A look at the Andale Indians basketball teams
SCHEDULE
December — 6, Andover; 9 at Pratt; 13, Wellington; 16, at Clearwater; 20, at Winfield
January — 3, Collegiate; 6, Mulvane; 10, Rose Hill; 13, at McPherson; 16-21, Halstead tournament (B); 17, Augusta (G); 24, Augusta (B); 26-28, at McPherson tournament (G); 31, at Circle
February — 3, Buhler; 10, at Wellington; 14, Clearwater; 17, at Collegiate; 21, at Mulvane; 23, at Rose Hill
BOYS
Coach: Jeff Buchanan, 11th season, 162-67
Last season: 18-4
Top players
Parker Bruce, 6-2, jr., F
Cameron Cothran, 6-3, sr., F
Grant Fairchild, 6-4, jr., F
Andale finished 18-4 last season, but their road back to success will be much more difficult. Point guard Zach Meyer tore an anterior cruciate ligament during football season and will be out for the entire basketball season.
“A lot of what we did during the off season, he was in there,” Buchanan said. “You hope a lot of different guys are going to step into that role. It’s going to be difficult and you hope whoever fills the point-guard role will give it their best shot.”
Post play is something that Buchanan and the Indians think is a strength and will serve them will defensively.
“We have a lot of depth in our post,” Buchanan said. “There’s going to be plenty of guys that know what we expect out of that position. We have a number of guys that are capable and have the ability to help us on the varsity court.”
Parker Bruce returns as Andale’s top returning player. Bruce earned honorable mention All-AV-CTL IV honors after averaging 7.5 points and 6.3 rebounds.
Cothran will play more significant minutes after contributing 2.8 points and 2.7 rebounds coming off the bench.
GIRLS
Coach: Ted Anderson, second season, 19-4
Last season: 10-13
Top players
Tyler Winter, 5-6, jr., G
Rachel Bergkamp, 5-8, jr., G-F
Jill Bergkamp, 5-10, sr., F
Payton Chavez, 5-8, sr., G
Morgan Geist, 5-11, jr., F
Sophie Easter, 5-7, jr., G
Anderson implemented a new offensive system in his first season, which ended with a state tournament appearance. Andale was in awe of making state, losing in the first round to Miege.
“The excitement of upsetting Andover Central and winning two nights later was a huge deal,” Anderson said. “If we can somehow get back there, we can focus on getting there and winning a basketball game. Hopefully we can make it a tradition.”
The Indians return three starters to this year’s team and have six returning letterwinners. Andale will continue to run the system they established last season.
“There’s no substitute for experience,” Anderson said. “We’ve installed everything we ran last year and executed really well. We’re so much deeper this year.”
Guard play will be the key, led by point guard Winter. She was a full-time sophomore starter, averaging 5 points and 2.4 assists.
Jill Bergkamp will create a strong inside presence. Leading the 2016 McPherson tournament in rebounds, the senior finished the season averaging 6.3 points and 6.1 rebounds.
This story was originally published November 19, 2016 at 3:35 PM with the headline "A look at the Andale Indians basketball teams."