Kansas Jayhawks raise the roof, Royals open with a win, soccer teams lose: KC Replay
The Kansas Jayhawks were the last men’s basketball team standing Monday night in New Orleans, wrapping up a season for the ages with a furious comeback at the Superdome against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Comebacks were the theme of the week. The Royals opened their season with a fine finishing kick, beating the visitors from Cleveland 3-1 at Kauffman Stadium on a blustery Thursday afternoon before taking their first scheduled off-day Friday.
Here are the rally-driven highlights from the sports headlines in Kansas City over the past week, in today’s edition of The KC Replay.
Jayhawks cut down nets
Another banner will soon hang in venerable Allen Fieldhouse thanks to a comeback that found KU down by 15 at halftime.
In front of a packed-to-the-gills Superdome crowd, KU trailed 40-25 at intermission but would not be denied the program’s fourth NCAA championship.
After allowing the Heels to hang around, Bill Self’s squad regrouped in the locker room and overwhelmed UNC once play resumed. The rally, resulting in a title-clinching 72-69 triumph, was reminiscent of the Jayhawks’ comeback against Miami in the Elite Eight.
Kansas held North Carolina to 28% shooting in the second half en route to cutting down the Superdome nets. And Oak Park product Ochai Agbaji was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
A rally for the Royals
On a very windy Opening Day at The K, the Royals made sure fans departed wearing smiles.
Zack Greinke made his first start in a Royals uniform here in more than a decade, the infield turned in a few defensive gems — we’re looking at you, Nicky Lopez and Bobby Witt Jr. — and Witt doubled in the decisive runs in the eighth inning for a 3-1 season-opening victory over the Cleveland Guardians.
Afterward, the top prospect in the majors — that would be Witt Junior — got the ceremonial Gatorade bath, no doubt the first of many this young Texan with the flashy leather and live bat will experience during what has all the makings of an outstanding big-league career.
Soccer takes double-L
The Kansas City Current had hoped for a comeback of their own after falling behind Racing Louisville in last weekend’s home opener. But the hole only got deeper as KC lost for the first time in 2022, falling 3-0 at Children’s Mercy Park.
The Current, sharing the KCK venue with Sporting KC during construction of a new riverfront stadium, were home while Sporting played on the road. Things didn’t go a whole lot better for Kansas City’s MLS team, which lost 1-0 to the Vancouver Whitecaps that evening.
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The best in Kansas City
Blue Valley’s Aidan Shaw and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Beatrice Culliton took home the 2022 DiRenna Awards as the top boys and girls basketball players in the KC metro.
This year’s annual awards were bestowed during a special televised ceremony on Thursday evening. Shaw will play next season for newly hired head coach Dennis Gates at Mizzou, while Culliton is headed to play for the Sooners at Oklahoma.