High School Sports

By Jacob Meikel Lafayette senior Jackson Perkins’s competitive drive helped earn him All-American status in Virginia last week. Perkins came out of the National High School Coaches Association Wrestling Tournament in Virginia Beach with a 6th place finish in the 182 lb weight class, adding to his already impressive resume. Perkins was crowned a state

By Jacob Meikel The Red Division of the first-ever Walkoff Wood Bat Co. High School Wood Bat Tournament was dominated by one team, and it’s the team that has asserted itself as the best in St. Joseph this season. The Benton Cardinals capped off the championship of the Red Division with a 8-2 win over

By Calvin Silvers The past two weeks have been busy for Northwest Missouri State and Drake University basketball, as former Bearcat coach Ben McCollum announced he would make the jump from Division II to Division I in taking the Bulldogs’ head coaching job. McCollum has now figured who his assistant will be, and it’s a

By Calvin Silvers The Mid-Buchanan baseball team is off to a hot start for the spring baseball season, as they jumped out to an impressive 10-1 overall record, including an 8-game win streak in that span. Almost eclipsing their total season wins from last year already, the team is feeling confident, but the second half

By Jacob Meikel East Buchanan baseball didn’t let its loss to Lafayette on Monday linger into its Tuesday contest with St. Joseph Christian. Tuesday proved to be a blissful conclusion of the short St. Joseph tour for East Buch, as the Lions had no answer for the Bulldog offense, resulting in a 7-3 win for

By Jacob Meikel The Savannah Savages took care of business against Lafayette on Wednesday at Phil Welch Stadium, improving their undefeated record to 6-0 after a 14-1 win over the Fighting Irish. The Savages didn’t take long to assert themselves as the more dominant team in Wednesday’s contest, scoring three runs in the top of

By Calvin Silvers On Tuesday, Central High School made history, playing its first boys volleyball contest under the Indians’ name against Grain Valley. While it was a 3-0 sweep of the Indians, the team was thankful for the opportunity to host a boys team. On Thursday, more history was made for Central as its volleyball

By Jacob Meikel A Lafayette senior put pen to paper on Thursday morning to sign his National Letter of Intent that will continue his wrestling career at the college level. Jackson Perkins will join the wrestling program at Benedictine College after signing his NLI while joined by his family and his head coach Josh Walters

By Calvin Silvers The transition to spring sporting events at the high school level is nearly complete, as the girls soccer season officially got underway for Mid-Buchanan, who hosted the Excelsior Springs Lady Tigers. Despite two quick goals from the two teams combined to start, it would slow down and the Dragons’ started the season

By Calvin Silvers Winter sports are nearing a close at both the high school and college levels, paving the way for athletes to begin their transition back outside for the spring season. In Missouri, this time of the year rolls into baseball season, and in a community where many love and support the game, it’s

By Jacob Meikel The Lafayette boys basketball team’s season came to an end on Saturday at the hands of Maryville 63-51 in the Class 4 District 16 championship. Some late heroics against Benton in the semifinals got the Fighting Irish into the district championship game on their home floor, but a talented Maryville team would

By Calvin Silvers It was a beautiful day in Gower, Missouri, on Saturday, but the true place to be in the town of 1,500+ individuals was East Buchanan High School, as the Class 3 quarterfinals were being played between the East Buchanan Bulldogs and the Summit Christian Eagles. The contest began with an Eagles basket,

By Calvin Silvers The state of Missouri is still in the thick of the high school basketball postseason as teams continue to keep their seasons alive in win or go home games, and that rings true for the city of St. Joseph. On Thursday, the town was gifted an all-time classic between Benton and Lafayette

By Calvin Silvers The journey for a state championship continues in basketball, and this week it’s been classes 4-6 thinning out the pool of teams that can go onto sectionals and beyond. The Class 4 District 16 Tournament had two city schools still alive, and those two programs battled it out at Lafayette High School.

By Calvin Silvers Classes 4-6 continue their journeys to try and punch their tickets to the state tournament, and on Wednesday the Lafayette and Benton girls faced each other for the second time this season, as Lafayette was able to defeat the Lady Cardinals on Feb. 6 with a 48-43 victory. It was the semifinals

By Calvin Silvers Classes 1-3 competed in their district tournaments last week, paving the way for Classes 4-6 to get their opportunity this week to punch their tickets to the state tournament. It was the opening round for Class 4 District 16 out at Lafayette High School, and the four-seeded Fighting Irish were able to

By Calvin Silvers Classes 1-3 continued their district basketball tournaments, and on Thursday it was back to the boys side, as they had semifinal play. The hot competition continued out in Gower, Missouri, where two Class 3 District 15 matchups took place. The first semifinal contest was between four-seeded Bishop LeBlond and one-seeded KIPP KC

By Calvin Silvers District tournaments for high school basketball continued on Wednesday, as classes 1-3 are competing. The girls’ teams kicked things off on Monday in the state of Missouri, meaning Wednesday was the semifinal rounds. Class 3 District 15 Girls Tournament continued out in Gower, Missouri, with the three-seeded South Harrison Bulldogs taking on

By Calvin Silvers On Tuesday, it was the boys’ turn in classes 1-3, as Missouri High School District Basketball Tournaments got underway. The first contest of the night featured the fifth-seeded Mid-Buchanan Dragons and the four-seeded Bishop LeBlond Golden Eagles. The first quarter was slow paced, as the Eagles got a handful of points from

By Jacob Meikel The practice mat gets slightly emptier this time of year, and what that’s meant for three Central girls wrestlers, is a chance to prove themselves on the big stage. Juniors Ashley Slade and Hailie Wagner will get another crack at the state tournament bracket. Both finished in the top four of Class

By Jacob Meikel Ryan Madison’s first year back with the Lafayette girls basketball program continues to run smoothly, as they defeat rival Benton 48-43 on Tuesday. With bragging rights on the line for the Southside and Northside teams, the Cardinals and Fighting Irish traded blows through most of the contest. The Cardinals were able to

By Calvin Silvers High school basketball is a staple here in the St. Joseph community, with multiple teams in the area, both on the boys and girls side, having success in recent seasons. As the 2023-24 season rolls on, and we’ve passed the half-way point, the Benton Cardinals already matched their last year’s win total.

By Calvin Silvers The Benton Cardinals boys basketball team has been busy on the hardwood as of late, and that schedule didn’t change Tuesday as the Cardinals welcomed St. Michael the Archangel Guardians to Springer Gymnasium for some Class 4 action. In a roller coaster game, the Cardinals would overcome a scare from St. Michael

By Calvin Silvers After a couple of postponements due to weather last week, the 6th Annual Cardinal Classic out at Springer Gymnasium finally hosted its championship match between the East-Buchanan Bulldogs and the Benton Cardinals. Benton would dominate in the second quarter after being tied, but the Bulldogs kept fighting until the end, as the

By Calvin Silvers After careful consideration on who would lead the Savannah Savage Volleyball team in 2024, a name has been selected after the Jan. 11 Savannah Board of Education meeting. The meeting saw the approval of the hire of former Northwest Missouri State volleyball standout and graduate assistant, Miranda Mizera. During her collegiate career,

By Calvin Silvers It was the second day of the 6th Annual Benton Cardinal Classic on Thursday, with eight teams taking the court looking to end the final day with a victory. The first local school to take the hardwood was the Savannah Savages, who were placed against the Winnetonka Griffins. In the first quarter,

By Calvin Silvers We’re officially back to high school basketball being played consistently throughout the week, meaning many local teams were back in action on Thursday night. One of those teams, the Benton Cardinals, had both the boys and girls out on the hardwood, as they hosted St. Pius X. The girls were up first

By Phil Ervin Special to the News-Press High school basketball fans from the St. Joseph area that may not be as familiar with Kansas City’s Lincoln Prep squad, but certainly won’t forget the Blue Tigers any time soon. Lincoln blazed through the Bishop LeBlond Holiday Tournament, providing the exclamation point with 60-45 victory against Mid-Buchanan,

By Phil Ervin Special to the News-Press Molly Stiens penned the latest chapter in a storied girls high school basketball series, giving Maryville its second straight Bishop LeBlond Holiday Tournament championship in the process. With her team trailing by two, the Spoofhounds’ senior guard took an in-bound pass with 1.1 second left, turned 180 degrees