The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

High School Sports

Discussion

January 24, 2013

Pierce City, Sarcoxie set to clash ... in Memphis

By Anvil Welch Globe Sports Writer

Pierce City and Sarcoxie are going to great lengths — actually miles — to find a neutral site for their prep basketball varsity doubleheader on Friday.

How about the NBA Memphis Grizzlies’ 18,119-seat FedExForum?

That “neutral” was thrown in with tongue planted firmly in cheek. But that site could hardly be more neutral.

Sarcoxie is the home team for the Spring River Valley Conference clash. The girls game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

Partisans of the respective teams are expected to hang around — tickets have been bought for that purpose — to watch the Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets scrap.

Philip Lewis, Sarcoxie principal, said that Dr. Kevin Goddard, who’s in his second year as superintendent at Sarcoxie, apparently was the first to discuss the jaunt with Bears’ coach Kyle Johnson.

Goddard had been at Eminence in south central Missouri the previous four years and, during his tenure, the Redwings played Thayer — that’s close to Arkansas — at Memphis.

“It was a big hit,” Goddard said Wednesday. “They (the Redwings) have been doing it since.

“Coach Johnson said the idea sounded great. He quickly got with the Grizzlies,” Goddard said.

Johnson then contacted Pierce City boys coach Matt Street. The Eagles soon climbed aboard.

“This will be a great experience for the players,” Street said. “It’s a chance to both play a game on an NBA court as well as see a game.

“I believe each of the schools were required to buy 85 tickets,” Street said. “We received a discount (to $50 apiece) and we wound up buying 97 tickets.”

The teams, of course, will need to depart early Friday. Lewis said some 40 players, coaches and school officials will leave by bus at 3 a.m. Pierce City plans to leave at 4:30.

“We expect to arrive between 11 and 11:30,” Street said. “We can’t get into the arena before 12-12:15.”

Pierce City players should be more tired considering they entertain Liberal tonight in the SRVC.

But Lewis said he’d heard nothing about the Bears spotting the Eagles points.

Sarcoxie, as the host team, will pay for the cost of officials, Lewis said.

Lewis also said the school is obligated to buy tickets for the prep officials to attend the NBA game.

Text Only
High School Sports
Facebook
Poll

Known as the “Blue Book,” Missouri’s official manual that includes information about public officials, state officials and local governments is online only now as a cost-savings measure. If the governor signs new legislation, a nonprofit could print it and distribute it to the public. Would you buy one?

Yes.
No.
     View Results
Parade
Magazine
Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
NDN Video
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools $1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel? Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting Raw: School Bus Crash Injures Five Children Quick Response Saved Baby on Phila. Train Tracks One Million Evacuated As Cyclone Hits Bangladesh