Congratulations Lane Lord. The former Barton women’s basketball coach has his Pittsburg State Gorillas on their way to the Elite Eight. This after a thrilling 78-74 win over Emporia State in the NCAA D-II Central Regional Championship game Monday night.
Lord has done tremendous work at Pitt State. His first season at the school saw Pitts State win 20 games and post the best turnaround in school history.
It is his second trip to the Elite Eight at the school. That 2012 team set a school record with 27 wins.
This year’s team broke that school record and is now the winningest team in Pitt State history at 29-5 heading to a battle with Grand Valley State in the Elite Eight March 22. Grand Valley State is 25-9.
The Gorillas are the second highest ranked team on their side of the bracket at No. 16. Alaska-Anchorage (36-2) is ranked 6th in the other quarterfinal matchup on Pitt State’s side. Unbeaten and No. 1 Lubbock Christian (32-0) is on the other side of the bracket along with No. 13 Virginia Union (29-2).
Here’s to a three more wins for Coach Lord.
Prep thoughts
Three straight titles. That is feat not bested by too many schools. That is what the Central Plains High girls have accomplished. The Oilers capped off a third straight title this past weekend in Manhattan. The win capped a perfect season.
Think about that. The past three seasons Central Plains has gone 77-1. The only loss was a 66-58 to Ellinwood last season in the regular season finale. That is the only game from a 78-game winning streak. The Oilers beat Ellinwood in the Sub-State finals last year, 72-54.
That makes two straight years a local team capped off three straight state titles. The St. John boys did it from 2013-15, which time they compiled a 76-1 record. The Tigers eventual set the state record for consecutive wins at 63 this year before a loss to, yes, the Central Plains boys’ team.
Prep basketball is alive and well in the Golden Belt.
Former athlete/coach update
While Steve Forbes and his East Tennessee State basketball team missed out on a trip to the NCAA Tournament in his first year at the school, Barton will have representation.
Ahmad Walker, last year’s Jayhawk West Player of the Year, is a starting guard for one of the nation’s favorite Cinderella’s. Stoney Brook is making the school’s first-ever NCAA appearance after finishing a game short three of the past four seasons. He is averaging 10.6 points a game, 7.0 rebounds, and leads the team in assists at 4.6 per contest for the Seawolves.
Also taking part in the tournament will be Jack Owens at Purdue. Owens, a former Barton assistant, is the associate head coach to Matt Painter for the Midwest’s No. 5 seeded Boilermakers.
And finally
Daylight savings time is here. That means spring. It stays light much later, which allows folks more light to do more things in the evening.
Daylight savings is something that has been tinkered with recently. And may be tinkered with again. Talk right now is perhaps doing away with it after this year. There is a bill in the Kansas Legislature to do just that.
Ty Masterson is proposing the bill. He doesn’t care of Kansas stays on a Daylight or Standard time. Just wants to stop changing the clocks.
Right now only Arizona and Hawaii have ‘opted out’, staying on Standard time.
Currently Michigan, Utah, Wyoming, Illinois and California are considering ending it, staying on Standard time. Florida and Mississippi are considering staying on Daylight time all year. Missouri, Oklahoma, and Washington as well as Kansas are considering going with either.
Wow, this could be confusing. I might not know when my favorite TV shows are on. And the phrase I learned as a lad ‘spring forward, fall back’ would be useless.
It would sure make a good math question. “If a train left Kansas City, Kansas at noon, traveling at 20 mph heading east to Kansas City, Mo. for 10 miles, what time would it arrive if Kansas was as Daylight time and Missouri Standard time?”
Personally, I like it light later in the day – when it is later in the day. And I like it light earlier in the day – when it is early morning.
So, I have a solution.
How about we move the clock forward an hour every day at 2 pm and back an hour every morning at 2 am. Then we could have the best of both worlds.
Work days would be an hour shorter. You could get an extra hour of sleep every night. Who wouldn’t be for that?
I think I will contact my local congressman.
