Sports
Bear Brawl: Willow Springs Fights, Ava Earns Third SCA Title
By Jason Hoekema WILLOW SPRINGS – Last Friday’s football game between rival Bears was hard-fought after the Willow Springs High School football team decided to make Ava work for the SCA Championship. The Ava Bears did win, topping Willow Springs 54-32, but Ava found a few hard lessons learned from the fight. BEARS’ OUT OF…
Read MoreGlass Ceilings – Ava Volleyball Ends Season with New Record
By Jason Hoekema The Ava Lady Bears have had a winning season this year. It is one that has been nine years in the making as they hit a glass ceiling, and smashed it open. In 2010, now coach Emily Petty was a senior at Ava High School and was part of a program which…
Read MoreWalking Off (Literally) – Lexie Gastineau pulls BB for District Title
By Jason Hoekema The Lady Bears blanked Seymour in the second round Thursday to move on to the championship game against number two seed, the Mansfield Lady Lions. Two runs in the first and another five in the fifth were “celebrated” with an impromptu fly-over by a Missouri National Guard MEDEVAC UH-60 Blackhawk on Thursday.…
Read MoreWin-Win Situation – Bears Top Cabool after Lady Bears Clinch District
By Jason Hoekema Author’s Note: First half statistics may be inaccurate or incomplete due to extra innings at the Lady Bears’ District Championship game. With a late start for softball goers, many walked into CE Harlan Stadium to witness Kayden Myers top off a 70-yard drive with a touch down from the Cabool three and…
Read More7th-Grade Volleyball Team
Photo submitted Team members and coaches of the seventh-grade girls’ volleyball team are shown above. They are, front row: manager Kaylee Caudill, Alexis Emrick, libero Dalena Kilgore, Leyna Veccaro, manager Breckyn Pinckney; middle row, Coach Ashley Forrest, manager Hannah Tidwell, CeCe Shea, Larkin Gamboa, Emillee Williams, Shaina Lamb, Melody Premer, Sara Maggard, Matilyn Goss, and…
Read MoreEvery Inch Counts: Bears Squeak by Bobcats in OT
By Jason Hoekema In every sport, inches matter. An inch can determine a first down conversion, an out, a three-point shot, medaling in track, and more. As insignificant as an inch may seem, it can decide a game. The inch is not to be undervalued in athletics. The Ava Bears prevailed with a 12-6 overtime…
Read MoreBottom of the Tenth: Lady Bears Honor Seniors, Prepare for District Playoff
By Jason Hoekema Parting is such sweet sorrow for seniors Makayla Miller and Reagan Koop, who both graduate this year and leave the Lady Bears and look toward their own futures in the “bottom” of the tenth month, softball’s regular season end. A 15-0 blowout of the Parkview Lady Vikings was a great end to…
Read More8th-Grade Girls’ Volleyball Team
Photo submitted Team members and coaches of the eighth-grade girls’ volleyball team are shown above. They are, front row, Chloe Barnum, Gracie Fleetwood, Denise Ames, and Maggey Potter; middle row, Coach Ashley Forrest, manager Hannah Tidwell, Sydnee Snow, Zoey Strong, Mallory Melton, Savannah Belcher, manager Kaylee Caudill, manager Breckyn Pinckney, and Coach Ann Leonard; back…
Read MoreCross Country Is All Business at the Irish Invitational
The Ava Cross Country Team competed at the Irish Invitational hosted by Springfield Catholic High School on Tuesday, October 8th. The runners raced on a course located at Springfield Underground. All runners competed in a 5K (3.1 mile) race. For the Varsity runners to medal, they needed to finish in the top 30. For the…
Read MoreHulling It: Gastineau Brings-in Four, Scores Three Lady Bears Crack-Open Walnut Grove
By Jason Hoekema Thirty runs in two days is peak for the Ava Lady Bear softball team. Young players are beginning to read how plays unfold, the team is taking advantage of errors, and to cap it all off; their bats are on fire with a 15-5 win over the Lady Tigers last Wednesday. In…
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