Joplin High (Mo.) To Play Home Games At Missouri Southern State

http://www.joplinglobe.com/sports/x1699203133/Joplin-to-play-home-basketball-games-at-MSSU

Jeff Williams couldn’t hide his excitement.

Williams, boys basketball coach at Joplin High School, will be coaching his team’s home games at Missouri Southern State University this season.

And so will Vicki Spivy, head coach of the girls’ basketball team.

“First of all, it’s going to be good for the fans,” Williams said. “It’s at the university, so there’s some excitement that goes with it.”

The games most likely will be played at Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium, said Joplin athletic director Jeff Starkweather. The Kaminsky Classic boys tournament and the Lady Eagle Classic tournament also will be at MSSU, he said.

Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium is the home court for MSSU’s volleyball team and is used as a practice gym by the university’s other athletic teams.

Leggett & Platt Athletic Center, just south of the gymnasium, is home to the university’s men’s and women’s basketball teams and indoor track and field events.

Although the exact site of the high school basketball tournaments has not been finalized, “We wouldn’t turn it down if they offered it,” Starkweather said of the athletic center.

Spivy, like the rest of the faculty, staff and students, said she is still adjusting to the new school environments after the fourth day of the school year.

“I think that’s where we’re going to play, as far as I know,” she said of MSSU’s gym. “It’s getting there. The pieces are slowly getting there. Flexible is going to be the key. We say that everyday.”

Williams said he hopes his team will be able to hold some of their practices in the gym at MSSU, but because the Eagles have six basketball teams, including junior varsity and freshmen, multiple practice sites need to be determined.

“We’re grateful to the university for extending a hand to us,” Williams said. “It’s important to the community to have that home base. We’ll need to bring some Eagles things with us.”

East Middle School has a new home court, too. The school’s boys and girls basketball teams and volleyball team will play their home games and practice at Memorial Hall, Starkweather said.

Joplin’s volleyball team is practicing and will play its home games at the former Joplin Middle School, where freshmen and sophomores now attend classes. That suits new head coach Staci Saunders just fine, she said.

“We’re excited to have a home, a place to keep our stuff,” Saunders said. “It’s hard enough now because the 11th and 12th graders have to drive across town. They still have homework to do, so it’s nice to be home by 6 or 6:30.”

Volleyball season begins a week from today with a match at Carl Junction.

“They’re a great group of girls,” Saunders said. “They work hard and they’re really jelling as a group. They’re getting ready for Aug. 30.”