By KERRY WARMAN Times Sports Editor  

At press time on Monday, Jan. 30, your Purple Pride basketball girls were the top ranked team in the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Class 4 poll.
  Although this newspaper can neither confirm nor deny it, this may be the first time our local ladies of the hardwood have held that coveted spot!
  The Pleasant Hill High School Chick varsity basketball team started out strong as the top-seeded team in the 2012 Grain Valley Sonic Showdown last week, taking down their first two opponents.
  Sadly, though, a late run by 2nd-seeded Lincoln Prep Tigers in the title game stole the championship away from the Purple Pride gals.
  The tournament results were: Opening Round- PHHS 52, 8th-seeded Oak Grove Panthers 28; Lincoln Prep 79, 7th-seeded Kansas City Center Yellowjackets 31; 3rd-seeded Grain Valley Eagles 47, 6th-seeded Odessa Bulldogs 35; 4th-seeded Liberty North Eagles 48, 5thseeded O’Hara Celtics 36; Semi-final Round- PHHS 46, Liberty North 30; Lincoln Prep 81 (including an amazing 50-point outburst by Brittany Atkins), Grain Valley 54; Odessa 33, Center 26; O’Hara 42, Oak grove 27; and Final Round- O’Hara 48, Odessa 38, Consolation; Grain Valley 47, Liberty North 36, 3rd place; and Lincoln Prep 45, PHHS 41, 1st place.
  Note: Breeona Foster and Kindred Wesemann were named to the All-Tournament Team.
  Against Oak Grove, this one would start with the Chicks setting the Grain Valley gym on fire on offense, while the Purple Pride defense shut the door on the Panthers. When the smoke had cleared in the first quarter, PHHS held a big-time 20- 6 lead. The second frame was much the same as your Purple Pride ladies continued to dominate both ends of the court, taking this one 16-4, and leading 36-10 at the intermission.
  In the second half, the PHHS coaching staff decided to pull in the reins and give the bench ladies some valuable time on the floor. Looking to keep the lead in hand and eat the clock as well, the second half saw the Chicks go even with the Panthers in the third period, 9-9, then give the final stanza to Oak Grove, 9-7. But it was still a very good 52-28 victory for PHHS.
  Full story is in the paper.

By KERRY WARMAN Times Sports Editor  

They came in as the 5th-seeded team in the tournament and left with the Consolation Trophy— —not a bad week’s work for a bunch of hard-working guys!
  The Pleasant Hill High School Rooster varsity basketball team captured the Consolation Trophy at the annual Grain Valley Sonic Showdown last week, January 24-28, taking down two very good teams after losing a heartbreaker in the opening round.
  Final tournament results were: Opening Round- top-seeded Grain Valley Eagles 48, 8thseeded Imagine Renaissance Academy (IRA) Warriors 39; 4th-seeded Winnetonka Griffins 49, 5th-seeded PHHS 44; 2ndseeded Oak Grove Panthers 60, 7th-seeded Staley Falcons 41; 3rd-seeded Lincoln Prep Tigers 81, 6th-seeded dessa Bulldogs 51; Semi-final Round- PHHS 46, IRA39; Winnetonka 51, Grain Valley 49; Oak Grove 78, Lincoln Prep 72; Staley 58, Odessa 45; Final Round- PHHS 76, Staley 51, Consolation; Grain Valley 62, Lincoln Prep 45, 3rd place; and Winnetonka 53, Oak Grove 44, 1st place.
  Note: Rooster Brad Smith was named to the All-Tournament Team.
  Against Winnetonka, PHHS had one tough quarter that allowed the Griffins to build a good lead, but a second-half of good play by the Purple Pride guys had the home team on the scoreboard scrambling to hang on to the lead.
  After a very-evenly played first frame that saw Winnetonka edge it 16-13, the defenses turned up the heat in the second stanza. The Griffins took this one, 10-5, and led 26-18 at the intermission.
  Your Roosters came out in the second half stronger on offense, but they were never able to make that one run to catch up. After PHHS took the third period 14- 11, the teams played exact-o-ball in the final quarter, 12-12, allowing the Griffins to pull out the 49- 44 victory
  Full story is in the paper.

By KERRY WARMAN Times Sports Editor  

A regular season of hard work is about to come to a close for the Purple Pride mat masters—but the real fun is just about to begin for the boys as they prepare to make a run for state glory!
  The Pleasant Hill High School Rooster wrestling squad, short-handed due to injuries and illnesses, continued to battle hard recently, including: tough 48-32 Missouri River Valley Conference-West Division dual loss to the Oak Grove Panthers, 48-32, in the final home action of 2011-12 on Thursday, Jan. 19; 4th-place showing at the annual Jim Wallace Invitational Tournament in Fulton on Saturday, Jan. 21; and 9th-place finish at the annual Odessa Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 28 (where Rooster heavyweight Tully Byrne won his bracket!).
  Note: Results from the dualmeet at Harrisonville against the Wildcats on Tuesday, Jan. 24 were not sent to the Pleasant Hill Times sports desk at press time.
  The individual Rooster varsity results from the Panther match-up were: Brandon Bray, 106 pounds, won by forfeit; David Allen, 113, loss to Drake Hoffman; Open at 120; Aaron Couch, 126, loss to Tyler Brown; Dylan Lewis, 132, loss to Anthony Barker; Keegan Reed, 138, loss to Cole Harris; Brady Franklin, 145, loss to Logan Cairer; Jesse Powell, 152, loss to Taylor Brinegar; Brigham West, 160, win over Dalton Brinegar; Dillon Spears, 170, loss to Chase Wrisinger; Patrick Shands, 1820, win by fall over Preston Airington; Cole Reeves, 195, win by forfeit; Kace Beattie, 220, lwin by forfeit; and Byrne, 285, win by forfeit.
  The final team scores from the Jim Wallace Tournament were: Moberly, 1st place, 217.5; Priory, 2nd, 157.5; Fulton, 3rd, 150; PHHS, 4th, 128; Center, 5th, 111.5; Boonville 6th, 105; Marshall, 7th, 82.5; Osage, 8th, 77; Brentwood, 9th, 75; Clayton, 10th, 75; Winfield, 11th, 71; and St. Charles Lutheran, 12th, 35.5
  Full story is in the paper.