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A magazine focusing on all things sports in northwest Kansas

INK.

Full head of steam Brendon Brenner and the Railers got off to a fast start this season. They hope for an equally strong finish.

The Hays Daily News

February 2015

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Going for 2

Gage Pfanenstiel, 2, participates in a halftime activity during the Victoria High School boys’ basketball game against Otis-Bison on Jan. 9 in Victoria. Gage is the son of Gus and Ciera Pfanenstiel.

NICK McQUEEN, Sports Ink.

What’s up?

A look inside this issue

12

Picture

5

Who’s that?

Notable

performances from northwest Kansas.

this

Focused on some of the area basketball action this

6

Full steam ahead

season.

The Ellis boys had a hot start to the 2014-15 basketball season. They hope for a stronger finish.

Sports Ink. contributors: Nick McQueen nmcqueen@dailynews.net Austin Colbert acolbert@dailynews.net Jolie Green jgreen@dailynews.net On the cover: Ellis junior forward Brendon Brenner. Photo by Austin Colbert.

Volume 4, Issue 12 Sports Ink. is published and distributed by The Hays Daily News. Copyright © 2015 Harris Enterprises. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Sports Ink. is a registered trademark of The Hays Daily News, 507 Main, Hays, KS 67601 (785) 628-1081.

What’s next for Hays High?

B

y the time you read this, Hays High School might have named a new head football coach. When Bo Black announced he was leaving for Shawnee Mission Northwest after just one season in Hays, it meant a third coach in three years for the Indians.

While I intended this to be about the future of HHS football, I also wanted to look back at its recent success. There certainly was disappointment when Ryan Cornelsen left for Hutchinson High School following the 2013-14 school year, and I’m sure feelings AUSTIN COLBERT, Sports Ink. were similar regarding Black’s exit after what Bo Black announced in early January he was leaving Hays to take a job at Shawnee seems like no time at all.

Mission Northwest.

But you can’t blame either for taking a good should make them more competitive on a forward about the future of HHS football. opportunity and running with it. Coaches, state level in the future and there is plenty of But there is also plenty of reason to be excitmuch like any profession, want to rise to the talent returning next season. ed. Whoever inherits the program inherits a top of their industry. I believe Delton will leave a major void tough job — the smallest school in a difficult For starters both Cornelsen and Black at quarterback, but the right conference in what could be one of the most genuinely liked Hays, but the coach should be able to make competitive districts each season. But I also Austin idea of coaching in Class 6A something respectable out of see tremendous upside if the Indians can and living in a larger metro Colbert the 2015 roster. It would be nice find the right person to put at the helm. area is a lot to say no to. Let’s to find a coach willing to commit long term The 2015 season likely will be a signififace it — larger schools give coaches more to the program — a Roger Barta type — but cant change from the previous six, but that talent to choose from and more often than those coaches are few and far between. doesn’t mean the recent success is on its way not more statewide exposure.

No doubt there are a lot of questions going out any time soon.

Cornelsen, in his first season at Hutch, was one of the better stories in the fall. After a 1-3 start, the Salthawks won six straight games en route to the 6A state title game, eventually falling to Shawnee Mission East, 33-14.

Black, in his lone season at Hays High, went a respectable 7-2 and swept through the Western Athletic Conference. A brutal district slate eventually ended their season, however, without a playoff berth for the second consecutive season.

Prior to Cornelsen, success at Hays High was hit and miss in football. With Cornelsen came consistency and expectations, something Black was able to hold on to in his lone season. Both certainly were aided by the presence of Kansas State University football signee Alex Delton, one of the most heralded athletes in HHS history.

But Cornelsen is long gone, Black is on his way out after the spring track and field season, and Delton will be settled into his new digs in Manhattan by the end of January. So what comes next for Hays High? Can the Indians find success after Cornelsen, Black and Delton?

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Who’s That?

Notable performances in northwest Kansas Deon Lyle

The senior shooting guard for the Norton boys’ basketball team had a hot start to the season. Among the state’s leaders in scoring, Lyle averaged 25.3 points per game in Norton’s 8-0 start. His season-best by Jan. 13 came in a 73-63 road win against Stockton, when he scored 31 points with five 3-pointers. Lyle also scored 30 points in a 67-58 win against Sharon Springs-Wallace County, and had scored no fewer than 17 points in any contest. He scored at least 24 in each of Norton’s first eight games.

Kadee Braun

A 6-foot senior forward for the Logan High School girls’ basketball team, Braun recorded back-to-back double-doubles for the Trojans to start 2015. She scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a 40-32 win against Stockton, then had 15 points and 10 rebounds in a 47-39 win against Northern Valley. Braun’s best scoring total was 19 points in a 55-17 win against Weskan. Logan was 5-3 after eight games with two losses to Triplains-Brewster by a combined 10 points. The other loss was a one-point loss to Oberlin.

Cory Keehn

The Fort Hays State University senior distance runner set a new school record in the indoor 3,000-meter run in early January. With a time of 8 minutes, 21.35 seconds, he also gained an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the event during the Bill Easton Classic in Lawrence.

Keehn topped former teammate Alex Hendee’s record of 8:24.12, set in 2013, by nearly three seconds. Keehn now owns the 3,000 and 5,000-meter indoor records at FHSU, after setting the 5,000-meter record in 2014.

Bryan Dome

A 5-foot-10 senior guard, Dome led the Victoria boys’ basketball team to a 5-2 start, scoring in double figures in all but one game for an 19 point per game average.

Dome scored 31 points in a 7372 win against Ness City, 31 in a 60-59 win against Stockton, and 23 in a 68-58 win at Plainville. His only time in single digits in the start was when he scored eight in a 61-52 loss to Otis-Bison. Dome and the Knights were ranked No. 7 in the Jan. 11 KBCA basketball rankings in Class 1A Division I.

“This team is really playing as a team. I think that has been what I’ve been most pleased with, is just how they play together.”

- Butch Hayes, Ellis boys coach

Full stea ahead E

LLIS — Ellis High School junior Brendon Brenner said he doesn’t see much of a difference in Butch Hayes from the fall to the winter. Hayes, the Ellis football coach since 2007, also is the head coach of the boys’ basketball team for the first time this year. Brenner, who also plays football, sees practice as mostly the same, outside of the obvious differences between the sports.

“About the same guy. We run the same. We are actually running more now than in football season,” Brenner said. “He’s kind of in between. He teaches and then he yells. When he needs to yell he yells, and when he needs to teach he teaches. He’s kind of a good in between coach.”

Hayes is no stranger to Kansas. He was born in Concordia and has lived all over the state, eventually graduating from Westmoreland High School Austin Colbert (now Rock Creek), near Manhattan, in 1986 after a brief stop in Utica. A former football player at Highland Community College and Pittsburg State University, Hayes lived in Philadelphia and St. Paul, Minn., for a time, before returning to Kansas in 2002 to teach math and coach at Ellis.

“We were away for about eight years and just wanted to get back. So we got back here … it’s been good ever since,” PAGE 8 Hayes said.

story and photos by

Page 6

February 2015

SPORTS INK.

am d

Ellis junior Brendon Brenner

Railer sophomore guard Clay Feik shoots a free throw against TMP.

Hayes started off as an assistant coach on the football team in 2003 before taking over in 2007. He started coaching ninth grade girls’ basketball while in Minnesota at a Class 6A equivalent school (there are only five classes in the state). Upon arriving in Ellis, he took over as the head coach of the junior high boys’ basketball team before giving up the role when football became priority.

“The season just overlapped too much with football. So when I started coaching football I gave up basketball,” Hayes said.

He didn’t give up basketball for too long, returning as an assistant boys’ basketball coach for two years under Dave Wildeman in 2010 and then two years under Chris Rorabaugh, who also coached Hayes back when he was a junior in high school at Utica. Then Rorabaugh stepped down following the 2013-14 season, and Hayes decided he was ready to try his hand as both the football and basketball coach at Ellis.

“I really never thought about taking the head basketball job. It just didn’t really cross my mind. But these last couple years under Rorabaugh I really started seeing basketball in a different way,” Hayes said. “Coaching under him, I really, really enjoyed it. I don’t know what it was. I think it was just how he coached and what he had, the strategy he had in games. It just really peaked my interest.

“When he decided to leave I just thought to myself, ‘Man, am I ready?’

I knew it was going to be a big task to take on, but I said, ‘What the heck? Let’s jump in there and do it.’ So that’s what I did.”

After a 4-5 season with the Railers football team in the fall, Hayes stepped whole-heartedly into his new gig as the basketball coach in December, inheriting a program that had been finding success in recent years.

The Railers went just 9-13 a season ago, but that was with a young team that lost its starting point guard — current senior Brandon Bollig — halfway through the season with a back injury.

This winter under Hayes, Ellis opened the year by winning its first six games and went into the holiday break unbeaten. There were many factors that led to their 6-0 start, notably experience and health, as well as some of the changes made by Hayes, which seemed to be popular moves by the players.

And the return of Brenner, one of the area’s top talents, didn’t hurt, either.

“I’m liking it. I’m loving the offense he has. That defense — we’ve needed to go man the last few years and it’s good to go man now,” Brenner said of the changes under Hayes. “We are playing more as a team. Our defense, going to man, has helped a lot. Everybody is hitting shots this year.”

Brenner started a few games as a freshman but really emerged last season as a sophomore, averaging 20.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

Through the team’s 6-2 start this season, Brenner has continued on that pace by averaging 20 points and 7.5 rebounds a game, including a high of 31 points in a seasonPAGE 10 opening 78-74 win over Phillipsburg.

Ellis coach Butch Hayes has been an assistant for several years, but took over head coaching duties this season.

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Ellis senior guard Brandon Bollig looks for an open teammate during their game against TMP in Ellis.

While officially listed at 6-foot-5, 200 pounds, Brenner claims to be closer to 6-6, having grown at least an inch and a half since his sophomore season, adding about 20 pounds. While he’s typically been an inside presence for the Railers, he does have a developing outside game that has evolved what their offense is capable of.

“What makes Brendon, I think, tougher than some post players is he can take his game outside,” Hayes said. “Last year his range went to about 15 feet. This year he is out there about 18 that he can play. He has a greenish light from the 3-point line. I don’t mind him shooting it. He can Page 10

shoot it. He’s extended his game to beyond the arc and it really puts a lot of pressure on the defense.”

Brenner said Rorabaugh preferred him to stay inside last season, and even admitted his own father was hesitant about his outside game.

But as a player with ambitions to play at the collegiate level, Brenner knows if he doesn’t grow another two or three inches he will need a nice jump shot to catch the attention of college recruiters.

“I prefer it outside. I think with my height in college, if I want to go to the college level, I think they are going to want me to be more of a three or four than a five, with my size,” Brenner said.

February 2015

Ellis senior forward Eli Lohrmeyer goes up for a shot against TMP.

SPORTS INK.

“Just kind of worked over the summer with my summer team down in Wichita. I’ve kind of always had (an outside game) but Rorabaugh last year didn’t really like me doing it.”

Brenner also has benefited from the development of a few of his teammates. Senior Eli Lohrmeyer, listed at 6-foot3, had increased his inside presence this season. He was second on the team with 11.5 points per game and led the Railers with 9.8 rebounds a contest through their first eight games. Add in the development of sophomore Easton Smith (8.3 points per game, 6.1 rebounds), who went from 5-10 last season to near 6-3 this year, and the return of Bollig (8.8 points per game) at point guard, and the Railers are proving to be a formidable opponent for any challengers.

“That’s one thing about our team right now is any of those kids can play at any of those positions. Our bigs can play outside. We have some good, quick guys, some small guys that can penetrate,” Hayes said.

“This team is really playing as a team. I think that has been what I’ve been most pleased with, is just how they play together. If they can continue to do that during the season here I think we are going to still be tough. We are going to be a tough out for sub-state. We have some lofty goals

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Picture this Focused

Hill City’s Brandon Ramirez turns up court after collecting a rebound against TMP during their Dec. 12 game in Hill City.

TMP-Marian’s Peyton Hoffman brings the ball up the court against Victoria’s Brady Dinkel during their Jan. 9 game in Victoria.

on

basketball action from around the area.

Photos by Austin Colbert & Nick McQueen

Fort Hays’ Jake Stoppel (21) drives to the basket against Missouri Western during their Dec. 6 game at Gross Memorial Coliseum.

Hays High’s Keith Dryden dribbles up the court against Junction City during their game Dec. 16 at the HHS gym.

TMP’s Melissa Pfeifer has her shot blocked by Ellis junior Skylar Gottschalk during their game Jan. 9 in Ellis.

RIGHT: Victoria freshman Samantha Leiker (23) tries to pass over Otis-Bison junior Lisa Wesseloh during their game Jan. 9 in Victoria. FAR RIGHT: Fort Hays freshman Kristin Huser passes the ball past Kansas Wesleyan defender Britney Lewis on Dec. 16 at Gross Memorial Coliseum.

Page 12

February 2015

SPORTS INK.

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Attention hard to avoid in Otis Otis-Bison senior Kyle Patrick

H

ead to a middle school basketball As game sometime, and you can see a fan, one or two guys comparable to what what’s not to Kyle Patrick is on the Otis-Bison High love about that?

School boys’ basketball team.

And scoring 34 points in Or perhaps think back to your own days of the face of all that is exactly what middle school basketball. you want to see.

Kyle Patrick, compared to numerous other 1A After all, outside of when the Cougars play players, is just like that one kid who always started CPL foe St. John and all-everything Dean Wade to mature early, and stood out as a man among on Feb. 24, it’s a good bet Patrick is going to boys when he was in seventh or eighth grade. be the best player on the floor, and the focus He was the one dribbling between his legs and of every team’s game plan. Whether it be a getting nearly above the rim at 6-feet-plus, while junk defense or shadowing him with your best everyone else was still figuring out how to lace player, few teams have found a way to shut him their shoes just right. down. Like his sisters before him at HutchinThat’s comparable to how much Patrick — a son-Central Christian, Patrick gets a lot of at6-foot-6 point guard — tention, and rightfully so. stands out at small OtisI would venture a guess The Closer Bison, which two weeks ago that even among the Couwas ranked No. 2 in Class gars’ faithful, there are few 1A Division I. He’s just eye rolls and whispers simply much better than about how much attention almost anyone on the floor. the guy gets. I’ve been Not that the Cougars’ sucdoing this long enough I cess thus far this season is all about Patrick. The would be ignorant to not think that. senior has a nice set of complements on probably No matter if it’s a 4.0 All-American one of the most talented Cougar teams the school student or a reckless troublemaker, there has seen. Unlike last year, Patrick doesn’t need to is always going to be that one fan in the put up a double-double every night for Otis-Bison crowd who thinks the star is overrated. to have a chance to stay ahead.

That’s the nature of athletics, especially Yet, there he is right at the center of it all. Among when a kid like this stands out above the CPL teams, at least, he seems to be that player the crowd in a town with one paved everyone has loved to hate, but hated to love. road.

That was evident when the Cougars visited VictoNevertheless, Patrick and this team ria in early January, and the point guard went off should make a solid run during the for 34 points in a nine-point win for the visitors. postseason. The senior really can’t do Each time Patrick touched the ball, he was the much more than he already has so focus of heckling from the Knights’ student body, only a couple questions remain? 1. and the crowd was quick to let him know when Can he and the Cougars make a run at he made a mistake. a state trophy or even a championship.

Like you would expect a team’s star to do, Patrick 2. Given the opportunity, will Patrick’s shrugged it off with a smile and a clap of his skill set be a value at the college level hands. where he likely won’t stand out?

nick

McQUEEN

Page 14

February 2015

SPORTS INK.

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