St. James softball returns everyone from a season ago

Angelique McNaughton, Special to the Dispatch

March 31, 2014

 

St. James Academy’s girls softball program is attempting to pick up where it left off after a somewhat difficult 2013.

“Last year was a rebuilding year for us and it was difficult not just because of that but because of the weather,” coach Kerri Elstun said. “We weren’t necessarily young, but we lost four girls and we didn’t even get all of our games in.

“But the girls definitely rose to the occasion,” Elstun said of her squad who went 6-8, after losing to Blue Valley West High in the regional game.

This season, the Thunder have everyone returning from the varsity squad, including some newcomers.

“I’ve also added a couple freshman to the mix which is obviously great for our team because we will have a little more depth this year,“ Elstun said.

The six seniors who will make up varsity this year are: Cidney Barrick, Caroline Lipp, Machaela Geither, Kaelin Walsh, Becca Sapp and Haley Bumgarner.

Lipp and Barrick are Elstun’s two seniors who have started all four years and will serve as team captains for the Lady Thunder.

Last season, Lipp, who signed to play with Rockhurst next year, hit over .600 and Elstun touts as a “very solid all around player.”

In the past, Lipp has been behind the plate and will more than likely continue to play catcher or shortstop.

“I’m really excited thinking about this as my last year playing at St. James and I want to give it my all with the girls so that we can make it to state hopefully again,” Lipp said. “This year, we have a really good turnout and I think we are going to be pretty decent. I’m just really excited to get the season started and to see what everyone can contribute to the team.”

Starting pitcher Barrick looks to have a huge impact this season both defensively and offensively, Elstun said. Freshman Katie Coens will back up Barrick on the mound.

“She’s been a pitcher for me for four years and can play other positions as well,” she said. “We’ve also seen a lot of power in her hitting.”

Barrick said with the addition of some underclassman, she is “really excited going into this year and for what’s hopefully to come.”

This will be Barrick’s final season not only with the Lady Thunder but with the sport in general, as the senior said she has opted not to pursue the sport post graduation.

“It’s definitely bittersweet,“ she said. “But I would love to go out with a bang and be like, ‘We took first in state my senior year‘.”

Starting shortstop and De Soto High-transfer Walsh looks to return her senior year after sitting out most of her junior season following a winter accident that left her with a broken leg. She played some third base for SJA, but will make more of an impact this season at shortstop.

For the second year in a row, Geither joins sisters and fellow starters Caroline and the Lady Thunder’s lone junior Gabby.

With so much versatility and experience, Elstun said she expects the team will be able to “pick up where we left off last year.”

“I don’t expect anything but progress,” she said. “We do have a tougher schedule this year but I made it like that because I want these girls to be ready for whatever 5A is going to throw at us.”

The Thunder’s season opens April 1 at Eudora and Elstun said as long as the weather cooperates in the next few weeks, her squad will be ready.

“I’m excited to watch these six seniors start their season and I’m anxious to see how they finish their tenure here,” Elstun said. “I mean, this season is about them and half my squad, most of them have been with me from the get go so I’m probably more emotional since I am already thinking of how I’m going to have to say goodbye to these girls who have really made an impact on me and this program.

“They are not they best softball players around but they are good players an they will work hard and they will succeed,” she said.

New coach, new season, new expectations for Braves baseball

Angelique McNaughton, Special to the Chieftain

March 26, 2014

At the beginning of the school year, Adam Loecker had no idea that he would eventually be taking over the Bonner Springs High boys baseball program as the head coach when the season started.

Former coach Scott Lero resigned in the middle of the school year leaving the position up for grabs.

Loecker was already in the district and had joined on with the program last summer but he would have his hands full. As a first year coach, he was picking up a struggling program that had went 2-18 in 2013.

“Actually, it’s motivating because of the fact that I can actually do something to make an impact on the program because we can always go up,” he said. “We are kind of at the bottom of the barrel right now and the only thing that we can do is go up.”

Fortunately for Loecker, the transition’s gone smoothly.

“I don’t think it has been difficult,” he said. “They are willing to listen and learn because you know, new coach, new standards, different philosophy. But you know baseball is baseball and I think they are willing to ask questions and they are coachable players for the most part.”

Junior shortstop Roman Glenn, who has been a varsity player since his freshman year, has an optimistic outlook on the impending season.

“I feel like if we play to our potential that we have, we can go pretty far,” Glen said. “We have a new coach, so we do have those new standards and if we do all the little things right, we can take it away.”

So what are those new standards?

For the former JUCO pitcher, developing a pitching staff is the first step. The McPherson native pitched for two years at Hutchinson Community College before concentrating on his education at Kansas State University, where he graduated from in 2012 before coming to BSHS as a math teacher.

“We have to start somewhere and I think they are going to be the glue to the team,” he said. “That’s what I preach to our guys everyday-pitching and defense- because bat’s don’t come everyday but pitching and defense, we can have that on a day-to-day basis and hopefully that is what holds our team together.”

Junior center fielder Thaddeus Glenn said consistent pitching would solve some of last season’s shortcomings.

“We didn’t have great pitching and there were a lot of balls and walks and it was a big problem,” Glenn said.

Focusing on pitching and defense could potentially propel the Braves to at least a .500 win season, Glenn said.

“I think we are capable of that and we could probably make it to state,” he said. “I’m just excited and ready to see how the season will go.”

The Braves enter the season with a relatively young roster consisting of one senior and a handful of juniors and sophomores.

“We had (more than) 40 guys try out this year and that was pleasing to see because that means there is interest in the program,” Loecker said. “If you get interest in the program then I think you can start developing players and wins will start to come that way.”

Loecker and the Braves will be relying on lone senior — Maison Patchett — not only as a leader, but as a utility player.

“I ask more of him than I do of anybody else on the team and I think he is going to be ready to carry that weight,” Loecker said.

Patchett, who pitches and plays shortstop and catcher, said he is ready to make the most of his final season with the Braves.

“I just want to do good so I can go to college,” he said. “I want to win more games and just be more consistent as a team and play good every game, not just every now and then.”

Loecker said he’s not too worried about wins and losses. He said progress and improvement are more important than a aiming for a winning record at this point.

“I’m worried about what can we do to get better,” he said. “That’s basically the goal I have. Did we take a step forward or did we take a step back? And hopefully everyday we are going to be moving in the right direction and wins will start to pile up.

“We can make a run that way, but if we are not getting better then we are not winning games,” Loecker said.

The Brave’s season opens Thursday with a double-header against Mill Valley.

“I’m excited, probably more excited than some of the players because I’m out here doing what I enjoy,” Loecker said. “I probably have more butterflies than a lot of the players do because it’s been a challenge so far but it’s been a fun challenge.”

Williams has lofty expectations for Lady Braves swim team

Angelique McNaughton, Special to the Chieftain

March 26, 2014

After a successful season last year as Kaw Valley co-champions, Bonner Springs High girls swimming coach Preston Williams has high expectations for his team.

With 15 on his squad this season, including returning varsity swimmers Robyn Lewis and Madison Stumbough, the second-year coach said he is encouraged with what he has seen since practice started March 3.

“They are working hard and I think they are doing well so far,” he said.

The Lady Braves lost four swimmers last season, but have a heavy freshman presence with swimmers that have experience in both the pool and with Williams.

He lauded freshman Brenna Holt and Alayna Dooley as strong breast strokers who will most likely contribute well to the relay teams.

“I want to get those relays to state again, and I want to see them improve,” Williams said. “And those girls can help.”

The Lady Braves qualified all three relays for state last season, as well as four individual events.

Lewis is the Lady Braves’ top returning state placer, after breaking two school records in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle as a freshman. She was also on the two freestyle relays, 200 yard and 400 yard, that broke school records, as well.

“Going to state was such a big thing for me as a freshman and I knew going into sophomore year that it was going to be crazy because everyone is going to have high expectations of me,” Lewis said. “That puts pressure on me but that also motivates me.”

Despite an injury prone off-season, Lewis said physically, she feels 100 percent but isn’t exactly where she would like to be mentally.

“That brought me down mentally and I just need to get my mindset back and have faith in myself,” she said. “I think after our first meet I need to put myself out there to just race and see where I’m at.”

Williams said he has named Stumbough, who was on three relays last year, as a team captain. The other captain will be chosen his week.

Considering her previous season, Williams said is looking forward to see how she will fare.

“She was real close to making it to state last year and I really want to get her to state in an individual event this year,” he said. “She swims pretty much anything and she’ll definitely be on all of our freestyle relays.”

Returning juniors Morgan Lawrence and Amber Lies will be competing for spots on relays, along with Australian exchange student Danielle Hasking.

“Freestyle is her strength and she is an experienced swimmer who will definitely be contributing on our relays,” Williams said of Hasking.

The Lady Braves have one senior — first year swimmer Sasha Bingaman — who could also be competing for a spot on a relay.

In anticipation of the squad’s first meet April 3 at the Hummer Sports Complex in Topeka, the Lady Braves will be running time trials all this week.

“Our first meet is actually huge,” he said. I’m excited about that and I’m just really excited in general because I think we should have a good season. Our numbers are growing and I’m ready to see where the season takes us.”

Davidson takes over as SM North track and field coach

Angelique McNaughton, Special to the Dispatch

March 25, 2014

The Shawnee Mission North High’s track team took a hit this season due to graduating some of its top athletes last year.

First year head coach Aaron Davidson said 2013 was one of Shawnee Mission North’s more successful years, with both the girls and boys squads placing within the top 15 at state, including a state champion in the 100 meter dash — Henry Dell — and a No. 1-ranked 4×800-meter relay team.

Despite the losses, the Indians will have state returner and star-athlete Ben Burchstead, who Davidson said is “the guy that ranks the highest in the state to make some noise.” Burchstead, who signed to run track and cross country at Kansas University, will lead the helm in the 1,600-and 3,200-meter races again this season.

“I have a lot of room to work with this season and I am pretty excited to see what can happen,” Burchstead said. “I have developed a pretty good relationship with my coach and we trained all winter together and the workouts have been going good over the past month.”

Burchstead said during the offseason he has learned to trust his coach and he thinks he is setting himself up to run “pretty fast and it will now just come down to doing it”.

“I’m just going to take advantage of each and every single meet because before I know it, it’s going to be getting close to the end,” he said. “I think that myself and my team will have some successes this year, not only in distance, but in different aspects and I think it’s going to be a good year. I’m excited to see what’s going to happen.”

Field athlete and senior Whitney Harvey makes her return in the shot put, discus and javelin. Harvey will be looking to make her fourth state appearance after qualifying every year since she was a freshman.

“She’s a kid you can count on,” Davidson said.

Sophomore and Lady Indian basketball player Jazmin Williams qualified for state last year as a freshman in four events: long jump, 200-meter dash, and both the 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays.

“She looks to pick up right where she left off last year,” Davidson said.

“See, we have a lot of kids to pick up the torch,but with as much as we lost, we are going to be a young team,” he said.

Davidson said right now, the goal is going to be developing kids into “caliber athletes” to know that they can compete at the varsity level, even though they are young.

“I would like to get as many kids to state, and I would still like to get all of our relay teams back as well,” he said. “If you have a really good relay team, it’s a good reflection of our team because they are probably contributing in other areas.

“I feel like building the team around the relays is kind of one of our goals,” he said.

On April 2, the Indians will go to Shawnee Mission East High for their first meet of the season, which also includes a May 9 home meet where the Indians will host more than 30 teams.

Although Davidson has been with the Indians for six years now, serving as the distance and cross country coach, he said his new position as head coach has been somewhat of a difficult transition because “it is hard to not just care about distance.”

“You have to give your attention to all those kids and then are left with the task of figuring out and planning how the other events are going to be successful,” he said. “But I’ve enjoyed working with the other kids and all the interaction. And I think so far, everything seems pretty positive and to be moving in the right direction.”

Lady Braves fall in sub-state championship to Bishop Miege

Angelique McNaughton

March 11, 2014

De Soto — The Bonner Springs’ High girls basketball team was made short work of by Bishop Miege High during the sub-state finals.

The second-seeded Lady Braves failed to get anything going offensively on Saturday night and were down 20 points at the half, before eventually falling 67-40 to the Stags.

“They were just a lot better team than we were,” BSHS head coach Clay Oakes said. “They had us out manned every possession. They were very athletic and quick and we had a lot of problems getting the ball down the floor against their pressure.”

Julianne Jackson scored 11 points, and Caitlin Reed added seven, as the Lady Braves’ (15-7) season ended just one game shy of a Class 4A-I state appearance.

“We had some good things happen when we could get into our offense but unfortunately, we dug a whole early, had a lot of turnovers and were down most of the game,” Oakes said. “We didn’t do a whole lot of anything well and there were not very many bright spots the whole night.”

Miege (19-3) dominated the entirety of the game, taking the lead 23-7 in the first quarter before extending the lead to 25 by the end of the third.

“We won’t let a game like that ruin what we’ve accomplished the rest of the year in terms of injuries and adversities we’ve overcame,” Oakes said.

The Lady Braves advanced to the sub-state finals after a 46-38 victory against Sumner Academy Thursday night at De Soto High, without starter Kayleigh Taylor.

Jackson led the Lady Braves with 15 points, while Miyah Hightower added eight and Kyliea Jarrett had seven. Jarrett will graduate in May along with fellow senior Kennedy Bizzell.

While the girls prepare for a break, Oakes is already thinking ahead to his new roster and next season.

“I’m ready to get the ball rolling again in May and go from there,” he said.

Bonner Springs girls one game away from state with win against Sumner

Angelique McNaughton

March 6, 2014

De Soto — Julianne Jackson scored 15 points in Bonner Springs High’s 46-38 sub-state victory over the Sumner Academy on Thursday night at De Soto High.

Miyah Hightower added eight points and Kyliea Jarrett had seven for the Lady Braves, who earned a No. 2 seed going into Thursday night after finishing the regular season 14-5.

The Lady Braves took an early lead in the first quarter near the four minute mark and never lost it.

The Sabres were held to just four points during the second quarter and ended the half down 21-11, but cut the lead to single digits with 2:24 left in the game after back-to-back three pointers.

Jackson scored a two-point bucket off of an inbound play late in the fourth quarter, that the Sabres followed with a layup to get within six with 55.8 seconds left.

A Sabres turnover prompted a full timeout from BSHS head coach Clay Oakes with 29.5 seconds remaining in the game.

Quick subsequent fouls put the Lady Braves’ Hightower at the free throw line to extend the lead to 46-38 and put the game out of reach for the Sabres.

“Well, we survived and moved on to the next round,” Oakes said. “It wasn’t pretty and we had a lot of things that we had to adapt to tonight.”

The Lady Braves’ roster remains thin without starter Kaleigh Taylor, who was sitting on the bench with a boot on her left foot Thursday night.

“That was a big shakeup for us so we had to adapt to that it was a little sloppy at times and at atimes we did things ok ,“ he said. “We are going to have to come out and relax (on Saturday) because we came out real tense and tight tonight and we know we didn’t play our best tonight but we will try and clean it up a little bit on Saturday and see what will happen there.”

BSHS will play Bishop Miege High on Saturday. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m., with the winner advancing to the state tournament in Salina.

Lady Braves led from start to finish in victory against Lansing

Angelique McNaughton

January 11, 2014

Lansing — The Bonner Springs High girls took control of the game early on and never lost the lead in their 59-40 win over Lansing High.

“It was a tough win and a good bounce back game for us,” BSHS coach Clay Oakes said, referring to the Lady Braves’ 46-38 loss to Piper High on Tuesday. “We didn’t play with much intensity then, but we had a great team effort tonight.”

The Lady Braves (4-2) got into some foul trouble early in the game forcing Oakes to look to his bench and rotate through 11 players during the game.

“Luckily we had a deep bench and all 11 players scored,” Oakes said.

Tanya Hernandez saw her first start as point guard for the Braves, and for the third game in a row Caitlin Reed scored in double figures. Both Kaleigh Taylor and Julianne Jackson got into foul trouble in the second and third quarters, respectively and saw limited minutes on defense for the remainder of the game.

After letting the Lions get within nine late in the fourth quarter, BSHS eventually extended the lead to 16 with 1:52 left.

“It seems like once we get a big lead we kind of ease up a little bit and let teams crawl back into it,“ Oakes said. “But we just want to continue to build and get to where we develop that killer instinct because we are still pretty young. We haven’t developed that killer instinct yet, and when we get to that point, we can put teams away and then we are going to be a pretty good team.”

Lansing too much after the first quarter

After taking the lead briefly in the first quarter for the only time in the game, the Bonner Springs High boys basketball team was unable to recover and eventually fell to undefeated Lansing High 76-49 during Friday night’s Kaw Valley League matchup.

Aaron McGee led the Braves (3-4) with 14 points, Jordan Jackson added 10 points and Devante’ McGee scored seven points.

The Braves were down 14-12 at the end of the first quarter, but an 8-0 run by the Lions (7-0) late in the second quarter went unanswered.

“We played really well that first half and I applaud our guys for playing hard for one half,” BSHS coach Dan Streit said. “Hopefully our guys can figure out how to put four quarters together.”

The Braves were hoping to bounce back after a 75-50 loss to Piper on Tuesday and will turn around and host Tonganoxie (3-4) on Tuesday.

“We match up nice with Tonganoxie,” Streit said. “While we don’t quite have the chemistry that we want, we are better chemistry-wise than we were last year and I think we are getting there.”

Koch scores 36 points in MVHS boys win against Piper

Angelique McNaughton

December 10, 2013

Sophomore Logan Koch made two clutch shots in the final 17 seconds of the second half, including a guarded three pointer with 6.5 seconds left in regulation, to send Mill Valley Hill into overtime and eventually past Piper High 79-77 on Friday.

Koch scored 25 of his 36 points in the second half and overtime to lead the Jaguars (1-0) to their first Kaw Valley League victory of the season. Drew Boatwright added 22 points, and Nick Friesner had 11, including an important basket in overtime to put the Jaguars ahead 78-77 with 3.5 seconds left.

“Wow,” Friesner said. “I think that was one of the best finishes I think I’ve ever seen at Mill Valley.

“Our student section really pushed us through the third and fourth quarters and we fed off of their energy,” he said.

The game stayed close throughout, with more than a dozen lead changes. The Jaguars and Pirates traded basket for basket in the first quarter, before Piper started to pad a lead in the second quarter when the Jaguars couldn’t get a shot to fall and were outrebounded.

“I thought we were looking for our shot to go down too quickly and then we would play defense for longer than we made them play defense,” MVHS coach Justin Bogart said. “We got critical rebounds when we needed to, but Piper really hurt us on the boards.”

The Jaguars went into the third quarter down eight, a lead they reduced to two at the end of the quarter following a Boatwright three pointer.

Boatwright opened the fourth quarter with an explosive three, to put the Jaguars ahead 47-46, before adding another two points off of a steal.

The Jaguars looked like a different team in the final period and were offensively and defensively more organized.

“After one of the timeouts, we told them to trust what we do and trust our preparation,” Bogart said. “We tried to put them in as many difficult situations as possible in practice and we just have to trust our stuff.

“We just reminded them of critical points on defense and that every rebound is a battle that we have to win,” he said.

Both the final minutes of regulation and overtime were wild, with each coming down to the last 15 seconds of play.

“It was a hard fought game and Logan definitely kept us in it,” Boatwright said. “We also had some younger players who stepped up and scored some baskets when we needed them to.”

Both Mill Valley and Piper students remained on their feet for the entirety of the game, vying for loudest student section, before Mill Valley students stormed the court following the win.

“I was just happy to see us overcome a little adversity and get ourselves a win in the first game of the season,” Bogart said. “We had a number of a players make a lot of significant contributions, but ultimately we had a real shift in the fourth quarter and we began to play more together than we had.”

Inexperienced Lady Jaguars commit 31 turnovers in loss

Carly Eaton has taken the helm this season for the lady Jaguars but was unable to compensate for the inexperience of her teammates in Friday’s 46-37 loss to Piper.

Although the Jaguars outrebounded Piper 32-16 — Catie Kaifes had 5 rebounds for the Jaguars — they committed 31 turnovers.

“We are very young in terms of varsity experience and we’ve been talking about taking care of the ball,“ MVHS coach John McFall said. “We were extremely sloppy and had way too many turnovers.

“We showed some toughness and we hung tough, but it seemed like every time we battled back and we would get it even, we turned it over,” he said.

The Jaguars went on an 8-0 run in the second quarter to take a 16-6 lead before the Pirates completely took over and ended the half on an 18-0 run.

“We couldn’t get it back and I think we got ahead and then got one stop and then we went three straight possessions where we didn’t even get the ball to half court,” McFall said.

While the Pirates never trailed in the second half, they led only 27-26 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. But the Jaguars couldn’t grab a lead.

“You’ve got to give Piper credit because they were relentless on defense,” McFall said.

Eaton had 15 points and Kyle Lewis added seven. Both Whitney Hazlett and Savannah Rudicel scored five points apiece.

Freshman Courtney Carlson made her varsity debut at guard for the Jaguars but couldn’t seem to find her rhythm.

“As a freshman, she played like a freshman,” McFall said. “She has been much better than that in practice and she made a couple of mistakes that affected her.

“But it wasn’t just Courtney, it was player after player,” he said.

Carlson’s role this season, as most of the Lady Jaguars’ roles, is something that’s in the process of being worked out, McFall said. The Jaguars graduated all five starters from the 2012-2013 season.

“Right now, we just need to take care of us more than anything,” McFall said.

Lady Cougars open the season ranked fifth

Angelique McNaughton

December 3, 2013

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After finishing third in the Sunflower League and losing in the sub-state championship game a season ago, the Shawnee Mission Northwest High girls basketball team is in somewhat of a reloading mode.

The Lady Cougars must replace three seniors — including starter and first team All-Sunflower league player Anna King — from a team that went 16-3 after losing to Blue Valley.

“We lost three incredible seniors and they brought leadership and an amazing work ethic,” SMNW coach Jeff Dickson said.

But there won’t be a lack of experience moving up the ranks as seniors Amanda Hoelting, Meghan McCluskey and McKayla Ross take the helm, alongside junior Arielle Jackson and sophomore Brenni Rose.

During the summer, the Lady Cougars went 26-7, including first place at the Emporia State Championship and second at the Cougar Classic.

“We have a great group to work with (and while) they have their struggles, (we) all have heart and we have a great chemistry,” Dickson said. “We are a group that is very committed to working together and driven to succeed.”

The Lady Cougars will host their first two games of the season against Shawnee Mission West High on Dec. 6 and Washburn Rural High on Dec. 12., with the rest of the schedule appearing no less daunting.

“We have one of the toughest schedules in the state of Kansas and the sunflower league is the toughest league in the state,” Dickson said.

Roughly half the teams on the schedule — Olathe South High, Leavenworth High, Shawnee Mission East High, Olathe East High and Free State High — are going to be teams to reckon with, Dickson said.

“But we are a hardworking dynamic group of young ladies who will compete every second of every day and will work hard to play the game the right way,” he said. “We have huge team goals and we want to work to get better every single day and put our best effort forward every minute of every day and if we do that we will be successful.”

On Monday, the Lady Cougars were ranked fifth in the preseason 6A poll by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.

Thunder boys want to play best basketball in March

Angelique McNaughton

November 25, 2013

Run, run, run.

That’s going to be the focus of practice for the St. James Academy boy’s basketball team as it takes the court during the next couple of weeks in anticipation of the season opener Dec. 6 against Ottawa High.

“It’s going to be coming really fast and one of the biggest hurdles is going to be conditioning,” Thunder head basketball coach Stan Dohm said. “You only have 17 days to get them into basketball condition and then the games peck off pretty quick after that.”

Fresh off of losing in the final minutes of the first round of the 5A regional tournament last season, the Thunder are returning four of their top 10 players to a team that has the hopes of making the school’s first state appearance.

After graduating its starting five seniors, the Thunder will be anchored by those four players, two of which regularly saw playing time: Nick Frank, Dylan and Colin McKee, and Pete Feiden. Colin McKee and Feiden’s roles will be limited early in the season while both recover from injuries.

One of Dohm’s realizations at this point is that some younger players will have to play some extended minutes on varsity in order to fill the void.

The lack of depth early on will determine how fast of a game the Thunder, who went 13-8 last season, can run.

“Everybody likes to play a fast paced game and we will try to play as fast as we can,” he said. “But early on, we will be able to determine if some of our younger kids will be able to handle some of the physicality of the varsity games.”

With at least five players 6-foot-2 or taller, Dohm is going to have some flexibility with what he can do on the court.

Senior Jimmy Dekraai will likely see more minutes this season, and Mitchell Zubradt will fill in as a hybrid four-man, he said.

The eight-week contact period during the summer gave his players the chance to get acclimated to their new roles and the Thunder probably “won half and lost half” of their games during summer basketball, he said.

Healthy, returning senior starting guards Dylan McKee and Frank are encouraged with the prospect of leading their team in a potentially historic season.

“We run well and we are a really smart team,” Frank said. “We definitely think we can use that and carry on to the state tournament.”

Dylan said the state championship is a “huge thing” and that just going to state would be a “fantastic goal” to reach.

“We are looking really good and we have seven seniors,” Dylan said. “We’ve played with each other for a while and I think we will be successful.”

How a player gauges success can differ from how a coach does, but ultimately Dohm wants the same thing as his seniors.

“We talk about goals and how many wins we want, but our biggest goal is to play our best basketball in March.” Dohm said.

“A successful year for me as a coach is to be playing our best basketball at the end to give us the chance to win those two games in sub-state to get to Topeka. Whether that is good enough, we want our best game to be our last game.”

The way to achieve all that, he said, is by getting better everyday, starting with Ottawa.

“You’ve got to look at the next day and the next game — those are the most important,” Dohm said.