Bulldogs season comes to end with district loss

2/25/2010

“What I feel… a father’s view”

By Lance Adams

Note: For an official account of Carl Junction’s final game with Webb City, the story from Richard Polen of The Joplin Globe has been included after the following comments from cjbulldogs.com's website author.

It’s always emotional when a season comes to an end, especially for the seniors who realize they’ve donned the Bulldogs uniform for the last time.  For those of you who have followed cjbulldogs.com the past five years, you know I often include stats and game details in my stories after a Bulldogs win or loss.  But this is one of those times it has to be different.

Cjbulldogs.com started when this year’s seniors were in the eighth grade.  They weren’t even mentioned then, with the focus instead on a talented group of varsity basketball players who were beginning a great run of their own.  You began to hear a little about the class of 2010 as they began experiencing success on the freshman basketball team, and you were able to follow them during their next four years.

Hollywood loves to produce the sports movies about a good group of kids, typically underdogs, who wind up overachieving and taking home a championship.  Occasionally, the storyline brings us tears at the end when the good guys come up just short.

This year, Carl Junction had those ‘good guys’, but there was no post-season run to a title game.

I’ve known many of these kids for a long time now.  Last night’s reflection on this group brought more than a smile to my face.  I wondered how any particular sports team could be so fortunate as to have a roster full of players who liked and supported one another so much, and who collectively caused their coaches and their school administrators little or no problems.

Perhaps it starts with the coaching.  When you have quality leaders such as Coach Odaffer and Coach Lahm, with their own high morals, integrity, work ethics and spirituality, there is oftentimes a likelihood of surrounding yourself with similar characters.  Thank you coaches for all you’ve done and for being such great role models for our sons.

By the opening tip-off of this season, the 2009-10 Bulldogs were comprised of five seniors and a group of underclassmen that began to fit the molds of their coaches.  I’d like to take the time (and webspace) to go into all kinds of detail about each of them, but I should try to be brief and just share a few special thoughts of my own.

I spent some time last night getting to tell my son, Jansen, how proud I was of him.  He gave it his best this season, but it was the stories from other parents this year of how he influenced their sons that made me the most proud.  Jansen, thank you for making me look forward to every day, and not just game nights.

Jake Stevenson, you are as quality of a young man as I have seen.  The respect you have shown to others including myself is unfortunately rare in this day for a player with your talents – all too often this type of athlete is too consumed in his own accomplishments to be as courteous as you are.  I never knew your late mother, but I’m sure she would be so proud of you, as is your father whom I’m glad I got to know over the past couple of years.

Jacob Bennett, you are one of three on this team that I was able to help coach beginning in youth ball.  Your father and I spent a lot of time together working with all of you.  John, who I like to call the “Vice President of Defense”, has been instrumental in the success of CJ basketball over the past five years.  You took what he taught you and made it work, wreaking havoc on area ball-handlers with your own ball-hawking skills and quickness.  We can only hope that CJ players in the future will play with your same level of hustle and intensity.

Josh Davis, thank you for coming back to the courts this year.  Your return was a blessing to the team and you showed the last few weeks that you really had the game figured out.  You made defenders look foolish as your shiftiness led to another bucket, either straight from your hands or from that of a teammate who benefited from one of your nice passes.  Turn your success from the court into a big positive as you continue with life.

Matthaus Klute, it was so easy to spot your determination to succeed when you took the court.  You have been such a positive influence on others and have been there for your teammates all season.  Whether your own personal goals for the season were met or not I don’t know, but your decision to run with this pack of dogs was a good one.  Remember that “Most Valuable Friend” will always mean more than “Most Valuable Player.”

I’ll admit my heart sank a couple of weeks ago when I was first told about a broken growth plate for junior Jake McClarnon.  I knew then what that could mean to a team that was really starting to click together, and unfortunately I was right.  But after that first few seconds of shock, my first question was, is he going to be alright long-term?  For those around Carl Junction who know the Adams family, we have a bit of knowledge about the importance of growth plates.  I was so thankful to hear that his long-term prognosis is good.  We missed him the rest of the way, but I’ll hope for the best for him as a senior next year.

To the underclassmen as a whole, you have to continue building upon the new foundation that Coach Odaffer is putting in place.  If last year’s 7 win total could become 11 this year, what can you achieve in 2010-11?  You helped this team earn those 11 victories and you were a part of 8 other losses that were decided by 8 points or less.  What can you do to get us over that hump and turn 11 wins into some 15 or more in the near future?

In closing, I had hoped heading into district play we might get hot from the floor, perhaps pouring in 3-pointers like nobody had seen before and stretching the season out a little longer.  But in the end, Hollywood can look elsewhere for its own group of ‘good guys’ who made that magical post-season run.  I’m just thankful for our CJ kids this year, all of whom made their parents and fans proud both on the court and off.

Webb City speeds up to race past Carl Junction

By Richard Polen, The Joplin Globe

Webb City used its quickness and transition game to pull away from Carl Junction in the second half of a 73-40 victory Thursday night in a Class 4, District 13 tournament semifinal game.

Austin Daniel scored 10 of his game-high 21 points in the third quarter as the Cardinals advanced to the district championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against state-ranked Harrisonville.

“We rotated on the press, we had active hands and good things happened,” Webb City head coach Brad Sherer said. “We had some easy buckets.

“We sped them up to our tempo. They like to play in the 40s and we like to play in the 60s,” he said. “We got them to play at our pace.”

The Cardinals took the lead for good midway through the second quarter when Scott Roderique drove along the baseline and scored, giving Webb City an 18-17 lead.

A fast-break layup and two free throws by Maddy Johnson, who scored seven points, gave the Cardinals a 29-24 halftime lead and was a sign of things to come.

Brecklin Williams hit a 3 and scored Webb City’s first five points of the second half, the beginning of a 15-4 run that put the Cardinals in front 46-28.

Williams scored 14 points, including three 3-point goals, and scored 14 points while Roderique finished with 10 points.

The fourth quarter was a free-throw shooting exhibition for the Cardinals, who made 12 of 19 free throws in the period and 18 of 30 for the game.

Jansen Adams led Carl Junction with 17 points, including three of the Bulldogs’ six field goals in the second half.

Harrisonville advanced to the district final with an 80-70 victory against Clinton.

“They shoot the 3 and we have to rebound,” Sherer said. “They will have some matchup problems and we will have some matchup problems.” 

GAME STATISTICS