Grand River Conference

Sponsored by As GRC and GRC West players surpass the 1000-point (and other milestones) this season, this blog will share photos of their milestones. Tyler New, Worth County (1500 points) Tyler New passed the 1500-point milestone during districts Annabelle Ball, Gallatin Annabelle Ball passed the 1000-point milestone on February 15, 2024 against Stanberry Chloe Burnham, St. Joseph Christian (1500 points) Chloe Burnham passed the 1500-point milestone on February 9, 2024 against North Andrew. Mirena King, Trenton Mirena King passed the 1000-point milestone on February 9, 2024 against Milan. Katelyn Jones, Pattonsburg Katelyn Jones passed the 1000-point milestone on February 2, 2024 against King City. Maverick Gentry, Polo Maverick Gentry passed the 1000-point milestone on February 2, 2024 against Braymer. I will post pictures of him when I get them. Talan Holt, Princeton (1500 points) Talan Holt passed the 1500-point milestone on January 30, 2024 against Stanberry. Ah...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by St. Joseph Christian, Maysville and Putnam County Boys along with Gallatin and Milan Girls all captured Championships in various basketball tournaments this past week. Gallatin Lady Bulldogs The Gallatin Lady Bulldogs won the Gallatin Invitational Tournament for the first time since 2008 when they defeated #2 seed Trenton 45-35 in the Championship game.  Gallatin fell behind 20-11 at the half, but a strong second half propelled them to the title in front of their home crowd.  They were led by Kallie Salmon who matched her career high with 22 points, but 14 of her 22 were in a crucial 4th quarter in which Gallatin outscored Trenton 17-6.  Annabelle Ball also added 14 for the Lady Bulldogs. Gallatin entered the tournament as the #4 seed.  The defeated #5 seed Gilman City 54-42 and #1 seed Polo 45-37 to earn a berth in the championship game.  Gallatin is now 4-1 and will host Savannah on Friday in their ne...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by St. Joseph Christian girls are the coaches’ selection to win the GRC West Girls Basketball Championship for the 2023-24 season.  Last season, they finished 3 rd after winning the GRC West in 2021-22.  The Lions captured six first-place votes.  Defending GRC West Champion King City received two first-place votes and is picked to finish second.  A newcomer to the GRC West, Princeton, received one first-place vote and was picked to finish third. St. Joseph Christian For most teams, a 20-win season would have been a success.  However, the St. Joseph Christian Lions did not meet expectations last year.  After coming off of a GRC West and District Championship the year before, the Lions finished 4-3 in conference play (20-7 overall) and lost in the District Semifinals to Bishop LeBlond. Although St. Joseph Christian did lose Forward Ella Bowman (1 st Team All-Conference) to graduation, they return a co...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by Princeton is the coaches’ pick to win the GRC West Boys Basketball Championship for the 2023-24 season.  The Tigers received four first-place votes in their inaugural season in the GRC West.  St. Joseph Christian received two first-place votes and was picked to finish second.  Worth County also received two first-place votes and was picked to finish third.  North Andrew received the last first-place vote. Princeton Princeton Tigers finished 16-9 and 4-3 in the GRC East last season.  They will move to the GRC West as the favorites to win the conference this season.  Last season, they faced 5 of the 8 GRC West teams with a  record of 6-1.  The Tigers must replace Jaden Finney (10.2 ppg), but the team's core will return. The top two leading scorers, Senior Talan Holt (20.4 ppg, 1 st Team All-Conference, All-District, KMZU Dream Team) and Junior Clay Evans (15.8 ppg, 2 nd Team All-Conferenc...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by Defending GRC Champion South Harrison received six first-place votes and is the coaches’ pick to win the GRC Girls Basketball Championship for the 2023-24 season.  Polo received the only other first-place vote and was picked second.  Trenton was picked third by the coaches. South Harrison South Harrison’s senior class of girls is used to winning.  Not only is the girls' basketball team the defending GRC Champions, but they have also enjoyed success at the state level in golf, softball, and track.  This year’s Basketball team looks to continue that trend for the Lady Bulldogs.  After they won the conference title, they made it to the Class 3 Quarterfinals before falling to El Dorado Springs. Everyone will return from last season’s team that finished 23-6 and 7-0 in conference.  They are led by the GRC’s leading returning scorer, Senior Hannah Carter (17.6 ppg, 1 st Team All-Conference, All-District...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by Maysville received six first-place votes and is the coaches’ pick to win the GRC Boys Basketball Championship for the 2023-24 season.  Maysville finished 3 rd in the GRC East in each of the last two seasons.  Milan received the only other first-place vote and was picked second.  Putnam County was picked third by the coaches. Maysville Maysville finished 3rd in the GRC East each of the past two seasons, winning 22 games last year.  Two players are gone from last year, Trey Hall and Hunter Smidt, but the Wolverines return their entire starting line-up this season.  They have their sights set on bigger things.  Senior Kobyn Metzger (16.0 ppg, 2 nd Team All-Conference, All-District, Cliff Note’s All-Star, KKWK All-Star) and Junior Dillon Willis (19.1 ppg, 1 st Team All-Conference, All-District, Cliff Note’s All-Star, KKWK All-Star) return as our top scorers and rebounders along with Senior Kayd...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by St. Joseph Christian 26 Bishop LeBlond 20 In a battle of the two private schools in St. Joseph, St. Joseph Christian knocked off the Bishop LeBlond Eagles 26-20 to advance to their first District Championship game since 2014.  It was also the Lion's first win over Bishop LeBlond in football (in four meetings). The Lions received the ball to start the game but fumbled the ball at the Eagle's 34-yard line.  However, penalties stalled LeBlond's first drive forcing them to punt.  St. Joseph Christian took advantage when Cy Carlson scored on an option from 16 yards to put the Lions up 6-0 with 6:06 left in the 1st quarter.  LeBlond was able to get into the red zone on their next drive but turned it over on downs with 46 seconds left in the quarter.  The first quarter ended with St. Joseph Christian up 6-0. On the first play of the 2nd quarter, Peyton Hausman broke free for a 41-yard touchdown run.  He a...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by St. Joseph Christian 28 #10 Stanberry 8 From 2019 to 2022, St. Joseph Christian had a record of 1-33.  They were picked to finish last in the Grand River Conference West.  No one outside of the St. Joseph Christian gave them much of a chance this season.  However, inside the program, there was some optimism that they had some winnable games, and if things fell into place, a winning season was possible.  A 6th win on Friday would guarantee the Lions a winning season for the first time since 2016. In the Lion's way was the #10 Stanberry Bulldogs.  Stanberry had won their last four games against St. Joseph Christian and was 6-2 coming into the game. However, they were missing quarterback Colby McQuinn and running back Tucker Schieber.  But even without both players, the Bulldogs were still able to shut out North Andrew 38-0 the week before. The Lions were able to get on the board with a drive over fiv...