Sportsink013014 1 20

A magazine focusing on all things sports in northwest Kansas

INK.

TChemi eam stry

Jessica Princ and a tight-knit Osborne Bulldog group can get the job done.

The Hays Daily News

February 2014

Unity, commitment and teamwork are what it’s all about.

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1-2-3, team!

Ellis separates after a break with Railer head coach Chris Rorabaugh during a game in December at the Castle Rock Classic in Quinter.

CHAD PILSTER, Sports Ink.

What’s up?

16 Picture

A look inside this issue

this

Catch a view of the area’s action from behind the camera lens.

6

18

Team

Best in

chemistry

class

A tight-knit basketball team in Osborne hopes to contend for a trip to the Class 1A Division I state tournament.

12

Joint Effort

For the last four seasons, Sylvan-Lucas senior Fritz Berger has been behind enemy lines, competing with a rival school.

Some small teams might not be able to compete with the big guns, but they’re

at the top of their class.

Sports Ink. contributors: Nick McQueen nmcqueen@dailynews.net Conor Nicholl cnicholl@dailynews.net Everett Royer sportsink@dailynews.net Jolie Green jgreen@dailynews.net Chad Pilster cpilster@dailynews.net Austin Colbert acolbert@dailynews.net Volume 3, Issue 12 Sports Ink. is published and distributed by The Hays Daily News. Copyright © 2014 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.

Party of the year Sunday

I

t was January 1992. even after the game started, he had no clue who Jim Kelly I just had started the second semester of sixth grade at was.

South Gray Junior High, its first year of a consolidation Most of us, like me, were probably more interested in between Montezuma (my hometown) and Copeland. things like the uncomfortable, awkward hand-holding on Granted, it didn’t take long for us to make friends and the red bean-bag chair — or passing notes (like in class), come up with our own little cliques, but Jan. 26 provided a perhaps poking fun at one another’s clothes. great opportunity for us all to get together.

No one likely cared Mark Rypien ended up the MVP that And I remember it as if it were yesterday — my first Super night, or even batted an eye when Cindy Crawford’s Pepsi Bowl party. Or, at least, the first one I hosted. In other commercial came on. words, my parents paid for, and put in Nevertheless, we all came together for For starters all the effort, to have everyone over. what has become somewhat of a national We had homemade cheese dip, homeholiday. It was the first of many I have made pizza, soft drinks, chips, crackattended or hosted through the years, and ers, all the works. There was even an each year, the event seems to grow bigger ill-advised vegetable tray no one gave a and bigger. second glance to.

Whether you are there for the game, for On the wall next to the television was the commercials, or simply just like the a 100-square grid where attendees filled social aspect of it, I would venture a guess in a square for a chance at prizes at the end of each quarter. most of the nation has a plan for Super Bowl Sunday. And Out in the front yard, some of my classmates played a game it’s another day where you remember where you were and of tackle football on the frozen buffalo grass, and others what you were doing. were hooping it up in the driveway on the newly-installed From Kevin Dyson falling just short for the Tennessee basket above the garage.

Titans to Janet Jackson’s “malfunction” or the lights going It was exactly the way a Super Bowl party was supposed to out in New Orleans, the Super Bowl provides us with lasting be — and my entire sixth-grade class was there for the show. memories. Regardless of your knowledge — or lack thereof And some us probably didn’t even know why. We did have — of football or any team affiliation, Super Bowl Sunday is one guy who claimed to be a huge Buffalo Bills fan, but a day everyone can find something for them.

nick

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Who’s That?

Notable performances in northwest Kansas James Peterson

The senior for the Rawlins County boys’ basketball team averaged a double-double in a 5-3 start for the team. He posted 22.9 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in Rawlins County’s first eight games. he scored 25 or more in four of those games, and was held under 20 just twice (15 and 17). His season-high of 28 points and 20 rebounds came in a 54-41 win against Golden Plains.

Peterson recorded four double-doubles in that eight-game stretch. In the first game back following the winter break, Peterson knocked in 24 points and grabbed nine boards.

Morgan Hood

A Fort Hays State University basketball signee, the senior at Bucklin High School led the Red Aces to a 7-1 start as they hope to repeat a trip to the Class 1A Division I state tournament. In that start, Hood, a 5-foot-9 guard, averaged 17.9 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.5 assist and 4.0 steals per contest.

Hood is one of two Fort Hays signees from Kansas, along with Victoria’s Kristin Huser, who are averaging at least 17 points per contest so far in their senior season.

Ethan Deterding

A junior 182-pounder for the Hays High School wrestling team, Deterding got off to a strong start for the Indians and was ranked No. 4 in Class 5A midway through January. In the Indians’ first meet back from the holiday break, Deterding went 5-0 in the Topeka-Seaman dual Invitational, one of three Indians to come away with an unblemished record for the day, helping Hays High to a third-place team finish.

Shayna Rogge

Rogge, a junior forward for the TriplainsBrewster girls’ basketball team, averaged 15.4 points per game through the Titans’ 6-1 start to the 2013-14 season. Only once did she not reach double figures in scoring, and put up a season-high 29 points in a 51-37 win against Logan.

She also led the team with a little more than 6 rebounds per game, reaching one double-double in the Titans’ lone loss.

Got an idea of someone who you think should be included in Who’s That?

Send it to sportsink@dailynews.net with Who’s that? in the subject line, or call (800) 657-6017.

Tea C Osborne seniors Taylor Noel, left, and Jessica Princ.

Page 6

February 2014

SPORTS INK.

The Osborne girls’ basketball team has been building up to this season.

am Chemistry From left, Osborne High School seniors Jessica Princ, Caitlyn Miller, Baylee Wolters and Taylor Noel talk about their time together on the Osborne girls’ basketball team.

O

SBORNE – Jessica Princ, Caitlyn Miller, Taylor Noel and Baylee Wolters were in fourth grade the first time they played organized basketball together.

One of the parents asked if the quartet wanted to participate in a 3-on-3 tournament in Beloit, but the team struggled.

“I remember our parents saying, ‘If we have to watch this for the rest of their careers, it’s going to be awful,’ ” Miller said.

The friends played little league games up through junior high and consistently improved.

“We got tired of getting our butts handed to us,” Wolters said.

By seventh grade, the group was far ahead of a normal junior high team in terms of experience.

“You didn’t have to teach hardly any fundamentals,” said Hanna Eilert, then the seventhgrade coach.

In seventh and eighth grade, Osborne went undefeated with just five girls.

Wolters said the group “didn’t know any different,” and Princ labeled playing with five “awesome.”

“They had been playing for so long,

story by conor

nicholl

photos by Jolie Green

Sports Ink.

February 2014

they had just been so used to it,” Eilert said.

Eilert said the class ahead of the foursome had 13 players, but just a few had played any summer league or previous games. The class behind the quartet was similar.

“Basketball is their sport, and they are a very hard working, determined group of girls,” Eilert said.

Princ, Miller, Noel and Wolters are the only four seniors on the Bulldog girls’ basketball team and have played together for nine years. However, the last two seasons are the first the team has enjoyed success at the PAGE 8 high school level.

Page 7

Osborne senior Baylee Wolters drives toward the basket during a game against Beloit on Jan. 7 in Osborne.

When they were freshmen, Osborne went 10-12. Two years ago, Princ missed all but the first five contests because of a knee injury. Noel broke her ankle the first game of the year, but didn’t know it until the end of the season when she twisted it. Osborne won just seven games.

“Me and Caitlyn were just beside ourselves,” Wolters said. “We didn’t really know what to do without the other two.”

Last season, a healthy group went 16-6 but took a big loss to Thunder

Ridge in sub-state. This winter, the seniors started 6-1, including a big 50-47 road victory against Scandia-Pike Valley in early January. Pike Valley is in Osborne’s sub-state. The only loss was a 56-51 defeat to Beloit, an upper-tier Class 3A team.

“Even though they are a 1A school, they are still going to give you great competition, and that’s what we want,” Beloit coach Dallas Cox said. “We got a lot of stuff out of (the win).

“It makes you better. Playing against Miller, she is going to make you better.

Playing against Princ, she is going to make you better. Playing against Wolters is going to make you better. Playing against Noel — those are the kinds of kids that we play against all year long.”

Osborne rose to No. 4 in the Class 1A Division I coaches’ rankings. Osborne’s goal is to play for a state title, likely against Hoxie, which hasn’t lost a game in more than two years.

The Bulldogs haven’t reached the state tournament since a 20-6 record and third-place showing in 2010. That ended a remarkable 10-year run of

“They realize that this is their last go-around, they are seniors this year, and if they want to do anything, they are going to decide how far they want to go.”

- Brad Roadhouse, Osborne coach Page 8

February 2014

SPORTS INK.

seven Final Four finishes, seven 20-win seasons and two state crowns in 2000 and 2002. Princ, Wolters and Noel have all had a sibling who has won a state crown or played in a state tournament.

“They realize that this is their last go-around. They are seniors this year, and if they want to do anything, they are going to decide how far they want to go,” coach Brad Roadhouse said. “A coach can only do so much.”

Princ and Miller play on the inside, while Noel is a wing and Wolters the primary ballhandler. Junior Briley Pletcher, who played MAYB with the seniors for years, is the fifth starter.

“It’s a real honor for me to play with them, because I know how good they are,” Pletcher said. “I am just trying to keep up and keep playing hard with them.”

Unlike many ranked teams, Osborne doesn’t play at a constant, quick tempo. Instead, the Bulldogs focus more on working the ball inside to Miller and Princ and can play up-tempo when needed. It’s produced an efficient offense that averages 57.7 possessions per game and 21.9 free throw attempts a contest.

In comparison, Triplains-Brewster, a top-five Class 1A Division II team, averages 64.4 possessions per game, and 15.1 free throws per contest.

“Expectations have been a little bit high out of some of these girls, espe-

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Osborne coach Brad Roadhouse talks to his team prior to the start of their game against Beloit.

cially on the parents’ side and maybe from the spectators’ side, too,” Roadhouse said. “Hopefully we can live up to those expectations and see what happens. It would be nice to end up where we want to be.”

Miller averages a team-high 15.4 points and is second with 7.3 rebounds. She might play basketball at Kansas Wesleyan University next year.

Noel and Miller are considered the team’s vocal leaders.

Princ has played with a torn labrum suffered in the summer, but has averaged 14.6 points and team-highs with 7.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists. She will play at Sterling College next season.

“I was going up for a rebound, and a girl had her arm locked between mine.

And when she was coming down, she ripped it backwards and then something popped,” she said. “It hurt really bad right at first, but then I just kind of kept going with it and ignored

MORE BUICK • CHEVROLET 785-346-5417 OSBORNE, KANSAS

it. I have had a dislocated shoulder for a long time, and it always kind of pops out. Didn’t really think anything of it.”

The quiet, hard-working Princ wraps kinesio tape along her right shoulder, but the injury doesn’t affect her shot.

Instead, at the opening game tip, Princ has to jump with her left arm extended rather than her right.

Noel, who signed to play tennis at Kansas Wesleyan, averages 12.1 points and has made 14 of the team’s 18 treys. She has made 45 percent of her 31 attempts, one of Kansas’ top marks.

“Been really pleased with that,” Roadhouse said.

Wolters averages 3.3 points per contest, with 1.7 steals and 1.2 assists.

She attempted only 22 shots through her first six games and injured her ankle in the seasonopening Plainville PAGE 10 game.

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She missed the second contest, a 44-31 win against Thunder Ridge. Roadhouse said Osborne realized how much it missed Wolters’ ball handling and distribution against Thunder Ridge and said “everything seems to go through Baylee in a way.”

“You have to have one of those on your team, too,” Roadhouse said.

“She has gotten a lot better this year as far as being able to go in between defenses and get to the basket a little bit better and crash to the basket. They all have improved this year.”

That improvement is a hallmark of the seniors. Eilert, who works at Farm Bureau in Osborne, remembers the quartet wanted to learn and always got along well. On game days, the group follows a longtime superstition. They grab an energy drink and drive around in a truck together.

“They are just like a little family within themselves, and I have never really ever seen them fight a whole lot between themselves,” Roadhouse said.

“There might be a little bit of nitpicking here and there, but, for the better part, they have always gotten along.”

The parents, who all sit together at the top level of the Osborne bleachers, have been an integral part of the development.

“Taking them to summer league all the time, that takes a lot out of the parent not only financially but time-wise,” Eilert said.

“They had very good supporting parents, too.”

“They are always the ones yelling the loudest,” Wolters said.

Roadhouse, a vocal coach on the sideline, started coaching the girls in MAYB in sixth grade. He was a boys’ assistant coach until

John Boden left for Thunder Ridge three years ago.

The girls, a small group for so long, struggled in Boden’s last season.

“More people thrown into the mix, the seniors, the upperclassmen that we had to learn to play with and we weren’t used to playing with them,” Wolters said. “We were used to playing with each other. It wasn’t them that threw us off balance. It was just like something that we weren’t used to.”

Roadhouse had only seven victories his first winter but enjoyed the big improvement last season. Miller led the team with 13.1 points a game, while Princ averaged 12.6 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds despite playing with a broken rib.

After the season, Princ was in so much pain she went to have it checked out. Princ discovered her floater rib — one that is attached to the spine and not the sternum — was broken. Princ remained quiet all through last season; Wolters didn’t find out about the rib injury until the girls’ group interview in early January.

“Jess is one of those girls, she really doesn’t tell you if she is hurt or not,” Roadhouse said. “She just keeps things to herself, so I really don’t know. You let her play, and you see what happens.”

This season, the group has grown closer knowing it’s their last year. Miller said the attitudes have improved; Wolters said the group knows “this is it.”

“The more time we spend together, the easier it kind of gets. We respect each other more, one of us wouldn’t want to do something stupid to mess up the chances for the other three,” Wolters said. “I think it’s on and off the court.”

Bulldog senior Taylor Noel prepares for a free throw during their game against Beloit.

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“It’s been a sense of family since the very beginning, and that’s what has kept me through three-and-a-half years of wrestling.”

Fritz Berger, Sylvan-Lucas

senior

joint

forces

SylvanLucas senior has strong presence for Lincoln wrestling Page 12

L

INCOLN — Sylvan Grove’s Fritz Berger, a senior at SylvanLucas Unified High School, spends a lot of time wearing Lincoln Leopard blue, the color of a rival high school located 15 miles down the road.

It’s not a sign of disrespect for Sylvan-Lucas, but a sign of respect for Lincoln, which has hosted him as a wrestler since his freshman year.

“My freshman year, I thought it was going to be weird having two different schools, that everyone

from Sylvan was going to be outcasts and everyone from Lincoln was going to treat you different,” Berger said. “But that’s not how it’s been. It’s been a sense of family since the very beginning, and that’s what has kept me through three and a half years of wrestling.”

Sylvan-Lucas does not have its own wrestling program.

The only opportunity for someone from Sylvan-Lucas to wrestle is down the road at Lincoln, which has a wellestablished program under eighth-year head coach Nate

February 2014

Naasz.

In most sports, SylvanLucas and Lincoln are rivals.

Naasz helps coach the Lincoln offensive line in football, and Berger happens to be one of the best linemen in the district for Eight-Man Division II Sylvan-Lucas.

Lincoln defeated SylvanLucas 38-28 during the football season, and the Lincoln wrestlers admitted they aren’t exactly best friends with the Sylvan-Lucas lot — at least those that don’t wrestle for Lincoln.

“When I was in school you SPORTS INK.

Sylvan-Lucas High School’s Fritz Berger wrestles against Lincoln High School’s Sam Suelter during practice earlier this month in Lincoln. Berger goes to school in Sylvan Grove but wrestles with Lincoln during the season.

Austin Colbert, Sports Ink.

hated the other towns. That’s the way it was. These kids live in the Internet age.

They have Twitter. They have Facebook.

They are connected to all these kids,” Naasz said.

“Like most rivalry situations, the parents and the grandparents, they remember those games, and they kind of make a bigger deal out of it than the kids even do. But they love it. We are a family. It’s Lincoln wrestling.

(Berger) comes over and is just one of the guys.”

Berger is the only Sylvan-Lucas student to wrestle for Lincoln this season, but it’s not always been that way.

When Berger was a freshman, there were five Sylvan-Lucas kids of varying classes on the Lincoln wrestling team, most of which have either graduated or decided not to wrestle this season.

Sports Ink.

And of that group, Berger has been the most successful and the most surprising. As a junior last season, Berger, a heavyweight, made his second consecutive trip to the Class 3-2-1A state wrestling tournament in Hays.

He advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Clay Wilcox of Anthony-Chaparral High School.

“The year before I went to state, but I got beat twice in a row,” Berger said.

“I was really happy to finally win a match at state, and to make it that far in my third year of wrestling was overwhelming almost.”

Berger never had wrestled before his freshman year. He admitted to knowing essentially nothing about the sport and didn’t have much of an interest in learning.

February 2014

It was Sylvan-Lucas principal Devon Walters, who had just come over from Lincoln and still lives there, who persuaded Berger to give wrestling a shot.

“At first, I really didn’t care too much about it. I wasn’t going to play basketball, but I didn’t know anything about wrestling and our school didn’t offer it so I didn’t think it was a possibility,” Berger said.

“I just enjoyed it so much I stuck with it. And I’m glad I did.”

Unlike most high school wrestlers who begin their careers at lower weight classes than they finish, Berger has been a heavyweight since the start. Naasz broke Berger into the sport slowly, not thinking there was PAGE 14 much to him outside of his incredible size.

Page 13

AUSTIN COLBERT, Sports Ink. Lincoln coach Nate Naasz watches as Sylvan-Lucas senior Fritz Berger, right, and Lincoln’s Sam Suelter practice in the Lincoln wrestling room earlier this month.

“To come in as a 285-pounder — he pounds, meaning Berger doesn’t have a was pudgy and didn’t have a lot of lot of competition in practice. strength — he has really grown into a Naasz makes up for it by having Berger man,” Naasz said. “His head didn’t know wrestle a complete match against three where his feet were, or vice-versa, when different wrestlers. When a round ends, he first started. He a fresh wrestler comes still finds himin to face Berger, where “We think we got a shot at self in some bad they “basically take situations at times, the state title. This is not turns beating the crud going to be easy.” but he’s got such out of him.” quick feet for a Coach Nate Naasz, “We catch our breath guy of his size.” while he has to keep on Fritz Berger An obstacle going. That’s about the Berger has to only competition we overcome is can give him,” said Sam exactly what sets him apart — his size.

Suelter, a senior wrestler at 220 pounds He weighted 304 pounds at the first for Lincoln. “He’s got a big weight adpractice this year but has been able to vantage on me and he’s quicker than I keep himself under the 285-pound limit am … but being able to wrestle a bigger throughout the season. The next biggest kid makes it easier to go and wrestle a wrestlers for Lincoln compete at 220smaller kid.”

Page 14

February 2014

Berger and Naasz both have high hopes for a strong finish to Berger’s career.

Naasz admitted to having an “animated” conversation with Berger after his quarterfinal loss at state last season, and believes the sky is the limit for him this year.

While Berger wrestles a Lincoln schedule, he represents Sylvan-Lucas and wears Sylvan-Lucas colors during the postseason. Nonetheless, even during the postseason, Berger considers himself equally Sylvan-Lucas and Lincoln.

And if everything goes well, he hopes to represent both again this season at state.

“We think we got a shot at the state title.

This is not going to be easy. He doesn’t have a true heavyweight to practice against,” Naasz said. “But I really think he can put something together here at the end of the season.”

Austin Colbert, Sports Ink. SPORTS INK.

Ink. BLOTS

A spattering from NW Kansas

The best rivalry going right now in basketball? I’ll make a strong case for Golden Plains/Triplains-Brewster girls. These two teams matched up three occasions last season and will likely meet four times this winter, including the sub-state championship game. Plus, the stars on the two squads have started all their entire careers with Golden Plains senior Jordan Christensen and Triplains-Brewster senior point guard Brittany Plummer and junior Shayna Rogge. In an early January game, Christensen guarded Rogge most of the contest. Asked if she liked the matchup, Christensen smiled and said no. She respected Rogge’s talent and said it was a challenge to play against her. This season, with both teams ranked in the top-10, the rivalry could reach its peak.

- Conor It’s great to see people stepping up in the Ellis community once

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It couldn’t be happening for a better guy. Tiger men’s basketball coach Mark Johnson recently topped the list for number of wins at Fort Hays State University with 258 career victories in his first, and hopefully only, head coaching position. Probably the most impressive thing about Johnson during his tenure is how hard — no matter the talent level — he gets his teams to play. The Tiger men’s basketball program is easily the best thing FHSU athletics has going.

- Nick

again. Each spring, the Ellis baseball and softball programs seem to be pretty much self-funded to make it through and be competitive in the spring season.

The programs raise the funds through donations around the community. Now, supporters of the athletic programs in Ellis have come together in hopes to raise upwards of $80,000 to help complete a new facility to help in athletic training and education. When complete, the new facility in Ellis will take the place of highly-outdated facilities — a great thing for a small school to accomplish.

- Nick It’s amazing how many of the state’s top football programs are having coaching changes. Normally success comes from having a stable staff.

However, while Hutchinson and St. Thomas Aquinas have found coaches, many perennial playoff contending squads remain open, according to kansasprepfootball.com. In Eight-Man Division I, Marmaton Valley, two years removed from a sub-state berth, is available. Oakley and Lyndon — which played in sub-state title games this season — are open in Class 2A. Hoisington is available in 3A. Talent-rich BasehorLinwood is among those available in 4A, while Hays High, Emporia, Lansing and Liberal are open in 5A. Emporia will have its third coach in three seasons.

- Conor

On the Horizon Today/Feb. 1 — A two-game homestand for the Fort Hays State University basketball teams against Emporia State and Washburn. Both games are rivalries for the men and women and probably should be played in front of a packed house at GMC.

Feb. 22 — Wrestlers compete in their respective regional competitions vying for the right to compete at the state level.

This year’s loaded Class 3-2-1A regional is hosted by WaKeeney. That regional features 3-2-1A favorite Norton as well as perennial contenders Oakley, Oberlin, Phillipsburg, Plainville and Smith Center.

Feb. 2 — In case you live under a rock, it’s Super Bowl Sunday. Did you know that, on average, Americans will consume 71.4 million avocados on this day? That’s a lot of guacamole (Source: Bleacherreport) .

The MCL basketball tournament this season had a weird feel to it. There are so many teams not there who used to be, and one new team thrown in. It was weird not to see Osborne, whose girls’ teams dominated the MCL for quite some time, on a path to be playing at Gross Memorial Coliseum. While some don’t seem to like the change, though, the MCL will become a much more solid league when Oakley and TMP-Marian join. Will be really weird, though, if it’s not played at GMC. - Nick

Picture this Focused

squarely on

the area’s action

Hoxie’s Carly Heim drives the ball past Dighton’s Diamond Brown during a tournament game in Quinter.

Ellis’ Nick Gehring goes up for a shot against Quinter during the Castle Rock Classic in December in Quinter.

Fort Hays State’s Kate Lehman goes up for a shot against Saint Mary during a game in December at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays.

Hays High School freshman Conrad Vajnar, left, and Pratt junior Cody Hoy battle during a dual in December at the Hays High School gym.

Colby’s Brenly Terrell and Hays High’s Haley Wells go after a loose ball during the season-opening Hays City Shootout in December.

Photos by Chad Pilster, Jolie Green Have a photo you would like to share and perhaps show up in print? Submit your photos to us at sportsink@dailynews.net, and see if your image is chosen.

WHAT COLOR ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? TMP’s Ryan Mayorga tries to save a loose ball from going out of bounds during a game in December at the former Kennedy Middle School gym.

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KRISTIN HUSER Victoria senior

A four-year varsity player for the Victoria Knights, Huser got off to a good start to the 2013-14 season.

In the first seven games, a 5-2 start for Victoria, huser averaged 19.4 points per game. She put up 30 in a win against Ness City and at least 20 twice. Victoria’s two losses were to defending 2A state champion Smith Center and Class 3A TMP (OT). Huser is a Fort Hays State University signee.

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Best among their class

O

tis-Bison High School boys’ basketball coach Erin Patrick built state championship caliber programs at Hutchinson Central Christian before he came to the Cougars this season. On Dec. 20, the Cougars lost 43-32 to La Crosse, then ranked in the top 10 in Class 1A Division I. The loss bumped Otis-Bison, a Class 1A Division II school, to 4-2. After the contest, Patrick stood near one of the baskets and looked around the La Crosse gym at the Central Prairie League banners, the league of La Crosse and Otis-Bison. He surveyed Otis-Bison coach Erin Patrick the teams: Victoria, Central Plains, St. John, While many upper level teams (such as Hays Macksville and others. Patrick understand High School) predominantly play 5A teams, the season was a long process. that’s not the case in Class 1A. “We need to grow up and more disciplined Osborne started the season 2-0 against on offense and on defense,” Patrick said.

Class 1A Division I teams.

Mankato-Rock “We will get there. We have a tough schedule Hills (3-2) and Osborne are the lone squads that will make us better. We only play one in a six-team Lincoln sub-state at .500 or other Division II team the rest of the year. better.

Everybody is bigger than us, so we should In Otis-Bison’s start, it went 3-0 against become better if we work hard on it.”

Class 1A Division II teams. All three wins On Jan. 7, in its first game back from holiwere by at least 26 points. Two of the teams, day break, Class 1A Division I Osborne lost Wilson (61-32) and Chase (58-21) will be in 68-54 at home to Beloit, ranked fourth in the Cougars’ sub-state.

Class 3A. The Bulldogs trailed by 14 after the The only other sub-state teams are first quarter and played the Trojans even the Hutchinson-Central Christian (1-3 start) rest of the way. and McPherson-Elyria ChrisAfterward, second-year THE CLOSER tian (0-5).

Otis-Bison could coach Jamie Wolters knew be the favorite. even if Osborne played “They have bought into my its best, a win would have system,” Patrick said. “They been difficult. The loss work hard.

They are excellent. dropped the Bulldogs to I have never had to discipline 3-3. Osborne was winless a boy for being late.” two years ago and 6-15 last winter.

In the next two months, Patrick, with “Really, all of our guys, they are way more his son Kyle as one of Kansas’ top players, competitive than what they were when we already has a star. got them at the beginning of last year,” WoltNow, it’s a matter of getting his team to ers said. “They have improved 100 percent play his system.

Patrick learned a lesson and that’s all that you can ask for them. They from longtime Indiana coach Bobby Knight, bust their butts and get after it. As a coach, who rarely recruited junior college players. that’s what you want. Now they have got to The junior college players were at IU for two settle down and be a little more disciplined.” years, but usually needed the first semester Patrick and Wolters have similar mindsets to learn the system. for their teams. Osborne and Otis-Bison For Patrick, the pre-Christmas season for might be around .500. However, by examinOtis-Bison is akin to the “first semester” for ing the nitty-gritty of resumes, the squads are junior college players. already good teams in their respective clas“Anything we gain before Christmas is a sifications and sub-states. Both teams could bonus,” Patrick said. “…If we don’t start take multiple losses in the next month, but improving for Christmas, then I am not stand strong chances to reach state. doing my job.

They have got to learn within With the Class 1A split, teams simply have that system.” to be better than squads in their sub-state After the break, coach Patrick is more and classification — and use the other confocused on his team improving, learning tests as learning tools or measuring sticks.

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February 2014

how to win grind-it-out contests and finding consistent scorers behind Kyle Patrick.

Senior Jordan Hoffman, a two-year starter, was ill for most of the December schedule, but should be healthier now.

“As long as we learn to play defense within the team system and offense within the team system, then we will be competitive,” Patrick said. “When you are in Division II, you just have to get to the state tournament, which is way down the road. But our schedule will prepare us for that, and that time will come.”

Osborne’s five starters were all key players on the 13-0 Eight-Man Division I state championship squad this fall. Junior Brandt Wolters is the team’s top scorer at 17 points per game.

“He has got to be a leader, and he has got to score for us to have some success,” Coach Wolters said.

Senior Kenton Ubelaker plays at a fast pace and can make big plays. Once against Beloit, he knocked the ball away and hustled after it.

As he was falling out of bounds, he whipped a pass to senior Maverick LeRock. Junior Parkes Wolters and Ubelaker combine for around 20 points a game. Osborne plays a little out of control, but the talent and athleticism is there.

“We got basically everybody back, so we put in a lot of the same stuff,” Coach Wolters said.

After the football season ended late, Osborne took a big loss to Class 2A Plainville in the season opener, but Wolters didn’t think the Bulldogs were ready for a game.

The two weeks of practice during the holidays helped. Osborne gave Beloit its second closest contest this year.

Afterward, the Bulldogs felt that if the Beloit performance was replicated the rest of the year, then Osborne would be a factor in Class 1A Division I. SPORTS INK.

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