Facing county rivals and going a perfect 3-0 then taking home the Stephens County Tournament title is how the Velma-Alma Comets received the Xpress Wellness Team of the Week honor.

Being the No. 1 seed in the 89th Annual Stephens County Tournament, the Comets got their first win this past Tuesday against Bray-Doyle winning 85-30 to head to the semi-finals.

Austin Hunt, an All-Tournament team member, had 20 points, tournament MVP Morgan Cox had 12 points, Tyler Stewart had 12 as well and Clay Wright had 10 points in the game.

In the semi-finals of the tournament the Comets got the 59-43 victory over Davis and Cox and Jace Saville showed their offensive might to break into the championship game.

In the third quarter of the game Saville hit three from the field while getting baskets from Hunt, Cox and Stewart to build the lead to 14 points heading into the final quarter of play.

Hitting buckets in the fourth quarter was Hunt, Saville and Tristan Wainscott and they were able to withstand a rally from the Wolves to make it to their second straight championship game.

The Comets faced off against the No. 2 seed Marlow Outlaws in the championship where extra time was needed for the 57-50 overtime victory.

Hunt hit a three bucket while Cox and Stewart hit two buckets as the Comets took the 7-0 lead before an eventful fourth quarter sent the Comets into overtime to win a repeat title.

Wainscott sealed the deal with two free throws to put them up by 10 with only a last second three falling for Marlow and the Comets repeated for the second year in a row the county title.

Comets head coach Kenny Bare said it is a great feeling for his team to take home the team of the week honor and bringing home the big trophy to Velma-Almas gym.

We are proud to receive the award for team of the week and are very proud to bring back the SCT Trophy to V-A, Bare said.

Having a record of 16-2 on the year and in the final rankings was the No. 5 Class A team and the Comets start their final five games at home against the Alex Longhorns.

The game with the Longhorns and Comets had not gone final as of press time and will be posted in the Thursday edition of The Duncan Banner.

Their next game will be homecoming as they host Healdton this Friday with the Lady Comets starting at 6:30 p.m. and then the boys following at 8 p.m.

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Comets receive Xpress Wellness Team of the Week honor - Duncan Banner

This week's featured Athlete of the Week is: Slater Constantine, Sauquoit Valley Track and Field

AHLSenators 5, Comets 2*

Men's Ice HockeyAmherst 2, Hamilton 2 Final/OT

Women's Ice HockeyNeumann 2, Utica 6

Boys Ice HockeyOswego 1, Clinton 3Auburn 0, Whitesboro 3Fulton 6, Mohawk Valley 2Girls Ice HockeyClinton 5, Alex Bay 2Men's BasketballHartwick 76, Nazareth 80Fredonia 40, SUNY Oneonta 81

Women's BasketballHartwick 69, Nazareth 51Fredonia 39, SUNY Oneonta 49

Girls BasketballWhitesboro 42, Rome Free Academy 51*Herkimer 44, New York Mills 50*Holland Patent 34, Cooperstown 43Central Valley Academy 39, Oneida 60South Lewis 21, Lowville 56Sherburne-Earlville 52, Waterville 67West Canada Valley 60, Sauquoit Valley 14Morrisville-Eaton 40, Westmoreland 51CBA 63, New Hartford 68Canastota 39, Oriskany 48Camden 26, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 65Liverpool 53, West Genesee 58Dolgeville 33, Clinton 60

Boys BasketballRome Free Academy 70, Whitesboro 77*Proctor 54, Notre Dame 49*Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 49, Camden 35Cazenovia 63, Holland Patent 75Frankfort-Schuyler 57, Adirondack 55Oneida 54, Central Valley Academy 49

Girls VolleyballMount Markham 3, Waterville 0Morrisville-Eaton 1, Oneida 3

Boys BowlingVernon-Verona-Sherrill 8, Whitesboro 3

*Game highlights in attached video

Don't forget to call in scores and stats to: (315) 768-2254 or email us at: sports@wktv.com

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1/24/20 SPORTS EXPRESS: Comets give up four straight goals in loss to Senators; Whitesboro boys basketball remains undefeated with win over RFA;...

In our solar system there are billions, possibly trillions, of rogue objects orbiting the sun. These spacefarers are too small to be called planets and are given the names of comets, asteroids, meteoroids, and if they reach Earth, meteors or meteorites. With so many labels, it's easy to forget which is which.

Let's start with a brief definition of each.

Asteroids: These are the rocky and airless leftovers from the formation of planets in our solar system. They mostly orbit our sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and range from the size of cars to dwarf planets.

Comets: Comets are dirty space snowballs of mostly ice and dust that formed during the birth of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Most comets have stable orbits in the outer reaches of the solar system past the planet Neptune.

Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites: Meteoroids are tiny asteroids or the broken-off crumbs of comets and sometimes planets. They range in size from a grain of sand to boulders 3 feet (1 meter) wide. When meteoroids collide with a planet's atmosphere, they become meteors. If those meteors survive the atmosphere and hit the planet's surface, their remains are called meteorites.

Related: Fallen Stars: A Gallery of Famous Meteorites

At first glance, asteroids may seem like run-of-the-mill space rocks, but these ancient solar system remnants come in all shapes, sizes and flavors.

Despite their small stature (the mass of all the asteroids combined is less than Earth's moon), asteroids are also called minor planets or "planetoids." They range in size from the smallest boulders, 3 feet across (1 m), to the largest asteroid, Ceres, which is nearly a quarter the size of Earth's moon (about 590 miles in diameter, or 950 kilometers). Ceres is so large, it received a promotion to the status of a dwarf planet in 2006, the same controversial distinction given to Pluto.

Most asteroids look like giant space potatoes, with their oblong shapes and surface that's pockmarked by numerous craters caused by collisions with other asteroids. Only a small number of asteroids are large enough that their gravity forms them into spheres, such as Ceres. The composition of asteroids range from dark, rocky clumps of rubble consisting of clay and silicate rocks to bright and solid amalgamations of metals such as iron or nickel, according to NASA.

Nearly all asteroids are found in a doughnut-shaped region between Mars and Jupiter, called the asteroid belt. The belt formed not long after the birth of Jupiter when the massive planet's gravity trapped planet-forming leftovers, causing them to collide with one another and form the millions of asteroids we see in the belt today.

For millennia, the sight of a comet elicited fear and awe. Ancient astronomers believed comets foretold the death of princes and the outcomes of wars. Modern astronomers know comets are the ice-clad leftovers from the material that formed our solar system billions of years ago.

Astronomer Fred Whipple was the first to describe comets as dirty snowballs, or icy conglomerates of frozen gases and dust. The snowball makes up the central nucleus of a comet, which is often less than a few miles across, according to NASA. When a comet nears the sun, the nucleus warms up and the ice begins to sublimate from solid to gas. This produces an atmosphere surrounding the comet that can grow to thousands of miles in diameter, called a coma. Radiation pressure from the sun blows away the dust particles in the coma to produce a long, bright dust tail. A second tail is formed when high-energy solar particles ionize the gas, creating a separate ion tail.

The difference between the composition of asteroids and comets is likely due to how and where they were born, wrote Britt Scharringhausen, a professor of astronomy at Beloit College in Wisconsin.

"While asteroids and comets did form at the same time, they did not form under quite the same conditions," Scharringhausen wrote. "The solar system formed from the solar nebula, a cloud of gas and dust. At the center of the nebula, the sun was being born through gravitational collapse. Because of this collapse, which releases heat, the central regions of the nebula were hotter and denser, while the outer regions were cooler."

Asteroids formed near the center of the hot nebula where only rock or metal remained solid under extreme temperatures. Comets formed beyond what's called the frost line, where it was cold enough for water and gases like carbon dioxide to freeze. Because of this, comets generally are found only in the far reaches of the solar system in two regions named the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.

Meteoroids are the true space rocks of the solar system. No larger than a meter in size (3.3 feet) and sometimes the size of a grain of dust, they are too small to be considered asteroids or comets, but many are the broken pieces of either. Some meteoroids originate from the ejected debris caused by impacts on planets or moons.

If meteoroids happen to cross paths with a planet's atmosphere, like Earth's, they become meteors. The fiery flash given off by meteors when they burn up in the atmosphere can appear brighter than the planet Venus, which is why they've earned the nickname "shooting stars," according to NASA. Scientists estimate more than 48 tons (43,500 kilograms) of meteoritic material falls to Earth every day. If a meteor survives its descent through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it's called a meteorite.

When Earth passes through the trail of debris left by a comet we're treated to the dazzling fireworks display of a meteor shower, where thousands of shooting stars can be seen in the night sky. The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most spectacular, occuring every year around Aug. 12. At its peak, 50 to 75 meteors can be seen per hour if the sky is clear. The Perseids are caused by the meteoroids broken off from Comet Swift-Tuttle.

These brilliant meteor showers serve as a reminder that despite the seemingly empty expanse of space, we're more closely connected to our solar system than we imagine.

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What's the Difference Between Asteroids, Comets and ...

Here's the lowdown on which comets will brighten our skies this year.

Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1), the most recent "Great Comet," photographed on January 23, 2007 from Western Australia. Wikipedia / Public domain

Comets have long been my favorite type of sky object. I'm a soft touch for their beauty and changeability. I like surprises, too. You never know exactly what to expect when you point telescope at one. Changes in brightness, color and tail length reveal just how dynamic these objects are. Fragilely composed of honeycombed dust and ice, a comet is liable to crumble into a beautiful mess at any moment, especially when passing near its nemesis, the Sun.

Each year I eagerly look forward to the next batch of returning comets and maybe a bright discovery or two. Some years are comet-rich. Others, we barely scrape by. If you think 2019 skimped on bright comets, you're right. But get ready for 2020 it may be even leaner.

Last year, amateur and professional astronomers discovered about 50 new comets (some still await confirmation), and recovered 17 returning visitors. Not a single one of the new discoveries was bright enough to see in amateur equipment, save for 2019's most famous visitor, interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. A few fortunate souls with 16-inch, and larger, telescopes scrounged up this 14.5-magnitude object in late December.

Ah, the good old days of naked-eye comets! 46P/Wirtanen (left) and the Pleiades star cluster on Dec. 16, 2018. Bob King

Bright comets in 2019 included 46P/Wirtanen a 5th magnitude holdover from 2018 and long-period Comet Iwamoto (C/2018 Y1), which reached 6th magnitude last February. Comet Africano (C/2018 W2) pulled through at a respectable 8th magnitude in late September, while Comets 38/Stephan-Oterma, PanSTARRS (C/2016 M1), 64P/Swift-Gehrels, and PanSTARRS (C/2017 T2) achieved magnitude 10.

In 2020 there'll be three relatively bright comets gracing the sky: PanSTARRS (C/2017 T2), 2P/Encke, and 88P/Howell. Encke's Comet will be visible only from the southern hemisphere within two months of its June 26 perihelion. Thanks to its short period (just 3.3 years) many amateurs have already seen this comet on multiple apparitions.

Comet 88P/Howell will reach 9th magnitude around perihelion on September 26, but for northern latitudes will be poorly placed low in the southwestern sky at dusk. Comet-hungry northerners should instead focus their attention on C/2017 T2, which peaks in May at around magnitude 8 as it plies the circumpolar sky. Let's face it. We desperately need another Hale-Bopp!

C/2017 T2 was discovered by the PanSTARRS-1 survey telescope back in October 2017. At the time the comet was nearly as distant as Saturn, and glowed feebly at magnitude 20. Astronomer Carl Hergenrother describes it as a dynamically new, long-period comet from the Oort Cloud, on its first trip around the Sun since the infancy of the solar system.

This sketch of Comet PanSTARRS made on Dec. 16.1 UT, 2019, while observing with a 15-inch Dobsonian reflector. The comet showed a 45 arc-second-wide coma with a bright, well-condensed nucleus and faint, southward-pointing tail. North is up.Bob King

Exotic forms of ice on these "fresh" comets often vaporize or sublimate at a great distance from the Sun, resulting in a sudden increase in brightness at first. But after the initial outburst, they're famous for fizzling. Do the names Kohoutek or ISON ring a bell? Both harken from the Oort Cloud and neither lived up to expectations.

Barring an unexpected outburst, T2 should glow at magnitude 8 around the time of its May 4 perihelion, and remain nearly that bright for the entire month as it travels from Camelopardalis to the Bowl of the Big Dipper. From a dark sky, the comet should be easily visible in 50mm binoculars and remain in view the entire night from mid-northern latitudes. Unless a new and brighter comet is discovered, T2 will be our best shot in 2020.

Comet PanSTARRS reveals a bright,pale blue coma and a short curving dust tail in this photo taken on January 13, 2020. Rolando Ligustri

Observers in the southern hemisphere should get their first look at the comet in late June when it appears low in the northern sky, in Canes Venatici. The comet sticks around through August, remaining as bright as magnitude 10.5 as it glides across southern Botes. For now, T2 is a small, condensed object of magnitude 9.5, with a silky, south-pointing tail about 2 long. An 8-inch scope will show the comet easily.

Comet PanSTARRS narrowly misses the Double Cluster later this month. Stars are plotted to magnitude 10.5 with the comet's position marked daily at 0h UT. To convert to EST, subtract 5 hours; 6 hours for CST, and so on. For example, 0h UT January 15 = 7 p.m. EST the previous evening, January 14. Click here for additional maps.Chart generated using SkyMap software

Astrophotography alert! The comet skirts the famed Double Cluster in Perseus from January 24th through the 29th, passing within about 0.5 of the cores of NGC 869 and NGC 884. Don't miss this striking double-double conjunction!

Comet 2P/Encke displayed a bright, emerald green coma and a long, skinny tail during its most recent apparition. This photo was taken on March 27. 2017.Gerald Rhemann

First seen by French astronomer Pierre Mchain, in 1786, Comet Encke was only recognized as a periodic comet in 1819, when German astronomer Johann Encke computed its orbit. Like Halley's Comet, Encke is named for the person who calculated its orbit rather than its discoverer. Enke's Comet has a period of just 3.3 years, and this year will mark its 64th apparition. I've seen it at nine returns starting in 1980 and most recently viewed it in 2017. In 2023, we can look forward to an apparition that'll be favorable for both northern and southern hemispheres.

Comet Encke may brighten to 7th magnitude for southern-hemisphere observers in July. The map depicts the view from Santiago, Chile. Stars are plotted to magnitude 6. Chart generated using SkyMap software

Perihelion this year occurs on June 26. By early July, skywatchers at southern latitudes will nab the comet shining around magnitude 7 to 8 as it crosses Cancer in evening twilight, passing just 15 south of the open cluster M67 on July 7. Moving rapidly eastward, the comet fades quickly, dimming to 11th magnitude by month's end.

Discovered by American astronomer Ellen Howell, in August 1981, this year's will be the comet's 9th observed return. Occasional close approaches to Jupiter have resulted in the comet's perihelion distance decreasing in recent decades. Amateurs may get their first look at 88P in early May as it emerges in Virgo, glowing weakly at magnitude 12. On May 20 it passes a mere 10 north of the close double star Gamma () Virginis, and on September 4, slides a similar distance south of globular cluster NGC 5897, in Libra.

88P/Howell takes a southern route, cutting across Libra and Scorpius when brightest in September and October. Stars plotted to magnitude 9.5. Chart generated using SkyMap software

Perihelion occurs on September 26 when 88P passes just 1 north of Antares, in Scorpius, and peaks at around 9th magnitude. Although the comet will be visible from mid-northern latitudes throughout autumn, itremains low in southwestern sky at twilight's end as it tracks across the southern constellations Ophiuchus and Sagittarius. Observers in the southern hemisphere will get the best views.

Go ahead, say it out loud with all the German accent you can muster SHVAS-maan VACH-maan. And don't forget to clear your throat on the "ACH." 29P/S-W is subject to unpredictable outbursts which can raise the comet's nominal magnitude 16 to as bright as 10.5. Though varying in brightness, several outbursts occur each apparition, which is the reason some amateurs (including me) have seen this comet on more returns than any other. Chances are it'll blow again in 2020.

Using special filtering techniques, this pair of images of Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann shows expanding shells of dust and gas (left) as well as jets of material shooting from the nucleus (right) during the object's October, 2008, outburst. Juan LaCruz / CC BY-SA 4.0

Each outburst provides an opportunity to see one of the most distant comets visible in amateur telescopes. 29P/S-W orbits between 5.7 and 6.2 a.u. from the Sun, tens of millions of kilometers beyond Jupiter. Dr. Richard Miles, Asteroids and Remote Planets section director for the British Astronomical Association, attributes the outbursts to pressurized pockets of carbon monoxide and methane that erupt explosively as cryovolcanoes from solar heating. If you happen to catch 29/S-W early in an outburst, it resembles a bright, compact planetary nebula. To keep tabs on it so you don't miss a blowup, subscribe to the Comets Mailing List or visit the ALPO Comet Blog or Seiichi Yoshida's Weekly Comets Update.

Gamma () Pegasi in the lower left corner of the Great Square will help point you to 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann this winter. Stars plotted to magnitude 11.5. Chart generated using SkyMap software

The comet currently locates in central Pisces and is well placed until the beginning of March. After its conjunction with the Sun in mid-April, 29P/S-W returns to the morning sky in late June in Aries. Its high declination will improve the visibility of even modest outbursts for northern-hemisphere skywatchers.

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Comets to Catch in 2020 - Sky & Telescope

An artist's depiction of a comet flying through the inner solar system

Space is so vast that it can be hard for a little comet to get noticed. In the case of one tiny Kreutz sungrazer, it was seen for the first time just before plunging headlong into the sun to be promptly vaporized.

Karl Battams, who runs NASA's Sungrazing Comets Project at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, shared the news via Twitter on Monday that the first new comet discovered in 2020 is already gone. Battams also shared some footage of its last moments from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, aka SOHO.

Kreutz sungrazersare a family of comets leftover from one massive comet that fragmented into hundreds of smaller bits centuries ago. A number of the mini-comets are spotted each year.

"It's actually quite unusual that it has taken 13 days for SOHO to find a comet," Battams told Spaceweather.com. "This is the furthest we've gone into a new calendar year without a discovery since 2008."

The yet-to-be-named comet (it might never get one now that it's gone) was noticed in the SOHO images by an amateur comet hunter in Thailand named Worachate Boonplod.

While this bold, nameless comet may be gone, there could soon be others to follow in its coma trail. In fact, Battams says it's likely that the second new comet of 2020 will also be a Kreutz sungrazer.

Link:

First new comet of 2020 crashes into sun just after being discovered - CNET

Arnold scores 26 to lead CHS to double-digit victory over Merrill

Fred Kelly, fred.kelly@mdn.net

MERRILL Coleman boys basketball coach Clark Swerdan wasnt entirely satisfied with his teams performance on Thursday. But he wasnt complaining not after getting a decisive conference win on the road.

The Comets started the game strong, finished the first half on a run to build a seven-point halftime lead, and then continued to pull away after the break to beat host Merrill 48-34 in Mid-State ActivitiesConferenceaction.

We had a big win last week, and I was kind of hoping that would springboard us (into the rest of the season), said Swerdan, whose Comets picked up a rare overtime victory over Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart a week earlier.

That was our first win against Sacred Heart in 12 or 15 years, so that was really nice, he added. Tonight, we didnt play our best, but, hey, anytime you get a double-digit win anywhere in the conference, thats great, especially on the road.

Coleman star senior forward Connor Arnold wasted no time in getting his team going, scoring the games first seven points, while the Vandals committed six early turnovers. Arnold scored 12 of his game-high 26 points in the opening quarter, but Merrill ended the period on a 12-7 run to cut CHSs lead to 14-12.

Coleman's Jaden Bovee reaches for the ball after it was knocked from his hands during a game against Merrill Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 at Merrill High School. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Coleman's Jaden Bovee reaches for the ball after it was knocked from his hands during a game against Merrill Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 at Merrill High School. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Photo: (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Coleman's Jaden Bovee reaches for the ball after it was knocked from his hands during a game against Merrill Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 at Merrill High School. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Coleman's Jaden Bovee reaches for the ball after it was knocked from his hands during a game against Merrill Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 at Merrill High School. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)

Comets soaring: Coleman boys notch another road win

Both teams struggled to score for most of the second quarter, but after a couple of lead changes, Coleman ended the half on an 8-0 spurt on a steal and layup by Dominic Beauchamp, a free throw by Beauchamp, a layup by Cash Goethals, and a 3-point play by Arnold off of a strong driving layup to give the Comets a 26-19 edge at the break.

We really moved the ball and were unselfish and played really good defense, said Swerdan. ... We just did a solid job of taking care of the ball, and our defense was our biggest asset tonight. We had guys getting after it defensively.

Coleman outscored the Vandals 11-5 in the third quarter to extend to a 37-24 advantage, and the Comets led by as many as 17 in the fourth.

Beauchamp had nine points and three steals for the Comets, while Kam DeVrieze had five rebounds, and Arnold finished with eight boards and three steals to go with his 26 points.

Logan Heath paced Merrill with 14 points, while Michael Buckley scored 10.

Swerdan said he wouldve liked to put the game out of reach sooner, but his team didnt shoot as as well, either from the floor or from the foul line, as it is capable of doing.

We moved the ball really well and got a lot of good looks, but we didnt shoot our best, he noted. We had a lot of good looks that just didnt fall, or else we couldve opened up the lead a little bit.

But it was still a pretty comfortable win, even though we didnt quite blow it open, he added. They (Merrill) were never really able to get it going.

Coleman (3-3 overall, 3-2 MSAC) will host Beaverton on Wednesday.

The Comets also won the junior varsity game, 41-31, behind 11 points by Ayden Ruhle and nine points by Konnor Carbeno.

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Comets soaring: Coleman boys notch another road win - Midland Daily News

UTICA Another day, another milestone for Justin Bailey.

With his mom in attendance Friday, the speedy Utica Comets forward notched his second hat trick in as many games and third career pro achievement in the last seven days.

Baileys impressive feat with assistance from a empty-netter late helped the Comets rally for a gutsy 6-3 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack for the second win in three days between the Eastern Conference teams.

"It has been a special week for sure," Bailey said. "You dont score goals by yourself, especially in pro hockey. ... As a whole, our team is doing a great job. It is obviously a really fun time for all of us."

According to the AHL, Bailey is the first player since 2011 to have hat tricks in consecutive games since Mark Mancari.

Baileys jaw-dropping stretch includes 13 goals and 17 points in his last 11 games. His 22 goals are tied with Reid Boucher for the team lead. Bailey and Boucher are among five Comets in the top 5 in the AHL in scoring.

The Comets are 3-1-0-0 on their season-long five-game homestand. The team is 12-8-2-1 at home this season.

The win pushed the Comets to 24-13-2-2 overall and two points ahead of idle Belleville in a tight North Division. The Comets play a total of six games over the next nine days before the All-Star break.

"Thats a really good team over there. To beat them back-to-back nights is great for our team and great for our morale," Bailey said. "It is a special night with my mom (Karen) in the building. ...You want to stay dialed in."

Kole Lind notched his 11th goal of the season and added two assists, including waiting to feed his linemate Bailey him on the empty-netter. Bailey said Lind is "like his little brother."

"Obviously, I told him right before we took the center-ice faceoff if the goalie comes out no matter if Im on a breakaway or what, skate up the ice because Im giving you the puck," Lind said with a laugh.

Olli Juolevi also had a goal and an assist, and Carter Camper added an empty-netter for the Comets, who had standout rookie defenseman Brogan Rafferty (undisclosed soreness) join veteran Sven Baertschi among the list of injured players to miss the game.

Trent Cull credited the effort of the teams defensemen, especially in the third period.

"It was any easy game," Cull said. "They were completely invested in that one."

Mike DiPietro totaled 20 saves on 21 shots in relief of Zane McIntyre, who allowed two goals on seven shots in the first period.

Nick Jones gave Hartford (23-10-3-5) a 1-0 lead with 11:24 left in the first period when his shot from top of the right circle got through a screen and past McIntyre following an extended possession in the Comets zone.

Then, Utica killed half of Linds four-minute high sticking infraction before Vinni Lettieris blast from the top of the left circle ended McIntyres night.

"Coach kept it pretty cool and calm on the bench," Bailey said. "We didnt panic and played our game."

With help from the forecheck, the Comets got some momentum late after Bailey forced a turnover and sent a feed to Lind, who fired from the right circle and past Tom McCollum with 1:16 left.

Utica carried the energy into the second period, tying it at 2 after Boucher sent a cross-ice feed to Juolevi, who scored his second of the season from the slot with 12:33 left. Nikolay Goldobins outlet pass helped set up the goal.

Bailey put the Comets ahead 3-2 on a nice individual effort, making move to get around Wolf Pack defenders and then put a perfectly placed shot in from the slot to end McCollums game with 7:28 remaining.

Shawn McBride tied the game at 3-3 less a minute later, putting in a rebound from the left side.

Bailey gave Utica the lead for good when he forced another turnover and quickly scored from the edge of the right circle with 3:24 remaining.

"I thought in the second period we got our forecheck rolling a little bit," Cull said. "I thought that created momentum for us."

The teams played a mostly even third period and Hartford pulled Adam Huska for an extra attacker and Camper put in a slow-rolling empty-netter with 2:26 to go.

Notes: The Comets called up Matt Petgrave from ECHL Brampton on Friday in part because of injuries to Rafferty and Dylan Blujus. Petgrave, who is on AHL deal, did not play. ... Ashton Sautner left the game late in the third period after blocking a few shots. ... Vincent Arseneau was injured with eight seconds remaining following a fight with Mason Geertsen. Arseneau got an instigator penalty, which carries an automatic one-game suspension.

Comets 6, Wolf Pack 3

Hartford 2 1 0 - 3

Utica 1 3 2 - 6

1st Period-1, Hartford, Jones 5 (Hajek), 8:36. 2, Hartford, Lettieri 18 (LoVerde, O'Regan), 11:50 (PP). 3, Utica, Lind 11 (Bailey), 18:44. Penalties-Lind Uti (double minor - high-sticking), 9:20; Malone Uti (hooking), 15:14.

2nd Period-4, Utica, Juolevi 2 (Boucher, Goldobin), 7:37. 5, Utica, Bailey 20 (Lind), 12:32. 6, Hartford, McBride 1 (Gropp), 13:31. 7, Utica, Bailey 21 16:16. Penalties-No Penalties

3rd Period-8, Utica, Camper 5 (Juolevi), 17:34 (EN). 9, Utica, Bailey 22 (Lind), 18:54 (EN). Penalties-served by Lettieri Hfd (bench minor - too many men), 4:53; Arseneau Uti (holding the stick), 7:38; Fogarty Hfd (interference), 9:24.

Shots on Goal-Hartford 10-13-5-28. Utica 5-12-11-28.

Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 1 / 4; Utica 0 / 2.

Goalies-Hartford, McCollum 0-1-1 (12 shots-9 saves); Huska 8-5-4 (14 shots-13 saves). Utica, McIntyre 11-7-2 (7 shots-5 saves); DiPietro 12-5-1 (21 shots-20 saves).

A-3,935

Referees-Mitch Dunning (43), Tim Mayer (19).

Linesmen-Tory Carissimo (54), Jason Brown (44).

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Another Bailey hat trick helps pace Comets past Wolf Pack - Utica Observer Dispatch

The Comets were led by Roisum, who finished with 30 points, while Mitch Heidecker had a big game with 26 points and 24 rebounds.

Ethan Wipf chipped in with 19 points for Rapid City Christian.

Hats off to Harding County, Courtney said. They played an outstanding basketball game and they shot the lights out. Coach Wammen does a great job with his kids and I have a great deal of respect for their program. We could not stop them, they just played a great game. I was really proud of our kids, we were down 12 or 13 in the fourth and we battled back.

Up next, Harding County (8-2) will travel to Bowman, N.D.., on Tuesday, while the Comets (6-1) will look to rebound when they play Madison in Presho on Saturday.

ST. THOMAS MORE 64, CUSTER 27: St. Thomas More led 44-17 at the half and remained unbeaten with a lopsided win over the Wildcats.

Caden Casey led the Cavs with 16 points, while Ryder Kirsch finished with 14 points.

Jace Kelley paced the Wildcats with 11 points.

St. Thomas More (8-0) will travel to Lead-Deadwood on Tuesday, while Custer (7-3) hosts Newell on Thursday.

WALL 68, EDGEMONT 43: The Eagles carried a 50-30 lead into the fourth quarter as it dropped the Moguls in the West River Tournament on Thursday.

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Ranchers hand Comets first loss in thriller | Sports - Rapid City Journal

Hubble Space Telescope image of Gault obtained February 5, 2019, showing the two tails. Courtesy NASA, ESA, Karen Meech and Jan Kleyna (University of Hawaii) and Olivier Hainaut (European Southern Observatory)Comet(6478) GaultsPerihelion: 2020 January 2.79, q = 1.859 AU

It has been obvious for several decades that the dividing line between comets and asteroids is, in a word, nebulous, and some facets of this will be explored in future Special Topics presentations. One group of objects that are included within this discussion were initially referred to as main belt comets, so called because they are objects traveling in near-circular orbits within the main asteroid belt that nevertheless have exhibited behavior typical of active comets. That term has now been largely supplanted by the term active asteroids, which among other things recognizes that there are objects under this umbrella that orbit outside the main asteroid belt. The activity exhibited by some of these objects does genuinely seem to be due to the sublimation of volatiles that is typical of comets, but the activity exhibited by other such objects appears to be due to various other mechanisms. The entire subject of active asteroids is the topic of a future Special Topics presentation.

One of the most dramatic examples of an active asteroid is an object discovered on May 12, 1988 and provisionally designated as 1988 JC1 by Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker during the course of their photographic survey for near-Earth asteroids conducted from Palomar Observatory in California. After several observations over the next few years including an accidental re-discovery from Catalina Observatory in Arizona in May 1995 it received the permanent number (6478) in July 1995, and in July 1999 it was officially named Gault in honor of planetary geologist Donald Gault who was an expert in impact and cratering processes on planetary bodies. Gault is apparently a stony-type asteroid approximately 4 km in diameter; it orbits within the inner regions of the main asteroid belt in a low-eccentricity orbit (0.19) with an orbital period of 3.50 years.

For the first two decades following its discovery Gault apparently behaved as a seemingly ordinary asteroid. However, on January 5, 2019, an image taken during the course of the ATLAS survey in Hawaii showed that Gault was accompanied by a bright, straight tail-like structure over two arcminutes long. Several images taken elsewhere, including a Las Cumbres Observatory image that I took on January 8, confirmed this feature, and in fact I measured it as being slightly over four arcminutes in length.

This tail remained relatively constant in appearance and brightness for the next few weeks, however in late January another tail, brighter than the first one, appeared to the north of the original tail and oriented about ten degrees in position angle relative to it. Numerous observatories around the world followed the development of this second tail, and in early February Gault was imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope.

Analysis of all the data about Gault does not indicate the presence of any gaseous emissions but instead indicates that the tails are composed entirely of dust. The Hubble data in particular suggests that the dust was ejected in October 2018 as a result of a rapid rotation, with this rapid rotation being due in turn to a phenomenon known as the Yarkovsky-OKeefe-RadzievskiiPaddack (YORP) effect, which is caused by scattering of sunlight impinging on planetary surfaces and by emission of thermal radiation. Ground-based infrared observations obtained in March 2019 indicate that Gault was changing color from reddish to bluish apparently due to sun-exposed red dust being spewed off by the rapid rotation and in turn exposing the bluer surface underneath.

On the other hand, a recent study conducted by a team led by Colin Chandler of Northern Arizona University of archived images taken by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile has revealed that Gault has been more-or-less undergoing sustained activity since September 2013 the activity shown in the images not being noticed at the times they were taken. This long period of sustained activity suggests at the very least that the mechanism driving the activity is complex, and may mean, in the words of Chandler and his colleagues, that Gault represents a new class of object, perpetually active due to rotational spin-up.

Gault was near opposition, and about 18th magnitude, around the time its activity was observed in early 2019. It has recently passed through perihelion but, having been in conjunction with the sun last November, is still low in the dawn sky for observations but should be accessible within another couple of months. When at opposition in late September it should be close to 17th magnitude. For what its worth, at the time of its next perihelion passage in early July 2023 Gault will be only one month past opposition and will be well placed for observation.

Ice and Stone 2020 Week 4 consists of two other articles:This Week in History: January 19-25Special Topic: Asteroid (433) Eros

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All of the Ice and Stone 2020 educational materials for Week 4 are available in a PDF format.CLICK HEREto download the content from any of the released weeks.

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Comet of the Week: (6478) Gault - RocketSTEM

UTICA Comets, come on down!

No, they arent the next contestants on the "The Price is Right," but a handful of Comets players have developed a ritual of getting together to watch the longtime game show.

The teammates spend many mornings bonding over the show before showcasing their own talents in showdowns against opposing American Hockey League teams.

"Obviously, we goof around and try to guess the price of the stuff and whats going to go on," said Lind, who is in the middle of an impressive standout second season with the Comets. "It is kind of cool that we have a TV show that we all watch together and can bond over, too."

The good-natured get-together among the 20-somethings isnt new this season, it extends back at least a couple years. A small group of Comets congregate around a TV at Aqua Vino Restaurant. The eatery is one of three managed by the Mohawk Valley Garden group, which is headed by Comets President Rob Esche.

In addition to Lind, the informal club includes Justin Bailey, Sven Baertschi, Dylan Blujus and Vincent Arseneau. Nikolay Goldobin also sometimes joins the group.

Theres a fair bit of banter between the players during the 60-minute show as they battle for bragging rights by correctly guessing the prices during the games.

"I just wing it. A couple guys will say $850 and Ill say $900," Bailey said with a smile following Tuesdays practice. "We just watch and try to guess what it is going to be and who is going to win. Just little things like that."

Bailey said he enjoys getting together with the other guys away from the rink and said he probably wouldnt watch the show outside of the group. Though, Lind who has been a frequent linemate of Baileys this season said the speedy forward gets into the show more than he might let on.

So, who among the group is the best at correctly guessing the prices?

"Me," Lind said jokingly. "It is all luck to be honest with you. (Bailey) is the worst, for sure."

Bailey noted that while it is a small group that watches the show, he believes the team as a whole is tight-knit this season.

That mindset along with an assortment of skilled players has helped the Comets (22-13-2-2 overall) remain near the top of a tight North Division. Entering a two-game challenge against Atlantic Division-leading Hartford, the Comets are in second place in the North and one point back of Belleville. The top five teams in the division are separated by five points. The Comets play seven games in the next nine days before the All-Star break.

"Ive been really proud of our players," said Comets coach Trent Cull, whose team is 6-3-1-0 in the last 10 games. "It is great that weve had some success, but I dont think anybody is getting too carried away with that. You see how tight our division is (with) how a good weekend puts you in good standing and a poor weekend puts you out of the playoffs. It is a tough division to play."

Things got a little more interesting Tuesday. Comets General Manager Ryan Johnson said forward Wacey Hamilton is out six to eight weeks with a broken foot after blocking a shot last weekend against Belleville. Baertschi (ankle sprain) is also not expected to play this week, leaving the Comets without two veterans who have recently helped form the top line with leading scorer Reid Boucher. The Comets are 18-5-1-2 with Baertschi in the lineup and 4-8-1-0 without him.

While Arseneau (lower-body) appears set to return from injury against Hartford, Blujus (chest) could be a possibility for the weekend. Seamus Malone (who participated Tuesday in a non-contact jersey) could return soon while Dyson Stevenson (ankle) and Francis Perron (eye) remain out. Perron wont return until after the All-Star break, Johnson said.

"We have to make sure as a staff were steady as she goes and try to better our group. Weve talked a lot about getting better every day," Cull said.

Richard Bachmans gear is going green. pic.twitter.com/A21eqztWVZ

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Game on: Comets bond through TV show - Utica Observer Dispatch

MAYFIELD Lady Comet Malle McGee swished in one last three as the buzzer sounded to end the All-Classic State Semifinals last night. Carlisle County fans cheered but it wasnt enough.

Despite Carlisles threes, the Murray High Lady Tigers defeated Carlisle County 47-33 and will be advancing to the finals on Saturday.

I knew they were capable of knocking down some threes, Lady Tiger head coach Tom Foust said. With that being said, I still wanted that to be their offense. I told our girls, If we can limit their offensive rebounds, thats whats going to put a good dent in their offense.

Fousts prediction was correct. Less than 20 seconds into the game, Lady Comet Kierra Whitaker shot a beautiful three. Fortunately, that was something Murray High had been prepared for.

The game plan was to let them shoot some threes, Foust said. They were going to hit some, and we were just going to have to live with it.

Two minutes later, junior Angela Gierhart shot a three of her own to bring the game to a tie at 3-3 with 5:55 left in the first quarter. Once senior Calli Carver shot for two, Murray High took the lead 5-3 and never looked back. By the end of the first half, the Lady Tigers were up 18-12, and they were able to stretch the game out to 47-30 before McGee shot her game-ending basket to make the game 47-33.

Not only did Murray High execute top-notch defense and control the Lady Comets offensive rebounds, but they also had Carver show up and show out. Before the game was over, Carver totaled 26 points.

Calli did what shes been doing, Foust said. She knows that when were struggling to shoot from outside a little bit that shes going to be the go-to inside, and shes really aggressive. She knows when we need her. She doesnt really take bad shots. Shes a really smart kid, and shell do whatever we need her to do either with rebounding or on a night like tonight where she carried us in scoring.

Carver is well known by Murray High opponents, which means she is often heavily guarded, but that doesnt stop this athlete from putting points on the board.

Most nights Callis going to be a primary target, Foust said. Even when people are face guarding her like they (the Lady Comets) were a little bit there at the end, shes a smart kid and knows how to work around that. Then she knows that she needs to be more of a screener, get other people involved. Everybody on the team fights for each other. That makes my job a lot easier.

Foust is overall pleased with the effort he saw from his girls last night but said they need to clean up some simple things before they compete on Saturday.

We had a couple of silly walks and a couple of illegal screens, he pointed out.

Next up, Murray High will take on Mayfield on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Lady Tigers have already competed against the Lady Cardinals once this season and came away victorious 45-36.

Weve played them already this year, Foust said. I dont think theyll be the same team that we saw last time. They were early in the year. They have some talented kids and good coaches. I have some film, so I have to go home and get back to work tonight. I expect quite a few changes.

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Carver shoots out of this world against Lady Comets - Murray Ledger and Times

Kansas City Comets vs Milwaukee Wave

When: Friday, January 17th, 2020 at 7:05 PM CT

Where: Silverstein Eye Centers Arena, Independence, Missouri

How to Watch/Stream: Masl.tv/YouTube

The Kansas City Comets will welcome in the Milwaukee Wave for the second time this month, after the Wave ran away with it in the fourth quarter in an 8-3 Wave win earlier this month.

The 2019 Ron Newman Cup champions enter Fridays showdown with 6-2 record. Led by head coach Giuliano Oliveiro, both losses for the Wave came on their own territory, losing to the Florida Tropics and most recently suffering a devastating overtime defeat after an incredible, yet unsurprising comeback against the St. Louis Ambush on January 12th.

While the Wave will continue without goalkeeper Josh Lemos, Rafa Dias has had a mostly good season stepping in for Lemos, who remains out with a torn ACL. The Wave will also be without Jonathan Santos, who was traded to the St. Louis Ambush for a player to be named later. While they are now without two key figures for them last season, they still are a very talented squad, with an offensive explosion from Luan Oliveira, who has scored 13 goals in eight games this season.

The Wave, who sit second in the Eastern Conference with a 6-2 record, can afford to lose a couple games and still make the playoffs, but the Comets, who sit seventh in the East with a 4-5 record (top four teams from both conferences qualify for the playoffs), must enter every game expecting a win.

Kansas City comes fresh from a 14-6 victory over the Orlando SeaWolves on January 10th, a game in which Kevin Ellis returned to the scoresheet with five goals. The Comets are led by Leo Gibson, who is tied with Milwaukees 2019 MASL MVP Ian Bennett as the Eastern Conferences second highest scorer with 14 goals.

While the Wave have won 11 of the last 12 meeting against the Comets, Kansas City played a promising opening three quarters without some of their best players despite the ending scoreline showing 8-3 in favor of Milwaukee. With players like John Sosa, Stefan Stokic, Lucas Rodriguez, Ray Saari, and a confident Kevin Ellis, the Comets might be able to leave Fridays match with a win.

Another thing to consider is that these two teams meet again on Monday in Milwaukee. It will be interesting to see how head coach Leo Gibson approaches these next two games, whether he puts his best possible squad out there as long as they are in the game or if he might be more conservative in how many minutes players log. Expecting a holiday weekend sweep of the Wave would be a very tall task, so I would play my best possible squad on Friday which would require a win, and hope to put a decent lineup together for Mondays trip to Milwaukee.

In order to get a win, the team must remain focused and patient, as the Wave will capitalize on mistakes and bring the MASLs strongest defense to Silverstein Eye Centers Arena, which has given up just 29 goals this season. They cant afford to give much space to lethal players like Ian Bennett, Luan Oliveira, and Alex Bradley, who combined to score seven of the teams eight goals, and was directly involved in all eight goals against the Comets in their last meeting. The Comets also must remain balanced and avoid quick counter attacks against a dangerous Milwaukee team, which the return of John Sosa will help with.

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Comets look to turn tide against Wave - The Blue Testament

A strong defensive and offensive push over the first nine minutes of the game put the Halifax County High School varsity boys basketball team on the path to a runaway 72-49 win over Patrick County High School Tuesday night at Halifax County High School.

Tuesday nights win in the Piedmont District contest gave the undefeated Comets their 12th straight win and improved their record in Piedmont District play to 5-0.

The Comets, using a stifling pressure defense to trigger their offensive opportunities, took the lead on a basket from Kameron Roberts with 4:11 left in the first quarter. Roberts basket kicked off a run of 22 unanswered points by the Comets that produced a 26-4 lead in the first minute of the second quarter. Patrick County High School never recovered.

We came out of the gate really well defensively, holding them (Patrick County High School) to four points in the first quarter, which allowed a lot of guys to get playing time, said Comets head coach Sterling Williams.

The first five guys really came out with a lot of intensity and a lot of fire, and the lead opened up real quick. We were able to cruise the rest of the way.

Halifax County High School had nine players to score, with four of them reaching double figures. Kevon Ferrell led the Comets with 13 points, all of them coming in the first half. Jaden Waller and Isaiah Hubbard followed with 11 points each, and Roberts finished the night with 10 points.

Davon Jennings was next in line with seven points, Keshawn Wells and William Davis pitched in five points each, Adam Palmer scored three points, and Drew Russell scored two points.

It was a good team win, a good game to get everybody involved, Williams pointed out.

It was good for Isaiah Hubbard, who was our second-leading scorer. We had four guys in double figures, and a bunch of guys coming off of the bench scoring. It was a good night.

Halifax County High Schools 22-0 run early in the first half included a trio of 3-point baskets and a free throw from Ferrell, two baskets from Jennings, a basket and two free throws from Waller, and a basket each from Roberts and Wells.

The Comets led 46-23 at halftime, held the same 23-point edge at the end of the third quarter with a 60-37 score, and led by a game-high margin of 28 points when Russell drained a shot with 4:34 left in the game.

Halifax County High School had its best night of shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. The Comets sank 11 of 31 attempts from 3-point land, with Ferrell hitting four long balls and Hubbard draining three to lead in that effort.

It was good to see the ball go in the basket from behind the arc, Williams remarked.

They (Patrick County High School) were playing zone the whole game, and we were able to get open shots, open threes, and we were able to knock them down.

The Comets pressure defense more than did its job, as the Comets forced the Cougars into 24 turnovers. By contrast, the Comets had only nine turnovers in the game.

With Tuesday nights win being a good overall team win, Williams was able to give reserves a good deal of playing time and rest his top seven players. Tuesday nights game was the first of three games the Comets are slated to play this week. The Comets were scheduled to go on the road to face Prince Edward County High School on Wednesday night, and face Magna Vista High School at home on Friday night in a Piedmont District contest.

Those first five to seven guys in our rotation didnt play many minutes, Williams noted.

They started each quarter and filtered out. It was a good game to have everybody involved.

Halifax County High Schools TyShawn Medley (22) scoops up a loose ball after knocking it away from a Patrick County High School player during Tuesday nights Piedmont District game at Halifax County High School.

Halifax County High Schools Kevon Ferrell (15) attempts to grab a rebound during Tuesday nights Piedmont District game against Patrick County High School at Halifax County High School. Ferrell led the Comets in scoring in the game.

Halifax County High Schools Isaiah Hubbard (50) steals the ball from Patrick County High Schools Jonathan Norman (11) during the second half of Tuesday nights Piedmont District game at Halifax County High School.

Halifax County High Schools Jaden Waller (4) leaps to block the shot of a Patrick County High School player during the second half of Tuesday nights Piedmont District game at Halifax County High School.

Halifax County High Schools Kameron Roberts (14) leaps between a pair of Patrick County High School players to attempt to haul in a rebound during the second half of Tuesday nights Piedmont District game at Halifax County High School.

Halifax County High Schools Keshawn Wells (10) splits a pair of Patrick County High School players as he goes in for a layup during the first half of Tuesday nights Piedmont District game at Halifax County High School.

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Comets cruise to 72-49 win over Patrick Co. HS - YourGV.com

With playoffs around the corner, the last tournament for area teams is usually the Stephens County Tournament and the Velma-Alma Comets are trying to repeat as champions in 2020.

In the history of the Stephens County Tournament there has only been 18 instances in the 89 year history where a repeat champion has occurred and the No. 2 seed Marlow is the recent in 2017 & 2018.

The No.3 seed and host Comanche will look to continue their streak of championship game appearances as they have six in a row and are currently looking for their seventh in 2020.

Davis and Waurika will be the No.4 and No. 5 seeds, Empire is the No.6 seed, Central High will be the No.7 seed and the No.8 seed is the Bray-Doyle Donkeys.

On the boys side of the bracket the first round will be held Tuesday, Jan. 21, the semi-finals on Thursday Jan. 23 and the consolation semi-finals on Friday Jan. 24 followed by championship Saturday on Jan. 25.

Games will begin 30 minutes earlier on the first day as it was voted by the Stephens County coaches to get the earlier start to begin the tournament.

No. 4 Davis Wolves (4-6) vs. No. 5 Waurika Eagles (9-5), 4 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 21

Davis comes into the tournament with a two game winning streak and maybe three games if they can beat Washington Friday evening in their final game before the Stephens County Tournament.

Waurika will be facing the Empire Bulldogs in their final game before the annual Stephens County Tournament. This will be the first time that Davis and Waurika meet up in the 2019-2020 season.

No. 1 Velma-Alma Comets (11-2) vs. No. 8 Bray-Doyle Donkeys (0-11), 5:20 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 21

Velma-Alma is one of the top ranked teams in Class A and will be the top ranked team heading into the defense of their title from a year ago against the Bray-Doyle Donkeys.

The Comets won their most recent game against Empire in big fashion while the Donkeys will be searching for their first win of the year after losing to Turner this past Tuesday.

The next game for Velma-Alma before the tournament is when they host Elmore City-Pernell as they try for their 12th victory of the season.

No. 2 Marlow Outlaws (7-5) vs. No. 7 Central High Bronchos (3-10), 6:40 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 21

Marlow will try and get back into the championship game of the Stephens County Tournament and will have Central High to start off the first round of the tournament.

The Outlaws are currently 7-5 on the year after beating Bridge Creek this past Tuesday 81-45 with four Marlow players being in double digits.

Jace Gilbert had 16 while Josiah Johnson had 14, Jamison Holland had 13 and Blake Harris had 11 with the rest of the scoring spread out between six other players.

Central High had a tough road test this past Tuesday losing to Class A No. 3 Ft. Cobb-Broxton 65-32 with the Bronchos still looking for their first win of the 2020 calendar year.

The Bronchos will host Ringling in their final game before the Stephens County Tournament while Marlow will travel to Purcell in the final tune-up before the 89th Annual tournament.

No. 3 Comanche Indians (6-5) vs. No. 6 Empire Bulldogs (6-7), 8 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 21

The final first round game of the Stephens County boys tournament will see the host Indians have a rematch against the Empire Bulldogs who faced each other earlier this season.

Comanche got the 67-30 victory over Empire in their second game of the season and most recently beat Dickson 55-39 to be one game above the .500 mark for the year.

Empires most recent game was a loss to Velma-Alma and their last victory was at Chesapeake Arena against Ryan as they have lost four straight looking to face another Stephens County Tournament mate in their next game.

The Bulldogs will host Waurika while Comanche will travel to Sulphur to try and finish up the last game before the Stephens County Tournament.

Full coverage of the 89th Annual Stephens County Tournament will be on The Duncan Banner website and in several editions of The Duncan Banner next week.

The following is the full schedule for the tournament that will be held at Comanche High School.

Tournament Schedule:

Game 1: Davis vs. Waurika - 4 p.m. Jan. 21

Game 2: Velma-Alma vs. Bray-Doyle - 5:20 p.m. Jan. 21

Game 3: Marlow vs. Central High - 6:40 p.m. Jan. 21

Game 4: Comanche vs. Empire - 8 p.m. Jan. 21

Game 5: Semi-Final #1 - 5:20 p.m. Jan. 23

Game 6: Semi-Final #2 - 8 p.m. Jan. 23

Game 7: Consolation Semi-Final #1 - 5:20 p.m. Jan. 24

Game 8: Consolation Semi-Final #2 - 8 p.m. Jan. 24

Game 9: Consolation Championship- 12:30 p.m. Jan. 25

Game 10: Third-Place Game- 3:30 p.m. Jan. 25

Game 11: Championship Game - 8 p.m. Jan. 25

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Comets trying to repeat as champs - Duncan Banner

After three quarters of edge-of-your-seat arena soccer, the Milwaukee Wave ran out victorious with a big final 15 minutes to hand the Comets their fifth loss of the season by a score of 8-3 in front of 5,126 fans, which is the second largest home crowd in team history (2010-Present). This puts the Comets average attendance at 4,235, which is second in the entire league after finishing last season in 12th place with an average attendance of 1,988.

The Comets entered Saturdays match without John Sosa, Adam James, and Ray Saari, and Mark Saxby, who watched on the bench as Lou Misner got his third career start.

Milwaukee scored the only goal of the first quarter, as Luan Oliviera scored on the powerplay. Leo Gibson leveled the score for the Comets at 1-1, capitalizing on a bad error by Wave keeper Rafa Dias. Milwaukee quickly retook the lead after Alex Bradley fired in his fourth goal of the season. After a pretty calm opening 25 minutes, the referees were the subject of attention in the closing minutes after a couple questionable calls and an incident between Ray Lee, Max Ferdinand, and Angel Curiel that caused a little brawl.

Ian Bennett added a third for the Wave, assisted by Marcio Leite on the powerplay to make it 3-1 Wave. Robert Palmer assisted Stefan Stokic to bring the Comets back within a goal, as Stokic scored his first goal since December of 2018. Alex Bradley scored another couple to complete his hat trick to give Milwaukee the 5-2 advantage in the fourth period. Ian Bennett added his second of the evening to make it 6-2 against the Comets sixth attacker. Gibson scored his second of the night late in the fourth to make it 6-3. Bennett finished his eighth career hat trick against the Comets and another goal from Isaac Pereyra put the final scoreline at 8-3 as the Wave handed the Comets their first home loss of the season and remained undefeated on the road this season.

The Comets drop to 3-5 and have lost two straight while Giuliano Oliviero and the Wave improve to 6-1 and have now gone five without facing defeat.

After a very good first three quarters, especially without Sosa, James, Saari, Saxby, and an injury to Lucas Rodriguez in the first quarter as Stefan Stokic picked up another injury in the second half, the Comets tired legs collapsed as they chased to draw level. The Wave showed why they are the defending champions, as they capitalized on Comets mistakes both mentally (giving Milwaukee two preventable first half powerplay goals) and physical mistakes.

Although Lou Misner stepped up again with some good saves, his distribution was poor. The Comets third keeper of the season had too many misplaced passes either to the other team or fired out of bounds, which made it difficult at times for the Comets to build from the back and retain possession. In Kevin Ellis first game back with the Comets, he picked up a decent amount of minutes, but wasnt hugely effective.

No loss is a good loss, but it is a loss that head coach Leo Gibson should be able to live with. The Comets hung with the champions for the first three quarters, which is always a good sign. This was certainly a loss in which good things can be taken from, but also plenty to learn from, especially when it comes to getting frustrated. The Wave maintained calm heads the entire match, which ended up being the difference between the two sides.

The Comets return to action next Friday, January 17th, when they welcome the Orlando SeaWolves to Silverstein Eye Centers Arena for the first time this season.

Elsewhere around the MASL, former Comet Alex Megson scored a sensational bicycle kick as the Tacoma Stars defeated the Mesquite Outlaws by a score of 8-5.

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Wave finish strong to beat depleted Kansas City Comets - The Blue Testament

Rapid City Christian senior guard Payton Causey drives for two points in the first quarter of Friday night's win over Hill City.

Rapid City Christian junior Sam Schlabach is fouled as he drives to the basket Friday night against Hill City.

Rapid City Christian boys' basketball coach Kyle Courtney couldnt have asked for much more from his Comets during their 80-27 win over Hill City Friday night at Hart Ranch.

Courtneys squad played tough, pressing defense, forcing 15 first-half turnovers to take early control of the game. Christian was efficient with its shots and unselfish on the offensive end of the floor, with 10 Comets reaching the scoring column against a young Rangers squad.

By the time the game wrapped up, Christian had a fourth quality all-court game under its belt heading into a tough stretch of contests over the next two-plus weeks that starts Jan. 9 at Wall and ends Jan. 21 with a home game with Red Cloud. In between, the Comets will face Madison in a make-up game lost in December due to inclement weather.

Were a pretty veteran group, Courtney said. My starting five have been playing varsity ball for a while now, and weve got some good young players. Weve got some ability. The challenge is always playing up to your potential.

The Comets made it look easy Friday.

A stifling press and the ability to play both zone and man defenses interchangeably kept the Rangers from getting into their offensive sets most trips down the floor. Eight turnovers in the first quarter led to a 24-7 lead by the end of eight minutes of play. Christian turned over Hill City seven more times in the second quarter and led 45-10 at halftime.

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Balanced Comets sparkle in win over Rangers - Rapid City Journal

Ultraviolet image of Comet Machholz taken by NASAs GALaxy Evolution EXplorer (GALEX) spacecraft on March 1, 2005. The purple represents the hydroxyl molecule (OH) and the yellow represents the molecule CS. Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Washington/Jeffrey Morgenthaler.Comet Machholz C/2004 Q2s Perihelion: 2005 January 24.91, q = 1.205 AU

Beginning with French astronomer Charles Messier and his contemporaries in the mid- to late 18th Century, the vast majority of comets were discovered visually by amateur astronomers who regularly swept the skies looking for these objects. While this means of comet discovery began to be supplanted by photographic patrol programs in the early 20th Century, the visual hunters continued to Anhold their own for the next several decades. It was only when the CCD-based survey programs, which cover the sky extensively every month and are able to detect incoming comets when they are still too faint to be detected visually, became operational near the end of the 20th Century that visual comet discoveries essentially became a lost art. Only a handful of such discoveries have been made since the beginning of the 21st Century.

One of the most successful comet hunters of recent times is American amateur astronomer Don Machholz, a long-time resident of California who resided near San Jose and then relocated to Colfax (near Sacramento) in the early 1990s. Don, whom I have known personally for many years and consider a good friend, began his comet-hunting efforts at the beginning of 1975. If there is any one characteristic that embodies a successful comet hunter, it is perseverance, and Don truly exemplifies this: while the conventional wisdom is that a comet is discovered, on average, after 200 to 300 hours of searching, Don put in 1700 hours before making his first discovery in September 1978.

As of now Don has discovered a total of 12 comets. Most of these have been rather nondescript objects, however, two of them are short-period comets that have turned out to be quite interesting: 96P/Macholz 1 (discovered in May 1986) has a very small perihelion distance (0.13 AU) and appears to be related to several inner-solar system phenomena including meteor showers and groups of small comets that have been detected by the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft; and 141P/Machholz 2 (discovered in August 1994) has been accompanied on some of its returns by various companion comets that have apparently come about as a result of fragmenting of its nucleus. This latter comet returns to perihelion, under relatively favorable viewing conditions, late this year.

Don discovered his 10th comet, and what would be his best one, on the morning of August 27, 2004, a discovery that took place almost ten years after his previous one and which, remarkably, took place in the teeth of the comprehensive surveys that were already operating. The comet was around 11th magnitude when discovered, but brightened steadily over the coming weeks as it approached the sun and Earth, and by the latter part of November had become visible to the unaided eye from dark rural sites.

Comet Machholz was at its best in early January 2005, when it passed 0.35 AU from Earth on the 5th and passed two degrees west of the Pleiades star cluster (M45) going from south to north just a couple of days later. At that time the comet was slightly brighter than 4th magnitude and exhibited a coma half a degree in diameter; it also exhibited a faint ion tail up to two degrees long (visually) and a fainter, shorter dust tail.

After its passage by the Pleiades the comet remained detectable with the unaided eye until early March, at which time it was also passing five degrees from the North Celestial Pole. It continued fading after that, and I was able to follow it visually until the end of August, just beyond the one-year anniversary of its discovery.

Since that time Don has continued his visual comet hunting, and despite the competition from the comprehensive surveys he has managed to discover two more, a faint one in March 2010 and a somewhat brighter one as recently as November 2018. This latter one, which was independently discovered by two Japanese amateur astronomers using CCDs, is known as Comet Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto C/2018 V1 and became slightly brighter than 9th magnitude as it approached perihelion in early December of that year. It was the first visual comet discovery in over eight years and shows that, perhaps, visual comet discovery may not entirely be a dead practice yet. Don, who is now 67 years old and who recently relocated to rural northwestern Arizona, continues to hunt for new comets, and, who knows? There conceivably could still be more Comets Machholz to come . . .

Ice and Stone 2020 Week Two consists of two other articles:

This Week in History: January 5-11

Special Topic: Near-Earth asteroids

Return to home page for Ice and Stone 2020

All of the Ice and Stone 2020 educational materials for Week Two are available in a PDF format.CLICK HERE to download the file.

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Comet of the Week: Machholz C/2004 Q2 - RocketSTEM

Union Pines split with Asheboro Friday in non-conference basketball action.

The Viking boys grabbed a 54-49 overtime win while the Viking girls fell 70-61 to the Blue Comets.

In the boys game, the Vikings outscored the Blue Comets 8-3 in overtime to improve to 6-8 this season.

The Vikings used a balanced scoring attack, getting points from seven players, including three in double figures, in getting the win.

Isaiah Robbins led the way with 14 points while teammates Tyreek McCoy and Jalen Eberhart added 10 points each.

Other Viking scorers included Archie Chandler with seven and Ahmad Jones and Jacob Bowbliss with five each. Stevenson Haskell added three for the Vikes.

In the girls game, the Blue Comets used a big third quarter and the dynamic duo of Tanaesha Ellison and Diamond McDowell, who combined for 60 of Asheboros 70 points.

Ellison finished with 32 and McDowell with 28 for the Blue Comets, who are now 9-4 overall.

Union Pines led 39-37 at the half, but the Blue Comets outscored the Vikings 23-9 in the third quarter to take control of the contest.

Emily Bowbliss led the Vikings, now 8-6 overall, with 20 points. Emma Ring and Kaley Evans had 10 each, Sara Adams nine and Molly Schmitz had eight.

Union Pines starts Tri-County 6 Conference play Friday when the Vikings travel to Harnett Central for a doubleheader.

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Vikings Split With Comets | Sports - Southern Pines Pilot

Kameron Roberts said he and his Halifax County High School teammates had not had the best of practices following the Comets' championship run in the Gazette-Virginian Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament at Halifax County High School.

"We had had a bad practice week," Roberts said.

"We knew we had to play better."

The Comets definitely did that.

Breaking apart Martinsville High School's zone defense and staging a strong defensive effort of its own, Halifax County High School grabbed a 15-point lead in the first quarter and went on to defeat the Bulldogs 73-51 in Friday night's Piedmont District game at Halifax County High School.

Friday night's win improved the Comets' record to 8-0 overall and 2-0 in Piedmont District play. The district wins are against GW and Martinsville High School, the teams most observers felt would be the chief challengers for the regular-season district title along with the Comets. Martinsville High School dropped to 4-4 overall with the loss.

Comets head coach Sterling Williams said he was pleased with how his team responded after not having had a good series of post-tournament practice sessions.

"I felt our focus (in practice) could have been better," said Williams, "but we came out in the first half and played really well, scoring 24 points in that first quarter. This team is kind of young, and when you have that many days off during the (holiday) break, and you're the only team that is practicing, it's a little bit different, especially when you have a district game on one of those days against Martinsville, which is a really good ballclub."

The Comets had four players to reach double figures in scoring, with Roberts leading the team with a game-high 23 points. Jaden Waller followed with 17 points, Zach Carter tallied 11 points and Davon Jennings chipped in 10 points.

Kevon Ferrell was next in line with seven points, Keshawn Wells scored three points and Amoa Jones had two points.

One of the keys to the Comets' win was their ability to break down Martinsville High School's zone defense in the first half with a combination of points in the paint and in transition, as well as hitting a trio of 3-pointers.

"This week gave us a chance to prepare for the zone defense," Williams pointed out.

"We had seen it a couple of times. Person High School had played it against us, and Prince Edward County High School had played it a little bit. We had been handling it pretty well. Tonight was really good. We had a really good first quarter, and a really good start to the fourth quarter. They (Martinsville High School) had to go man-to-man, and we were able to run our "man" offense."

Aided by a technical foul against the Bulldogs that occurred prior to the start of the game, the Comets jumped out to a 5-0 lead in just over a minute. Later, leading 7-4, the Comets went on a 12-0 run that included three baskets from Jennings to go up 19-4 with 3:23 left in the opening quarter. A 3-pointer from Waller with 10.4 seconds left in the quarter gave the Comets a 24-12 edge.

The Comets went on to lead by as many as 17 points in the second quarter before taking a 36-25 lead into the halftime break.

Martinsville High School closed the gap to eight points when Troy Brandon hit a pair of free throws with 4:17 left in the third quarter, and pulled to within seven points when Brandon canned a 3-pointer with 2:04 left in the third period.

A three-point play from Carter with 1:27 left in the period put the Comets back up by 10 points at 49-39. Two free throws from Roberts and a basket from Carter in the final 59 seconds of the period gave the Comets a 53-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Comets took full control of the game with a 10-0 run in the first 1:29 of the fourth quarter. A pair of 3-pointers from Roberts, a layup from Waller after a steal, and a layup from Ferrell in transition gave the Comets a 63-41 lead. Martinsville High School never recovered.

Defensively, the Comets were solid, with 16 points being the most points Martinsville High School scored in any quarter.

"Defense was where the game was won," Williams remarked.

"Keeping those guys (Martinsville High School) out of the lane was big. Troy (Brandon) and 35 (Jaheim Niblett) are really good players. They can create their own shot at any time. Niblett did that in the first half. He really got off, and then Troy kind of took over the second half. We did a good job of not letting the other guys score and hurt us, forcing them to take tough shots. We also did a decent job of rebounding the basketball."

Brandon led the Bulldogs in scoring with 22 points, 14 of which he scored in the second half. Niblett followed with 14 points, six of which he scored in the second quarter. Jalil Martin was next in line with 11 points.

Halifax County High School's Jaden Waller (4) is all alone as he sails to the basket for an easy dunk during the second half of Friday night's Piedmont District game against Martinsville High School at Halifax County High School. Waller scored 17 points in the game.

Halifax County High School's Zach Carter (44) leaps between a pair of Martinsville High School players to grab a rebound during the second half of Friday night's Piedmont District game at Halifax County High School.

Halifax County High School's Jhamad Lawson (5) attempts to flip the ball up to the basket out of the reach of Martinsville High School's Jaheim Niblett (35) during the first half of Friday night's Piedmont District game at Halifax County High School.

Halifax County High School's Kameron Roberts (14) fires up a shot over Martinsville High School's Jaheim Niblett (35) to score two of his game-high 23 points in Friday night's Piedmont District game at Halifax County High School.

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HCHS shatters Martinsville's zone defense in 73-51 win; improve to 8-0 on the season - YourGV.com

Kansas City Comets at St. Louis Ambush

When: Tuesday, December 31st, 2019 at 3:05 PM CT

Where: The Family Arena, St. Charles, Missouri

How to Watch/Stream: Masl.tv/YouTube

The Kansas City Comets will end the year with a visit to their closest rival, the St. Louis Ambush, on New Years Eve.

Having already met twice this season, the Comets won their home opener in November and the Ambush had an overtime win earlier this month. Tuesdays game will be the second of three visits to The Family Arena this season Leo Gibsons side.

The Ambush enter the game with a 2-3 record, coming off their second victory of the season over the Tacoma Stars. Led by head coach Hewerton Moreira, the Ambush have had players step up after losing several key players last season as Tony Walls leads the team with nine points in five games with six goals and three assists. Former Comet Stefan St. Louis is still searching for his first goal of the season, while another former Comet Andre Braithwaite opened his scoring account with the Ambush in Fridays victory over the Stars.

The Comets also come off a victory over the Tacoma Stars. Leo Gibson has already racked up 14 points from seven goals and seven assists, but Ray Lee is fresh from his first ever hat trick for the Comets. Lou Misner might get his first road start on Tuesday, as Mark Saxby is questionable.

The Comets will look to keep the momentum going from Saturdays win into Tuesdays match with the first game of 2020 on Saturday against the Milwaukee Wave looming.

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Kansas City Comets end 2019 with New Years Eve clash in St. Louis - The Blue Testament