The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame soon will recognize 10 former Missouri basketball standouts with Filbert Five awards, President and Executive Director Jerald Andrews announced Tuesday.
The recognitions are among highlights of the Basketball Luncheon presented by Mercy, set for 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Oasis Convention Center in Springfield.
That day, the Hall of Fame will induct four individuals and a team: Missouri native Jerry Armstrong, part of Texas Western’s 1966 national championship team and a longtime Missouri high school basketball coach; Malta Bend standout Charlie Henke, one of the first big men to star at the University of Missouri; Missouri State Lady Bear Jeanette Tendai; Drury University’s Nate Quinn; and the 1990 Raytown South High School boys basketball team.
The Filbert Five is named in honor of the late Gary Filbert, a former basketball coach, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inductee and a Missouri Sports Legend. The women’s Filbert Five features Kayli Combs Price (Branson/College of the Ozarks), Tag Morris (Blue Eye/Evangel), Bethany Creed (Ash Grove/Drury), Casey Garrison Powell (Bolivar/Missouri State) and Kami Scrivner Eddington (Mount Vernon/Pittsburg State). The men’s Filbert Five features Daniel Cutbirth (Hurley/Evangel), Tim Brown (Rogersville/Drury), Corey Stone (Reeds Spring/College of the Ozarks), Junior Roweton (Halfway/SBU/Drury) and Tim West (Skyline/State Fair juco/Nebraska).
For tickets, call 417-889-3100. An individual ticket is $40, and a head table ticket is $100. A sponsorship table of eight is $400 and includes an autographed print and recognition in the printed program. Numerous other sponsorships, such as congratulatory ads, also are available.
Kayli Combs Price (Branson/Missouri State/College of the Ozarks): Price was a standout for Branson High School in the early 2000s, earning All-State in Class 4 in 2005 and 2004 as well as All-Ozarks. The Lady Pirates won district titles her junior and senior years, with the 2004 team reaching the state quarterfinals. Price played for the Lady Bobcats for three years (2006-2009) and set seven school records, all after transferring from Missouri State, where she was selected to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman team and played in the NCAA Tournament. In her time in Point Lookout, the Lady ‘Cats won 98 games, were NAIA national runner-up twice and reached the semifinals all three years, plus were undefeated in the Midlands Conference and at home in each of her three seasons. Price was the Player of the Year in the Midlands Conference, plus a three-time first team all-conference, and part of three conference championship teams. When she graduated, she was the sixth-leading scorer in Lady ‘Cat history (1,672), seventh in assists (304) and fifth in steals (213). She also held the career record for 3-point shots made (331). Combs was a third team All-American in 2007 and, in 2008 and 2009, was a First Team All-American and First Team All-Tournament Team. Her number (25) was retired at the end of her career.
Tag Morris (Blue Eye/Evangel): Morris was a four-year starter at Blue Eye High School, finishing her career with 2,259 points, 1,223 rebounds, 531 steals and 513 assists – all school records. She was a two-time First Team All-State selection, three-time Southwest Central League MVP, the 2005 Miss Show Me runner-up, plus set the Missouri high school state record for points per game as a freshman and helped Blue Eye win two district championships. As a senior, the 5-10 guard led Blue Eye to a 25-3 record and the SCL regular season and tournament championships, earning MVP honors. That season, she averaged 21 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and five steals, earning McDonald’s All-America nomination. She also was the class valedictorian, a four-year starter in softball and three-year starter in volleyball. Morris was beset by knee injuries at MSU before finishing her career at Evangel.
Bethany Creed (Ash Grove/Drury): Creed enjoyed one of the most prolific prep careers while at Ash Grove, scoring 2,760 career points – the 11th-highest total in Missouri history. She went on to play at Drury University, helping the Lady Panthers to a 122-12 record between 2002 and 2006. That included an NCAA Division II national runner-up finish in March 2004 and a Sweet Sixteen appearance her senior year. She concluded her career among Drury’s all-time leaders in free-throw percentage, rebounding, assists and steals.
Casey Garrison Powell (Bolivar/Missouri State): Powell was a four-time All-State selection and three-time All-Ozarks at Bolivar High School and finished her prep career as the No. 10 scorer in Missouri girls high school basketball history, averaging 23.1 points a game. She led the Lady Liberators to three state tournament appearances as well as the first Central Ozark Conference title in school history (March 2007). She averaged 25.6 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4.2 steals a game as a senior. At Missouri State, Garrison became only the sixth player in Missouri Valley Conference women’s history to earn All-MVC first team honors four consecutive years. She finished with 2,271 points, third-most in conference history and second in MSU history behind Jackie Stiles. She also led the Lady Bears to three WNIT appearances and was the 2010 MVC Player of the Year.
Kami Scrivner Eddington (Mount Vernon/Pittsburg State): Eddington played at Mount Vernon from 1998 to 2001, becoming a two-time All-State selection in Class 3 and a three-time All-Joplin Globe selection. Eddington, who was an ESPN The Magazine All-Academic second team selection, left Mount Vernon as its career leader in several categories — scoring (2,503), points per game (22), field goals made (941), free throws made (578), free throw percentage (78). She finished with 746 rebounds and and a 6.5 rebounding average. At Pittsburg State, she was a four-year letterwinner and earned postseason honors all four years from the MidAmerica Intercollegiate Athletics Association, including a first team selection after her senior year. She also earned All-South Central Region twice. Career-wise at Pitt State, Eddington ranks sixth in points (1,559), is one of only four players to score more than 1,500 points and grab more than 500 rebounds (531), is 10th in assists (248), sixth in steals (161) and second in single-season free throw percentage (88 percent).
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Daniel Cutbirth (Hurley/Evangel): Cutbirth was a 6-foot-2 guard who graduated from Hurley in 1998, having scored 2,958 points. He then helped Evangel win the 2002 NAIA national championship, with Cutbirth named the NAIA Tournament MVP. He was a two-time NAIA All-American, Co-Player of the Year and three-time first team in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Cutbirth scored 2,146 points, or an average of 30.3 points a game. He later coached Hurley to a Mark Twain regular-season title in 2009-2010 and a district final the next season, and has coached at Aurora in recent years.
Corey Stone (Reeds Spring/College of the Ozarks): Stone was a 2004 graduate of Reeds Spring High School, where he was a four-year starter for the basketball team. He was a two time first team All-Central Ozark Conference selection and all-district as a senior. He finished his career as the second-leading scorer in school history. Stone played at College of the Ozarks from 2004 to 2009, helping the Bobcats win the NAIA Division II national championship in 2006 and finishing as runner-up in 2009. He was a three time all-conference selection, an NAIA All-Tournament team selection and an NAIA All-American as a senior.
Tim Brown (Rogersville/Drury): As a senior at Rogersville High School, Brown was All-State, All-Ozarks, All-Central Ozark Conference and all-district as he averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 assists. At Drury from the fall of 2005 to March 2008, he played in 174 games, starting in 118, including three NCAA Division II Tournaments. Overall, he scored 873 points and had 453 assists. Among his significant contributions was helping the Panthers win their first Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament title in 2008, which led to a berth in the NCAA Division II national tournament and a 25-6 record. Brown was voted to the All-GLVC Tournament team that season after setting the assists record for the tournament. He is now coaching at Fair Grove High School.
Junior Roweton (Halfway/SBU/Drury): Roweton was a standout basketball player for Halfway in the late 1950s, graduating in 1959. He was a key player on Halfway’s Class S state runner-up team in 1958 and then, as a senior, averaged almost 27 points a game. He remains the last Halfway player to have played all four years in college. Roweton went on to play two seasons at Southwest Baptist before finishing at Drury University, where he started every game as a senior and was assigned to guard the other team’s best scorer. Roweton went on to assist the Parkview High School boys basketball program from 1965 to 1973, a time when the “Jolly Green Giants” won the state title in 1965 and placed second in the state the next season. Roweton later coached the Bolivar High School girls to the 1982 Class 3 state title (the team was 28-2) in his only season, and coached the Bolivar boys briefly in the late 1990s, with a Blue and Gold Tournament championship.
Tim West (Skyline/State Fair CC/Nebraska): West was a First Team All-State selection as a sophomore, junior and senior and a two-time All-Ozarks at Skyline-Urbana High School. He is the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,004 points from 1974 to 1977. At State Fair, he was All-Region in March 1978 and, a year later, was All-Region as well as the Player of the Year and a Juco All-American. He averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds a game, plus shot 55 percent from the field and 80 percent at the free-throw line. At Nebraska, he was honorable mention All-Big 8 and the Big 8 Newcomer of the Year in 1979-1980, despite being an undersized, 6-foot-5 small forward. West played in 24 games there, averaging 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and shot 53 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free-throw line. Among his memorable games were guarding future NBA standout Kevin McHale and Louisville’s Dr. Dunkenstein, Darrell Griffith.
