LADY CELTICS ARE DISTRICT CHAMPS

In the District 13 Class 4 Basketball Tournament Championship game, the Archbishop O'Hara High School Lady Celtics topped the Hickman Mills Cougars 52-41 on February 26. _____ Alex Smith and Hailey Houser combined for 29 points, more than half of the O'Hara output. _____ Following a lukewarm start wherein the Celtics fell behind by eight points at 13-5, the host team came to life holding the Cougars scoreless until the halfway mark of the game. The halftime score was O'Hara 17 Hickman Mills 13. _____ The game continued into the third quarter with O'Hara hanging on by a slim margin until Alex Smith popped in a three-pointer for a five point lead after which Hailey Houser scored a basket and free throw for a 30-22 advantage to begin the final quarter. _____ O'Hara's 22 points in the fourth quarter were on just four baskets and a lot of free throws. _____ O'Hara's next level of play is at Lee's Summit gym on Wednesday. _____ They will play Pleasant Hill.

Thirteen To Represent O'Hara at Knowledge Bowl

The Archbishop O'Hara High School Academic Knowledge Bowl has been preparing for the March 13th West Central Conference competition. _____ This year's team will be the youngest to compete for O'Hara in the eleven years Brother Richard has been the moderator. ______ The one senior returning from last year is Mike Berney. _____ The juniors on the squad are Andy Meyer, Josh Bonello, and Kayla Henderson. ______ Sophomores that will be included this year are Jeff Best, Kierra Jackson, and Jake Fortin. ______ The remaining participants are freshmen: Tony Darling, Alex Countee, Maddie Champion, James Campo, James Bradish, and Claire Bandaras. _____ Last year's varsity from O'Hara came in second place while the JV team and freshmen team won by default when the other five schools did not field teams. _____ In the West Central Conference sequence, the event is scheduled for Smith-Cotton in Sedalia this year and Warrensburg the following year. ____ Since joining the West Central Conference, Smith-Cotton has only hosted one Conference meet and that was in 2004. _____ Last year Saint Pius X was the host and won the varsity Championship while the year before O'Hara hosted the day and also was the Champion. _____ O'Hara's freshman teams have been Champs from 2002 to the present. ______ The JV teams from O'Hara have won the past three years in succession. _____ Although there are six schools in the West Central Conference, the last time more than four of them fielded teams was the year 2002. _____ Center High who joined the Conference two years ago has yet to compete in the WCC Bowl.

O'HARA ALUMNA SHIRE SHINES

Sarah Shire, an alumna from Archbishop O'Hara High School, was selected as Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for a record-tying eleventh time. _____ The Big 12 Conference named the All-American athlete the Gymnast of the Week for the fourth time this year. _____ This ties her with Emily Parsons of Nebraska for the most Big 12 Gymnast of the Week Honors. _____ The Missouri Univesity athlete posted a new career high score competing with Oklahoma recently with a score of 39.625 winning her fifth all-around title of the season. _____ Winning the vault title with a season high 9.925, she also tied for the bars with an identical score. _____ Her beam score of 9.9000 and floor 9.875 helped her to her 15th all-around title in her career. _____ Shire is ranked 9th nationally in the all-around and tied for 6th on beam

Celtics Win District BB Game 34-27

Although it wasn't particularly pretty for three quarters, the O'Hara Lady Celtics defeated the Pembroke Hill Raiders 34-27 on February 24 in the semifinal game in Class 4 District 13. _____ Both defenses kept the game uncomfortably close until the Celtics broke out for a ten point lead at 31-21 before ending the game with the seven point victory. _____ Alex Smith and Adish Faunteroy provided each team with first quarter three-pointers but the score became only a 7-7 tie. _____ Lee Winter got a Raider trey in the second quarter, but their only other basket was by Brittany Connor for a total of five, while Alex Smith made six points along with Hailey Houser's deuce to make the halftime a low score of 15-12! _____ Lee Winter and Ashley Clark each hit three- point shots in the third quarter, but even then only a single point separated the two teams who were stingy in giving up points. _____ The fourth quarter started with O'Hara ahead 22-21. Then Hailey Houser contributed six and Alex Smith came through with three, thus providing the ten point lead with just over two minutes left to the contest. _____ The Raiders sent a number of Celtics to the free throw line and were rewarded with nine misses. _____ It wasn't enough though because the O'Hara defense held the Raiders to a total of three baskets for six points for the entire quarter. _____ Only five O'Hara players scored in the game. Alex Smith had 12, Hailey Houser had 11, Tori Hurtt had 4, Ashley Clark had 3, and Cameron Randle was held to 2. _____ O'Hara's win vaulted the team to the Championship game with Hickman Mills, the winner over Notre Dame de Sion 66-62. _____ The Championship game is scheduled for 7 pm on Friday, February 26 in the O'Hara gym.

TRAVIS SELECTED FOR METRO CLASSIC

Travis Peter from Archbishop O'Hara High School has been selected to represent Missouri in the 18th annual METRO CLASSIC dual wrestling meet featuring seniors from Missouri and Kansas high schools. ______ He will be in the 125 lb weight class. _____ The event is on March 10th at 6:30 pm at the KC Kansas Community College at 7250 State Avenue. _____ The presale tickets are $8 and at the door $10 with proceeds going to wrestling scholarships at Fort Hays State University & Central Missouri State University. _____ Tickets can be obtained at Raytown-Lee's Summit Community Credit Union, Nill Brothers Sporting Goods, Jay Greco's Farmer's Insurance, Varsity Sports, Blue Chip Wrestling, or Nutz Legends. _____ Tickets can also be obtained from George Peter, Travis Peter, and Chadd Peter. _____Travis set the O'Hara school record this year for most wins in a season and most career wins over four years. _____ He won second place in State competition in his sophomore and senior years. In his senior year he only dropped two matches.

Celtics Lose District BB Game 53-61

Twice the O'Hara Celtic boys basketball team had defeated the Center Yellowjackets in the West Central Conference games wherein O'Hara won the Conference undefeated, but in the semifinal District 13 Class 4 game on February 23rd, Center emerged on top 61-53. _____ During the regular season O'Hara had won games of 73-66 and 60-58 in their contests. _____ Just three days earlier, the Missouri State High School regular-season basketball rankings compiled by the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association listed the O'Hara team #4 with their 21-4 record. ___ The only teams ranked above the Celtics were undefeated Saint Francis Borgia 25-0, Kearney 22-3, and Sikeston 18-3. Harrisonville was the only other area team in the top ten and they were #6 with their 20-5 record. _____ In the District game however, a 17-4 second quarter by the Yellowjackets made the big difference. _____ Twelve of Center's second quarter points were by Mark Braden who played for O'Hara over the past three years and is finishing his senior year at Center. _____ O'Hara took a six point lead at the end of the first quarter with D. J. Jackson hitting a trey before the buzzer. _____ But after the half, the two talented squads matched point for point, and after falling behind by as much as sixteen when the score read 38-22, the Celtics were only able to get within five when the score read 57-52. _____ Mark Braden led all scorers with 25 points and was assisted in the win by Anthony Rule with 11, Oren Lee with 10, and Marcus wright with 10. _____ For O'Hara, the top scorers were Josh Rupprecht & Dominique Fields with 12 apiece and JeVon Lyle & D. J. Jackson with 9 each. _____ In the first round, Center got past Hickman Mills 70-68 in overtime to reach the semifinal game. _____ In a way, it is a shame that three excellent basketball teams were all placed in the same bracket when only one of those teams go on the represent the District in the rest of the playoffs for the State Crown. _____ O'Hara is graduating seven seniors who began the season, but will have juniors Josh Rupprecht, JeVon Lyle, D. J. Jackson, Andre Jordan, and Cullen Rowland, along with sophomore Daniel Hurtt as a nulceus of the 2010-2011 team.

FORENSICS/DEBATE AT CLINTON 2/20/10

From Archbishop O'Hara High School: JOHANNA KELLY: 3rd place Original Oratory, 5th place Radio Speaking, 5th place Storytelling. _____ SARA DOWNS: 5th place Poetry Interpretation. _____ ROCKY CHAEL: 6th place Prose Interpreation. ______ Others who earned recognition with excellent ballots, superior ballots, good ballots, excellent comments, and commendations were JOE, BURDETT, ALEX KEFFER-SWANEY, RACHEL GUDDE, PAIGE BUSH, DERRI ANNA WHITE, KAYLA HENDERSON, BRIA ANDERSON-GARDNER, and TREY HAMPTON.