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There is something about this North Kansas City girls basketball team. Trailing by 10 points with a minute and a half remaining, the Hornets rallied and hit a shot with four seconds remaining to beat Raytown 45-44 and win the Suburban Middle Six Conference title.

It is only the second conference championship in girls basketball for the Hornets in 24 years.

“It is unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it where it looks like you have no chance, but we just didn’t give up and we came back and won,” North Kansas City coach Jeff Klein said. “I would say that is at least the 10th time we have been down in the fourth quarter and come back to win. It is the third time we have been down double digits and came back and win.”

For three of the four quarters, Staley’s girls basketball team had its way with St. Joseph Central.

The Falcons forced 21 turnovers and outscored the Indians by 13 points. Like the popular cliché goes, though, it is a four-quarter game, and that deciding quarter was enough to turn the tide the Indians’ way.

For the second consecutive week, the Indians slid by the Falcons, this time 53-52, Friday, Feb. 5, in the Northland Basketball Invitational at North Kansas City High School.

Looking at the score everything seems plenty fine in North Kansas City girls basketball team’s 51-38 win over Park Hill South in the Northland Basketball Invitational.

Despite the Hornets winning the third-place game Friday, Feb. 5, coach Jeff Klein still wishes he saw more intensity on display from his team.

“I expect there to be some inconsistencies, but I was disappointed today with our effort,” Klein said. “We just didn’t play very hard.”

The Hornets will play host the Class 5 District 15 tournament in a week and a half, and Klein would like to see a few things improve before that comes around.

It is not something usually seen, but the Staley High girls basketball team is completing the back end of back-to-back tournaments this week. After finishing second in the Cameron Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 30, the Falcons are playing in the annual Northland Classic Invitational Basketball Tournament at North Kansas City this week.

“I think it is good because so far the competition we have seen has been nice,” Staley coach Melissa Krog-Savaiinaea said. “It kind of prepares them mentally because you have to stay tough when times are tight. When things come at you boom, boom, boom it is good for them to have that mentality.”

The Falcons had little trouble in the first round Monday, Feb. 1, at North Kansas City. After watching Platte County get upset by No. 8-seeded Park Hill South, the Falcons made sure they were not an upset victim to St. Pius X.

Heading into the first round of the Northland Classic Invitational Basketball Tournament not much was expected from No. 8-seeded Park Hill South High.

After all, the Panthers came in with a 1-12 record and matched up with defending Class 4 state champion Platte County, who was 13-4.

Four different players scored in double figures for the Winnetonka High girls basketball team in a 48-36 win over Jefferson. The win gave the Griffins the North Platte Invitational championship Friday, Jan. 30, in Dearborn. The win also put the Griffins’ record over the .500 mark for the season.

“It was huge,” Winnetonka coach Mike Cox said. “They need to taste that. They need to get that feeling. It was a good tournament for us right now. They had a good time at it.”

The win was one more part of the growing process the program has undergone since Cox took the helm last season. Winnetonka outscored the Eagles 21-11 in the fourth quarter to pull away.

The North Kansas City High girls basketball team overcame a slow start to roll St. Joseph Lafayette 53-30 in the first round of the 35th annual Bulldog Classic.

The Hornets outscored the Fighting Irish 29-7 over the second and third quarters to turn a slim 13-12 lead into a bulging 42-19 advantage Monday, Jan. 11, at Kearney.

For Hornets coach Jeff Klein, it was just a matter of his team turning up the intensity.

As North Kansas City High’s girls basketball team struggled during the first quarter and a half with St. Joseph Lafayette, I couldn’t help but flash back to a similar matchup last season. In the very same tournament, the Bulldog Classic, in the very same round, the Hornets barely got by Lafayette, 48-43.

After ending the first quarter in an 11-11 tie, I had a sense that I was in for a similar type of game. Hornets coach Jeff Klein had already used two timeouts to try and get his team fired up, but the Hornets were slow to respond.

Something happened midway through the second quarter, though. Northtown started getting after it on defense, sparked by freshman guard Lexus Bradley, and that defense resulted in points.

The wins have been few and far between for the Oak Park High girls basketball team. However, coach Anthony Abbott knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

“It is not what you hope for, but I think as a staff we knew it was going to take some time and be a bit of a learning process,” Abbott said. “Any time as a new coach you come in, you put your own stuff in. Basically, a lot of things have changed. It takes some time for that to kind of sink in. The good news is that we are getting better.”

One thing the Lady Oakies can hang their hat on is how competitive they have been in each game. Outside of their first two games, the Lady Oakies have not lost by more than eight points.

There will be no surprises for North Kansas City High’s girls basketball team in the first round of the 35th Annual Bulldog Classic at Kearney High. For the third straight year the Hornets will match up with St. Joseph Lafayette. They meet at 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11, at Kearney.

“We kind of know about them, and we are so young right now that we aren’t going to take anybody for granted,” said North Kansas City coach Jeff Klein. “We are just trying to get better ourselves and be in a position at the end of the year so we can make a run. This tournament is a big deal to us, but we don’t have lofty expectations or goals going in. Our main goal is to get better every game.”

If the Hornets beat the Fighting Irish they play the winner of the Kearney/Odessa game at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13. If they lose they will play at 5 p.m. on the same night.