Click on
Thumbnails
for a larger view.
More Pictures at
the
bottom of the page,
Thanks Barb Knobbe.
2nd place trophy 1973
Team members included
Nancy Foulks, Barbara Redger,
Ann Hastings,
Candy
Boardman,
Sandy Culver,
Kim Dewey,
Robin Hefner,
Crystal
Koehn,
Cindy
Hackerott.
Coached by Jerry Burns.
Pictures below are of
Sub-State 1998
Winning Sub-State,
1998 On To State, 1998
Team members are back
row left to right.
Wendy
Faurot,
Kelli Small,
Kelly Tucker,
Kelley Kramer,
Amber
Miller,
Shanon Kindsvater.
Front
row left to right.
Crista
Grasser, Desirae Hanks,
Jara Coles,
Molly Knobbe,
Annie Reimer,
Dee Ewart.
Not
pictured, Coach Tom Smith and Assistant
Coach,
Shonda Nolan.
Flag that hangs in the
new
Cimarron Gym.
The Lady Jays Mantra.
Molly and Jara.
Jara comes up with
the ball.
Student Section
Coach Smith gives instructions.
A Tense moment.
We Did It.
Do you have stories or
pictures you would like
to add to this page?
Let me know and I will
try to include them.
Also, let me know of
any
corrections I need
to make.
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Twenty-five
years ago the Lady Jays finished second in the inaugural State
Women's Basketball championships. No one had given them much of
a chance when the season began but as time went on it
was obvious they were very special ladies. We were very proud
of their effort and I remember how the season started with very
few fans showing up for the games. However, as the season
progressed and we figured out what we had, the numbers steadily
grew.
It was fun
to see the steady improvement that those ladies made. Women's
basketball had been played for many years at some of the area
schools but was relatively new to Cimarron. I had a cousin
that played for Ingalls. It was a lot different game up to this
time as they played half-court ball and it was at a much slower
pace. One of the really neat things is how women's Basketball
has evolved over the years. The game of today is much quicker
and faster and the skill level overall has improved
tremendously.
The ladies eventually lost in
the finals in a hard fought game that first year. It was a hard
loss but we were all tremendously proud of our team. As the
years progressed, Cimarron's new crop of young ladies was
working hard for a chance to avenge the loss in the 1973
Championship game.
In the
1990's Cimarron started to see some very special things
happening in our local Ladies basketball program. Among those
were basketball camps, summer leagues, and young women working
hard on their basketball skills and taking the game very
seriously. Once again the attendance started to grow and it
was not unusual to see a larger crowd at the Ladies' games than
at the Men's games.
In the
mid-90's Cimarron was blessed with many young ladies
that possessed a special talent for the game of basketball.
Some of these ladies were children of players from the
1973-second place state team. They eventually evolved into a
nearly unbeatable group of ladies. It was obvious that these
ladies were an exceptional group, but every time they were about
to make their move to the next level something always stood in
their way. Most of the time it was Lakin's Lady
basketball team.
I
remember the sub-state championship game against Lakin at Oakley
in 1997. Cimarron had a lead that was sure to send them to
state. But like many other times, the Lakin ladies fought back
to win. The Lady Jays of 1997-1998 were about to change all of
that.
Cimarron Lady Jays Win Sub-State 1998
Cimarron came
into the Sub-state playoffs seeded number three and their first
game was against one of their long time nemeses, Holcomb. This
was the Jays last home game and they won it in great style. The
leading scorer for the Lady Jays was Dee Ewart with 16 points.
Jara Coles added 14 and Molly Knobbe 12. Everyone knew that the
next loss was going to end the season and it was obvious that
they were not going to let that happen any time soon.
Next we traveled to
Southwestern Heights to face the number two seeded Lakin Broncs.
Lakin was undoubtedly our number one rival in the nineties, and
they brought a number two State ranking into the game.
Cimarron's Head Coach Tom Smith was quoted "Our defense was
stupendous, superb, and outstanding. We forced 39 turnovers by
the usually steady Broncs." The Broncs came back to send the
game into overtime but the Lady Jays held on for the win.
Cimarron shot a horrible 16% but held Lakin to just 40 points in
the game. Kelly Kramer had 13 rebounds, 9 of them on the
offensive end.
Now facing Cimarron was the
number one ranked team in the State, Medicine Lodge. Once
again, the BlueJay defense turned the game around and
the offense took over. Jara Coles scored 18 points in the
second half. A great surprise came from freshman Karody Stucky
who came off the bench to play some great defense and also ended
up the number three scorer for the Jays with seven points.
Coach Smith was again quoted,
"We knocked off Medicine Lodge, Lakin and Holcomb to win the
Sub-State Championship and advance to Hutchinson. We do not
know who we play yet because the weather has postponed
some games and we may not know before press time for the paper.
But, whomever we play, we will pressure them on defense and we
will play with our hearts on the outside of our jerseys and play
as hard as any team you ever saw in your life. This team is
the most courageous and toughest team in the state, bar none."
CIMARRON LADY JAYS GO TO STATE
Leavenworth
Immaculata
Most of the season the Lady Jays had
relied on their super guards, Molly Knobbe, Jara Coles and
Dee Ewart to carry much of the load. The opening game
against Leavenworth Immaculata saw a big change in that.
We had always known how good the front line could be and
they certainly carried the offense throughout much of the
game. Kelly Tucker had a great first quarter scoring
seven of her 19 points. Kelly Kramer came off the
bench and added another 10 points. Amber Miller and
Karody Stucky also came up big under the basket for the
Jays. By the half the Jays had a 23-20 lead. The
third quarter was played evenly but the Jays pulled away and
beat Immaculata 48-36. The Jays had held a state
qualifier to under 40 points and were pumped and ready to
finish their mission.
Riley County
Riley County had just come off a big
overtime win against top seeded and previously undefeated
Erie. They were big and fast but Cimarron's
great condition, running game and depth were the difference
in this game. All 12 members of the team played and
contributed to beat Riley County 54-51. Coles finished the
game with 18 points while Knobbe and Kramer each added
12 points.
The big difference in scoring came down
to free throws and three point shooting. Cimarron
made 21 of 27 from the charity stripe while Riley County
only converted 17 of 29. The Jays also scored 5 big
three pointers.
Conway
Springs
This game had everything you could ever ask for in a championship game.
Every
Cliché you could ever think of applied at one time or another in the game. An early knee injury to starting guard Dee Ewart forced Coach
Smith to move Kelly Kramer to the perimeter. She did a great job
while her replacements Crista Grasser, Shanon Kindsvater, and Desirae
Hanks played great defense in her place.
Four girls scored in
double figures led by Knobbe with 17, Tucker 14, Amber Miller a tremendous
11, and Jara Coles with 10. Player after player kept coming up big
for both teams. Cimarron went into the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead and everything looked great for the Jays.
Then we committed two
turnovers and our defense broke down and Conway Springs came roaring back.
Molly Knobbe was called for her fifth foul midway through the fourth
quarter. Now with two starters on the bench the Cimarron faithful
took a deep breath.
Conway tied the game to send it into over time. I recall Molly, always
the spark on defense and often on offense, working just as hard on the
sideline as she had in the game, coaching and encouraging her teammates.
You could see a look in Jara's eyes that let us all know that one way or
another they were going to win the game. One lady after another
stepped up big for the Jays. Our Big girls made rebounds and shots
that were seemingly impossible. The Jays went on to outscore Conway Springs 8-2 in the overtime. Conway had chances at the line but went
0 for 4.
It was as if they had just run out of gas. The depth
that Coach Smith had worked so hard on to develop had paid off big time
for Cimarron, the new Kansas State Class 3A Women's Basketball Champions.
A special note should
go out to the student body and community for their support of these
ladies. It seemed many times the Cimarron crowd was larger than the
home team at our away games. I also know that the support of the parents was a very big factor. I watched for years as parents
sacrificed days and days of their time so this group of ladies could be
the best they could be.
Many of these ladies, if not all, spent most
of their summers in camps, leagues and tournaments. Also, I must
include previous teammates and the hours spent helping to improve the
playing skills of the Lady Jays.
And of course the
coaching staff. It takes that special little bit of something extra
to put a team over the top. Talent is of course a must but the will
to win must be instilled at all times. I have always felt that the
coaches' ability to keep a team believing in themselves is as important as
their ability to run the right plays at the right time with the right
individuals. Although this team may have required a smaller amount
from the coaches than other teams, I know that not every coach could have
gotten them to the finals. Thanks Tom Smith and Shonda Nolan.
And
most of all, thank you ladies for everything. We could not be
prouder of you.
Thanks also to the
Jacksonian for much of the game and picture material for this page.
Pete Thomas. |
HOME
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2nd place trophy 1973
Team members included
Nancy Foulks, Barbara Redger,
Ann Hastings,
Candy
Boardman,
Sandy Culver,
Kim Dewey,
Robin Hefner,
Crystal
Koehn,
Cindy
Hackerott.
Coached by Jerry Burns.
Winning Sub-State,
1998 On To State, 1998
Team members are back
row left to right.
Wendy
Faurot,
Kelli Small,
Kelly Tucker,
Kelley Kramer,
Amber
Miller,
Shanon Kindsvater.
Front
row left to right.
Crista
Grasser, Desirae Hanks,
Jara Coles,
Molly Knobbe,
Annie Reimer,
Dee Ewart.
Not
pictured, Coach Tom Smith and Assistant
Coach,
Shonda Nolan.
Flag that hangs in the
new
Cimarron Gym.
The Lady Jays Mantra.
Molly and Jara.
