Blue Springs South seemed to have the game wrapped up.
     The Jaguars were leading the Grain Valley football team 21-17 with a little more than 2 minutes remaining in the game. South had just converted third-and-10 at its own 19 after a 12-yard screen pass from quarterback Cash Parker to wide receiver Tommy Lapour.
     All the Jaguars had to do was run out the remaining time on the clock as Grain Valley had no timeouts. The Eagles defense made big plays the entire game, so did it have one more left in them?
     It did.
     Senior middle linebacker Brody Baker forced a fumble after a Theodis Thomas run up the middle, and the ball was recovered by senior defensive end Jake Allen at the South 35-yard line with 2 minutes and 4 seconds remaining.
     That eventually led to a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Caleb Larson with 28.6 seconds left as the Eagles won a 24-21 thriller Friday at home.
     The win was Grain Valley’s first over a Class 6 team.
     “That’s huge,” Grain Valley head coach David Allie said. “We’re growing and someday soon, we are going to be at that level. You have to test yourself.”
     The fumble recovery breathed new life into the Eagles and gave them a chance when it seemed like the game was all but over.
     “I just recovered it, Brody was the one who stripped the ball,” Allen said. “I got a double team and I tried to split it. That didn’t work so I spun off of it and the ball landed right in my hands.”
     On the final drive, Grain Valley (3-2) had the ball at the South 17-yard line after a pair of 2-yard runs and an incomplete pass.
     On fourth-and-6, Larson dropped back to pass and rolled to his right. No receiver was open so he tucked the ball and ran to pick up 9 yards and a first down after being pushed out of bounds. Following a Ty Williams 3-yard run to the 5, Larson, who had a monster game with 174 yards on 23 carries, punched it in with a run up the middle after a fake handoff to put the Eagles up 24-21.
     “I want to give a huge shout out to my offensive line and my running backs and Ty Williams for blocking for me on those quarterback runs,” Larson said. “He takes a beating for me, without him, I wouldn’t be able to do that.”
     With just 28.6 seconds left, Parker managed to get the Jaguars down to the Grain Valley 19-yard line. South place kicker Jack Brickhouse had a chance to tie the game with a 36-yard field goal attempt, but it was short as the Eagles crowd, coaches and players were sent into a frenzy.
     The Grain Valley defense stepped up big to limit an explosive Jaguar offense that came into the evening averaging 42 points per game. It held South to 388 total yards, forced three turnovers and sacked Parker three times.
     “Our front line was able to get pressure on the quarterback and our (defensive backs) had great coverage on their receivers,” Allen said. “Their quarterback has some crazy stats, but I think our defense held him to half the yards he had been getting.
     “I do think we were the best defense that they have seen (this season).”
     Keagan Hart intercepted a Parker pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage late in the first period and junior defensive end Rhylan Alcanter may have made the play of the night for Grain Valley.
     Blue Springs South (3-2) had the ball at the Grain Valley 36-yard line and was ahead 14-10. Parker tried to hit a receiver on an out route but Alcanter tipped his pass, stumbled and caught the ball and returned the interception for 36 yards for a TD and a 17-14 lead with 2:38 remaining in the third.
     “I saw it was going to be an out route or a screen, so I knew I had to get my hands up,” Alcanter said. “I am so excited right now. I saw the ball and I tipped it and thought, ‘Oh! This is catchable! The love I got from my teammates; you can trade that for anything.”
     Added Allen: “That was the most athletic play I have ever seen in my life. Without that play, our momentum would have been totally different.”
     Allie has high praise for Alcanter and the play.
     “How about that?” Allie asked rhetorically. “That shows his athletic ability. He was stumbling, I thought he was going to go down. He kept his feet and took it into the end zone. That was probably one of the best plays I have seen a (defensive lineman) make.”
     South scored on its opening drive of the game when a screen pass from Parker to Lapour went 58 yards and set up a 1-yard TD run for Parker to put South up 7-0.
     Grain Valley responded on its first drive when Larson found a big hole up the middle, shed one tackle and rumbled 51-yards for a score to tie the game at 7-all at the 7:09 mark in the first.
     Brickhouse missed a 47-yard field goal for South with 50.9 seconds left in the first quarter, but Grain Valley place kicker Austin Schmitt nailed a 27-yard attempt to give the Eagles a 10-7 lead, a score that held until halftime.
     South scored on its first possession of the second half, as well, when a 56-yard screen pass from Parker to Lapour set up a 1-yard TD run from Thomas to make it 14-10 with 5:56 left in the third.
     After Alcanter’s interception put the Eagles back up by three, Parker responded when he hit Malachi Howard on a fade route for a 23-yard touchdown pass to put South up 21-17 with 1:30 remaining at the third.
     The Jaguars nearly put the game away late in the fourth, but the Eagles defense and Larson had other ideas.
     “That’s history breaking for us,” Alcanter said when asked about Grain Valley getting its first win against a Class 6 program. “I am so happy for our coach. He deserves it. All of our coaches do.”

     On August 12th, 24 teams of golfers came to Adams Pointe Golf Club to participate in the annual GV Eagle Golf fundraiser.  The 20th annual event was originally started by then GVHS Activities Director Jeff Tebbenkamp and benefits the GV Education Foundation, Eagle Booster Club and the GVHS Activities department.
     This year's event was won by the team of Don Hawes, Jason Brown, Dave Newman and Brian Crumm with a score of 51.  The event also featured a hole-in-one by John Novak on the par 3 8th hole, who won a set of Callaway irons.
     Over $5,000 was raised by the event, and plans are already underway for the 21st annual to be held next fall.  Contact Jerry Vaughan, foundation director, at jvaughan@gvr5.net if you would like to be a part of next year's tournament.

by Michael Smith

​ 
     The Grain Valley softball team has a stiff challenge.
     The Eagles faced off against Blue Springs, a team that has had a strong softball program for many years.
     They had plenty of opportunities to score, but only managed to push across three runs in a 7-3 loss to the Wildcats Monday at home.
     Grain Valley (14-5) stranded nine runners on base, including five in the first two scoreless innings.
     “We had some opportunities we didn’t take advantage of,” Grain Valley head coach Garrett Ogle said. “I thought that we hit well and pitched well. We just had opportunities that didn’t go our way.”
     Blue Springs took advantage by scoring one run in the first inning on an error and Brooklyn Saysoff drove in Cejai Hollins on an RBI single in the third to make it 2-0. Grain Valley countered with a run in the bottom of the third when Salome’ Haley reached on an infield single, Olivia Slaughter doubled to left center field to put runners on second and third and Crysta Hernandez used a squeeze bunt to push across a run.
     That’s all the Eagles would get as they went into the fourth down 2-1. The Wildcats (12-5) tacked onto the lead in the top of the fourth when Rien Moore singled and reached third on a two-base error by the Eagles on the same play, and then scored on an RBI bloop single by Kendall Miller, making it 3-1.
     In the fifth, Blue Springs blew the game open against Grain Valley starting pitcher Hailey Hemme. Sayoff drilled a bases-clearing double to left-center field in the fifth to make it 6-1 and Makenna Delany made it 7-1 in the sixth with an RBI single.
     The Eagles didn’t go down without a fight though as they loaded the bases in the sixth. First baseman Ella Clyman drove in two runs on a sharp single up the middle to make it 7-3, however, the next batter flew out to end the threat as the team managed just three runs against Moore.
     Hemme was the losing pitcher as she tossed seven innings and allowed seven runs (six earned), walked six and struck out seven.
     “Hailey pitched great,” Ogle said. “She threw strikes and she gave us a good opportunity to be in the ball game.”
     Camryn Bown led the Eagles’ hitters by going 3-for-3 at the dish.

by Michael Smith
 
​
     The Grain Valley football team was missing a key piece of its offense.
     Going into Friday’s home game against Platte County, sophomore DJ Harris, who had the most varsity experience among its three running backs, was out with a lower body injury.
     Even without the talented ball carrier, the Eagles were able to put together their most completed offensive performance of the season as they rushed for 356 yards as a team during a 24-14 victory against Suburban White Conference rival Platte County.
     Three Grain Valley players rushed for more than 100 yards, led by quarterback Caleb Larson, who had 137 yards on 21 carries. Senior running back Christian Lanear added 117 yards on 10 totes and junior Ty Williams had 108 yards on 11 carries and two scores.
     “We always talk about the three-headed monster we have back there,” Allie said. “When one goes down, the others pick up the slack. Offensively, this was our most productive game.”
     Williams' two touchdowns helped the Eagles (2-2) keep the lead throughout. He found a huge hole in the middle and ran 18 yards for a score to make it 7-0 with 2:48 left in the first period.
     After Platte County scored on a 60-yard scoring pass from ZImmerman to Brennan Rich midway through the second period, the Eagles and Williams responded. Williams scored on a 43-yard run to the right as he ran right through a Pirates defender and scampered 30-plus more yards into the end zone to make it 21-7.
     “When your adrenaline is going, you feel like you can run through a brick wall,” Williams said. “I didn’t realize I threw him until I saw the play on the TV. I watched it and thought, ‘Wow! OK!’
     “Our O line is the best in the state of Missouri. They are the greatest group of guys. I want to hang out with them all the time on the field and outside of school. None of these touchdowns and yards aren’t possible without them.”
     Added Grain Valley head coach David Allie: “We preach yards after contact. We try to break tackles and get north and south and get extra yards. He did that well tonight. He runs the ball hard. He’s a strong kid, if you don’t wrap him up, he’ll run through you.”
     Earlier in the season, Williams was primarily used as a third-down back, but has received more opportunities since Harris went down with an injury last week.
     “All the glory to God. None of this is possible without him,” Williams said. “I was just being a team player. I was doing what I needed to do. DJ got hurt and I needed to step up, and I said ‘Alright. Let’s go.’”
     The Grain Valley defense also stepped up with two turnovers and three stops of the Platte County offense in the red zone.
     Grain Valley senior safety Keagan Hart came up with two interceptions of Platte County quarterback Dylan Zimmerman, with the last one coming with under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
     Platte County trailed 24-14 and had the ball on the Eagles 18. The Grain Valley senior safety was lined up against slot receiver Dawsen Mizell, who had several big third down catches and a fourth-down catch that eventually led to a touchdown earlier in the game.
     Hart said he knew Zimmerman would look to find Mizell and Hart stepped in front of him to intercept the ball at the 8-yard line and return it to the 20. The play sealed the game as the Eagles ran out the rest of the clock.
     “It was kind of easy to read it because you knew who the ball was going to,” Hart said of his second interception. “We just had to allow our defensive line to get to the quarterback and force the throw. The backers got hands on everybody and that allowed me time to get to him.
     “It was easier to stop them in the red zone because we knew they were a pass-heavy team. We just had to play man and get aggressive with them, which made them have to throw a little bit quicker.”
     Added Grain Valley head coach David Allie: “What a great play out in the flat! That was huge! The defense really did their job.”
     His second big interception came at the 10:19 mark in the second period. The Pirates once again had the ball in the red zone, but the Eagles front four got pressure on Zimmerman, causing him to rush his throw. He threw the ball right to Hart who returned the ball 85 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0.
     The third red zone when Platte County had the ball at the Grain Valley 18 and on fourth-and-4 the Eagles defense forced a low throw by Zimmerman, which resulted in an incomplete pass and a turnover on downs.
     Grain Valley led 21-14 at halftime as Platte County scored on a 60-yard pass from Zimmerman to senior Wide receiver Brennan Rich and a 7-yard run from senior running back Nate Walls.
     Those would be the only two scores the Pirates had. Grain Valley put up the only points of the second half when senior place kicker Austin Schmitt broke his own school record by making a 48-yard field goal, the longest in school history.
     “We played well in all three phases of the game,” Allie said. “We outplayed them.”

     Grain Valley head volleyball coach Tori Squiers noted that the schedule would be much tougher for her Eagles in 2022.
     That is exactly the way she wants it.
     That’s because playing tougher opponents will help the team better prepare for the teams Grain Valley will face in the playoffs, Squiers said. The Eagles got a taste of that tougher competition Thursday against Blue Springs South.
     The Eagles played the Jaguars tough in three out of four sets, but fell  25-20, 25-11, 21-25 25-21.
     “I just told the girls that I am so proud because tonight was a huge transition for us,” Squiers said. “After the second set, typically from the last few games, we have been shutting down after a loss. The fact that we came back and won the third set was a huge deal.”
     South led for most of the first set. After Grain Valley took a 7-6 advantage, the Jaguars went on a 12-2 spurt to take a 18-9 lead. The Eagles stormed back behind the serving of junior setter Allison Koepkey and sophomore outside hitter Kayla Gallagher and narrowed the gap to 19-18 following a 9-1 run. A pair of blocks and a pair of kills helped South withstand the Grain Valley comeback as it took the first set 25-20.
     The Jaguars dominated the second set and led by as many as 12 points following back-to-back kills from Valentine and Krebs that made it 21-9. Five different South players got at least one kill in the set as it outscored Grain Valley 25-11.
     Even down two sets, the Eagles would not go away quietly. The combination of Gallagher and freshman Kyleigh Casey, who is listed on the junior varsity roster, totaled 11 kills in the set to help their team force a fourth set following a 25-21 victory. After South took a 1-0 lead, Grain Valley came back to lead 2-1 and never trailed for the rest of the set.
     “Kyleigh has brought a lot to the team and brings that young energy that is a lot of fun for the upperclassmen girls, too,” Squiers said. “It brings the fans in, as well.”
     “Kayla has made a huge transition being the sixth rotational player for the team. She is one of our captains. She was voted to be one by the team. She’s brought a lot to us with her playing ability and energy, as well.”
     After Grain Valley took a 2-0 lead, South ran away with it and went on a 15-6 run from there to make it 15-8. Grain Valley got as close as three points after a kill from Casey made it 19-16. South outscored Grain Valley 6-5 the rest of the way with Tunley closing the match out with a kill.
     “I am super pleased, we kept it close in every game with South, which is something we have not been able to do in the past,” Squiers said. “I think being able to play against a big school like that is a big deal.”
     Gallagher ended up having a strong performance for the 3-3 Eagles as she had a match-high 15 kills. Senior Adelyn Bybee added eight and chipped in with six.
 
 

     There are two things in football that can prevent a team from getting a win – turnovers and penalties.
     The former is something that hurt the Grain Valley football team in their Week 1 33-14 loss against Fort Osage as it committed five turnovers in that contest.
     Following a win against Grandview last week, the Eagles had a chance to have a winning record for the first time in 2022.
     However, miscues haunted Grain Valley once again in Friday’s non-conference contest against Oak Park. The Eagles had three turnovers and eight penalties for 70 yards in a 14-10 loss in non-conference action.
     “Offensively, we had to capitalize on opportunities and we did not do that,” Grain Valley head coach David Allie said. “We either had a penalty or a fumble. We drove the ball but couldn’t finish.”
     “We just have to execute better. That’s on everybody. That’s on the players, that’s on the coaches, everybody has to come out and do a better job.”
     For Allie, he wants to figure out a way for his Eagles to limit their mistakes.
     “Bottom line, we have to quit causing ourselves problems,” Allie said. “We got to pull together. You have two losses now and people start to question what the team is doing. You got people on the team questioning. You can’t do that. We just have to go out there and execute.”
     The Eagles (1-2) had issues against the Oak Park offense early on. The Northmen scored two touchdowns on two time-consuming drives. Sophomore running back Travon Pankey, who had 81 yards on 19 carries, scored on a 14-yard outside run to the right for a 6-0 lead following a missed extra point.
     After the Eagles’ first drive stalled around midfield, Oak Park punched it in again. The Northmen had the ball at the Grain Valley 24, and on third-and-17 quarterback Aiden Hinkle connected with senior wide receiver Xavier Williams on a short screen pass for 22 yards and a first down.
     Two plays later, senior running back Marlon Gant Jr. scored in a 1-yard run up the middle and also crossed the goal line on a 2-point conversion to make it 14-0 at the 10:20 mark in the second period.
     Grain Valley nearly had a response on the ensuing drive when junior wide receiver Anthony Greco caught an 18-yard pass from senior quarterback Caleb Larson for what would have been a score, but it was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty.
     Moments later, Larson had a pass intercepted by Oak Park senior linebacker Karl Knack at the Northmen 2 after he rushed his pass when the Northmen front line got pressure on him.
     Grain Valley later forced Oak Park to punt and nearly had another touchdown when one referee ruled that sophomore running back DJ Harris crossed the goal line for a touchdown on a 7-yard run. However, the other officials ruled him a half yard short.
     After a fumble that lost the Eagles two yards and a penalty that pushed them back even farther, they ended up having to settle for a 33-yard field goal from senior Austin Schmitt as they went into halftime down 14-3.
     “We have to overcome that,” Allie said of the touchdown by Harris that was overturned. “We did not do that.”
     The Eagles held the Oak Park offense scoreless in the second half, but penalties and turnovers continued to hold them back. A pass from Larson to junior Noah Olah that gained 30-yards was wiped out by a holding call on the opening drive of the second half.
     “Those penalties killed us,” Allie said. “We couldn’t overcome turnovers in the first game and we couldn’t overcome penalties today. We continue to beat ourselves.”
     They later found the end zone with 1:10 left in the third when Larson connected with Olah on a 11-yard TD pass on a play-action pass to make it 14-10.
     On Grain Valley’s first drive of the fourth period, it was in Northmen territory when Grant sacked Larson and knocked the ball loose, which was recovered by the Northmen at the Oak Park 36 with 11:20 remaining.
     The Eagles defense came through again with less than four minutes left when Grant fumbled and the ball was recovered by junior defensive end Rhylan Alcanter at the Grian Valley 34 with 3:34 left.
     “The defense really buckled down there at the end,” Allie said. “Defense, shout out to those guys, they played well.”
     The team got the ball all the way to the Oak Park 18, but Larson floated a pass over the middle after being pressured once again, and Knaack leaped in the air and picked the ball off with 40 seconds left to seal it.
     Larson rushed the ball 13 for 71 yards and completed 19 of 26 passes for 201 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Senior Keagan Hart caught seven passes for 65 yards and Olah had five catches for 63 yards and a score.

     It was a situation head coach Brett Lewis had not seen before when playing Van Horn.
     The Grain Valley boys soccer coach said he was used to his team having to commit most of his players on defense against the Falcons in the past, but Tuesday’s game at home was different.
     His Eagles controlled possession for most of the game, but his team could not find the back of the net against a Van Horn team that committed most of its players to the defensive third of the field in a 1-0 loss in non-conference action.
     Despite the loss, Lewis was able to find a big positive.
     “They sat in and that is honestly a positive note for us because I don’t think there is a time where we played Van Horn where they are the team sitting in and we are the team attacking,” Lewis said. “That shows that we have the right mentality and we dominated most of that game and a lot more than they probably would like to admit."
     “They put a lot of bodies in front of the goal so it was tough to get shots off. I am proud of the way the guys responded even when things weren’t going our way.”
     The Eagles outshot Van Horn 11-5 (5-2) on goal but had trouble getting clean shots off against a wall of Falcon defenders throughout.
     To make things tougher, Grain Valley junior defender Isaiah Johnson got his second yellow card of the game with 16 minutes left in the game, which resulted in a red card and an automatic ejection.
     That forced the Eagles to play a man down for the rest of the game. But even then, Grain Valley was able to control possession.
     “The ball was still on their part of the field the majority of the time,” Lewis said. “I am proud of the grit they showed. That’s going to help in the second half of the season and in the postseason psychologically. We were a man down against a very good Van Horn team that went to a final four last year."
     “We can play with these guys and we can beat them if we can put in a couple of opportunities.”
     It helped Van Horn’s cause to play a defense-heavy scheme due to an early goal from senior midfielder Enil Arteaga. Sophomore forward Diego Escutia fed a short cross to him and he drilled a shot into the net near the top of the penalty box early in the first half for the only goal of the game.
     “They had two shots on goal the whole game,” Lewis said. “They played it out to the right, then played it into their good player in the middle. It was a layoff to him and he hit a great shot. My goalie didn’t see it. It was kind of frustrating. We just had to find their one dangerous player and we didn’t find him quick enough.”
     The Eagles fell to 2-2 after the loss.

     This Friday went much better for the Grain Valley football team than the last.
     The Eagles committed five turnovers in a 33-14 loss to Suburban White Conference rival Fort Osage in Week 1.
     This time, the players got to have a little bit of fun. In the second half, players like senior running back Christian Lanear and junior defensive end Rhylan Alcanter wore the headsets the coaches usually have and got to communicate with the other coaches in the press box.
     Head coach David Allie also got to play some of his backups in the second half, including freshman punter Colton Clyman, who was greeted by multiple varsity players with pats on the back and cheers on the sideline after unleashing a 40-plus yard punt during a 43-28 win over the Bulldogs at home.
     “It was fun,” Lanear said. “We were supporting our teammates. We were having some laughs when we had the headsets on and were taking some pictures. It was a little bit of a relaxed game.”
     So did Lanear or any of the other players try to convince the coaches to let them call a play with the headsets on?
     “We all tried but it was to no avail,” Lanear said while sporting a big grin.
     It was a great game for the Eagles who scored on every possession but their final one in the first half, and the only reason they did not was because they ran the clock out on purpose to go into halftime with a 43-7 lead.
     “The offense, defense and special teams took care of business in the first half,” Allie said. “We gave up a few big plays but were able to come back and make some big plays on offense. We were able to end the game without any turnovers, which was our main focus.”
     In last week’s game against Fort Osage, senior quarterback Caleb Larson had three interceptions and one fumble in a rare off game for him.
     He bounced back in a big way against the Bulldogs  as he had five carries for 38 yards and two touchdowns and he also completed 3 of 6 passes for 32 yards and another score.
     “It felt good,” Larson said. “Watching film, it looked like Grandview had a great team. We had to come out and forget about last week. I made some mental errors and had four turnovers (against Fort Osage), I can’t do that. We lost that game because of me.”
     “We came out hot and we came out hard and we had a quick tempo. We all had a great team effort.”
     Larson helped the Eagles take a 37-0 lead to put the game out of reach by scoring the Eagles’ first touchdown on an option run up the middle for seven yards; a 8-yard jaunt for a score after a fake handoff early in the second period; and hit a wide-open Anthony Greco, who ran a corner route, for a 19-yard scoring pass.
     While Larson rebounded from a tough game, he got a lot of help from his offensive line and running backs. The Grain Valley running back trio of DJ Harris, Lanear and Ty Williams each had a touchdown.
     Harris scored on a 58-yard run after finding a big hole on the left side; Lanear got an assist from the offensive line when it pushed him through a pile of Bulldog defenders for a 5-yard TD run; and Ty Williams answered Grandview’s first touchdown with a 3-yard scoring run to help the Eagles take a 43-6 lead into halftime, which also included a safety on a botched snap on a punt attempt by Grandview.
     On the day, the Eagles averaged a healthy 7.9 yards per rushing attempt led by Harris, who had seven carries for 105 yards. Lanear, who scored his first varsity TD, gained 75 yards on 10 carries and Williams, who also had his first varsity score, toted the ball five times for 59 yards.
     “Christian is a good leader along with Ty,” Grain Valley center Blake Robinson said. “DJ is a heck of a runner. He is what I would like to call a Derrick Henry (the Tennessee Titans starting running back). He’s such a powerhouse.”
     The rushing success was made possible by an Eagles offensive line that got a strong push all game against Grandview’s defensive line.
     “There were a lot of critics this summer talking about how our line is going to be and are they going to be able to meet the standards of last year?” Larson said. “Overall, through the first two games, I thought they did a great job.”
     Added Lanear: “The offensive line was firing on all cylinders today. They had intensity from the start.”
     Robinson agreed.
     “I felt really good about our performance,” Robinson said. “I have to give a shoutout to everyone on the offensive line. Our communication was on point tonight. We’d see something going on at the (right) side, we’d communicate that to Caleb, and our first touchdown was a trap right.
     “Even as big guys, we have fast feet. The key to our success was our footwork and communication.”
     Grandview scored 22 points in the fourth period against Grain Valley’s backups.
     The Eagles (1-1) will take on the Northmen of Oak Park next Friday on the road.

     The early season test in the Joplin Tournament proved to be valuable for the Grain Valley girls tennis team.
     That is what veteran head coach Randy Draper said after his team’s Thursday dual with Blue Springs.
     That tournament is a part of a tough schedule that includes many Class 3 teams the Eagles will face, which includes Blue Springs.
     Grain Valley was up to the challenge as it finished fifth in the Joplin Tournament, defeated Lee’s Summit North 8-1 on Tuesday and improved to 2-0 in dual play following a 9-0 rout of the Wildcats at home.
     “I thought the Joplin Tournament was really good for us,” Draper said. “We played a lot and played some really good teams. I thought it sped up our process a little bit. We have a pretty high ceiling.”
     “We have a very tough non-conference schedule. There will be a lot of chances to get better.”
     Those getting better, include No. 1 singles player Finley LaForge and No. 2 Kylee Bragaw. LaForge has two state medals to her name when she was partners with Chelsea Gorden, who graduated last year. Now, she is teaming with Bragaw and the duo has seen some early season success including a 8-1 victory against Blue Springs No. 1 team of Molly Hocker and Grace Deaton.
     “This year has been going pretty well,” LaForge said. “Kylee was already my friend before and we had that chemistry built. We applied it to the court and the season has gone really well so far. We also played in the Summer Slam in offseason so that helped, too.”
     LaForge also soundly defeated Hocker in the No. 1 singles match 8-1 and Bragaw topped Kameryn Bush 8-1 in the No. 2 match.
     “I served really well, I think I only had one double fault,” LaForge said. “Usually I have a couple more than that.”
     Added Draper: “Kylee has made a big jump with her volleys and she is a really good tennis player. I think the ceiling for that doubles team is high.”
     At No. 2 doubles, Brooklyn Spencer and Cate Barnes cruised to a 8-2 victory against Bush and Fae Knudsen. Spencer also beat Knudsen at No. 3 singles 8-2 and Barnes had a tough match with Deaton at No. 4, but won 8-6.
     “My serves were pretty good in singles and we had good teamwork in doubles,” Barnes said.
     Varsity newcomers Ava Lin and Kate Unrein also had a chance to shine as they looked strong in a 8-0 victory against Jasmine Samuels and Alexandra Ritland. Lin raced past Samuels at No. 5 singles 8-2 and Unrein earned an 8-3 victory over Ritland.
     “I usually know what to expect,” Draper said. “I’ve been really pleased with our No. 3 doubles team. I wasn’t sure where we would fit in there. I have been really pleased with them.”
 

Boys Soccer:
Grain Valley won 3-1 vs. Liberty North. Record: 2-0
Next game: Tuesday, September 6th (6:30pm) at home vs. Van Horn

Girls Tennis:
     The Eagles girls tennis team captured the Colbern Cup from Lee's Summit North on Tuesday, August 30th. The team plays at home Thursday vs. Blue Springs (4:00pm).

Girls Golf:
The team placed fourth out of ten teams at Platte County on August 29th, shooting a .378. Mallory Crane tied for first with a score of 78.

Cross Country:
The girls took the team title in the August 30th kickoff at home. Jordan Gossage took the individual title. The boys placed 2nd, behind Blue Springs South. 
The team heads to the Tim Nixon Invitational on September 3rd.

Girls Volleyball:
The team won 3-2 in their first road match vs. Smithville on August 30th. 

Girls Softball:
The girls won 15-0 over Lee's Summit on August 31st. 
The team faces Fort Osage @ Fort Osage, Thursday, September 1st at 4:00pm. 

Upcoming:
Football: Grain Valley vs. Grandview at home 
Friday, September 2nd - 7:00pm