O'HARA IS SECOND IN THE WILLIAM JEWELL HOLIDAY CLASSIC

In the Cardinal Division of the 31st annual BANK MIDWEST/WILLIAM JEWELL HOLIDAY BASKETBALL CLASSIC, on December 30th, the Archbishop O'Hara High School Celtics won the second place trophy to the Kickapoo Chiefs 71-64. _______ The Chiefs are without a loss in eleven games while the Celtics moved to 8-1 for the season. _____ Except for a run of ten unanswered points by the Chiefs at the start of the third quarter, the two teams matched quite well. ______ Two O'Hara players made the All Tournament Team: DJ Jackson and Jevon Lyle. ______ For the victorious Chiefs, Ryan Rippee was named the most valuable player and Tyler Hall made the All Tournament Team. _____ O'Hara had a four point lead within the first quarter of play but Kickapoo moved to within one point by the end of the period when the score was 18-17. _____ The second quarter wasn't much different ending in a 32-32 tie. _____ In the deciding third quarter, the Chiefs outscored the Celtics 18-11 after which both teams poured in 21 points apiece in the fourth quarter. ______ With 18 seconds remaining in the game, O'Hara was down by five 69-62 but couldn't come up with a miraculous finish. _____ Four Celtics reached double figures. _______ DJ Jackson had 26, Daniel Hurtt had 13, and both Jevon Lyle and Josh Rupprecht had 10. _______ ________ ________ _______ On December 29, the Celtics won their semifinal game 47-46 with the Park Hill South Panthers taking the loss. ______ Daniel Hurtt got the winning basket with ten seconds on the clock. _____ Just before the deciding two-pointer, Jevon Lyle made a steal and layup to bring O'Hara to within one point. _____ Christain Hildebrandt who led all scorers with 16, attempted a shot from three point range for the Panthers but was unable to score. _____ The only other double figures player for the Panthers was Rocky Benson who had 13. _____ At the end of each quarter of the game the two teams either were tied or had only two points of separation. ______ In the first quarter, the Celtics led by five at 7-2 until the Panthers caught up to tie it at 11-11. _____ Again in the second quarter O'Hara went up by five at 19-14 only to have the Panthers rally to within two for 23-21 at halftime. _____ In the third quarter, the Celtics owned a seven point advantage at 26-21 and the Panthers clawed back to tie the game at 35-35. _____ Near the end of the contest the Panthers finally managed to go ahead 44-43 and then increase the score to 46-43 after which Lyle and Hurtt stepped up to win the game. _____ The Panthers never had more than a three point lead in the entire game. _____ Daniel Hurtt and DJ Jackson led the O'Hara scorers with 13 apiece in the low scoring game while Jevon Lyle added ten points. _____ ______ ______ ______ On December 28, the Celtics handed the Kearney Bulldogs a 61-49 set back to advance to the semifinals. _____ The Celtics built up a six point lead in the first quarter with Jevon Lyle pouring in a dozen points, nine of which were three-pointers. _____ He led the O'Hara attack for the evening with a total of 16 points. _____ DJ Jackson finished the day with 15 points; all but two points came in the second half of the game. _____ Josh Rupprecht added 14 points, eight of which materialized in the third quarter.

Raphael Spencer All-Metro Honors

With the Archbishop O'Hara football team reaching the quarterfinals in State competition, running back Raphael Spencer made the All-Metro Offensive Second Team for 2010. ______ With 372 career points, he is O'Hara's all time top scorer! _____ He scored 180 points in each of his senior and junior years which are also school records for individual seasons. _____ His 3,642 yards gained placed him second in total career yards. ____ In 2010 he gained 2001 yards for second place for a single season and in 2009 he had 2454 yards for sixth place. _____ As a versitle player, he also stepped in as a quarterback, kickoff returner, defensive back, and pass receiver when the occasions arose.

VICTORIA HURTT ALL-METRO FIRST TEAM VOLLEYBALL

Tory Hurtt who played on the Archbishop O'Hara State Champion volleyball team for the past four years was selected to the FIRST TEAM ALL-METRO. _____ Her 129 blocks and 488 kills as a middle hitter this season gave her a .455 hitting efficiency. _____ Teammates Lindsey Hanaway and Michala Boehm were given Honorable Mention recognition for All-Metro. ______ Victoria plans to attend Iowa State next year.

O'Hara Celtics 75 Warrensburg Tigers 62

On December 21 The O'Hara boys won 75-62 and the O'Hara girls won 42-34 at Warrensburg. _____ In the boys varsity game,three Celtics scored 20 points apiece, Kyle Baker, Josh Ruprecht, and DJ Jackson. _____ With uncanny accuracy six of Baker's shots were three-pointers. _____ The Tigers owned a brief one point lead in the first quarter 9-8 which but it was immediately followed by a 12-2 run by the Celtics. _____ The height advantage of the Celtics was evident inasmuch as nearly half of the Tigers' points materialized from ten three-point shots. _____ O'Hara stretched their lead to 42-26 at the half pouring in 26 points in the second quarter. _____ Daniel Hurtt added 12 points, all in the first half. ______ For Warrensburg, Dakota Jones finished the day with 13 points followed by Clint Smith with 12. _____ _____In the girls varsity game, the Celtics built up a 39-24 advantage in three quarters and then let up in the fourth.______ O'Hara's Lindsey Hanaway pumped in four three-pointers and led in the scoring with a total of 16 points. _____ Cydnee Reese was the only other player in the game in double figures with 12 for the Celtics.

O'HARA ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE BOWL VARSITY

Invited to represent Archbishop O'Hara High School in the Academic Knowledge Bowl for the West Central Conference varsity squad are the members from last year's District Team which tied for third place. _____ They are Josh Bonello, Andy Meyer, Kierra Jackson, and Jake Fortin._______ Bonello, Meyer, and Jackson were also three players who were on the West Central Conference Championship Team in March 2010. _____ The fourth member of the Cenference Championship team was Mike Berney who graduated in the Spring. ______ Fortin was a member of the Second Place JV team last year. _____ For this year's JV competition seven students are being invited to try out. _____ They are in alphabetical order Claire Banderas, Jeff Best, James Bradish, James Campo, Maddie Champion, Alex Coutree, and Tony Darling. ______ A freshman team will evolve after January 4th. _____ The O'Hara freshman teams have not been defeated in the last nine years in the West Central Conference even though each year a new squad has to be formed. _____ The last O'Hara freshman team that did not reach first place was in 2001 when Kearney (then a member of the Conference)won first place with Warrensburg second, O'Hara third, and Smith-Cotton fourth. _____ On the varsity level, in addition to last year, O'Hara won the Conference in 2008 and in 2005. ______ This schoolyear the West Central Conference competition will either be on March 12th as orginally schedul3d or possibly moved up a week to March 5th to avoid a conflict with Spring breaks.

Celtics get Past Cardinals by Twenty 91-71

In a game that had been postponed from an earlier date when the weather threatened, the Archbishop O'Hara High School basketball team was a 91-71 winner over the Clinton Cardinals on December 20th. _____ For the victorious Celtics, DJ Jackson poured in 39 points, 17 in the first quarter and 16 in the third quarter. _______ The Cardinals trailed throughout the contest coming only as close as five points early in the third frame at 44-39, but the Celtics put in the next dozen points and remained in command the remainder of the game. _____ Josh Ruprecht helped the O'Hara cause with nine points in the first quarter and completed the day with 21 points. _____ Daniel Hurtt was the only other O'Hara player in double figures with 11.

CHASE SCOTT TAKES FIFTH PLACE IN WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

Four wrestlers from O'Hara competed at the 16 team Raytown South Tournament with Chase Scott reaching fifth place in his weight class. _____ He hade five wins in the two day competition, four with pins and one by a technical fall. _______ Two wrestlers won single matches with pins: Danijo Adams and Jeremy Ambrose. ______ Miles Womack also won a match on a decision.