Winter Sports Update

Boys Basketball

The Lancers took fourth out of eight teams in their second tournament of the season, the McPherson Invitational. After winning against Blue Valley West 60-53, East lost by two points against Manhattan and then by one point against Heights High School. The team will have to move on from those losses in time for the biggest rivalry game of the season, an away game against Rockhurst on Friday.

Wrestling

With a 46-27 senior night loss to Hutchison on Thursday, the Lancer Wrestling squad bounced back with a 4th place finish out of 15 teams at the Paola tournament on Saturday. The top five finish was highlighted by a first place podium by senior Marshall Green in the 152 pound weight class, and a second place finish by junior Mike Bamford in the 145 pound weight class.

“It was a really good tournament,” said Green. “Coach Sutherlin got us all really pumped up for the tournament and ready to go get after it so I had a lot of excitement and positive energy going in”.

On Jan. 31, the varsity wrestlers will travel to Olathe for the Olathe North Tournament. On Thursday, Feb. 6, the Shawnee Mission District dual will be held at 3:30 p.m. at Shawnee Mission Northwest. The SMSD duel will be the final regular season meeting for the varsity squad before the Sunflower League tournament on Feb. 14.

“The team did fantastic throughout the day,” said Green about the Paola tournament. “We ended up getting fourth, when the team does well, it helps to motivate one another to keep doing well.”

Girls Basketball

The girls varsity team fell to Gardner-Edgerton on Friday, 42-22. They dropped to 1-8 on the season. Sophomore starting point guard Kyle Haverty is still out with what is believed to be a torn meniscus.

“I definitely think that our offense needs to be focused more,” said sophomore Josie Clough. “We have pretty good defense right now. [We need to focus on] getting open for each other, working together, and knocking down our shots.” Clough is confident in the team’s talent and fundamentals, and with a few tweaks, the team could be on its way to a couple more victories down the road.

The team will look ahead to an away matchup when they take on Topeka this Thursday. Coach Klumpe has put emphasis on playing with passion this whole season, and this game will be no different.

Boys Swimming

The boys swim team lost to Blue Valley North by 20 points last week. But the Lancers will have a chance at redemption tomorrow at the Topeka Invitational where they will go against Blue Valley North again. These last two weeks of swim are important because League is next week and State is in two weeks. Freshman varsity swimmer,  Carter Kirkland is looking forward to competing in big meets like league, regionals, and state.

Bowling

The bowling team had a rough week in Lawrence last week, with JV and varsity falling to rivals Lawrence High School and Shawnee Mission South. According to senior Evan Howell, East just struggled to get the pins to fall, leaving stray pins on good shots.

This week, each team travels to the Olathe Northwest Tournament. JV bowls on Tuesday, Varsity on Wednesday.