HAYS – With the chance that winter weather could impact the area Tuesday the TMP basketball games with Plainville were moved up a day and the Monarchs would earn a split of the final MCL regular season games.

Girls

TMP 56, Plainville 51

The TMP girls basketball team clinched their third straight MCL regular season title Monday with a 56-51 win over Plainville at Al Billinger Fieldhouse.

Rose McFarlind postgame interview

Monday’s matchup was a tight back-and-forth battle that never saw any team gain control until the final minutes.

Early in the first quarter with the game tied at four Jillian Lowe gave TMP the lead with a three pointer and then an Emiliee Lane field goal with just over four and a half minutes left in the first half would give the Monarchs a five-point lead at 9-4. The Monarchs built a seven-point lead two different times in the first quarter, including at the end of the quarter at 15-8 thanks to a Megan Hamel jumper.

Plainville stormed back to take the lead in the second quarter and outscored TMP by 10 in the quarter to take a 24-21 lead into the break as Halli Friend scored five straight points for the Cardinals in the final twenty second of the first half.

The Monarchs opened the second half on a quick 4-0 run to take the lead and then after Plainville got a pair of free throws to retake a one-point lead Adell Riedel connected on a three to give TMP a 28-26 lead. But that was short lived as Plainville Aubree Dewey answered with a field goal on the other end to tie the game at 28.

With the game tied at 28 Emily Schippers made back-to-back third quarter field goals to put TMP up 32-28 midway through the third quarter. TMP again led at the end of the third quarter, this time by five at 36-31.

Just like the second quarter Plainville came out in the fourth quarter and took the lead. This time they used a 9-3 run to build a 40-39 lead.

The Monarchs then scored their next eight points at the free throw line over a more than two-and-a-half-minute stretch to go up 47-42, a lead they would never give up on their way to the 56-51 win.

Game highlights

Emily Schippers and Jillian Lowe lead three Monarchs in double-figures with 15 each. Plainville’s Aubree Dewey finished with a game-high 28 points.

The Monarchs improve to 15-4 win the win and finish the Mid-Continent League regular season 9-0 to capture their third straight league title and their fourth in five years.

Plainville drops to 11-9 and 5-7 in the MCL.

Boys

Plainville 63, TMP 60

The Plainville Cardinals outscored the TMP Monarchs 14-10 in the fourth quarter as they rally for down five in the second half to beat TMP 63-60.

Bill Meagher postgame interview

Plainville jumped out to an early 8-3 lead and led by five twice in the first quarter before the Monarchs took their first lead of the game at 14-12 on a Grant Ginther three-point play.

Plainville quickly answered and built their lead back to three before Ryan Karlin cut the deficit two one and Jared Mayers converted on back-to-back field goals at the end of the first quarter to put the Monarchs up 20-17.

TMP build a five-point lead on two separate occasions in the second quarter only to see Plainville outscore the Monarchs 6-1 over the final 2:30 of the first half to take a 31-30 lead into the halftime break.

In the third quarter Plainville build a four-point lead several times before a Ryan Karlin three-pointer sparked a little 7-1 run for the Monarchs to give them a 43-41 lead at the 4:23 mark in the third quarter.

Over the next two minutes the Monarchs build a five-point lead two different times but they only led by three after three 50-47.

In the fourth quarter every time the Monarchs would gain a little separation Plainville had an answer and the main reason for that was Jared Casey who scored 12 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter to help Plainville to the 63-60 win.

Game highlights

Plainville’s Tanner Copeland also scored in double-figures finishing with 17.

Ryan Karlin and Jackson Schulte each finished with 10 points to lead TMP.

Plainville finished the regular season 14-6 and 7-2 in the MCL while TMP is 10-10 and finished 5-4 in league play.

The Monarchs host Hutch-Trinity on Thursday while Plainville is off until they begin sub-state play next week.

The sub-state brackets will be released on Wednesday.

By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer

SAN DIEGO (AP) — With their city’s long-suffering fans desperate for a winner, the rebuilding San Diego Padres delivered their splashiest free agent signing ever by agreeing with All-Star infielder Manny Machado on a $300 million, 10-year deal.

A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed the deal to The Associated Press on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement was subject to a successful physical and had not been announced. Machado can opt out after five years and become a free agent again, the person said.

Machado’s agreement would be the second-largest in baseball history behind Giancarlo Stanton’s $325 million, 13-year deal signed with the Miami Marlins ahead of the 2015 season. Among free agents it tops Alex Rodriguez’s $275 million, 10-year contract with the New York Yankees from 2008-17.

Records may be broken soon. Free agent outfielder Bryce Harper could top Stanton’s deal in coming days or weeks.

That won’t matter a bit to Padres fans, who have never celebrated a World Series title and were keeping their fingers crossed in recent days as it became apparent that their team, with a mostly sad-sack history stretching back a half-century, actually had a chance at landing Machado, who is only 26.

Some fans seemed braced for yet another disappointment. But news of the deal was greeted with euphoria on social media.

Speaking at spring training in Peoria, Arizona, Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler said: “We do not have a deal with any free agent player. We are continuing discussions, and that’s all we have to say.”
Teams draw a distinction between an agreement subject to a physical and a finalized deal.

While Fowler looked serious, general partner Peter Seidler couldn’t help but smile while waiting for his turn to speak.

Without confirming the deal, Seidler — a nephew of former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley — spoke of what his ownership group wants to bring to San Diego, where the Padres play in a gem of a ballpark just off the bay.

“Ron and I, we love the city of San Diego, we love sports in San Diego, but we’re also well aware of the history. There’s never been a championship from a major sports franchise in San Diego. … We as an organization want to completely change that. We want our franchise to win year after year after year. And we’re going to do whatever we can rationally do to help make that happen.”

The Padres lost 96 games last year, haven’t had a winning season since 2009 and haven’t been to the playoffs since 2006. They haven’t won a playoff series since the 1998 NL Championship against Atlanta. They were routed in their two World Series appearances, by Detroit in 1984 and the New York Yankees in 1998.

And they’ve had the city’s big league sports scene to themselves since the NFL’s Chargers moved to the Los Angeles area two seasons ago. The Chargers did win the AFL title in 1963 but were blown out by San Francisco in their only Super Bowl appearance, after the 1994 season.

Other than the AFL title, the biggest championships won around here were probably Little League World Series titles in 2010 by Park View of Chula Vista and in 1961 by El Cajon-La Mesa Northern, which included Brian Sipe, who won the NFL’s MVP Award in 1980.

The Padres have been rebuilding mostly with prospects and draft picks since a failed win-now approach with high-priced veterans in 2015, although they are making a stunning move early in spring training for the second straight year. They signed first baseman Eric Hosmer to a $144 million, seven-year contract last February.

Machado is expected to fill the team’s glaring need at third base. He began last year at shortstop with Baltimore, was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the All-Star break and split time and shortstop and third. He struck out to end the World Series loss to Boston.

With Machado on board, the next big move for the Padres is expected to be the promotion of shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., the 20-year-old son of a former big leaguer and the No. 2 overall prospect in baseball.

A four-time All-Star, Machado hit .297 last year and set career bests with 37 homers and 107 RBIs. A four-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner, he has a .282 career average with 175 homers and 513 RBIs in seven big league seasons.

The Chicago White Sox were among the teams that pursued Machado, trying to get in position for a second title under owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who turns 83 next week.

“Still in a bit of disbelief,” executive vice president Kenny Williams said. “I feel we put our best foot forward. Jerry, in particular, really stepped up.

Machado also met with the Yankees, a team that had expressed concern over Machado’s remarks about hustling — not hustling, actually — during the playoffs.

After failing to run out a grounder in the NL Championship Series, Machado said: “Obviously I’m not going to change, I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle’ and run down the line and slide to first base.”

Machado tried to clarify his remarks after the season, saying, “looking back, it doesn’t come across how I meant it.”

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner took notice of Machado’s initial comments, labeling them “troubling.”

“If we’re interested in any player, to sit down with them face to face and ask him, ‘Where did this come from? What was the context around the entire interview? Was there a point? How do you justify it?'” Steinbrenner said in November.

“Because that ain’t going to sell where we play baseball,” he said.

No worries. Padres fans will take him.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Barry Brown scored 21 points and No. 23 Kansas State beat West Virginia 65-51 on Monday night to remain atop the Big 12 standings.

A 14-0 run midway through the second half, led by a couple of 3-pointers by Xavier Sneed, gave the Wildcats (20-6, 10-3) their sixth straight conference road win.

After shooting poorly in the first half and only holding a two-point lead, Kansas State kept the Mountaineers (10-16, 2-10) at bay with 50 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes.

Sneed added 19 points for Kansas State, including five 3-pointers. Dean Wade, who was questionable going into the game, scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Lamont West led West Virginia with 16 points. Derek Culver picked up his sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Brandon Knapper scored 10 points.

The Mountaineers outrebounded the Wildcats 35-31.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State: The Wildcats remain on top of the Big 12 by bouncing back after their 78-64 loss to then-No. 23 Iowa State on Saturday. No. 12 Kansas and No. 14 Texas Tech remain one game back at 9-4. The Jayhawks and Red Raiders play each other on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.

West Virginia: Considering the recent depletion of their roster, the Mountaineers put up a pretty good fight against the stout Wildcats, not caving until midway through the second half. With Oklahoma State’s win over TCU on Monday, WVU sits alone at the bottom of the Big 12.

UP NEXT

Kansas State returns home to host Oklahoma State on Saturday.

West Virginia heads to Waco to play Baylor on Saturday.