Blog entries from kevinggoodwin

Liberty girls supporting Stephanie Phillips

Kevin Goodwin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:00:00 +0100

The Liberty and Lee's Summit North girls basketball teams will be fighting for supremacy in the Suburban Big Seven Conference at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 15, at Cokely Fieldhouse.
They will also bringing attention for a very good cause.
The Blue Jays and the Broncos will be raising money for Springfield Kickapoo girls basketball coach Stephanie Phillips, who recently took a leave of absence as coach of the Chiefs as she battles with Stage 4 colon cancer.
A $3 donation gives anyone who ...

Nixon does it again

Kevin Goodwin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:00:00 +0100

Liberty senior J.T. Nixon did it again.
And this one might have been the most improbable.
Nixon has developed a knack for hitting big shots in the closing seconds. He hit a 3-pointer that beat Kearney last season in a William Jewell Tournament semifinal game.
He then hit a 25-footer for the Blue Jays to beat Lee's Summit North on the road in January.
But this one, against Park Hill South on Tuesday, Feb. 3, took his status as a big-shot artist to a new level. And it helped Liber...

Liberty North conference opponents could change

Kevin Goodwin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:00:00 +0100

A decision that is looming for the Hickman Mills School District will have a tremendous impact on the Liberty North athletic programs.
Hickman Mills is pondering whether to combine Hickman Mills and Ruskin together for budgetary reasons. If the district decides to bring the two schools together, it would radically alter the Greater Kansas City Suburban Conference alignment.
The alteration would be profound for Liberty North on the field and it could lead to substantial financial savings....

Liberty-Kearney battle highlights Jewell final night

Kevin Goodwin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:00:00 +0100

The Bank Midwest/William Jewell Holiday Classic got the matchup it wanted to close the tourney.
Liberty, 8-1 and the No. 2 seed in the Nelson Division, will play No. 1 Kearney (8-0) at 9 p.m. tonight at the Mabee Center. The two teams met last year in a semifinal with the Blue Jays getting a 3-pointer at the buzzer from J.T. Nixon for a 56-53 victory.
The key battle in the game will be how Liberty defends Kearney's size in the paint. The Bulldogs, the Class 4 runner-up last season, featu...

Week 10 high school football picks

Kevin Goodwin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

This is it. It's the regular season finale of the high school football season. Playoff fortunes will be made. For the season, we are 69-14 (with the Thursday wins from Kearney, Chillicothe, Winnetonka and Staley figured in). So here we go, week 10.....

Liberty 38, Blue Springs South 17: The Blue Jays were beaten pretty badly in the second half against Blue Springs last week. There is no doubt. There also isn't any doubt that the Blue Jays are a better team than the Jaguars. Liberty shou...

Week nine high school football picks

Kevin Goodwin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

We come to a big week in the high school season. Clear paths to the playoffs will be made in week nine. A 6-3 week last week makes us 58-13 overall. We start this week with one of the most anticipated matchups of the season.

Liberty 38, Blue Springs 35: Truth be told, if the two teams played 10 times, I think Blue Springs would win seven times. So why am I picking the upset? Because Liberty has enough weapons to keep up with the Wildcats. Also, I don't think the Blue Jays have pl...

Week eight high school football picks

Kevin Goodwin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Here we go! District time! And we have some great games this week. We have been perfect in picking the last two weeks and are 52-10 overall. Let the week eight picks begin.

Liberty 33, Columbia Rock Bridge 20: The Blue Jays are facing a vastly improved Bruins team with two NCAA Division I recruits. Liberty has beaten the common opponents - Columbia Hickman and Lee's Summit North - by larger margins. Liberty gets a big win to start district play.

Kearney 48, St. Joseph Lafayette...

Liberty High girls tennis sectional update

Kevin Goodwin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100
Liberty High's girls tennis team has a rematch in the Class 2 sectionals.
The Blue Jays will play host to St. Teresa's at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Bennett Park. The Stars beat the Blue Jays 5-1 last year in sectional play. Park Hill and Blue Springs South will meet in the other sectional at Clayview Country Club.
The two winners will meet in the quarterfinals at Bennett Park. That match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Liberty beat Blue Springs 5-0 in regional play Tuesday, Oct. 1...

Week seven high school football picks

Kevin Goodwin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100
One week before district play and the high school football teams in the area are trying to get ready. We are 44-10 in our high school picks after going 9-0 last week. So here we go into week seven....
Liberty 49, Oak Park 7: It may be a long time before the great Northland rivals will meet again, now that they are in different classes and conferences. The Blue Jays have more firepower than the younger Northmen. It's Liberty's homecoming, so the team should be fired up to win.
K...

Week six high school football picks

Kevin Goodwin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100
Now we are getting to the second half of the high school football season, where playoff-hopeful teams start to make their push. So far, we are 35-10 in picking games. Here is the week six picks....
Liberty 40, St. Joseph Central 24: The Indians have just enough weapons to make the Blue Jays nervous. Liberty started slow in its only other game played on grass (Lee's Summit). It's supposed to be a chilly night in St. Joseph, but the Blue Jays should have enough to win.
Kearney 48...

Week five high school football picks

Kevin Goodwin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100
Here we are at the halfway mark of high school football's regular season. So far, our record is 29-8 in picking games.
There are some tough decisions to be made this week....
Liberty 35, Lee's Summit North 7: The Blue Jays had some warts exposed against Park Hill. But the Broncos are simply not as good as the Trojans. Liberty moves to 4-1.
Staley 17, Kearney 14: One of the most anticipated games in the Northland this year. Staley gets the edge in this defensive struggl...

Week four high school football picks

Kevin Goodwin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100
The season is going quickly. We have another big week of high school football games. We were 7-2 in week three. Through three weeks, we are 23-5 in picking games.
Liberty 34, Park Hill 13: Park Hill has a good team, but Liberty has too many weapons to stop. The Blue Jays' undefeated train doesn't stop against the Trojans.
Kearney 40, Hickman Mills 7: Both teams are 2-1, but the Bulldogs, at home, will put some points on the Cougars.
Raytown South 28, North Kansas ...

Week three high school football picks

Kevin Goodwin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100
It's week three of high school football. So far, I'm 16-3 with the picks. Not a bad percentage.
Here we go with the picks:
Liberty 42, Lee's Summit 6: Why not? Let's go for 42-6 for the third week in a row. Liberty is on a roll right now, and even though it is battling through some injuries right now, they shouldn't have much problem with the Tigers.
Kearney 30, Grandview 7: Kearney bounces back from its loss to Fort Osage in solid fashion.
North Kansas City...

Wednesday tidbits

Kevin Goodwin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100
There are always some interesting things that happen on the Liberty sports scene that don't make it into the paper.
Many Tuesday and Wednesday games get left behind because of press deadlines. My hope is that I can use this blog to fill in some of the spaces left.
Here's what happened on an interesting Tuesday, Sept. 8 at Liberty High....
Liberty's softball team looked dead in the sixth inning, trailing Lee's Summit 6-0. Teams just don't come back six runs down with only two more cha...

Week two high school football picks

Kevin Goodwin — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0100
Here we go with the second week of high school football picks after going 8-1 in the first week.
Liberty 48, Raymore-Peculiar 30: The sting of Raymore-Peculiar hanging 60 on Liberty last season provides the Blue Jays plenty of motivation. Even though Liberty is on the road, it won't have problems putting points on the board. It's hard to imagine Ray-Pec's Cameron Coffman can throw for 533 yards and five touchdowns again.
The Blue Jays showed the ability to stop Columbia Hickman in t...

Week one high school football picks

Kevin Goodwin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0100
Each week, I will be making Northland high school football picks. They will be published on the website every Thursday or Friday morning.
Week One
Kearney 45, Raytown 7: The Bulldogs start the season by rolling over the Blue Jays.
Liberty 49, Columbia Hickman 21: Blue Jays should score big against Kewpies
Park Hill 28, North Kansas City 7: Trojans win on the road
Lee's Summit 32, Oak Park 14: Young Northmen start slow
Park Hill South 28, Fort Osage 24: Panthers star...

Girls golf starts with win

Kevin Goodwin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Liberty High's girls golf team started its season on Monday, Aug. 24 with a tourney victory.
The Blue Jays won the 12-team Liberty Invitational at Liberty Hills Country Club with a team score of 349. Notre Dame de Sion was second at 354.
Senior Anna Filardo was Liberty's top finisher, placing fifth with a round of 85.
For more information, on the tourney, look in the Thursday, Aug. 27 edition of the Liberty Tribune

Weis moving back to alma mater

Kevin Goodwin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Liberty High's boys basketball program has lost its junior varsity coach.
Brandon Weis, who had been with the Blue Jays' as the JV coach for the last seven years and with the program since 2000, has stepped down to become the new head coach at Raytown High School.
Weis was a high school star at Raytown in the mid 1990's and play his collegiate basketball at Northwest Missouri State.
Weis will do an outstanding job at Raytown, replacing long-time coach Mark Scanlon.
In...

Sectional games set....

Kevin Goodwin — Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Tuesday, May 26 will be a very busy day for Liberty High athletics....
The Blue Jays baseball team will attempt to beat Winnetonka for a second time this season when they take on the Griffins in a Class 4 sectional game at 4 p.m. at Winnetonka High School.
Liberty (22-5) defeated Winnetonka 5-1 on April 20 in the first game of the Northland Baseball Tournament. Paul Krogmeier threw a gem that a gem that day, a complete-game, three-hitter with nine strikeouts. Krogmeier is 5-2 with...

Hopefully there's a rematch

Kevin Goodwin — Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Last night was playoff soccer.
Liberty High and Lee's Summit North battled Thursday, May 14 in the best high school girls soccer game I've ever watched, providing a great finale to the regular season and showing why they are considered the two best teams in the area.
The Blue Jays got a goal from Shea Groom in the 94th minute to give them a 6-5 double-overtime victory against the Broncos. The victory gives the two teams a share of the Suburban Big Seven Conference title at 11-1 an...