Don Edwards, Northeast Nodaway’s past girls basketball players inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame ushered in its Class of 2023 April 23 that included Don Edwards, former Jefferson High School basketball coach and the Northeast Nodaway High School Girls Basketball 1973-1979 and 1982. Edwards, photo inset, was a basketball coach whose boys and girls teams earned 824 wins over a 20-year period at Jefferson High School. They appeared in six Final Fours, won three state championships, 18 conference championships and 16 district titles. He also was a three-time Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. Two of his girls teams won state titles in Class 1. The 1989 team was 31-0, and the 1997 team finished 30-2. The 1990 team placed third. In boys basketball, his 2000 team won Class 1 with a 29-3 record. That came four years after his 1996 team placed third. He  also coached softball, guiding the team to six Final Fours and winning three state titles in 1981, 1987, 1998. Basketball has long been a part of his life, as Edwards was a 1974 All-State selection at North Harrison High School in Eagleville. He went on to play at Northwest Missouri State, where he lettered in the sport.

When the Missouri State High School Activities Association launched a postseason tournament to decide a girls basketball state champion, Northeast Nodaway stormed out of the chute. Those attending the induction ceremony were front: Debbie Durham Cross, Wanda Fankhauser Nelson, Regina Wiederholt, Julia Durbin Schmitz, Karen Schmitz Archer, Mary Auffert, Peggy Berg, Linda Auffert Coleman; second row: Mary Francis Heflin Schmitz, Carolynn Stoll Wilson, Nancy Sherry Fratzke, Shelly Jackson, Julia Jackson Judd, Renee Simmons Johnson, Rita Durbin Miller, Patty Berg Paxson, Terri Durbin Welch, Sharon DeFreece, Sandy Porter Schieber, Janet McCrorey Waldeier, Lorraine Wray O’Donnell, Kathy Brown; back: Vickie Schmitz Henry, Glenda Newbery Kohut, Kim Fugate Knopp, Diane Patton Wiederholt, Janet Welch Cole, Staci Jackson Leslie, Julie Schmitz Hunter, Reggie Carden, Assistant coach; Beverly Mitchell VanVactor. Not pictured but attending: Amy Kohlleppel Parnell and Gail Kohlleppel Calfee. Manessa Adwell Runde and Meranda Adwell Kisner attended in memory of their mother, Deb Slagle Adwell.

The Lady Jays advanced to seven Final Fours in the eight seasons between 1973 and 1979, winning state six times in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and then won it again in 1982. All were in Class 1. Coached by Claude Samson, Northeast Nodaway finished 31-0 in 1973 after beating South Shelby 41-35. The 1974 team placed third, and the 1975 team was a state runner-up. The 1976 squad finished 301 after a 38-31 victory against Hale. A year later, Northeast Nodaway scored a 41-17 victory in the finals and finished 32-0. The 1978 team held off Wheaton 41-32 in the finals and ended the year 32-0. It was a 30-3 season to close out the 1970s, as Northeast Nodaway beat Greenwood 52-37. The Lady Jays won it all again in 1982, beating Purdy 44-28, and finished 30-1.

A crowd of 600 turned out to the LEX at the Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium, with CEO, Executive Director Byron Shive presiding over the ceremony.