Garden Plain basketball returned to the court Wednesday night against the visiting Dodge City Demons, who made the 2 hour road trip West. The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday, January 7, but heavy winter storms caused the game to be rescheduled to January 8. Dodge City, suffering losses from some of the best teams in the state, looked to continue their win streak after taking down Woodward 83-79 on January 3.
Led by five seniors, the Owls were confident to start the year. Freshman Cooper Eck, a promising young player for Coach Mark Powell’s team, hit a game winning three in his first high school varsity game. The buzz and high hopes were quickly diminished after the Owls blew a double digit lead against Trinity Academy to hand the Owls their first loss of the season. A decent game from Trinity sophomore Jesse Klund, as well as a good supporting cast from his senior teammates Kolton Shaffer and Cooper Garrison ultimately downed the Owls.
The following week, Garden Plain took on the Rose Hill Rockets at home as part of the annual Hesston round robin beginning of season tournament. Fueled by a big game from Cooper Scheer, the Owls took down the Rockets fairly easily with a 65 to 44 domination. Garden Plain would make their second road trip of the season to Hesston to take on one of the best 3A teams in the state. Senior Reed Friesen, a 6’7” athletic wing for the Swathers, as well as 6′ 5” sophomore Drew Bartell proved too much for this year’s Garden Plain team, defeating the Owls for the third straight year 54-40.
Before the holiday break, Garden Plain took on their rival Cheney on the road. Returning to play for the Owls was senior Seth Dugan who was expected to make a big impact. However, the Owls would be without starting point guard Cooper Scheer, which would prove to be a big piece in their struggle against the Cardinals. A big first quarter from Cheney sophomore Quaid Thomas, and several critical mistakes early, hurt the Owls and dug them a hole they struggled to get out of. Late in the game, the Cardinals began to pull away, finishing the game with several dunks and most importantly, a dominating win 58 to 37.
The Owls began practice once again after a long awaited Christmas break, hoping to turn their season around playing against another rival in Andale. The team quickly got back into shape and was ready to show their skills against the Indians. After a close first half, Andale senior Austin Baalmann took over the second half, not only scoring but finding his teammates for easy buckets at the rim. Seemingly shooting lights out in the second half, the Owls once again would lose by double digits 52 to 31. Frustration from players and fans is clear in the town, as preseason expectations have failed to be met.
After a mere 2-4 start, the Owls looked to bounce back against the visiting 6A Dodge City Demons. Garden Plain focused on guard Ty Scheck, who was seemingly on fire against Woodward High School in the Demons last game, as well as Nathan Schulte who was forced on both sides of the ball in their last game. However, Garden Plain expected to have a definite size advantage, and hoped to use that to their benefit. Seniors Brady Brack and Kaeden Kasselman looked like they will be dominant forces inside and cause some serious trouble for the visitors.
In their matchup with Dodge, we saw several players have big impacts despite the Owls unfortunate loss against the Demons. Cooper Scheer hit several 3’s throughout the game, as well as a 10 rebound game from senior Brady Brack, helped the Owls keep the game close. At halftime, Garden Plain trailed in a tight game. The game never seemed to slip from the Owls, and with several three point attempts to potentially send the game to overtime Garden Plain failed to pull through down the stretch losing 63-66.
Garden Plain will be in action once again on January 14 against Trinity Academy. Trinity, since their comeback win against the Owls earlier this season, has been on a major skid losing several games, two of which came in blowout fashion. With both teams hoping to right the ship, and contend for a potential league championship it is sure to be a competitive matchup. Following their matchup with the Knights, Garden Plain makes the long road trip to Medicine Lodge to take on the Indians. Led by senior Keveon Ruiz, the Indians have been dominant this season and are striving towards a CPL championship.
With high expectations, the Owls hope to get back on track next week. Struggling to play with a lead has hurt the team all season, however Garden Plain is hopeful they can pick up a couple wins before they head to the annual Rupp Tournament in Halstead. Garden Plain as always invites all members of the community and those surrounding to come to see the Owls in action.
