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State basketball offers memories
Family affair
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For the Central Plains High School girls and St. John-Hudson boys, it was truly a family affair after they swept state basketball championships in Manhattan Saturday.
The support and pride of these communities made lifetime memories for both school districts.
The Lady Oilers beat Winchester-Jefferson County North 47-45 to capture the Class 2A state title on Taylor Rolfs’ game-winning field goal.
Central Plains head coach Pat Stiles shared a precious postgame moment with his daughter, Jackie Stiles — the finest girls basketball player I’ve ever seen. They celebrated Pat’s first girls basketball championship as a head coach.
Jackie is an assistant basketball coach at Missouri State, her alma mater. Jackie was a four-time state qualifier from 1994-1997, but she never won a state basketball title when Little River swept four consecutive Class 1A state championships.  
Central Plains is a consolidated district that combined the Claflin and Quivira Heights school districts. Claflin High School captured girls state basketball titles in 2005 and 2006. Coach Stiles was an assistant coach with head coach Toby Holmes on Claflin’s state championship teams, which featured all-stater Roxanne Stiles.
Toby Holmes’ daughter, Breanna Holmes, missed most of Saturday’s state title game after spraining her knee just a few minutes into the game.
But Breanna didn’t want to miss a minute. She hobbled in-and-out of team huddles. She was smiling despite her discomfort when she accepted her championship state medal.  
It’s also a family affair for the Kinnamons at St. John High School.  
St. John’s boys beat Plainville 71-58 to win the Class 2A title behind Dean Wade and Zuriel Reyes. St. John head coach Clint Kinnamon also led the Tigers to state crowns in 2007 and 2013.
The Tigers captured the Class 1A-Division I championship last year. The Tigers also won state basketball crowns in 1974, 1982, 2007 and 2013.
Clint’s sons, Kade Kinnamon, a senior, and Cole Kinnamon, a freshman, played key roles on their father’s third state championship team.
Clint was a freshman when St. John won its 1982 state championship, but school rules, which have changed, prevented him from playing in the Class 2A state tournament.  
Clint’s brother, Kurt Kinnamon played on the 1982 St. John state champion. Kurt captured his fifth state championships Saturday as a coach at McPherson High School.