Sports

By Jason Hoekema There is a song that says to dance with the one that brought you and you can’t go wrong. This was the case against Salem on Thursday, Jan. 31 as Ashton Bewley worked through four periods to keep Ava afloat in a game where they were outgunned by a stout Salem offense.…

By Jason Hoekema For some of you, the varsity game may have taken you by surprise when it started ahead of the JV competition on Monday when Ava hosted the Norwood Lady Pirates. For some walking-in with plenty of time to catch the varsity squad, found themselves one-half behind of the action.  This was the…

By Jason Hoekema THAYER – The Ava Bears went on the long road down to Thayer to play an SCA, non-district game against the Thayer Bobcats. The Thayer campus was having its “Courtwarming” celebration, similar to Ava’s “Hoopcoming” scheduled for Friday.  QUICK START The first half was nothing short of entertaining as the Bears opened…

By Jason Hoekema The Ava Bears toppled the foul-ridden Houston High School Tuesday night with a near-double score over the visiting Tigers.  The win wasn’t without some issues, though.  THE GOOD Blake King had a great night with 10 points, sinking pivotal threes in the first and third periods. It was a good game to…

By Jason Hoekema SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State High School Athletic Association has announced the move of the state’s baseball championships according to a Jan. 30 press release.  U.S. Baseball Park in Ozark, Missouri was selected in a competitive bidding process with MSHSAA, moving state baseball back into Southwest Missouri. U.S. Baseball Park is a…

By Jason Hoekema MANSFIELD – Sliding to the left on the bracket after a Jan. 21 loss to Forsyth, the Lady Bears were matched up against Conway in-chase of the fifth-place spot in the 29th Annual Lady Lions Tournament. The Narrow 41-38 win for the Lady Panthers was the second loss in the second meeting…

By Jason Hoekema The Ava Lady Bears took 5th place in the Mansfield Tournament by topping Houston 49-42.  Then the Lady Bears toppled Houston, again. It isn’t Déjà vu, rather the outcome of tournament play and a scheduled game which landed one right after the other.  ANYBODY’S GAME Ava was able to chip-in 16 points…

By Jason Hoekema WILLOW SPRINGS – On the eve of the coldest air mass to hit Missouri this winter, the Bears – both Ava and Willow Springs – were warming up at Munford Gymnasium. PREGAME CHUCKLES In a brief pre-varsity game back-and-forth, Coaches Mike Wilson and Mike Mallow chuckled at Wilson’s peeking at the starters…

By Jason Hoekema MOUNTAIN GROVE – Ava faced Mountain Grove for the second time as they played the Panthers at their tournament Saturday.  It was a close game with the Bears nipping at the heels of the Panthers in the first quarter where Ava matched Mountain Grove point-for-point to 17 at the buzzer.  Tom Emerich…