg may be the fact that teams won’t want to deal with any players that he represents. (See SANDERS on page 23)