CELTICS COMPETING IN NIXA TOURNAMENT

O'HARA TOPS WILLARD FOR THIRD PLACE 80-74 while Hillcrest won the Consolation Championship beating Harrisonville 53-43 and Mount Vernon was the winner for seventh place over Aurora 66-44. ______ The game for the tournament championship was won by Hogan Prep who defeated Nixa 66-61._____ _____ _____The Archbishop O'Hara High School Celtics won their first round game in the 2011 NIXA INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT on January 27 taking on the Mount Vernon Mountaineers by a score of 66-53. ______ Four O'Hara cagers led the way with Josh Rupprecht scoring 18 points and Daniel Hurtt getting 15, DJ Jackson had 13, and Jevon Lyle contributing 11. ______ Kaden Jones was the game's leading scorer with 21 points for Mount Vernon, but he was the only Mountaineer in double figures. _____The host team Nixa also advanced by winning over Harrisonville 62-45. ______ In the other bracket the scores were Willard 80 Aurora 49 and Hogan Prep 71 Hillcrest 65. ______ ______ _______ ______ O'Hara (ranked #1 in 3-A) lost to Nixa (ranked #4 in 5-A) 89-58 in the semifinal game of the tournament on the following day. _____ Five three-pointers in the first half for the Eagles helped give Nixa an advantage of 41-23 at the halfway mark and the Celtics could not rally over the large difference. _____ Leading the O'Hara offense was Josh Rupprecht who had 18 points; Jevon Lyle had a dozen. _____ Since Hogan Prep defeated Willard 81-73, they go to the Championship game to face Nixa. _____ Other second round scores were Harrisonville 66 Mount Vernon 39 and Hillcrest 53 Aurora 32. _____ ______ _______ ______ On the final day of the tournament, the Willard Tigers went ahead in the initial quarter 23-16, but the Celtics came through with a very strong second quarter pouring in 26 points while the defense held the Tigers to15. _____ Both squads had 36 points apiece in the second half. _____ DJ Jackson led all scorers with 26 points and Skyler Frazier had 24 for the Tigers. _______ In double figures for the Celtics, Daniel Hurtt had 20, Josh Rupprecht had 14, and Jevon Lyle had 10; just missing double figures Kyle Baker had 9. ______ Two other Tigers made it to double figures with Tim Huskisson getting 19 and Kyle Ruby getting 18.

Brackets for 2011 Nixa Basketball Tournament

On January 27, the Archbishop O'Hara High School Celtics will take on Mount Vernon in the 2011 Nixa Invitational Tournament in a 4:30 PM game. _____ The winner will meet the winner of the Harrisonville-Nixa game. _____ Making up the other bracket are teams from Aurora, Hillcrest, Willard, and Hogan Prep.

CELTICS IN THE GRAIN VALLEY SONIC BASKETBALL SHOW DOWN

FIRST ROUND: Fifth seeded O'Hara Lady Celtics lost to fourth seeded Grain Valley in the first round of the 2011 Grain Valley Lady Eagles Sonic Show Down 41-28 on January 24th. _____ The game was close at the half with Grain Valley ahead by 13-12, but with 20 points scored by the Eagles in the 4th quarter, the Celtics moved into the Consolation bracket along with Center, Liberty North, and Oak Grove. _____ Pleasant Hill, Lincoln Prep, and Odessa moved into the winners' bracket. _____ Both Madison Clark and Amanda Hull had eight points in their game to lead the Celtic scoring. _____ _____ SECOND ROUND: On January 26th, the Lady Celtics qualified for the Consolation Championship game by getting by Center 48-25. _____ After the first quarter, O'Hara only led by one point but emphasizing defense, brought the halftime score to 22-15, and then followed with a 13-4 third quarter. ______ As a result, nine members of the O'Hara team scored points with Amanda Hull leading the way with 14 points. _____ Madison Clark got the game's only three-pointers cashing in on three of them for her 9 points. _____ To meet the Celtics for the Consolation Championship game on Friday, Oak Grove got past Liberty North 36-31. ______ Meanwhile Grain Valley outlasted Pleasant Hill 55-50 and Lincoln Prep coasted past Odessa 58-25 to set up the tournament's Championship. _____ _____ THIRD ROUND: On January 28th,Oak Grove with a strong fourth quarter, put down the Lady Celtics 40-34. _____ For three quarters, neither team could pull away. ______ At the half the score favored O'Hara 18-17 and at the end of three, the Celtics led 28-26. ______ Pressure from the Panthers paid its toll in the final period however. _____ The free throw line was significant in the contest wherein the Celtics cashed in on only 6 while the Panthers collected 14. _____ Kellie Bachkora and Madison Clark had the only three-point scores of the low scoring game and no one from either team reached double figures.

Some O'Hara Wrestling Results

At the wrestling dual meet at Adrian on January 24th, the brothers Ethan and Jeremy Ambrose won their matches by pinning their opponents. _______ Ethan won his in the 230 weight class and Jeremy took his in the 135 weight class._____ On January 27th, Eero Johnson pinned his heavyweight opponent from Savannah. On the same day, ______ Tyler Adams pinned his Savannah 140 lb opponent. ______ Finally in the 145 weight class Miles Womack won a 4-2 decision with a wrestler from Smithville.

O'HARA 37 WARD 35 IN GIRLS BASKETBALL

After losing in the first round of the KA-MO Classic, the O'Hara Lady Celtics won their game with Ward 37-35 to vault them in to the Consolation Championship game with Metro Academy._____ It was the third victory of the season for the young O'Hara squad. ______ However they lost to Metro Academy 60-26 while Ward went on to win their game for 7th place by beating Washington 55-22._____ The overall winner of the tournament was Blue Springs who defeated Liberty 55-36.

O'Hara Ranked #1 in 3-A Basketball

As of January 16, the Archbishop O'Hara High School team was ranked Number 1 in Missouri 3-A boys basketball having only two losses, one of which was to undefeated Kickapoo who are ranked #4 in 5-A. _____ Of the other 3-A ranked schools, only Cameron ranked #5 is undefeated, and both Marion Early (#3) and Hamilton (#6) have single losses. _____ The only area schools besides the Celtics in the top ten are Hogan (#2) and Maryville (#7). ______ The other schools in the rankings are #4 Willow Springs, #8 Kennett, #9 Dixon, and #10 Cardinal Ritter.

CELTICS IN CENTER WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

In their respective pools, the following three wrestlers from Archbishop O'Hara High School placed in the top four positions in the Center Wrestling Tournament . ______ Ethan Ambrose won second place, Eero Johnson took third place, and Jeremy Ambrose finished in fourth place.

Celtics in the Culver Classic

DAY 1: Coming from behind, the O'Hara Celtics won their first round game of the 36th Annual Culver's Basketball Classic at Lee's Summit High School 70-65 on January 17. _____Bolstered by nine first half three-pointers, the Lee's Summit Tigers built up a halftime advantage of 43-26. _____ Sam Sealer popped in five of them and Elijah King had two. _____ Eventually the Celtics fell behind by twenty points halfway through the third quarter 52-32, but then the tide turned. ______ The next fifteen points were scored by the O'Hara squad to bring the score to 52-47. ______ The Tigers got their last two three-point baskets within the third quarter, both by Sealer, but the team was held to just 22 points the entire second half of the game. ______ Meanwhile Jevon Lyle who only had two points in the first half of the game, scored three three-pointers in the second half. _____ When O'Hara neutralized the score at 63-63, Daniel Hurtt put in the go-ahead basket with 50 seconds of playing time left in the game.______ Daniel Hurtt with 26 points was the game's top scorer and DJ Jackson scored 20 with Jevon Lyle coming through with 15. ______ For the Tigers, Sam Sealer led with 21 points followed by Skyler Arbuckle with 13, Tyler Smith with 12, and Daniel Vernon with 10. _______ Other first round scores were Raytown South 74 Ruskin 66, Blue Springs South 58 Rockhurst 49, and Lee's Summit North 54 Lee's Summit West 33. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ Day 2: On January 20, the Celtics lost in the semifinals to the Raytown South Cardinals who were seeded #1 in the tournament. _____ The score was 70-63. _____ The two teams were tied at 15-15 going into the second quarter but the Cardinals pulled ahead by six by halftime 36-30. _____ Only two points separated the evenly matched teams at the end of the third quarter 56-54 and the Celtics took a slim lead shortly into the fourth quarter on DJ Jackson's three-pointer. _____ Then the game was decided by a trio of Cardinals who each scored a three-pointer: Nodie Newton, Tony Draisey, and Carey Hilliard. _____ In the game, the Celtics scoring was well balanced among DJ Jackson with 16, Daniel Hurtt with 14, Josh Rupprecht with 14, and Jevon Lyle with 12. _____ The Cardinals' two top scorers were 23 for Corey Hilliard and 15 for Earl Peterson. ______ Raytown South earned the privilege to meet Lee's Summit North for the tournament championship and O'Hara went on to face Blue Springs South for third place [Lee's Summit North had defeated Blue Springs South 50-42]._____ _____ _____ _____ Day 3: On the following day, O'Hara won the third place trophy winning 67-60 against the Blue Springs South Jaguars. ______ Although the Jaguars opened the game with an 11-3 spurt, the Celtics fought back 8-2 to end the quarter at 13-11 in favor of the Jaguars. _____ During most of the second quarter the Celtics trailed until two baskets in succession by DJ Jackson and Josh Rupprecht lifted O'Hara into the lead at the half 29-26. _____ The Celtics led throughout the remainder of the game. _____ Four three-pointers kept the Jaguars close in the third quarter ending with O'Hara on top by only two points 44-42. _____ The Celtics closed out the fourth quarter with 23 points, fifteen of which were from the free throw line as Shawn Meyer and Wesley Poke both fouled out. _____ DJ Jackson was sent to the line often enough to score 12 of his 23 game points from the foul line in that quarter. _____ Josh Rupprecht had a productive game scoring 21 points and Daniel Hurtt tagged on 10 points. ______ The Jaguars were led by DJ Booker with 20, Drake Patterson with 14, and Darrion Geiger with 11. _____ The tournament championship was won by Raytown South in a 52-47 game with Lee's Summit North.

CELTICS BASKETBALL TEAM ROLLS ON WITH 78-49 WIN

Holding the Saint Pius X Warriors to four first quarter points while amassing 21, the Archbishop O'Hara High School Celtics won 78-49 on January 14. _____ By halftime, the score stretched to 43-16. _____Having won earlier in the year 70-51, this game offered no new surprises as four Celtics reached double figures. _____ DJ Jackson led the way with 25 game points and was well complemented by Jevon Lyle's 11 points in the fast paced O'Hara offense. _____ Providing strong defense as well as offense, Daniel Hurtt scored 16 and Josh Ruprecht pumped in 13. _____ _____ In an earlier game, the Lady Warriors continued in their winning ways topping the Celtics 52-28 with only freshman Amanda Hull reaching double figures for O'Hara with 11 points.

O'Hara Sophomores Invited to Basketball Tournament

During the first week of February, the Archbishop O'Hara High School sophomore basketball players are invited to the four-team Blue Springs South 2011 Basketball Tournament. _______On the 4th, the Celtics have a 4 PM game with Lee's Summit West, the victor of which plays the winner of the host team and Staley at noon on the following day.

O'HARA GIRLS SEEDED #5 IN GRAIN VALLEY BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

Between January 24 and January 28, the Archbishop O'Hara High School Lady Celtics will be playing in the 2011 GRAIN VALLEY LADY EAGLES SONIC SHOW DOWN. _____ Seeded fifth, the Celtics will play the host team (seeded fourth) on the 24th at 7:30 PM. _____ They are in the same bracket as top seeded Pleasant Hill who will face Center, the winners of the two contests meet on the 26th at 6:00 PM. ______ The other bracket consists of teams from Oak Grove, Odessa, Lincoln Prep, and Liberty North.____ The Championship game is slated for January 28 at 8:00 PM.

Five Football Players From O'Hara Make All-State Academic Team

Brett Coatney, Tanner Hull, Eero Johnson, Jake Fortin, and Josh Snow, in recognition of their accomplishments on the football field as well as in the classroom, have been named to the MISSOURI CLASS 3 FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION'S ALL-STATE ACADEMIC SQUAD. _____ The Award given to these Archbishop O'Hara students is based on Class Rank, GPA, College Test Scores, and consistent excellence on the football field. ______

O'HARA RANKED #2 IN BASKETBALL

In the boys small class basketball rankings that came out on January 5, the Archbishop O'Hara High School Celtics were ranked #2 behind undefeated Sumner Academy. _____ The next three teams in the rankings were undefeated Basehor-Linwood, Hogan Prep, and Saint James Academy. _____ In the boys big class rankings, O'Hara's recent opponent Rockhurst was ranked #9.

O'Hara 47 Rockhurst 66

On January 7, Clarence Kirkwood led Rockhurst to a 66-47 win over the O'Hara Celtics, scoring 19 points at a game played at O'Hara. _____ With five three-pointers, all but four of his total were from long range. _____ DJ Jackson was O'Hara's top point-producer with 18, but Rockhurst's Chris Bohannon was the only other player to get to double figures scoring 11 points. _______ Two O'Hara players came wihin two points of double figures; Josh Rupprecht and Jevon Lyle, but early foul trouble limited playing time for Daniel Hurtt. _____ In the first quarter the Celtics were behind by just two points at 11-9, but the Hawklets outpointed the home team 25-16 in the second quarter and the Celtics never recovered. ______ It was O'Hara's second loss in twelve games while Rockhurst's record improved to 7-3. _____ The only other loss this season for the Celtics was the Championship game at the William Jewell tournament. ______ Mark Nusbaum, Rockhurst's coach, is a former O'Hara coach.

O'HARA IN UPCOMING CULVER'S CLASSIC

Fresh from their Second Place finish in the William Jewell Holiday Classic, the Archbishop O'Hara High School Celtics are setting their sights on the 2011 Varsity 36th Annual Boys Basketball Tournament in the Culver's Classic. _____ On Monday January 17, O'Hara will meet Lee's Summit at 6 PM. _____ The winner goes on to play the winner of the Ruskin-Raytown South game at 7 PM on January 19. _____ Then on Friday, the winner of this bracket will face the winner of the bracket made up of Blue Springs South, Rockhurst, Lee's Summit West, and Lee's Summit North on Friday. _____ The theme of the tournament is "Celebrating the Dream through Service" and all games are being played at the LSHS Fieldhouse.

O'Hara Celtics 65 Saint James Thunder 51

The new year started off well for the Archbishop O'Hara High School basketball team as they hosted and defeated the team from Saint James Academy 65-51 on January 4th. _____ The Celtics jumped off to a 13-3 lead with Daniel Hurtt accounting for seven of the points. _____ The Thunder never led throughout the first half but thanks to a half court shot at the buzzer by Clint McCullough did tie the score at 28-28. _____ The Celtics held their opponents to just two third quarter baskets and a total of eight points, but they only added 11 which at that time was a close contest. _____ With Josh Rupprecht and DJ Jackson leading the way in the fourth quarter,O'Hara upped the score to 56-40 during which time all of the Thunders' points came from free throws. _____ With the 16 point lead the Celtics moved on mostly with layups and free throws. _______ Daniel Hurtt was O'Hara's top scorer with 20 followed by DJ Jackson with 18 and Josh Rupprecht with 15.