Gohl, Keyser All-Area players of the year

The McCook Daily Gazette announced its 2008-09 All-Area Basketball Boys and Girls Team, Boys and Girls Players of the Year and Boys and Girls Coaches of the Year today.

2008-09 Boys

All-Area First Team

Matt Gohl, 6-3 senior, Hayes Center, NSAA Academic All-State -- Gohl led the Cardinals to a third-place finish in Nebraska Class D-2.

A physical and consistent player in the paint, Gohl either got the bucket, got fouled or both. He hit 65 percent of his shots from 2-point range.

Gohl scored 13.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game and finished the season with 40 assists and 88 steals.

Drew Wetovick, 6-3 junior, Eustis-Farnam -- Wetovick, an all-around athlete who earned 18 points and 10.2 rebounds a game.

Wetovick shot 51.1 percent from the field and 61.2 percent from the line.

Kendal Glidden, 6-6 junior, Dundy County-Stratton, NSAA Academic All-State -- Glidden is a 6-6 junior that handles the ball well and has a soft shot.

He averaged 21.3 points and 11.4 rebounds a game.

Drew Basgall, 5-11 senior, Rawlins County -- Basgall was held to 10 points or less in only two games of the 23 games played this season.

Basgall averaged 16 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and finished the season with 91 assists and 69 steals.

Ivan Simic, 6-5 senior, Arapahoe -- Simic led the Warriors to a 25-2 record and a No. 4 rank in Class D-1.

The foreign exchange student from Serbia, Simic dominated under the basket, scoring 18.3 points and 11.1 rebounds a game.

Simic shot 61 percent from the field and 71 percent from the line.

Sixth Man: Connor Larson, 5-10 sophomore, McCook -- Larson's 10 3-pointers in one game was not only a crowd-pleaser, but a McCook High School record.

Larson scored 22 points, including 5-of-7 3-pointers in the first round state tournament game against Class B No. 1 ranked Ralston.

Larson averaged 10.9 points per game and finished with 92 assists and 78 steals. Larson swished 62 3-pointers with a 43 percent average.

2008-09 Girls

All-Area First Team

Traci Keyser, 5-11 senior -- Cambridge, NSAA Academic All-State -- Keyser, a Fort Hays State University basketball recruit, was the player a coach would want handling the ball at the end of a close game.

Keyser shot 47 percent from the field leading the Trojans with 19.1 points and 8.13 rebounds per game.

Keyser went 115-for-146 from the line for 78 percent and 16-for-48 from 3-point range for 33 percent.

Frankie Petersen, 5-9 junior, Cambridge -- Petersen is a multi-sport athlete who doesn't hesitate teaching technique and fundamentals to younger players.

Petersen scored 12.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and finished with 73 assists and 67 steals.

Bailey Soucie, 5-9 senior, Cambridge -- Soucie brought her playground style of play to the court, using dribble-between-the-legs and the no-look pass to get the ball down the floor and to an open teammate.

Soucie averaged 10.8 points and 5.52 rebounds per game, dished off 90 assists and had 61 steals.

Blair Dixon, 5-7 senior, Wauneta-Palisade -- Dixon, another athlete for all-seasons, scored 12.4 points and 7 rebounds per game.

She also blocked 30 shots, had 86 steals and 54 assists.

Laramey Lewis, 5-7 freshman, Hitchcock County, NSAA Academic All-State -- Someone forgot to tell Lewis she was a freshman. She played like it was her senior year. Lewis averaged 14 points and 6.6 rebounds a game. Lewis had 69 steals and 90 assists.

Sixth Man: Michele Borden, 5-7 sophomore, Arapahoe -- Borden is a scrappy player who plays hard and will take one on the chin to get the ball to the hoop. Borden scored 13.7 points and grabbed 6.3 rebounds per game.

Coaches of the year

Dave Kuhlen, Wauneta-Palisade, was selected for the 2008-09 boy's "Coach of the Year."

Kuhlen polished his young Bronco team for a 14-9 season. The Broncos played 7 games without injured sophomore Drew Harris, a 15.6 point-per-game center.

By season end, Kuhlen's quick team covered the floor, created turnovers, and was a thorn in the side of opponents.

Wauneta-Palisade won the Class D1-12 sub-district final game against Creek Valley 43-35 at Sidney.

Wauneta-Palisade lost to top-ranked Arapahoe, 49-46, in the D1-6 District final game in McCook.

Kuhlen's overall record is 148-89, including an undefeated (25-0) 2006-07 season when the Broncos blasted Leigh 71-60 for the Class D1 state championship.

Roger Lauhead, Wauneta-Palisade was selected 2008-09 girls "Coach of the Year."

Lauhead has qualified his girls for the state tournament 9 times and has a record of 295-97 in his 18 years of coaching.

Lauhead's Broncos lost only 4 regular season games. Three losses to Nebraska Class C-2 No. 3 Cambridge and one to C-2 No. 4 Perkins County.

Wauneta-Palisade went through Class D1-12 sub-districts uncontested and the D1-6 District final game with a 57-20 blowout over Bertrand.

Wauneta-Palisade lost to Humphrey 50-34 in the first round of the Class D-1 Nebraska Girls State Basketball Tournament.

2009 ALL AREA BASKETBALL TEAMS

HONORABLE MENTION -- BOYS

Oberlin: Lucas Juenemann, Toby Peters, Jacob Fortin. Medicine Valley: Clint Bryant, Nolan Hammond, Tanner Eberle, Matt Zysset, *Ben Wolfe. Hayes Center: Luke Clifford, Brady Rosno, Tyler Clifford, Brian Chistner, Evan Messersmith. Cambridge: Delvin Jackson, Cletus Macke, Gus Petersen, TJ Vacura. Arapahoe: Dalton Hyke, Andy Wendland. Dundy County-Stratton: Trevor Confer, Ben Anderson. Wauneta-Palisade: Brendan Geier, TJ Ellicott. Rawlins County: Marcus Cahoj, Eric Holub, Jackson Grafel. Maywood: Dex Dodson, Dan Stinman, *Brandon Arent, *Kelvin Arent. Hitchcock County: Zach Cruz, *Clive Brown, *Cale Brown. McCook: *Ryan Hardin, Matt Berry, *Seth Schaeffer, Mark Nichols, Zach Wieser. Southwest: Justin Brooks, Calvin Vontz, David Day, Michael Brodd. Southern Valley: *Drew Witte, *Michael Hoxmeier.

HONORABLE MENTION -- GIRLS

Cambridge: *Kellie Ballou, Danielle Carpenter. Dundy County-Stratton: Brittany Shillington. Maywood: *Brooke Koester, Kadee Arensdorf, Susan Koester. Southwest: *Megan Conway, Layne McConville, *Abby Houghtelling. Arapahoe: *Catherine Paulsen, Cayla Polston. Wauneta-Palisade: Tia Simpson, Bethany Riener. HItchcock County: Ashley Garner. McCook: Joanna Bryant, *Hanah Swanhorst, Brianna Watkins, *Tara Powell, Sydney Jumps. Hayes Center: *Samantha Deaver, Shelby Tyan, Medicine Valley: Jordan Zysset, Adrienne LiaKos, Sarah Schrock, Aundrea Jorgensen. Southern Valley: Jessica Murdoch, Cassie Brooks, Alissa Brooks. Oberlin: Mary Olson, Adrienne Pauls, Jordan Dreher. Eustis-Farnam: Jaycee Schultheiss.

*NSAA ACADEMIC ALL-STATE