Ark Valley News - Hornets off to McPherson for the Mid America Classic

Hornets off to McPherson for the Mid America Classic
By Randy Fisher
Last Updated: January 29, 2015

For its January tournament last year, Valley Center's girls went east to El Dorado, where they placed second at the Lady Cat Classic. That was their best finish at an in-season tournament since back-to-back championships 10 years ago in the Gardner-Edgerton Trailblazer Shootout.

This weekend, the Hornets will head north to McPherson for their fifth appearance in the Mid America Classic. Previously, Valley Center recorded a pair of respectable fifth-place finishes, in 2013 and 2008. In between those years, however, the Hornets posted disappointing finishes of seventh in 2011 and eighth in 2010.

"It's always a tough tournament," Valley Center coach Daniel Smith said. "They attract top teams in the state. … We'll see how it plays out."

The Hornets claimed fifth place in 2013 with a 54-34 win over Hays. This year they are the six seed and will open at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 29 against Manhattan, ranked seventh in the latest Class 6A coaches poll. These same two teams met in the first round of the 2013 Classic with Manhattan eking out a 48-44 win.

"They've had success quite a few years in a row. You're going up against a quality program," Smith said of the Indians. "It'll be a tough first-round matchup for us."

There are five ranked teams in this year's field. The top seed goes to Andale, the No. 7 team in Class 4A Division I. The next two seeds are Class 6A powers; Olathe South is the two seed and ranked third, while Manhattan is the three seed. Host McPherson comes in as the four seed and No. 9 in 4A Division I. Fifth-seeded Dodge City is No. 10 in 6A.

Here are the matchups and seeds for the Jan. 29 first-round games: 3 p.m., No. 2 Olathe South vs. No. 7 Hays; 4:30 p.m., No. 3 Manhattan vs. No. 6 Valley Center; 6 p.m., No. 1 Andale vs. No. 8 Wichita Southeast; 7:30 p.m., No. 4 McPherson vs. No. 5 Dodge City.

Friday's schedule has loser's bracket semifinals at 3 and 4:30 p.m., with championship semifinals at 6 and 7:30 p.m. The tournament wraps up Saturday, with games at 2 p.m. (seventh), 3:45 p.m. (fifth), 5:30 p.m. (third) and the championship game at 7:15 p.m.

Junior varsity — The junior varsity improved to 9-3 on the season with a third-place finish at the Wichita North JV tournament. The Hornets defeated Wichita Southeast 46-13 in the first game but lost to Wichita Heights 66-25 in the semifinals. They bounced back to edge Wichita East 28-24 in the third-place contest.