High school basketball preview: Conway Springs Cardinals (+video)
Schedule
December – 4, at Chaparral; 8-12 at Kingman tournament; 18, at Cheney.
January – 5, at Douglass; 8, at Medicine Lodge; 12, Douglass; 15, at Independent; 19, Garden Plain (G); 20-22, at Chaparral tournament (B); 26-30, at Sedgwick tournament (G), 29, Garden Plain (B).
February – 2, Bluestem; 5, at Garden Plain; 9, Chaparral; 12, at Belle Plaine; 16, at Trinity Academy; 19, Medicine Lodge; 23, Cheney.
Boys
Coach: Paul Lange, 1st season
Last season: 12-11
Top players
Dylan Murphy, 6-2, sr., F
Noah Finstad, 5-8, jr., G
Gunnar Denney, 5-8, jr. G
Chris Hedrick, 5-11, so. G
Lucas Shafter 6-2, sr. F
Though it’s his first year as coach, Paul Lange has been an assistant at Conway Springs for the past nine years. He’s seen a higher level of enthusiasm as the basketball team prepares for the upcoming season.
“Football has always been the staple of the Conway Springs athletic scene, and at times you see guys finish a season going for another state championship and start getting ready for the next football season,” he said. “But now we’ve got some of our best athletes in the school playing basketball.”
Three returning starters – Murphy, Dugan and Winter – come back with significant experience. Lange said the team already has a sense of chemistry and timing that he hasn’t typically seen this early in the fall.
“These guys have played together, and it shows,” he said. “I’ve already noticed they’ve got their timing together, and it’s probably ahead of where a lot of teams usually are this time of year.”
The Cardinals will have to start their season without jDenney because of a leg injury, but Lange said he hopes to have him back by January at the latest.
Girls
Coach: Pat Carl, second season
Last season: 16-6
Top players
Alicia Carter, 5-10, sr. C
Erica Ebenkamp, 5-2, jr. G-F
Kallie Jones, 5-2, jr. G-F
Bre Akiu, 5-4, jr. G-F
Janae Pauly, 5-9, jr. C
Kristin Hilger, 5-6, sr. F/C
Sabrina Bellar, 5-7, so, G
With only a pair of seniors, the Conway Springs roster may appear young to start the season. But that youth got plenty of playing time a year ago without sacrificing success. Carl, in his first year with the Cardinals, led the girls to a 16-win season, and much of the roster is back.
“We’re still young, but that year of experience should help them out quite a bit,” Carl said. “We’ve got some talented athletes.”
Last year’s success came with the help of forward Sara Echelberry, who is now playing at Nebraska-Omaha. Carl said the large void left won’t be filled with a single player. The load will fall to Carter, the lone returning senior starter, and a pair of junior guards in Ebenkamp and Jones.
Carl said the increase in pace of play that his team used a year ago will continue and may even get a little faster this year.
“We’re still doing a lot of the same stuff,” he said. “We picked up the tempo last year, and they like it. They like to get after it.”
Billy Byler
This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 10:48 AM with the headline "High school basketball preview: Conway Springs Cardinals (+video)."