Obituary -- Docia Lee Emrich 1956-2014

Docia Lee Emrich was born January 1, 1956 in Stockton, California to Levi and Cora Lee (Thomas) Pearson. She passed away November 29, 2014 at the age of 58.

Docia was united in marriage to Victor Leroy Emrich on February 14. 1999. He preceded her in death in 2005. Docia worked as a waitress. She was a collector of Betty Boop memorabilia.

Also preceding her in death were her parents.

Surviving are sisters: Gloria Williams of Brownville, Nebraska, Diane Pearson of McKinleyville, California, brother, Ralph Martin of Wilderville, Oregon, nieces and nephews.

Docia will be sadly missed by family and friends. 

Graveside Services and Interment were 1:30 P.M. Thursday, December 4, 2014 at the Jennings Cemetery in Stanberry, Missouri. Arrangements were under the direction of the Prugh-Dunfee Funeral Home in Grant City, Missouri.

Obituary -- Nadine Hensley 1918-2014

Nadine Hensley passed away at her home December 2^nd surrounded by her loving family. She was born Nadine Robbins October 26, 1918 to Walla and Etta Beavers Robbins near Grant City, Missouri.

She married Everett Hensley on May 27, 1941 and they made their home in the Sheridan, Missouri area. To this union 5 children were born. The family moved to the King City area in 1956 where she enjoyed life on the farm. Her hobbies were gardening, planting flowers and playing cards. She had a passion for making quilts for her family. She later moved to Albany and Savannah, Missouri.

She was preceded in death by her husband Everett, son, Kenney and daughter Sue, brothers Rex and Weldon Robbins and sister Gail White. 

She is survived by her daughters Bonnie Buthman (Danny Burns) of St. Joseph, Patty (Randy) Jameson of Gower, son, John (Pam) Hensley of King City. She is also survived by 16 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren. 

Services will be 2:00 P.M. Friday, December 5, 2014 at the Prugh-Dunfee Funeral Home in Grant City, Missouri. Interment will be in the Grant City Cemetery. Visitation from 6:00-8:00 P.M. 

 Thursday. Memorials may be made to Hands of Hope Hospice, 137 N. Belt Highway, St. Joseph, MO 64506

NEN Girls Down DeKalb in PVC Tournament, Fall to North Andrew

Northeast Nodaway's girls picked up their second win of the season, 33-25 over DeKalb in a defensive gem. Jill Spire, after being limited by foul trouble against Albany, came alive with 12 points for Northeast. Dallis Coffelt followed with 11, Bailey Judd 5, Brianna Riley 3, and Vanessa Riley and Allie Runde with 1 each. The win is only Coach Vance Proffitt's second against the Tigers since beginning his tenure at Northeast.

It didn't come easy as Northeast built up an 11-9 lead after one. Northeast then held the Tigers scoreless in the second as they built it up to 15-9 at the break. DeKalb fought back to come to within 2 after three at 22-20, but Northeast finished the game strongly, outscoring them 10-5 to win the game. One of the goals going forward will be free throw shooting as they only shot 9 for 23 during the game.

But the bubble burst for Northeast against North Andrew Wednesday night as they fell to the North Andrew powerhouse 58-24. That will set up a 3rd place matchup for Northeast against either South Nodaway or Jefferson at Bearcat Arena Friday at 4:30.

Obituary -- LaDora Combs 1932-2014

LaDora Joyce (Grace) Combs, 82, was born August 20, 1932, in Kansas City, KS; the daughter of J.B. and Grace (House) Grace. She passed away unexpectedly on Sunday November 30, 2014 at Heartland Hospital in St. Joseph, MO.

Surviving of the home, her husband of 62 years, Ross A. Combs; children, Linda (Jim) Johnson, Jim (Mary) Combs, Ronnie (Linda) Combs, Doug Combs and Jackie (Dallas) Findley; 14 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild.

LaDora was very active in her community and worked tirelessly to fulfill her dream of making the Denver School House Museum a success. She also enjoyed genealogy and would spend vast amounts of time researching family history for others. When not doing these things, she would help others in the community and was a member of the Denver Methodist Church. LaDora took pride in being a member of the Missouri Community Betterment Program/Tourism. The village of Denver has lost one of its greatest advocates.

LaDora’s greatest joy was brought to her by her children and grandchildren. Very rarely did she miss a school activity, birthday or holiday concert. This can be seen in the numerous scrapbooks kept for every family member.

She was preceded in death by her parents, sister, Alice (Grace) Stanton, aunts, Faye (House) Jobst and Meredith J. House.

Visitation was Wednesday, December 3 at the Denver Community Church, with a Celebration of Life Service to be held following the visitation at the church. In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Denver School House Museum in care of Helen Ruth Foster, 24578 200th Road, Grant City, MO. Online condolences: www.robersonpolleychapel.com

Tiger Boys Blitz King City for 1st Win 71-48; 1st Win Over Wildkats in Four Years

Worth County's boys picked up their first win in four years over King City, 71-47 as they ran away from them. The Wildkats were a dangerous team featuring Reagan Law, a 3-point shooter who is always dangerous in the open court. They push the ball up the floor after made baskets by the other team, which is uncommon in this area; that seemed to catch Worth County off-guard. Their whole game plan revolves around passing and cutting the other team to death and getting Reagan Law some good looks from downtown.

Worth County, in Coach Bryce Schafer's 2nd year at the helm, continues to search for consistency offensively; however, they made serious strides in meeting that goal by landing four in double figures. They built up a 12-5 lead behind five early points from Cade Allee. King City turned up the heat defensively and Worth County started panicking against the press as Law started getting open and Noah Poling added a couple of layups off steals as the Wildkats fought back to tie at 12-12. But then Cade Allee got open again and Mason Hawk found him for a 3-pointer to jump-start another Tiger run. Last year, Worth County would frequently jump out to an early lead only to see it fizzle. However, this time, Worth County made one stand up as they recovered from King City's scoring flurry to lead the rest of the way.

Ben Badell got things going for Worth County. He has not scored a lot of points in a game yet for Worth County, but his job is to push the ball up the floor, occupy the defense, and get everybody else the ball. He found Josh Warner one time and Mason Hawk another time as Worth County pushed the lead up to 19-12. He was one of the most improved players from last year as he made everybody around him better with his floor game. Warner added a putback to make it 21-12 before Law's 3-point play late made it 21-15 after one quarter.

It was a good quarter for the Tigers, but the challenge was to shut down Law and make someone else try and beat them. They did so as Drake Kinsella was able to break through screens and get in his face, forcing some misses which fueled Worth County's transition game. Ben Badell had another breathtaking assist in the second quarter as he led Chris Alarcon, aka "Topher," perfectly on a half-court baseball pass for a layup which pushed Worth County up double digits at 25-15. Topher added a steal and Drake Kinsella worked the offensive glass hard for the Tigers as their lead grew to as big as 33-18. Ben Badell was shaken up at the 2:08 mark, but the Tigers showed they were bigger than any one player as Alarcon went to the rack twice for layups and found Cade Allee for a 3-pointer as Worth County held the fort while Ben was out and led 40-25 at the break.

Topher came out of the break on fire for Worth County, scoring their first five points to put the Tigers up 45-27. Ben Badell then supplied the dagger for the Tigers, knocking down a 3-pointer to put them up 20 for the first time at 53-33 and then taking Reagan Law to the rack with his left hand to make it 59-37 late in the period. Shortly after that, King City threw in the towel and began putting in their subs. Jared Simmons took a charge for the Tigers in the period.

Worth County took its biggest lead in the fourth quarter behind free throws from Mason Hawk, Ryan McClellan, and Drake Kinsella as well as a perfect high-low pass from Hawk to Kinsella that put them up 64-39. Ryan Smyser came off and played like a man on a mission late in the fourth, getting to the line and collecting three points.

After struggling to find people who could score for the last few years, the Tigers landed four in double figures and eight in the scoring column. Cade Allee led the Tigers with 19 points, followed by Chris Alarcon with 15. Drake Kinsella had 11, Josh Warner 10, Ben Badell 7, Mason Hawk 5, Ryan Smyser 3, and Ryan McClellan had 1.

Tiger Girls Grind Out First Victory

Sometimes, when breaking the habit of losing, you are more likely to win ugly. But for a team that has struggled over the last few years, the Tiger girls will take them any way they can get them. And through in another team which has struggled to shake the losing habit, and that is a perfect recipe for an all-out war. But following a bizarre play late in the game, Worth County held on to win 29-23 over archrival Albany to even their record at 1-1. The Tigers were set to play the loser of the King City-Stanberry matchup of the Albany Tournament Friday at 8:30. The victory was the first for new coach Josh Smith; it was not after getting a bunch of grey hairs on his part.

This year's version is based on brackets. With only six teams, this means that teams that played each other in the first round could turn around and play each other again in the final round. Worth County could be pitted against King City, the team that beat them 39-33 in the opening round. In another difference, it is also possible for a team to lose a game and then go on to win the tournament. For instance, Princeton's girls, losers of their first round match with Stanberry, could knock off South Harrison in the second round, play in the championship round, and then knock off the winner of the King City-Stanberry match to win the whole tournament.

Worth County dug itself into a 7-2 hole with 2:50 left as they could do nothing against a stingy Warrior defense. However, Worth County won by shutting down one of Albany's two main weapons, Shelby Fish, holding her to 5 points. But the other weapon, Kristie Sorensen, kept Albany in the game by scoring 15 of Albany's 23 points. She came alive after firing blanks in Albany's other two games against Northeast Nodaway and South Harrison. Worth County climbed out of the hole in the second quarter, limiting the Warriors to one point and taking a 12-8 lead at halftime. They had a balanced attack with five different players getting into the scoring column.

The game continued to be an all-out war, with frustration fouls, grabbing and tearing at rebounds and loose balls, and a lot of jump ball calls. Albany was crashing hard on Kaitlyn Davidson, who figures to be one of Worth County's main scoring options this year, every time she touched the ball down low. But Kaitlyn came alive in the third period for Worth County, getting six in the period. But Sorensen hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to bring Albany right back to within 5 at 20-15. In a defensive struggle of this nature, one defensive lapse can be huge since every possession is important.

Since many teams will likely be keying on Kaitlyn, Coach Josh Smith will be looking for other players to step up and score; Tess Andrews matched a career high with 5 points and hit a dagger 3-pointer to put Worth County up double digits at 27-16. Albany finally got going late in the game, aided by some missed free throws, but they could never get closer than the final score. There was one bizarre play during the closing seconds where Worth County got the possession arrow on a jump ball situation as Albany was frantically trying to get the ball back. However, one of the Albany players took the ball and all the Albany players were turned around, lined up to play offense on the wrong basket. Shelby Fish alertly took it to the correct basket and drew a foul, but the officials correctly wiped out the play since it was a correctable error situation.

Kaitlyn Davidson, despite Albany players grabbing and tearing at the ball all night every time she caught it in the post, had 12 points to lead Worth County. Tess Andrews followed with 5. Alysa Lyle and Sydney Thummel had 4, as did Sidney Troutwine.

Worth County Sheriff's Report

11-24 -- Person in to fill out a statement form.
11-24 -- Adult Protective Service in for meeting with sheriff.
11-25 -- Worth County Court has papers to serve.
11-25 -- Person calls about a dog being chained on his property.
11-25 -- Probation officer calls about an ongoing case.
11-25 -- Report of goats out west of Grant City.
11-26 -- Report of accident on 169 Highway; was in Iowa, officer assists Iowa officer.
11-26 -- Person calls about a pack of dogs north of Grant City.
11-26 -- Report of missing cow east of Grant City.
11-26 -- Report of domestic disturbance in Grant City.
11-27 -- Person calls about missing phone and saddle.
11-28 -- Person calls about trespassing.
11-28 -- Officer arrests person on shoplifting charge.
11-28 -- Persons in for concealed carry permits.
11-29 -- Officer in with two subjects for drug investigation.
11-29 -- Report of careless driving in Grant City.
11-30 -- 911 call of domestic problem in Grant City.
11-30 -- Report of stolen couch in Grant City.
11-30 -- Report of stolen cellphones and billfold.