Missouri
Missouri high school basketball playoffs: What to know about Class 1-3 girls championships
Championship week has arrived for the smaller classes in Missouri high school basketball. The 12 girls’ teams that will play in the 2025 Show-Me Showdown will tip off this week in Columbia.
Classes 1-3 semifinal and championship games will be held Wednesday through Saturday at Mizzou Arena on the University of Missouri campus.
Here’s what you need to know heading into the week:
Missouri state high school basketball state championships: When and where are they?
The MSHSAA Show-Me Showdown for Classes 1-3 will be held Wednesday through Saturday, March 12-15, at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, on the University of Missouri’s campus.
Classes 4-6 will play March 19-22, also at Mizzou Arena.
How to stream the Missouri state high school basketball championships
The semifinals and championships will be streamed live on MSHSAA.tv for a fee.
Individual pay-per-view access for games is listed at $10.60. An access pass to all games for Classes 1-6, boys’ and girls’, can be purchased for $15.75.
How to buy tickets to the Missouri high school basketball state semifinals and championships
Semifinal and championship tickets must be purchased digitally on MSHSAA.org.
Chadwick girls basketball returns to state semifinals
The Chadwick boys’ and girls’ basketball programs will return to Columbia. The Lady Cardinals finished as a runner-up two years ago and are seeking their first championship victory in 20 years. Former Kickapoo coach Jim Pendergrass is in his first year leading the Lady Cardinals. He led Kickapoo to a state title in 2016 and runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2022. They continue to be led by Kerrigan Guerin and Raeleigh Little.
Walnut Grove girls basketball back in semifinals after 2-year hiatus
After a two-year hiatus, Walnut Grove is back in the state semifinals. It had previously made the semifinals in 10 of 11 years from 2012-22, winning five championships along the way. A freshman group that led the Lady Tigers to a fourth-place finish in 2022 is now seniors trying to win a game or two in Columbia. Ellie Smith, one of the star seniors, has played the postseason on a torn ACL.
Northeast Cairo girls basketball returns after Class 1 runner-up finish
The Lady Bearcats will try to finish the job in 2025 after finishing as the state runner-up to South Nodaway (Conception) in last year’s championship. The senior duo of Macie Harman and Avery Brumley will try to earn the program’s first state championship since 2008.
Rock Port girls basketball makes state for first time since 1981
The Blue Jays are having their best season in 44 years and will try to earn their first semifinal or championship victory in program history. They survived a double-overtime quarterfinal game against Santa Fe to qualify. They’ve been led by freshman Audrie Meyerkorth, who averages over 16 points per game. The Blue Jays are the only Class 1-3 girls’ team that wasn’t ranked at the end of the regular season to qualify for the semifinals.
St. Vincent girls basketball to make first state appearance
St. Vincent had been knocking on the door of a state semifinal appearance in recent years, and it’s finally broken through. St. Vincent will make its first state appearance in program history behind the great play of junior Rylee Robinson.
Tipton girls basketball makes state for fifth time in six years
After a third-place finish last year, the Cardinals are back in Columbia. They’ve been to the state semifinals five times in six years, with the program’s lone championship coming in 2023. High-level experience from last year’s team has led the way this season, including senior Charlee Bailey and junior Ava Schlotzhauer.
Norwood girls basketball makes state for third year in a row
The Lady Pirates have finished fourth in the state in consecutive years. They’re headed back to Columbia with the hope of winning a game or two in pursuit of their first championship since 1994. Autumn Gunter has been the program’s top player in recent years. It’s also gotten great play from Addy Gray.
Skyline girls basketball looks to repeat as Class 2 champions
The Lady Tigers will go for their second straight state championship this week. They have been dominant as of late behind the duo of Ashlen Garrett, Kenzi Cheek and plenty of others. The program has won seven championships in its history and hasn’t had a sub-20-win season since 2019. This is the program’s 18th state appearance.
Portageville girls basketball to make first state appearance
After two straight 23-win seasons, the Bulldogs won their 24th game on Saturday and will now make their first championship appearance in the program’s history.
Principia girls basketball returns to state after finishing as Class 2 runner-up
The Panthers finished second in the state last year to Skyline, and they will now play up a classification in the Class 3 state semifinals. They have one of the best players in the state, no matter the classification, in sophomore guard Dasia Scott. She’s averaging more than 18 points per game and is a legitimate Division I prospect.
Fair Grove girls basketball seeks historic three-peat
The winningest group of seniors in Fair Grove athletics history will try to win its third straight basketball championship when the bulk of them contributed to back-to-back volleyball championships during their junior and senior years. Fair Grove returns to the state semifinals after a 65-51 win over El Dorado Springs, whom the Lady Eagles beat in their first two championships. A new challenge awaits the Lady Eagles in this postseason, but a group led by Brooke Daniels, Ashton Bell, Abbey Green and Camdyn Hart should keep them as the favorite.
Lone Jack girls basketball to make first championship appearance
The Lady Mules are having their best season in program history and will play Fair Grove in their first-ever state semifinal appearance.
Missouri Class 1-3 semifinals, championships take place this week in Columbia
Wednesday, March 12
- 10 a.m. — Woodland vs. Principia – Class 3 Boys State Semifinal
- Noon — Thayer vs. KIPP KC Legacy – Class 3 Boys State Semifinal
- 2 p.m. — Portageville vs. Principia – Class 3 Girls State Semifinal
- 4 p.m. — Fair Grove vs. Lone Jack – Class 3 Girls State Semifinal
- 6 p.m. — Puxico vs. Canton – Class 2 Boys State Semifinal
- 8 p.m. — Eugene vs. Lincoln – Class 2 Boys State Semifinal
Thursday, March 13
- 10 a.m. — Class 3 Boys Third-Place Game
- Noon — Class 3 Girls Third-Place Game
- 2 p.m. — Class 2 Boys Third-Place Game
- 4 p.m. — Class 3 Boys State Championship
- 6 p.m. — Class 3 Girls State Championship
- 8 p.m. — Class 2 Boys State Championship
Friday, March 14
- 10 a.m. — St. Vincent vs. Tipton – Class 2 Girls State Semifinal
- Noon — Norwood vs Skyline – Class 2 Girls State Semifinal
- 2 p.m. — Chadwick vs. Wheatland – Class 1 Boys State Semifinal
- 4 p.m. — St. Elizabeth vs. Braymer – Class 1 Boys State Semifinal
- 6 p.m. — Chadwick vs. Walnut Grove – Class 1 Girls State Semifinal
- 8 p.m. — Cairo Northeast vs. Rock Port – Class 1 Girls State Semifinal
Saturday, March 15
- 10 a.m. — Class 2 Girls Third-Place Game
- Noon — Class 1 Boys Third-Place Game
- 2 p.m. — Class 1 Girls Third-Place Game
- 4 p.m. — Class 2 Girls State Championship
- 6 p.m. — Class 1 Boys State Championship
- 8 p.m. — Class 1 Girls State Championship
Missouri
Recovery efforts continue after deadly Missouri flash flooding | Latest Weather Clips | FOX Weather
Recovery efforts continue after deadly Missouri flash flooding
FOX Weather Meteorologist Jane Minar continues her coverage live from Ironton, Missouri, following catastrophic flash flooding that tore through the region Friday, leaving one dead and prompting more than 350 water rescues. Latest on recovery efforts:
July 11 (UPI) — One person was found dead and hundreds evacuated in Missouri after an intense day of flash flooding across the state, authorities said Saturday.
More than 350 people were rescued in Iron, Reynolds and Crawford counties on Friday as floodwaters rapidly took over the area.
Officials said 250 of those were staff and children at Camp Taum Sauk, all of whom were safely evacuated. Another 100 were water rescues.
“It was very harrowing,” Jennifer Box, mother of of two you boys at the camp, told The New York Times. “We knew they were safe, but we didn’t know how to get to them, and that’s kind of your worst nightmare.”
One Crawford County woman, Faith Gregory, was found dead a mile downstream from her home in Huzzah Creek, officials said.
Authorities said Gregory was swept away after part of her home collapsed in the floodwaters.
“It’s definitely not the outcome we were hoping for, but it’s a tragic reminder of how strong Mother Nature can be and how forceful it can be,” Missouri State Highway Patrol Sergeant Eddie Young told FOX Weather.
The region was battered by more than 12 inches of rain, leaving many area residents remained strained throughout Saturday.
“But they’re OK,” spokeswoman Kate Moore, of Missouri Region C, told ABC News. “They’re just stranded because the roads are washed away. We have a lot of damage — the trees, buildings, a lot of things have gone and ripped the roads away.”
Driving through the winding roads of Callaway County, often visible in the distance is a massive, 553-foot-tall concrete structure emitting what looks like white clouds.
“A lot of people think that’s smoke coming out of the top; it is not. That is water vapor,” said Travis Hart, manager of the Callaway nuclear power plant that produces 15% of Missouri’s electricity.
“The next structure that you see, this big rounded dome … that is the reactor building itself,” Hart said.
The single nuclear reactor near Fulton was built in the late 1970s and began generating electricity in 1984. Initially, the site was designed with two reactors in mind. But Hart said plans for a second unit came to a halt in the early ’80s due to decreasing electricity demand and rising costs.
Now, more than 40 years later, energy demand is growing due to increased manufacturing, adoption of electric vehicles and the development of AI data centers.
In a scramble for more power, tech companies and utilities are restarting formerly shuttered nuclear power plants, such as Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. In states like Missouri, politicians are eager to find ways to build new ones and expand existing plants like the one in Callaway County.
Debates about how to pay for the multibillion dollar projects resurfaced in the Missouri legislature this spring. While cost is the first hurdle to creating a new fleet of nuclear power plants in America, the actual construction of the facilities is the second.
Early this year, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed an executive order that creates the Advanced Nuclear Energy Task Force to “evaluate and guide” the state’s “strategic approach to nuclear energy development.”
Lost skills
The majority of the nuclear power plants in America were built between the 1960s and 1980s. Construction slowed in response to energy demand leveling out, increased safety regulations and public perception of nuclear power souring after the Three Mile Island accident.
Speaking at the University of Missouri in May, Director-General of the federal Nuclear Energy Agency William Magwood said building nuclear power plants is a skill, and America has gotten rusty.
“We used to be really good at building plants back in the ’60s and ’70s. How do we reconstruct that? That’s going to be a real challenge,” Magwood said.
The only new nuclear power facilities built in America in recent decades are the third and fourth reactors at the Vogtle electric plant near Waynesboro, Georgia. While the reactors came online in 2023 and 2024 and produce more than 1,000 megawatts of power each, the project was billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.
Magwood said a lot of what boggled the Vogtle construction was the lack of institutional knowledge about building nuclear power plants.
“We just didn’t know what we were doing,” he said. “We hadn’t built a nuclear plant in a generation. We didn’t have people who knew how to do it. We didn’t have the infrastructure. We didn’t have the supply chain. The regulator didn’t know what the hell they were doing. I was there, so I know.”
In South Carolina, efforts to construct a new nuclear power plant were abandoned after billions were spent and the company behind the project went bankrupt.
Kurt Schaefer is tasked with ensuring Missouri can avoid similar blunders.
The longtime politician and public servant has been dubbed “the leader of Missouri’s nuclear power renaissance” by UM System President Mun Choi, who has been enthusiastic about advancing nuclear power by hosting national energy leaders on campus in recent years.
In May, Kehoe appointed Schaefer as head of the state’s new nuclear power task force, a group of representatives from utility companies, higher education institutions, politicians, state utility regulators and trades workers all charged with finding a way to make new nuclear power a reality.
Schaefer said the first step to establishing more nuclear power in the state is finding the cash.
“It’s all about money,” he said. “It is expensive up front to build a plant and unless the federal government steps up, I just don’t see it happening.”
In June, the federal Department of Energy announced $17.5 billion in loans for utilities and energy companies to build 10 large-scale commercial nuclear reactors.
Schaefer wants one of those reactors to be in Missouri, ideally near the existing nuclear plant in Callaway County.
“We are really behind the eight ball here in the United States on nuclear power, but you’re seeing a big effort, particularly from the federal government, to move us in that direction,” he said.
As electricity demand continues to climb, Schaefer believes nuclear power is the best way for Missouri to meet that demand. The zero-carbon plants can generate energy around the clock, unlike solar and wind power that need the right conditions to produce power.
Plus, given the longevity of nuclear power facilities, Schafer sees them as a good investment. To him, a robust power supply means a booming economy.
“This is our future, this is what we have to do to keep Missouri economically viable and that’s what we’re gonna do,” Schaefer said.
Who goes first?
The ballooning costs of nuclear power plants isn’t a new issue.
“Any project that big takes years to complete and things may change in the meantime,” said Victor McFarland, University of Missouri energy historian. “The costs of your supplies might go up, the cost of labor might go up.”
Decades ago, when many of America’s atomic energy centers were built, inflation was high and budgets stretched beyond initial figures.
“So the original estimates for the construction of these plants that were true, say, in 1970, they weren’t true anymore in 1975 or 1980,” McFarland said. “There were big cost overruns.”
Now, as the world turns away from fossil fuels, Magwood said nuclear capacity needs to triple to meet the net zero by 2050 goals. Currently, the nuclear power industry does not benefit from economies of scale. Because new nuclear projects are rare, costs are high and supply chains aren’t fully developed, adding to the overall risk of the endeavor.
“One of the big problems is nobody wants to be first … everybody wants to go fourth,” Magwood said. “Believe it or not, that doesn’t work very well. Somebody has to bite the bullet. Somebody has to take the risk. And what I think the industry would really like would be if the government somehow put a safety net under the first projects.”
Ameren Missouri has been clear about its goals to develop additional nuclear power. The company is planning to add 1,500 megawatts of atomic energy to its portfolio by 2045.
Callaway nuclear plant manager Travis Hart is an electrician by trade and first set foot at the facility 25 years ago when he was hired to work on the refueling crew. He said that’s when he fell in love with the place.
“When I walked in here and saw the equipment, how it fits together, how it works, how the design was, it was just extremely interesting to me,” Hart said.
There are a number of reasons the Callaway site is suited for expansion, Hart said. The location has access to the power grid, water from the nearby Missouri River, and a largely supportive local community that fills the plant’s roughly 750 permanent jobs while the company pays $9.8 million in annual property taxes to Callaway County.
The Callaway Energy Center’s current operating license extends through 2044, and Hart is confident the company will receive approval to operate beyond that date.
“I tell my people here all the time, … ‘this is important, so we got to get it right, and we got to do a good job of it, and it’s okay to be proud of it, because it makes a difference,’” Hart said.
In the coming years, the state’s new nuclear power task force will assess Missouri’s readiness to provide the workforce, policies and supply chain needed to create the “nuclear power renaissance.”
This story was originally published by KBIA and shared through the Missouri News Network.
-
News23 minutes agoMexico-US relations are already strained, but experts say they’re about to get worse | CNN
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoRosemead High School student identified as teen stabbed to death in El Monte
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoThree dead in Metro Detroit mall shootings in eight days: What we know
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours ago
I’m a writer who left LA for an AI startup in San Francisco. It was like stepping into a whole new world.
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoDallas weather: Widespread thunderstorms bring flash flood risks and brief heat relief
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoWhy I’m Not Worried About Giannis in Miami
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoGallery: Tall ships display their splendor at Sail Boston
-
Seattle, WA3 hours agoSeattle Weather: Cooler Sunday to close out weekend
