FootballDad
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Here is an article from the KC Star on the win in the Missouri State 4A (out of 6) high school basketball championships by a suburban KC team, the Kearney Bulldogs. Kearney is actually a rural community about 45 minutes from downtown KC, and they are all white. The team that they beat for the championship from the east side of the state was.... also all white. Since there are many outlying urban-area schools in 4A, where are all the bruvas? Aren't they supposed to be vastly superior at roundball?
<DIV style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: left; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; : transparent; COLOR: #000000; OVERFLOW: ; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; TEXT-DECORATION: none" id=Tixyy>
<H1>Kearney boys capture state championship </H1>
<TABLE =border_solid border=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%">
<T>
<TR>
<TD =#000000 colSpan=6 align=left>Friday March 12, 2010 8:20 PM</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD =#000000 align=left>Team (Record)</TD>
<TD =#000000 align=middle>1<SUP>st</SUP></TD>
<TD =#000000 align=middle>2<SUP>nd</SUP></TD>
<TD =#000000 align=middle>3<SUP>rd</SUP></TD>
<TD =#000000 align=middle>4<SUP>th</SUP></TD>
<TD =#000000 align=middle>Total</TD></TR>
<TR =#ffffff>
<TD =border_dashed align=left>Republic</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>4</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>5</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>7</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>15</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>31</TD></TR>
<TR =winner =#ffffff>
<TD =border_dashed align=left>Kearney (28 - 3)</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>11</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>13</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>12</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>7</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>43</TD></TR></T></TABLE>
<DIV align=center>Additional Game News | Full Box Score
<DIV =related_s>Source: The Star
COLUMBIA | Just one year ago, Kearney's boys basketball team walked away from Mizzou Arena dejected and defeated after an embarrassing double-digit loss to St. Francis Borgia in the Missouri Class 4 state championship game.
That said, it's safe to assume Borgia's players and coaches knew that game had given Kearney all the motivation it needed to win the rematch on Saturday for the state title.
What Borgia didn't know, however, is that the Bulldogs had a secret weapon this time. A little defense called the 2-3 zone, with some tweaks designed specifically to slow down the trigger-happy three-point attack that shredded Kearney's man defense last season. And thanks to that defense, and an outstanding offensive effort by senior forward Dillon Starzl, Kearney exacted revenge in a 47-43 victory and snapped the Knights' 46-game winning streak.
Afterward, Kearney coach Gary Belcher credited his players' execution of the 2-3 zone defense as the reason Borgia â€" which shot 81 percent from three-point range in its semifinal game â€" went a miserable six for 29 (20 percent) from three-point range in the championship game.
"We hit them with something they weren't expecting,"Â Belcher said.
Well, that and the fact the Bulldogs, 27-3, didn't get blown out of the gym early on. Last year, Borgia used a barrage of three-pointers to take a double-digit lead into halftime. But while Kearney never led in the first half of Saturday's game â€" in fact, it trailed by nine at one point â€" the Bulldogs never quit, eventually getting a basket before halftime to cut its halftime deficit to 27-20.
And that set the stage for a third quarter in which Kearney came out on fire. Two consecutive threes by senior guard Alex Klonowski cut the deficit to one, and a layup by Starzl (a team-high 20 points) gave Kearney a 28-27 lead, its first of the game.
Kearney's 6-foot-9 big man scored eight of his team's next 15 points, all in a variety of ways at the rim, giving Kearney a 43-39 lead with 2:06 left in the fourth quarter.
Borgia, 30-1, cut its deficit to two with two free throws on its next possession, but that was as close as the Knights would get, as they were embroiled in the midst of a two-for-17 stretch from three-point land in the second half.
Meanwhile, Kearney forward Grant Cozad (10 points) and guard Nathan Bitner each made a pair of free throws, sealing the victory for Kearney, which become the first school since Centralia in 2004 to win both football and boys basketball state titles in the same school year.
<DIV style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; TEXT-ALIGN: left; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; : transparent; COLOR: #000000; OVERFLOW: ; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; TEXT-DECORATION: none" id=Tixyy>
<H1>Kearney boys capture state championship </H1>
<TABLE =border_solid border=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%">
<T>
<TR>
<TD =#000000 colSpan=6 align=left>Friday March 12, 2010 8:20 PM</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD =#000000 align=left>Team (Record)</TD>
<TD =#000000 align=middle>1<SUP>st</SUP></TD>
<TD =#000000 align=middle>2<SUP>nd</SUP></TD>
<TD =#000000 align=middle>3<SUP>rd</SUP></TD>
<TD =#000000 align=middle>4<SUP>th</SUP></TD>
<TD =#000000 align=middle>Total</TD></TR>
<TR =#ffffff>
<TD =border_dashed align=left>Republic</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>4</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>5</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>7</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>15</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>31</TD></TR>
<TR =winner =#ffffff>
<TD =border_dashed align=left>Kearney (28 - 3)</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>11</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>13</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>12</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>7</TD>
<TD =border_dashed align=middle>43</TD></TR></T></TABLE>
<DIV align=center>Additional Game News | Full Box Score
<DIV =related_s>Source: The Star
COLUMBIA | Just one year ago, Kearney's boys basketball team walked away from Mizzou Arena dejected and defeated after an embarrassing double-digit loss to St. Francis Borgia in the Missouri Class 4 state championship game.
That said, it's safe to assume Borgia's players and coaches knew that game had given Kearney all the motivation it needed to win the rematch on Saturday for the state title.
What Borgia didn't know, however, is that the Bulldogs had a secret weapon this time. A little defense called the 2-3 zone, with some tweaks designed specifically to slow down the trigger-happy three-point attack that shredded Kearney's man defense last season. And thanks to that defense, and an outstanding offensive effort by senior forward Dillon Starzl, Kearney exacted revenge in a 47-43 victory and snapped the Knights' 46-game winning streak.
Afterward, Kearney coach Gary Belcher credited his players' execution of the 2-3 zone defense as the reason Borgia â€" which shot 81 percent from three-point range in its semifinal game â€" went a miserable six for 29 (20 percent) from three-point range in the championship game.
"We hit them with something they weren't expecting,"Â Belcher said.
Well, that and the fact the Bulldogs, 27-3, didn't get blown out of the gym early on. Last year, Borgia used a barrage of three-pointers to take a double-digit lead into halftime. But while Kearney never led in the first half of Saturday's game â€" in fact, it trailed by nine at one point â€" the Bulldogs never quit, eventually getting a basket before halftime to cut its halftime deficit to 27-20.
And that set the stage for a third quarter in which Kearney came out on fire. Two consecutive threes by senior guard Alex Klonowski cut the deficit to one, and a layup by Starzl (a team-high 20 points) gave Kearney a 28-27 lead, its first of the game.
Kearney's 6-foot-9 big man scored eight of his team's next 15 points, all in a variety of ways at the rim, giving Kearney a 43-39 lead with 2:06 left in the fourth quarter.
Borgia, 30-1, cut its deficit to two with two free throws on its next possession, but that was as close as the Knights would get, as they were embroiled in the midst of a two-for-17 stretch from three-point land in the second half.
Meanwhile, Kearney forward Grant Cozad (10 points) and guard Nathan Bitner each made a pair of free throws, sealing the victory for Kearney, which become the first school since Centralia in 2004 to win both football and boys basketball state titles in the same school year.