Laurie Sisk: Who Won the Week

This edition of Who Won the Week features a historic season by one team, a gritty district finals performance by another, a rising force in area football and stellar performances by a pair of local quarterbacks.TJ TennisI’ll start with the Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School’s girls’ tennis team, which finished the best in school history with a second-place Thursday at the Class 2 Championships. (See related story).The TJ girls are repeat Winner of the Week, but a program-best finish by any school will definitely land them a spot in this column. The Cavaliers put together a remarkable 12-1 record that included six shutouts — five in their first five matches against much larger schools.They were led by their only senior, Esther Yang, who came up big for her team in the state semifinals. Their success was also buoyed by their No. 2 player — a sophomore — in Sara Maksoud. Madelyn Ro proved to be reliable for the Cavaliers as their No. 3 player, so TJ is likely to appear in this column several times again next year. Despite the departure of Yang, the Cavaliers’ future looks bright.Neosho footballThe Neosho Wildcats also earned a spot in this week’s column after an impressive 51-48 win over powerhouse Carthage last Friday, overcoming a 28-14 halftime deficit.Quarterback Blayne Patterson led the Wildcats in the air after going 14 for 22 for 260 yards and two touchdowns. Patterson also did it with his legs, rushing for 196 yards on 28 carries with one touchdown.Still more Wildcats figured prominently in the win. Receiver Westen Richardson caught six passes for 121 yards. Lincoln Howard also added 144 yards rushing and four touchdowns.I was a little skeptical of the Wildcats early in the season because of their early schedule, but Neosho has proven it can battle with the best and do so with a full arsenal of weapons. They are a scary team to face entering the postseason.Mason Young, Trenton McCadneyStaying on the gridiron, I would be remiss to not mention the quarterback play of both Webb City’s Mason Young and Joplin’s Trenton McCadney.Young ran for 196 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-35 win over Joplin last Friday.McCadney showed grit in playing through what appeared to be an injury and finished with 127 yards on the ground with a pair of touchdowns and was 11 for 18 for 158 yards and two more touchdowns through the air.Both QBs showed they are among the area’s best in their position.CJ VolleyballMy final selection for this week is the Carl Junction volleyball team. Although they fell two-points short of claiming the C4D6 title, they showed a lot of grit in a five-set marathon against powerful West Plains (32-5-1) in the district championship. They lost the tiebreaker 13-15 but that did nothing to quell my respect for how hard they battled throughout the match.CJ senior Audrey Besperat deserves a special shoutout for surpassing the 1,000 career assist mark early in the match.The Bulldogs (20-12-4) wrapped up a 20-win season, were the last local team standing and deserve all the accolades they get.That’s it for this week. This weekend area cross country runners and football players begin district competition.I’m sure I’ll have some tough choices to make for Who Won the Week next week.