Three decades apart, Wichita Collegiate basketball once again led by talented freshmen
Mitch Fiegel knows a thing or two about leading a team loaded with freshmen to greatness over the years at Collegiate.
He’s enjoying the challenge so far this season, as the Spartans are off to a 5-0 start behind a talented trio of freshmen in A.J. Batiste, Sebastian Hines-Turner and Jaden Parker, who combined for 45 points in Collegiate’s 54-42 win over Rose Hill on Friday.
“When you’re pressing from baseline to baseline like we do, the number one thing you have to bring is energy and right now we’re playing with a great deal of energy,” Fiegel said. “Now once we can get some technique thrown in with our energy, man, we’re going to be really good. But right now we have these flurries where we’re executing and then we have these flurries where we’re not executing, which is to be expected with such a young group.”
It reminds Fiegel of the challenge he faced exactly 30 years ago, the last time he played this many freshmen together on varsity.
Back in 1993, DeAngelo Evans was a freshman sensation at Collegiate and powered the Spartans to their first state championship under Fiegel, who remembers playing four freshmen — Evans, Jed Bond, Ryan Francisco and Brian Fearnow — on the court together during the final game.
While Evans was an unstoppable force by himself, Collegiate has the benefit this season of having three freshmen in Batiste, Hines-Turner and Parker who could lead the team in scoring in any given game.
Fiegel has also been impressed by how his young group has responded to adversity early in the season. The Spartans clawed back from a 10-point halftime deficit in a 12-point win over Labette County and held off late charges from Parsons, Andale and Rose Hill.
“We’ve been more resilient than I thought we would be for being so young,” Fiegel said. “We’ve been able to withstand some challenges that usually require a veteran group to handle.”
Not only are Collegiate’s three leading scorers freshmen, the team also only has one senior, Quentin Fair. The rest of the group had sparse varsity experience entering this season: James Shackelford, Brett Wetta, Robby Rasberry, Asa Ahmad, David Chege and Carter Drumright.
Even though Collegiate has passed every challenge so far before Christmas break, Fiegel knows the sixth-ranked Spartans still have things to improve in order to reach their championship potential in Class 3A.
“We have to improve our shot selection and our ability to finish defensively, and the good news is both of those things are controllable,” Fiegel said. “We haven’t finished well in terms of boxing out and we haven’t had a game yet where we haven’t gone through some sort of serious foul trouble. Again, that comes with experience. It’s hard for young guys to be aggressive and disciplined, but it’s possible. And that’s the place we’re going to have to get to.”
Wichita high school basketball game scores
Boys scores
Andover 70, Eisenhower 37
Andover Central 57, Valley Center 40
Campus 52, Maize 50
Derby 65, Salina South 42
Hutchinson 59, Goddard 50
Maize South 85, Newton 35
Salina Central 60, Arkansas City 53
Andale 53, Clearwater 31
Augusta 55, Buhler 49
Circle 69, Mulvane 48
Collegiate 54, Rose Hill 42
McPherson 84, Winfield 47
Wellington 60, El Dorado 30
Cheney 56, Sterling 51
Ell-Saline 56, Douglass 40
Garden Plain 48, Sedgwick 33
Independent 53, Moundridge 47
Inman 54, Chaparral 49
Kingman 70, Bennington 64
Remington 55, Conway Springs 40
Trinity Academy 66, Berean Academy 52
Haven 62, Larned 16
Pratt 65, Nickerson 41
Smoky Valley 48, Halstead 43
Southeast of Saline 56, Hillsboro 37 (Thursday)
Canton-Galva 72, Centre 34
Goessel 62, Rural Vista 39
Norwich 65, South Haven 45
West Elk 62, Fredonia 59
Girls scores
Andover 53, Eisenhower 33
Derby 51, Salina South 32
Hutchinson 51, Goddard 36
Maize 40, Campus 25
Maize South 59, Newton 19
Salina Central 54, Arkansas City 42
Andale 59, Clearwater 54 (2 OT)
Buhler 48, Augusta 41
Circle 45, Mulvane 36
Collegiate 40, Rose Hill 37
McPherson 54, Winfield 30
Wellington 70, El Dorado 18
Bennington 57, Douglass 39 (Thursday)
Berean Academy 34, Garden Plain 30 (Thursday)
Cheney 42, Remington 27 (Thursday)
Conway Springs 54, Inman 46 (Thursday)
Kingman 54, Moundridge 48 (Thursday)
Marion 44, Medicine Lodge 42 (Thursday)
Trinity Academy 50, Ell-Saline 30 (Thursday)
Halstead 37, Smoky Valley 33
Haven 52, Larned 30
Pratt 47, Nickerson 25
Southeast of Saline 45, Hillsboro 40 (Thursday)
Bluestem 55, Burden-Central 31
Classical 39, Cunningham 35
Eureka 68, Flinthills 18
Norwich 46, South Haven 27
This story was originally published December 17, 2022 at 1:38 PM.
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