Small School Basketball Report

Boys Class 2A Berean Academy Berean Academy made the state tournament last season, losing in the first round to eventual state champ Pittsburg Colgan. Three starters return, including F Blake Barber (6-1, 10 ppg). Three-point specialist Zac Wiebe also returns, after shooting 45 % from behind the arc last season. Sophomore Karlin Wiebe (6-5) proved himself a force down low in the season's early going. -MB Central (Burden) Only two players who played significant minutes last season are back for Central, which has no players over 6'0". G Jacob Lawson and F Layne Smith will be counted on to handle the scoring load, while underclassmen step forward. -MB Flinthills (Rosalia) Expectations must be reasonable for Flinthills as eight of the top nine players are gone from a 5-14 team of a year ago. Underclassmen are being counted on early and often. The leading returning scorer is Garrett Breech (6 ppg). -MB Oxford Heading into sub-state the past two years, Oxford has been league champions of the SCBL. Berean Academy, however, beat them out 62-39 in the final last season for a 2A state bid and beat them again in December 57-39. Oxford hopes for the school's first state tournament berth since 1952 behind Class 2A second-team all-state Bryce Mayes (21 ppg) and fellow double-digit scorers Bryce Carter and Nick Hampton. -MB Udall Offensively, Udall gets the ball to junior swingman Skylor Kistler, who has a knack for getting to the basket. Junior PG Dylan Smith lead Udall's run and gun style of offense. Also in the mix are freshmen Logan Beard and Dylan Messer. -MB Class 1A Argonia After coaching summer youth teams for the past 21 years, Bob Futo is in his first season of high school ball at Argonia. Junior Leander Green (5-10) leads a group of strong, quick players. Seniors Lawson Hemberger (5-10) and Joe Daerr (5-10) look to improve on a third-place league finish in the SCBL. -TW Attica Senior PG Tanner Hayes (6-1, 22 ppg, 7 rpg) leads a group of four returning starters, including Dustin Murphy, Mike Loreg and Anthony Summers. Hayes was named honorable mention all-state by the Topeka Capital Journal last year. -TW Burrton Burrton encourages fast play with no one over 6'0". Alex Santiago, who led the team in scoring, assists and steals a year ago, is back. Tyler Bruton, the team's second leading scorer last season, also returns. -MB Caldwell Dillan Kuehny (6-3) and two sophomores return from a team which lost three seniors from last season. Sophomore guards Braden Lebeda (6-1) and Mason Teeter (6-1) lead a very talented class. -TW Central Christian (Hutchinson) After two seasons ending in heartbreaking fashion at regionals, Central Christian must recover from losing five seniors who went on to play college sports. A perennial league contender, Central Christian returns starter Caleb Hageman (6-5, 6 rpg) in the post and last season's sixth man, G Greg Yoder (5-11). -TW Cunningham Track and football stars James Patton (12 ppg) and Grant Kerschen (9 ppg) are the team's two returning starters. Cunningham finished 17-8 last season, losing to eventual Class 1A state champion South Gray 65-42 in the sub-state final. Cunningham was a ranked team in 1A in December. -MB Dexter-Cedar Vale The two leading returning scorers are both sophomores for Dexter-Cedar Vale in its first season as a consolidated team. Forwards Mason Ridgeway (11 ppg) and Bradley Berkley (10 ppg) both score in double digits. Senior guards Eric Pappan and Jake Fulsom have stepped up their playing time. -MB Norwich Senior C Mason Hewitt (6-5, 21 ppg) led Norwich to a regional semifinal upset of Central Christian last February, scoring 42 points. Norwich then fell to Olpe in the sub-state final. Also back are guards Bryan Rhodes and Reece Johnson, the team's leading three-point shooter a year ago. -MB Pretty Prairie Only one starter, Bristol Broce, returns for Pretty Prairie following a loss in the sub-state semifinal last season. Hope for a better record remains, as junior Joe Lampe (6-9) and sophomore guard Hunter Pittman step up. -MB South Haven South Haven went 18-7 a year ago but it returns just two players. G Nathan Yunker (6-2, 10 ppg) missed the first few games due to a knee injury he suffered during football. F Jordan Creed (6-3, 6 rpg) also returns. -MB Sunrise Christian Academy Sunrise loses three starters from last year's 20-5 team which won its third consecutive Tri-State championship. Leading scorer Tamiko McKinney returns, and size will certainly be an asset with F B.J. Bonamy (6-4) and C Egor Shamhametov (6-11). Sunrise makes trips to Liberal and Dodge City this season. -MB Word of Life First-year coach Ryan Huijing takes over a program which placed third at the NACA Div. IV national tournament last season. Word of Life receives a boost from senior transfers Shaquille Hall (6-6) and PG A.D. Blue (5-7), and Chris Dawson (6-0, 10 ppg) returns to the starting lineup. -TW Home School Warriors Five seniors return, including four starters, from a team which finished third in the KCAA 2A state tournament last season. PG Bradly Collins (6-2) led the team in assists, G Josh Robinson (5-11) led team in scoring last year, F Zach Whitley (6-4) was second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, and G Jon Belsen (6-0) was the team's top defender. -TW Girls Class 2A Berean Academy A year after being ousted from state in the first round as the top seed, Berean returned to the Class 2A state tournament last March to win the title. After the graduation of post player Cathryn Wiebe, Berean's key return is G Kayla Eilert, who averaged nearly double figures last season. -MB Central-Burden Central Burden returns F Ashley Wham (5-9, 16 ppg, 8 rpg), an all-league performer the past two seasons. Guards Misty Teague and Autumn Hopper also return, . as Central hopes to improve on its 13-10 record and have a chance at the Class 2A state tournament. -MB Flinthills-Rosalia The rebuilding process continues for Flinthills, as only three key players return from last season's 1-19 team. The frontcourt appears to be the main strength with Dani Riemann and Emily Jackson starting. -MB Oxford After a rebuilding year, Oxford looks to senior part-time starters Denise Swanson (5-6), Aubrie Neises (5-7) and Rachel Patterson (5-3. Sophomores F Kaitlin Norris (5-7) and G Missy Swanson (5-5) will be factors after strong freshman seasons. -TW Udall Josh Ybarra is in his first season with a spread of players of all ages. Seniors Cassie Mettling and Felecia Franklin, junior Courtney Adams, and sophomores Abby Mettling, Cassie's sister, and Brandi Smith were all starters at one point last season. Udall will compete at the top of a very competitive SCBL. -TW Class 1A Argonia After finishing the regular season undefeated, Argonia was upset at sub-state by league rival Dexter. The Peetoom sisters, senior G Toni (5-7, 9 ppg) and junior F Davi (5-8, 10 ppg, 6 rpg), lead a group of four sophomores, all of whom saw significant time as freshmen - starters Ali Brewster (5-7, 10 ppg) and Brooke Boatright (5-7, 8 ppg, 7 rpg), and lettermen Ashton Stansbury (5-8, 8 ppg, 5 rpg) and Morgan Tracy (5-8). -TW Attica Former Attica boys assistant Bret Ricke takes over the girls program with two returning senior starters, Kaitlin Ricke (5-2) and Kylee Hermann (5-4). Four sophomores and six freshmen offer Ricke the potential for rebuilding the program. Burrton All five starters return for Burrton, as the Chargers look to surpass perennial favorites Pratt Skyline, South Barber and Hutchinson Central Christian. Post play will be Burrton's biggest strength, with its two leading scorers, MacKenzie Allen and Ashley Friesen, being forwards. -MB Caldwell With 90 percent of the scoring from last season graduated, junior Brae Halling (5-7) returns to the starting lineup. Lebeda sisters Kati (5-8), a junior, and Ashlynn, a sophomore, will have to step up in coach Cory Ward's 10th season. -TW Central Christian (Hutchinson) A promising regular season record of 20-2 turned into a disappointing postseason finish for Central Christian with a loss at sub-state in 2008. Leading scorer Laura Patrick (5-10, 19 ppg) returns to make another run at state, as incoming freshmen will also be asked to contribute. -MB Cunningham Third-year coach Lance McGuire looks to keep building after two- and four-win seasons. The junior class returns two players who have already started for two years. Kristen Fischer, Ashley Albers and Allie Cochran return to continue improvement. -TW Dexter-Cedar Vale A season after Dexter made the Class 1A state tournament, they consolidate with Cedar Vale. A trip back to Hays is certainly possible with three key players back - Tanessa McClure and Brittney Engle from Dexter and all-league performed Sarah Massey of Cedar Vale. -MB Norwich Following a four-win season, Norwich is building on gained experience, returning Paige Goebel, Megan VanGieson, Molly Poe, Shelby Rust and Bailey Wise. -TW Pretty Prairie With the move down to Class 1A, Pretty Prairie looks for a state bid behind three returning senior starters - Megan McFadden (10 ppg), Carly Cramton (9 ppg) and Andrea Markel (10 ppg). Eleventh-year coach C.T. Young last took the program to state in his second season. Sophomore Katie Graber led the team in three-point shooting as a freshman (34%). Pretty Prairie was ranked in 1A in December. -TW South Haven Two seasons after winning the state title, South Haven lost two of its top three scorers from a year ago. Three-sport star Breanna Bryant (10 ppg) returns with Breanna McConnell, who moves from the post to the perimeter. -MB Sunrise Christian Academy Sunrise Christian Academy went 11-10 last season but lost its top two players to graduation. Back this year for the Buffaloes are G Janessa Garrett (8 ppg) and F Brianna McGuire (7 ppg). -MB Home School Warriors A season after finishing second in the KCAA, third-year coach Sid Colliatie returns seniors Aimee Shrout and Ashley Colliatie and junior Andrea Delsan, each of whom averaged 10 ppg last season. Emily Bing also returns to a varsity team of nine. -TW