After perhaps flying under the radar during last year’s run to the Class 1A Division II state championship, the Greeley County boys basketball team won’t catch anyone by surprise this season. 

Greeley County returned the bulk of last year's title team including all-stater Jaxson Brandl.  The Jackrabbits are off to a 6-0 start and ranked No. 1 in 1A Division II. 

They went 23-2 last year, ending with a 56-55 win over defending champion Hanover in the championship game thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Lincoln Shafer. 

“It’s not going to be like last year, we’re not going to sneak in and win anything. We’re going to be the target," Greeley County coach Josh Gooch said. “Everyone’s going to have their eyes set on us. Their schedule is going to be circled for the game against us. They’re going to want to knock us off. I’ve been preaching it every day.”

The Jackrabbits have been up to the task early on, stretching their winning streak to 18 games. They passed a good test from McClave, which is ranked in Class 1A in Colorado, with an 82-67 victory on Dec. 6 in the Border Wars Tournament. Greeley County rolled against Quinter (74-42) and Triplains Brewster (87-24) before heading into the break.

“This year is different than most years, not because of last year’s success, but because of everybody I had returning,” Gooch said. “I didn’t have to teach an offense, or a defense or the schemes or anything like that. Even after the first week of practice, the kids were ready for a game.

“After last season, you would have thought we lost, the way a lot of these kids started getting in the gym at the start of the offseason,” Gooch said. “April, May and June, I had anywhere from three to 10 guys in the gym working on stuff.”

Brandl, a KSHSAA Covered top-five All-State pick last year, has been filling up the stat sheet again. The 6-foot-2 senior forward is averaging 27 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.6 steals. 

Brandl put up 39 points in the Triplains/Brewster game to become Greeley County’s all-time leading scorer at 1,687, surpassing Josh Young’s record of 1,686 set in 1996. 

“He had 39 points, but he still had five or six assists, 13 rebounds," Gooch said of Brandl. “He’s very unselfish. If he’s guarded he’ll find the open man. If he’s double-teamed or triple-teamed, he’ll find the open man. If he misses a shot or if he’s not shooting it, he’s going in after the rebound.”

Brandl and senior point guard Titus Sherer have improved their outside shooting from last year. Brandl is shooting 40.2% (9 of 22) while Sherer is 42.1 percent (8 of 19) from deep. 

“They’ve been more consistent shooters from the outside, Titus especially,” Gooch said. “Last year he was 25 to 30 percent. In years past, he’s been more pass-oriented. This year he’s been taking his open shots and taking advantage of it and not forcing up anything where he drives into the trees.”

Shafer bookended his freshman season in thrilling fashion last year, knocking down a buzzer-beating 3 from the corner in the title game to knock off Hanover. He’s the team’s third-leading scorer at 11.5 points per game. 

“A lot of people don’t realize, last year (Shafer) made one of his first 3-pointers of the season and then he kind of went on a slump,” Gooch said. “He couldn’t buy a 3-pointer most of that first half of the season. He was really struggling mentally last year. I said, ‘Hey, let’s just focus on your defense. You’re a good shooter, it’s going to fall.’ 

“He took on that role of defending the other team’s best player, and he did that with pride. He just kept shooting, kept working on it. And at the end of the season it stated to fall, and that paid dividends in the state championship game. He’s been shooting the ball well (this season). It seems like he’s grown 3, 4, 5 inches from last year because he’s taller and longer and just gets after it a little bit more on the defensive side.”

The Jackrabbits also returned Jariath Yanez and Valentin Villalobos, seniors with starting experience. Yanez averages 10.2 points while Villalobos averages 4 points, 2.1 assists and 2.1 rebounds. 

Yanez has taken the most charges in program history. He set the record in the Quinter win and has drawn 27 charges in his career. 

“Like I told the kids, it’s the hardest call to get because it’s so 50-50,” Gooch said. “It just depends on the ref’s angle or what the ref was looking at. The kids were excited (for the record-breaking charge). The whole crowd was excited for it."

Key reserves for the Jackrabbits include seniors Isaac Schneider and Carson Luebbers,  junior Kasen Felty and sophomore Bryson Bjorklund.

“We have a lot of kids that like to step up into their roles and do the little things,” Gooch said. 

The Jackrabbits have a big game awaiting them after break with a road matchup at No. 3-ranked Northern Valley on Jan. 6. Greeley County edged Northern Valley in the state semis last year. 

“We know they’re going to be gunning for us and the kids have been looking forward to that game since we got that finalized on our schedule,” Gooch said. “It’s the same mentality that we had last year, one game at a time.”

Other Western Kansas basketball standouts: 

• The Colby boys are off to a 6-0 start. They won the Goodland Topside Tipoff. They headed into the break with a 60-44 win over Russell. The Eagles are led by senior guard Hunter Vaughn. 
• Senior standout Britt Dutton has Ellinwood off to a 6-0 start. Dutton is averaging 30 points per game. He put up 40 points in a 65-51 win over Ell-Saline on Dec. 13. 
• Senior Alec Carlson is averaging 25.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 3.1 steals and 2.1 blocks for Pawnee Heights, which is 6-1 and ranked No. 2 in Class 1A Division II. Davin Hamby is adding 14.7 points per game for the Tigers. Pawnee Heights beat Bucklin 79-68 in its last game before the break. 
• The Garden City boys are off to a 7-0 start. They entered the break with a 52-39 win over Wichita East. Jace Steinmetz is averaging 21.7 points for the Buffaloes. 
• The Macksville boys, who placed third in 1A Division II last year, are 7-0. They beat Cunningham 57-51 on Dec. 20 in their closest game so far. Ryan Kuckelman nearly averages a double-double with 13.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. 
• The Liberal girls moved to 5-0 with a 53-44 win over Hugoton on Dec. 20. Keyona Hall and Hailey Contreras are each averaging 10.8 points. 
• Defending Class 3A champion and No. 1-ranked Goodland (6-0) will return from break with a road matchup at No. 10-ranked Cimarron, led by Creighton signee McKayla Miller. 
• Kansas State signee Taryn Sides and Phillipsburg are 6-0 and ranked No. 3 in 3A. 
• Junior Josey Kennedy has helped the Hoxie girls jump out to a 5-0 start. Kennedy is averaging 19.6 points. 
• Senior Trinity Lutters is scoring 24.4 points per game for the 5-0 Osborne girls, ranked No. 2 in Class 1A Division I.