Obituary -- Lola Brogan 1929-2016

Lola Louvina Brogan died Sunday January 24th  at St, Francis Hospital in Maryville, Mo. with her family by her side. She was born to the late Kenneth and Zenna Drake on July 9th, 1929 in Piedmont, Kansas. Her family moved to a farm outside of Parnell, Mo. In 1944. She attended Sheridan High School in Sheridan, Mo. She married the late Charles Brogan on August 29,1946 in Hiawatha, Kansas. They were married for 62 years until his death in 2008. They lived in Sheridan, Mo. and Seaton, Ill. before moving to Montclair, Ca. in 1956 and in 1971 they moved to Homeland, Ca. where they lived for the next 34 years before retuning to Sheridan, Mo.  For the last four years she has been a resident of the Nodaway Nursing Home in Maryville, Mo.

Louvina was a homemaker most of her life, she loved to sew, crochet, quilting, tatting, embroidery, and so many other crafts. She loved to garden and was an avid reader. I have so many beautiful things she has made.

She is survived by three children:  Nancy Wickert of Alta Loma, Ca., Ellen Wickert and Ralph Brogan of Sheridan, Mo.; seven grandchildren: Samantha Wickert of Huntington Beach, Ca., Richard Wickert, Ryan McLenathen, Nick Buel, Damien Brogan, and Dana Brogan of Sheridan, Mo., and Brian Brogan of Russellville, Kentucky; eleven great grandchildren, and one great great grandaughter. 

She was preceded in death by one son Timothy Brogan and one great grandchild Gabriel Brogan.
Graveside services will be held at 1:00 p.m.  Thursday, January 28th at the Long Branch Cemetery in Gaynor, Mo.  officiated by Jeff Blaine.

Contest Develops in Worth County School Board Election; Board Approves Language for $500,000 Capital Improvements Bond, David Pommer Resigns as Custodian.

A contest has developed for the Worth County School Board Election that will be held in April. Marti Myers has filed for a position along with incumbents Les New and Rodney Brown. Two positions will be filled this year.

The board voted to accept the resignation of custodian David Pommer at the end of the school year.

The board agreed on the final language for the $500,000 bond issue that will be placed on the ballot in April. It shall read, "Shall the Board of Education of the Worth County R-III School District, Missouri, without an estimated increase in the current debt service property tax levy, borrow money in the amount of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000) for the purpose of providing funds to complete safety and security improvements to the parking lot and elementary playground; to repair and replace the gymnasium floor and bleachers; to complete other remodeling and repair improvements  to the existing facilities of the District, and issue bonds for the payment thereof? If this proposition is approved, the adjusted debt service levy of the School District is estimated to remain unchaged at $0.25 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation of real and personal property."

Superintendent Dr. Matt Martz evaluated the technology program as "above average." Strengths listed include the fact that the school has enough devices to make technology available to each student and faculty member. Quality professional development has been offered to faculty members. The IT director maintains current systems in a timely manner and troubleshoots problem areas. Over the past year, the school has upgraded their bandwidth. Concerns listed include the fact that devices continue to become obsolete and outdated. More professional development on how to use technology as a tool in the learning process is needed. One person is primarily responsible for the maintenance, repair, and upgrading of the school technology systems. Recommendations include reviewing the technology usage agreements and expectations, continuing to provide building-wide professional development to staff, and supporting the upgrading of devices by providing an adequate yearly budget for technology purchases.

Student activities were rated by Dr. Martz as "above average." Strengths listed include the fact that 90% of students are involved in extracurricular activities, which studies show helps students stay in school. Level of accomplishment in music, athletic, academic, and co-curricular activities is high. Facility improvement of track and stadium seating is completed. New technology and timing systems have been purchased for the track. All coaches are trained in CPR, AED, and concussion management. Concerns listed include the fact that renovations need to be done at the softball diamond, including adding several tons of red rock to the infield and building a new equipment shed. Seating for the visitors section at the football field needs to be replaced and location should be looked at as well. Basketball bleachers have a lot of movement to them and are a safety concern to employees during setup. Uniforms are in need of replacement with the exception of choral uniforms (2015), junior high basketball (2015), high school softball (2013), and junior high football (2012). Student organizations have to conduct a lot of fundraising activities in order to participate in the state and national activities due to the district not having funds to support their travel. Athletic and cheerleading coaches are difficult to find. Coordinating times for practices and meetings are difficult due to crossover of membership. The stage is not available during athletic practices for choral or music practice. Students involved in student activities miss instructional class time when they go to activity events; this lost instructional class time can add up. Recommendations include developing a plan to maintain safe and sound facilities and equipment for all athletic facilities, working with the facilities committee to prioritize construction needs, and studying how student instructional time can be protected.

Tigers Silence Doubters with Shocking Rout of Braymer; Three Reach Double Figures, Ross' Chasedown Stuff on O'Dell Finishes Bobcats

What was billed as a good matchup between two of the better guards in the area turned into a shocking rout as Worth County completely outplayed Braymer in a 71-35 win. Braymer had been flying high since joining the GRC and came into the game with a 9-4 record; Worth County had to scratch and claw their way to a consolation prize at Stanberry. There were plenty of doubters before Friday night's game; allegedly, Worth County was no better than last year's eight-win squad because their competition was easier. Allegedly, the chemistry was not there and they were squeaking by teams they should have made quick work of. But all of a sudden, those doubts were put to rest by Worth County's win over a team that had had their number since joining the conference. The question is whether this was a one-time shot by Bryce Schafer's charges or whether it is a turn for the better. Last year's eight-win squad put together a similar effort in getting a running clock win over Nodaway-Holt even though the Trojans had a much better record than Worth County at that point. Worth County was able to match its win total from last year with plenty of time to spare.

Logan O'Dell has established himself as one of the better guards in the conference for the Bobcats; however, it was Jordan Miller who kept them in for much of the first quarter; the inside-outside combo threat scored 10 of their first 12 points as the game was tied at 4, 6, and 10. The game looked everything like it was hyped up to be. But all of a sudden, Brevyn Ross splashed home a 3-pointer off a pass from Ryan McClellan and he put together one of the scoring bursts that he is so capable of doing. He went backdoor for a layup after a pass from Drake Kinsella and tipped in an Isaac Alarcon miss to make it 17-10. He had three steals in the first quarter along with Ryan McClellan.

Ross picked up his second foul and sat most of the second quarter, but Ben Badell carried the Tigers; he jumped a pass and got the call on a charge/block situation and converted a 3-point play to put Worth County up double digits for the first time at 26-14. Miller's backdoor look made it 26-19, something that the Bobcats were able to do much of the night. But then Ben, who played his best game this season, splashed home a 3-pointer after a pass from Drake Simmons after he saw an opening and came from the left side clear over to the right side; Cade Allee followed with another splash and Isaac Alarcon added a free throw to make it 33-19.

At that point, frustration set in for Braymer and they were called for two shoving fouls after some hard screens by Worth County players; their coach protested to no avail. Ryan McClellan's backdoor look made it 40-21 late before Logan O'Dell's putback made it 40-23 at the break.

Normally, when a good team is down, it is only a matter of time before their run comes; conditions looked ripe for it at first in the second half. The score was stuck at 40-23 for the first two minutes, then O'Dell threw up a prayer that went in with 3:25 left to make it 43-27. Long scoreless stretches like this are frequently precursors. O'Dell went in for another layup attempt that could have jump-started a run, but all of a sudden, Brevyn Ross, despite being up to three fouls, came out of nowhere to get a chasedown stuff of O'Dell and the rout was on for Worth County.

Braymer apparently came up with a steal on Worth County's next play, only for Mason Hawk to steal it back and go to the rim; an unguarded Drake Simmons, who had not scored up to that point, hit consecutive 3-pointers and Isaac Alarcon hit Drake Kinsella for another triple; instead of the lead being under double digits, Worth County was up 54-27 after three. Frustration set in again for Braymer as their coach and Miller got into an argument which resulted in Miller sitting the last few minutes of the period.

Cade Allee's drive and pullup after a pass from Ben Badell triggered the running clock and made it 60-30; obviously, Coach Bryce Schafer couldn't believe what was happening and kept his starters in longer than usual. Cade Allee scored off a backdoor look from Mason Hawk and Brevyn Ross and Ben Badell were able to go to the rim at will in the fourth quarter.

Cade Allee led the Tigers in scoring with 16 points. Brevyn Ross had 13, Ben Badell 12, Drake Kinsella 9, Ryan McClellan and Drake Simmons 6, Isaac Alarcon 5, and Mason Hawk 4. Drake Simmons had 4 assists; Brevyn Ross, Ryan McClellan, Drake Kinsella, and Ben Badell all had 3, Isaac Alarcon and Mason Hawk had 2, and Cade Allee 1. Drake Kinsella and Ben Badell had 2 blocks while Ryan McClellan, Mason Hawk, and Brevyn Ross had 1. Worth County's trapping zone caused problems for Braymer all night as they had 18 steals. Brevyn Ross had 6 steals, Ryan McClellan 4, Isaac Alarcon 3, and Ben Badell, Drake Simmons, Mason Hawk, and Wayde Parman all had 1.

Kristin Herndon's Dagger, Madison Thompson's Blocks Topple Knights; Davison Scores 20 Again as Revenge Tour Continues

North Nodaway's revenge tour continued Friday as they avenged an earlier loss by beating South Holt 52-48. They had crashed and burned against the Knights in the Mound City Tournament, not even getting 20 that night. But the pattern of always playing better the second time around held true for Sami Jackson's squad. They already have one conference loss this year and cannot afford another; the high-flying Mound City Panthers are unbeaten this year. But if Sami Jackson can somehow convince her charges that they are just as good as Mound City, it could turn into a showdown provided they run the table against everyone else.

The Knights had just erased a seven-point fourth quarter deficit as Emma Ezzell's driving layup gave them a 48-47 lead with 2:52 left in the game; Bethany Herndon missed a 1-1 and Ezell drove in for another layup in an effort to turn up the heat on North Nodaway. But she traveled with the basketball and Madison Thompson was knocked down hard by Madeline Prussman and got back up and hit two free throws to put North Nodaway back in front 49-48 with 1:48 left. The Knight sophomore then blew a wide-open layup off a backdoor pass and North Nodaway had the ball and the lead.

They ran the clock down to just over one minute, when Alisha Davison, who had carried the Mustangs all night, had the nerve to pull the trigger on a guarded 3-pointer that missed. But then Breann O'Riley, one of the smaller players on the court, somehow came away with the offensive carom and kept the possession alive; Davison redeemed herself with a free throw as Hailey Markt, whose presence bolstered the Knights despite not getting a lot of points, picked up her fifth foul as one of the South Holt partisans slammed the ball in frustration.

A basket would have tied it and South Holt had every reason to put the ball in Ezzell's hands since she had been slashing the baseline all night, but she missed three tries at the basket before Madison Thompson fouled her on the floor, a smart play as the Mustangs had fouls to give and it prevented another layup try. Ezzell tried again, but this time, Thompson blocked her and North Nodaway finally got a board. With South Holt frantically swarming and pressing, trying to get the ball back, the conventional play would have been to hold the ball and get fouled and get on the line. But Sami Jackson had been telling her players that the backdoor look was open all night; sure enough, there was a heartstopping moment for every North Nodaway fan in the gym as Breann O'Riley launched a long skip pass under fire from two taller defenders. But it was a perfect strike and an unguarded Kristin Herndon got the dagger to put North Nodaway up four at 52-48 with 15 seconds left.

South Holt put the ball in Ezzell's hands again in a last gasp chance to cut it to two and set up the press, but this time, Madison Thompson was there for the block. Ezzell tried again, but this time, Thompson stuffed her even harder and knocked her to the floor. Bethany Herndon corralled the most important board of the game and South Holt elected to throw in the towel even though there were still several seconds left on the clock. Madison forgot her shoes and had to borrow one of the boys' shoes; it must have been a good luck charm for her that night. Playing smart may have had something to do with it as well; she stayed out of serious foul trouble, as did most of the team. Consequently, they could afford to be very aggressive at the end when the game was on the line.

South Holt had every reason to expect a fairly easy win against North Nodaway, but the Mustangs had thrown a scare into South Nodaway and beaten Nodaway-Holt after falling to them the first time. Another card fell in North Nodaway's favor as they did not find themselves in their usual first quarter hole against good teams; they only trailed 8-7 after one instead of 5-10 points. North Nodaway's half court trap worked as well as it had all year early in the second as they got some quick steals to get a 13-8 lead. The Knights finally adjusted by working the ball into the middle, but the damage was done as North Nodaway maintained a 1 to 9 point lead most of the way until late. Finally, South Holt switched from zone to man in the last four minutes to create problems for North Nodaway, following South Nodaway's lead. Perimeter defense still continues to be an area of concern for North Nodaway; Sadee Prussman hit five triples for Mark Bolger's Knights, keeping them in the game. Two of them were from NBA range.

Alisha Davison got her second straight 20-point night to lead North Nodaway; apparently, her bright orange shoes were a good luck charm as well as Thompson borrowing one of the boys' players' shoes. Kelsi Oberhauser had 9, her most points since the Rock Port game at Mound City. Kristin Herndon had 8, none bigger than the last two points of the game. Madison Thompson had 7, Breann O'Riley had 4, Bethany Herndon 3, and Ashley Thompson 1. Madison Thompson had 6 blocks, three in the final 30 seconds of play; Bethany Herndon and Breann O'Riley had 1. Breann O'Riley had 7 assists, none bigger than her strike to Kristin Herndon. Alisha Davison had 4 assists, Madison Thompson had 3, and Kristin Herndon, Bethany Herndon, and Kelsi Oberhauser had 1.

Tiger Girls Ousted at Stanberry

Worth County’s girls got off to a bad start at the Stanberry Tournament and then were ousted by North Andrew the next night.

In Tuesday’s 54-17 loss to Jefferson, Worth County played what Coach Sean Thurm said was their “worst half of the year.” “It got ugly fast,” he said. Worth County fell behind 18-2 after one quarter and then fell behind 38-3 at the half before playing Jefferson evenly the rest of the way. The focus of the team will be on playing four quarters of basketball instead of just one or two.

The hacking and fouling that has plagued them much of this year continued, as the Tigers sent Jefferson to the line 23 times that night, while only getting to the line six times.

Payton Adwell led Worth County in scoring with 7 points and one 3-pointer. Haley Hunt had 4 and Tess Andrews, Dominique Findley, and Rikky Hunt all had 2.

If Tuesday night was their worst half, Wednesday might have been their worst quarter of the year as they fell behind 32-2 against North Andrew before losing 62-21. Again, it was a matter of not putting together four quarters of basketball. After that, they settled down and played nearly evenly with the Cardinals, but the damage was done.

Rikky Hunt and Dominique Findley led the scoring for Worth County with 5 points each. Payton Adwell had 4 along with Haley Hunt, and Jessi Badell had 3. The girls tried again Tuesday night as they traveled to King City. Other possible winnable games for them include dates with Polo, Albany, and East Harrison. The goal will be to cut down on fouls and put together four quarters of basketball.

Editorial -- Martin Luther King’s Spirit of Service Lives On

The lesson from Martin Luther King’s life is that one person can change the world if they set their minds to it. Dr. King did not just come out of thin air. As he himself stated in “Stride Towards Freedom,” his personal autobiography, it took extensive reading and studying before he embarked on his mission to push for civil rights for Black Americans. While there is still much work to be done as evidenced by the numerous protests against police brutality, the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act reflected a newfound consensus about the need to protect everyone’s civil liberties in this country.

On November 2nd, 1983, President Reagan signed a bill that passed both houses of Congress by strong bipartisan majorities creating the federal holiday. Dr. King was the first Black American so honored.

Over the last 20 years, there has been a concerted push to make Martin Luther King Day into a day of national service. While that is a worthy idea, it is our view that every day should be a day of service to one’s community. It is heartening to see stories come across our desk and for us to observe students at all three of the schools we cover engage in acts of community service on an ongoing basis throughout the year. We simply never know who might become the next Dr. King and change their world for the better.

Another lesson that we can learn from Dr. King is that change comes from the bottom up, not from the top down. It is always easy to demand that our politicians clean up their act. But in many respects, our politicians are reflections of who we are as a nation. The passage of civil rights legislation did not occur in a vacuum; it occurred as a result of numerous actions by ordinary people over the years. When we entered the Spanish-American War, the New York Times reported that there were thousands of Blacks clamoring to go so they could serve their country. Thousands of Blacks served their country in World War I and II, made a lot of the music we listened to over the years, started businesses and communities, worked to put food on our tables, and gave us numerous thrills on the ball diamond even before Jackie Robinson integrated baseball in 1947.

As the years progressed, it made less and less sense to treat certain people as second-class citizens based on who they were. When people saw on TV the dignity of the civil rights protesters on one hand and the brutality of the defenders of the dying Jim Crow system on the other, it forced the Democrats in Congress at the time to do the right thing even though it would cost them the South for generations to come.

The point is that if we want change here in northwest Missouri, we don’t wait for State Rep. Allen Andrews, State Sen. Dan Hegeman, Congressman Sam Graves, our US Senators, or President Obama to act. We have to take it upon ourselves to act. The Sheridan Express is always open to people of all political persuasions to push for change for the better. The late Kevin Austin used to say that there were certain interests who thumbed their noses up at us because we are in the northwest corner of the state. It is up to each of us to change that, as Kevin did. By the time of his passing, he had earned the respect of every other commissioner in the area.

Tiger Boys Stumble in Stanberry, Recover to Secure Consolation

 Worth County’s boys stumbled in the first round of the Stanberry Tournament before recovering to beat Albany and Mound City to win consolation.

In their first game, they fell 68-60 to South Nodaway as they could not stop Dalton Warner on defense or figure out how to put a ball in the basket on the other end. They got off to a hot start in the first quarter, putting up 21 points as they took a 21-16 lead. But from there, the shots started to clank off the rim, nobody had an answer for the lightning quick Longhorn guard, and the lead slowly evaporated away. Worth County was 4 for 31 from behind the 3-point line and 14 for 32 from the free throw line that night.

Worth County’s lead evaporated by halftime as they found themselves trailing 36-31 after a 20-point second quarter by South Nodaway. They had some initial success coming out in their half court trap look, betting to within 40-36 off Cade Allee’s putback with 4:35 left and 42-39 off Mason Hawk’s putback with 3:17 left. But then Taylar Freemyer got loose for the Longhorns twice inside and Warner picked up his eighth point of the period to make it 48-39, prompting Tiger Coach Bryce Schafer to break out the Chinese Fire Drill, putting five in and five out.

Nothing worked at first as shots continued to clank off the rim and Worth County’s deficit grew to 13 early in the fourth at 56-43. Finally, they rode Drake Kinsella’s back as the Tigers managed to stop the bleeding by getting to the line, although they made it hard for themselves by missing a ton of free throws. Worth County finally managed to pick things up defensively and get a pair of steals; Caleb Parman scored off a Ryan McClellan steal with 2:13 left to cut the deficit to four at 61-57. But then Worth County let Warner get loose once too often and then they had to start fouling.

Worth County got nine players in the scoring column, but they had nobody to match Warner’s output for South Nodaway. Cade Allee led the scoring with 11 points, Brevyn Ross and Drake Kinsella had 9, Ben Badell had his best game of the season with 7 points, Drake Simmons had 7, Mason Hawk had 6, Caleb Parman 5, Isaac Alarcon 4, and Ryan McClellan 2.

Dalton Warner had 28 for South Nodaway. One of the big reasons for Worth County’s losses this year has been their inability to stop someone on the other team from going off. Against North Andrew, for instance, it was Ryan Hughes who went off on them. Against Jefferson, it was Caden Farnan. Picking up more wins will require them to figure out how to stop someone from going off on them.

Worth County recovered and won the Consolation Prize by playing much better defense in its last two games. Against Albany, the game was close all the way before Worth County won 49-47. The game started out as a high-scoring track meet as Worth County led 19-17 after one quarter. However, the defenses took over after that and it turned into a grind it out defensive struggle. With the game tied in the last minute, Isaac Alarcon stole the ball from Seth Cline and scored on the other end to give Worth County the lead for good.

Cade Allee led the scoring for Worth County with 18 points. Drake Simmons and Isaac Alarcon each had 7. Ryan McClellan had 5, Drake Kinsella had 4, Brevyn Ross had 3 along with Caleb Parman and Mason Hawk had 2. Cade Allee had two 3-pointers for the Tigers while Ryan McClellan, Caleb Parman, and Drake Simmons all had 1. While Cline had 23 points for Albany and Nathan McClain 14, nobody else went off for them.

Worth County had not beaten Mound City in over a decade, and Jaden Gillenwater did all he could to ensure that would continue, putting up 26 points. But Worth County took a 20-14 lead after one quarter and made it stand up, winning 62-57 over the Panthers to secure consolation. Bryce Schafer had been looking all year for a go-to player, and may have just found one in Cade Allee, who went off on the Panthers with 23 points, matching a career high. He knocked down three shots from bonus distance as Worth County had seven triples for the night.

Besides Allee, Brevyn Ross and Isaac Alarcon each had 9 points; Isaac’s output was a career high. Drake Kinsella and Ben Badell each had 7, Ryan McClellan had 5, and Mason Hawk had 2. Badell, Ross, McClellan, and Kinsella all had one 3-pointer for the Tigers. Worth County was 9 for 15 from the free throw line.

When the Tigers took second at Stanberry earlier in the year, it was their first trophy of any kind in four years as well as the first in Bryce Schafer’s tenure. The last trophy they had won was in the 2011-2012 season, when they took consolation at Stanberry that year after getting a last-second shot from Eli Mullock to beat South Nodaway. It was the first trophy ever for the seniors. The 2011-2012 season was also the last time Worth County had won multiple trophies in the same year; they had won third place at Albany earlier that year after beating archrival Albany.