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It's All Walker For The DiRenna Award

Missouri Sweeps All-Star Challenge

Quin Snyder Headlines Coaching Clinics

All-Time All-Star Game Results

Second DiRenna Award Suits O'Hara's Walker Fine

By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star

Even after receiving one of the biggest awards of his life, it all went back to clothes for Marcus Walker.

Walker, who plans on majoring in fashion design while playing basketball at Nebraska next year, picked out a brown, two-toned suit worthy of even his demanding sense of style.

Seems the four-button get-up he wore last year was selected by a family member. Now, in receiving a second consecutive DiRenna Award as Kansas City's best boys basketball player, Walker wanted to choose his own suit.

“You know, get a feel for what it'll be like next year when I'm all by myself,” said Walker, a senior at O'Hara. “I feel this is more grown up. I've got a blazer, different colored pants.”

The other finalists were Casey Crawford of Blue Valley North, J.D. Christie of Shawnee Mission East, David Nurse of Kearney, and Isacc Miles of Bishop Miege.

Walker is just the fourth player in the award's 52-year history to win more than once, joining John Stacy (Bishop Hogan, 1966-67), JaRon Rush (Pembroke Hill, 1996-98) and Quinton Day (Paseo, 2002-03).

The award further solidifies Walker's stance that he is one of the greatest players to ever come out of Kansas City. Walker also won The Star's last two player of the year awards, and only Rush is known to have scored more career points than Walker's 2,790.

Walker also gets bonus points for leading O'Hara to the Missouri Class 4 state championship as a senior, when he averaged 30 points despite playing most of the season with a broken toe.

He said the realization of everything he accomplished — and that his high school career is now over — is slowly starting to sink in.

“It's just a lot of fun,” Walker said. “When you have a lot of kids come up and know who you are, it feels kind of good. All I want to be is a role model. On the court, I want them to know I'm a competitor. But off the court, I want it to be about friendship.”

Keisha Walker girls winner

Keisha Walker averaged 20.4 points, seven rebounds and four assists in leading Hickman Mills to a 23-4 record. She was even chosen as The Star's player of the year as a senior.

But that didn't make her any less surprised to win the DiRenna Award as the city's best girls basketball player.

“There's a lot of girls whose teams went further than mine did,” Walker said. “It's surprising. Even two weeks from now, I'll be like, ‘What?' It's just a really, really nice accomplishment.”

Walker set a school record with 41 points in a win over Lee's Summit West, and was two rebounds shy of a triple-double against Blue Springs South. She also hit the game-winning 23-footer at the buzzer against eventually Missouri Class 4 runner-up Lincoln Prep.

The other girls finalists were Lindsay Ballweg of St. Thomas Aquinas, Anna Florzak of Notre Dame de Sion, Danielle McCray of Olathe East and Tyra White, Walker's teammate at Hickman Mills.

Coach inductions

Chuck Minor, most recently the boys coach at Kearney, and Ron Millard, girls coach at SM South, were inducted into the Greater Kansas City Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.


To reach Sam Mellinger, call (816) 234-4389 or send e-mail to smellinger@kcstar.com

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The 2004-05 Coaching Clinics

The GKCBCA welcomed six Division I basketball coaches -- including Missouri's Quin Snyder and new Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson -- to Bishop Miege HS for a pair of coaching clinics in September and October.

On September 22, Snyder headlined the clinic, which also included new UMKC women's basketball coach Bo Overton and Arkansas men's coach Stan Heath. More than 250 coaches attended the session.

October 6, Henrickson (pictured left) spoke to the Association membership. The clinic also included Southwest Missouri State head coach Barry Hinson and UMKC coach Rich Zvosec.

The clinics not only provided college coaching expertise to the Association members, but also served as a fellowship opportunity for the GKCBCA coach fraternity. In addition, several GKCBCA corporate partners, including Jerry's Sports Shop, Nill Brothers, Velocity Sports and CSA were in attendance to promote their high school basketball-related businesses.

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Missouri Sweeps All-Star Challenge

By MARCUS R. FULLER
The Kansas City Star

Seniors Marcus Walker and Chris Balham aren't close yet, but they will have plenty of time to become friends next year while playing at Nebraska.

In the meantime, Walker and Balham got a feel for each other's games playing on opposite sides Saturday at the HyVee-Pepsi All-Star Challenge at William Jewell College.

In one of the most exciting all-star games in years, O'Hara's Walker had 20 points and led Missouri to a 111-108 victory over Kansas.

But Balham, a 6-foot-8 post player at Shawnee Mission West, probably dropped more jaws than anyone by winning the dunk contest and intimidating opponents inside with 14 points, 12 rebounds and four monster blocks.

Even Walker, one of the most spectacular players ever to play Kansas City high school basketball, was amazed at some of Balham's highlight-reel slams.

“He dunks with authority,” Walker said. “Hopefully, he can better himself and make an impact as a freshman.”

Balham was equally as impressed with Walker's ball-handling ability.

“He can pass the ball pretty well, and I can finish,” Balham said. “It's going to be a great duo.”

While Balham and Walker brought the crowd to their feet with high-flying dunks and long-distance shooting, their teammates were also battling it out for area bragging rights.

Missouri had a 58-56 lead at halftime, but Kansas took the lead by as many as eight points in the second half behind 14 three-point field goals for the game.

Balham's Vikings teammate Aaron Linn was five of nine from three-point range and finished with 19 points for Kansas.

Linn brought Kansas to within a point at 109-108 with 36 seconds left in the contest, but Jovan Hitch of Ruskin hit two free throws and extended the lead to three.

Linn attempted to draw the foul on a leaning three-point attempt at the buzzer but got no call as the shot rimmed out.

Missouri girls win

Liberty senior Chelsie Carlisle had the least amount of playing time of any of the Missouri girls in the HyVee/Pepsi All-Star Challenge.

But Carlisle still sat at the end of the bench with a smile in the last few minutes of Missouri's 86-74 win over Kansas.

It didn't matter that she wasn't going back in the game. Carlisle played only 11 minutes in front of her hometown fans at William Jewell, but she made every one of them count with a team-high 14 points.

“I wanted to contribute,” Carlisle said. “My teammates did a good job getting me the ball when I did get in there. I had open looks, so I just took the shot.”

The Missouri girls earned a convincing victory over Kansas for the second straight year, but they needed some motivation at halftime from the coaching staff.

Kansas made things interesting early by erasing a 12-point first-half deficit and led 38-36 at halftime.

“I told them when we practiced at UMKC the other day that they don't want the coaching blood to come out of the staff tonight,” Lincoln Prep coach Jeff Adkins said.

Missouri, which had 12 blocks and 20 steals in the game, came out aggressively on both ends of the floor and grabbed the lead for good with a 21-2 run in the second half.

North Kansas City's Jasmine Gibson scored 13 points for Missouri while DiRenna Award winner Keisha Walker of Hickman Mills and Faith Pontius of Raytown both added 10.

SM East senior Jennifer Franklin led Kansas with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Bishop Miege guard Lacy Corker had 12 points.

To reach Marcus Fuller, sports reporter for The Star, call (816) 234-4363 or send e-mail to fuller@kcstar.com.

BOYS
Missouri 111, Kansas 108

Missouri: Marcus Walker 20, Kirk Stegeman 11, David Nurse 8, Matt Brennan 4, Lorenzo Rice 11, Tom Farmar 3, Jack Brown 8, Adam White 9, Jeremy Rodery 10, John Germano 9, Jovan Hitch 9, Simon Morefield 9. Totals 44 11-16 111.

Kansas: Brett Iliff 7, Aaron Linn 19, Clint McFall 8, Danny McEvoy 0, Chris Balham 14, Willie Ball 10, Brady Morningstar 17, Ryan Highfill 1, Eric Monroe 0, Ryan Spearman 13, Mike Garrison 13, A.J. Randle 6. Totals 42 10-17 108.

Kansas 56 52 — 108
Missouri 56 53 — 111

Three-point goals: Walker 3, Stegeman 3, Nurse 2, Rice, Farmar, Germano, Hitch; Iliff, Linn 5, McFall 2, Ball 2, Morningstar, Spearman 3.

GIRLS
Missouri 86, Kansas 74

Missouri: Jernisha Cann 6, Nikia Henry 4, Keisha Walker 10, Jesyka Burks-Wiley 9, Jasmine Gibson 13, Ashley Patterson 4, Chelsie Carlisle 14, Krishna Lee 3, Laura Montague 5, Faith Pontius 10, Cheri Shiflett 6, Kamilla Brown 2. Totals 28 23-34 86.

Kansas: Lacy Corker 12, Ellen Jorgenson 2, Megan Klingler 4, Jennifer Franklin 13, Addie Heim 2, Jacky Smith 0, Mary Pishny 2, Amy Petty 4, Jessie Burton 9, Micaela Uriell 8, Iesha Taylor 9, Becca Boan 9. Totals 27 14-25 74.

Kansas 38 36 — 74
Missouri 36 50 — 86

Three-point goals: Walker 2, Carlisle 4, Montague; Corker 2, Burton, Uriell 2, Boan.

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All-Time All-Star Game Results

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