Garden Plain just wrapped up a very busy week on the court. Garden Plain played three games last week, as a part of Hesston’s annual preseason tournament. The Owls were able to come out of the road trip with a win, bumping them up to .500 on the season.
On Tuesday, the Owls took on the Rose Hill Rockets at home. A big game from the Rockets, Jace Evans would ultimately seal the Owls fate. The senior guard has a number of rebounds and was one of the games leading scorers. Rose Hill handed the Owls their first loss of the young season, 38-44. A big key in the Owls loss was the amount of turnovers they had and a lack of rotation on defense.
On Thursday, Garden Plain traveled to Hesston to take on the Swathers. Hesston is one of the powerhouses in the area, and it was a tough matchup for the Owls. Garden Plain was within reach at halftime, with a low score of 10-16. After the third quarter, the Owls were still in a tight game as they trailed the Swather’s 23-32. In the fourth quarter, things fell apart for Garden Plain. The Owls would only score a mere 3 points, and give up 16. Garden Plain struggled to control Hesston’s Reed Friesen, who would score double digits on the Owls and have multiple blocked shots and pass deflections. Gabe Kampling led the scoring for the Owls on the night with 13 points. The Owls lost their second game of the season 26-48.
On Friday, the Owls took on the Nickerson Panthers at a neutral sight. The teams got a chance to play in Hesston’s College gym, which was a really cool experience for the athletes. Garden Plain only recorded 13 turnovers on the night, and won in both the offensive and defensive rebounding stats. The Owls shot 35% from the field, and 31% from three. Leading the charge for the Owls was Gabe Kampling again. Kampling put up 17 points, 6 of his points coming from behind the arch. Kaeden Kasselman would also pitch in 12 points and 5 rebounds on the night. The great performance from the Owls post players earned them a win 48-36 over Nickerson.
The JV and C teams were also able to haul in a couple wins this past week. John Peck’s JV bunch were able to take down both Rose Hill and Nickerson. This brought the JV back up to .500 on the season, and they look to get another win on Friday. Like last year’s C-team for the Owls, they have a lot of kids on the roster. It has been really hard for everyone to get equivalent playing time, so some of the players have been playing with the C team as well. Lorenzo Barles’ C-team was able to haul in their second win of the season Friday against Nickerson. A big game from sophomore twins Elijah and Andrew Durham fueled the Owls to victory.
This week, the Owls take a 90 mile road trip north to take on the Ell-Saline Cardinals. The Cardinals are 3-1 on the season, with three of their wins coming in blowout fashion. Their only loss came to the Bennington Bulldogs, which was a slugfest to say the least. Both teams put up above 50 points, and it was tight all the way down to the final buzzer. They will be a challenge for the Owls for sure, but players and coaches are optimistic for what could come this week.
The Owls will have a tough road trip, but a win could put them in great position for their game next Tuesday against their district rival Andale Indians. Garden Plain encourages fans to make the trip with the team and support the Owls in action.
