The 1-4 record Atchison County sports going into Friday’s boys basketball game against Valley Fallis may not resonate across the state, or even in the Northeast Kansas League.
 
But within the Tiger program, that “1” in the win column resonates plenty.
 
With a 64-61 double-overtime win over Horton on Dec. 5, Atchison County won a game for the first time since Feb. 28 2023. The victory ended a 44-game losing streak for the Tigers.
 
So while one win might not mean much for most programs, it meant plenty for the Tigers.
 
“It’s huge for us,” Tiger coach Cory Eckert said. “I knew it was coming and we were hoping it was definitely something we could take care of early this year, before Christmas just to break that stress and everybody’s not talking about it, or thinking about how we haven’t won for awhile.
 
“You could see the smiles, the relief on their faces of, ‘Finally!’ All the work we’ve put in all this time just to get that win was big. Now we have that mindset that we can do this and there’s some games coming up on the schedule the rest of the season that we should compete in and have another opportunity to compete in a build on this.”
 
From 2010-13, Atchison County was one of the top programs in Class 3A. The Tigers enjoyed a three-year run that saw them post a combined 66-4 record with the 2010-11 team placing fourth at the Class 3A state tournament.
 
But after going 22-1 in 2012-13, the Tigers completely went the opposite direction. They went 0-21 the next season, starting stretch where the program posted eight straight losing seasons. After creeping back just over .500 with a 12-11 mark in 2021-22, the Tigers finished 14-9 in 2022-23, falling in the sub-state semifinals to Marysville.
 
Eckert took over as head coach the following season and inherited a team that returned just one player that had played any varsity minutes during the 2022-23 season. 
 
“It was pretty much starting over,” Eckert said. “Everybody we had playing varsity the next year had never played varsity. And a lot of them hadn’t won a game since sixth grade. So, yeah, it was a tough place to start.”
 
Not only could Atchison County not get a win over the past two seasons, on most nights the Tigers weren’t even close. They lost by 40 or more points 20 times in the past two seasons and by at least 30 points 31 times.
 
Only three of their losses were by single digits, including a two-point loss to Jefferson County North last season and a two-point loss to Pleasant Ridge in the 2024.
 
“It was definitely a challenge and there were games where we’d get down in the first half that next season and maybe it was only a six or eight-point game but they’re not used to winning and they just had that mentality of it was over,” Eckert said. “It was just staying on them to stay focused, stay positive and try to instill in them that they have a chance. ”
 
In his first season, Eckert started one freshman and one sophomore. Last year, he started two freshmen  and a sophomore. The youth movement has continued this season as well with all five starters underclassmen, including a pair of freshmen.
 
One of those freshmen have stepped forward to became the leading player on this year’s team. James Gaddis is averaging 14.4 points per game and scored a game-high 25 points in the streak-breaking victory over Horton. He’s the only Tiger averaging in double figures.
 
“We knew we had some guys coming and this summer you could just tell there was a different mindset and different leadership amongst the players,” Eckert said. “They were very motivated and we won a few games over the summer, which we hadn’t done. You could just see things changing and there was new energy out there.”
 
As could be expected, the breakthrough win was anything but easy. Atchison County trailed Horton by seen at halftime. But instead of rolling over and accepting defeat as they had in previous such situations, the Tigers came back and forced overtime.
 
After two back-and-forth overtime periods, the Tigers were able to secure the long-awaited victory.
 
“It was back and forth and we’d hit a shot and they’d hit a shot,” Eckert said. “The crowd was really into it and we haven’t had that in a long time. It was just huge to play in that environment and to pull it out was even bigger for the program.”
 
In addition to Gaddis’ 25 points, Atchison County got 14 from sophomore Henry Urban and 12 from junior Ben Handke, who are the team’s second and third-leading scorers.
 
Atchison County has lost three straight since the win, dropping games to Riverside, Sabetha and Doniphan West. But Eckert is optimistic more wins will come now that the first one has been secured.
 
“Especially with our youth, we play hard and we’ve got some skill,” he said. “Now we’re just trying to put it together for four quarters and build on that.”
 

 
OTHER BOYS BASKETBALL STANDOUTS

• Osawatomie captured the title at the Linn County Tournament for the second straight year, beating Prairie View 79-35, Pleasanton 50-48 and Jayhawk-Linn 56-44. Jasper Sallee led the Trojans with 67 points at the tourney and is averaging 21.5 points per game through four games overall.
• Olpe took the title at the Wildcat Classic at Yates Center, beating the host Wildcats 62-24 in the championship game. Brecken McGuire scored 14 and Brayden Lienemann added 10 in the title game while Ko’Rel Robinson scored 17 in a 38-19 semifinal win over Neodesha. Olpe had previously opened the season with wins over ranked Rossville (58-40) and St. Marys (61-56) with McGuire scoring 22 and 21 in the wins and Cade Whitmore adding 19 against St. Marys.
• Clifton-Clyde cruised to the championship at the Herington Invitational, going 3-0 with all three wins by double digits. That included a 57-26 win over Chase County in the championship with Luke Nobert scoring 14 and Landon Begnoche adding 13 points. Nobert averaged 15.3 points and 6 rebounds per game at the tourney while Begnoche averaged 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game at the tourney.
• Little River joined its girls as champions at the Goessel Bluebird Class, topping Wheat State League rival Canton-Galva 48-37 in the title game.
• Burlingame’s Drake Skirvin scored his 1,000th career point in the Bearcats’ season opener.
• Wabaunsee finished runner-up at its home tournament, the Chargers’ highest finish since 2021. Cole Frank earned a spot on the all-tournament team for the third straight year and averaged 19.3 points per game at the tourney while Carter Falk also was an all-tourney pick and averaged 15 points per game. Cutter Murray also was in double figures at 10.3 points per game.
• Madison’s Octavian Dean is averaging 21.2 points and 10.4 rebounds in leading the Bulldogs to a 4-1 start. Dean had 28 points and 11 rebounds in last Friday’s win over Eureka.
• Frankfort’s West Anderson went over 1,000 career points at the Wabaunsee Invitational, averaging 25 points per game at the tourney. His 75 points in the three tournament games set a tournament record, breaking the old mark by three points. Frankfort went 2-1 at the tournament with Anderson hitting his milestone with a 26-point game in a win over Manhattan CHIEF.
• Northern Heights’ Kelton Bish is averaging 14 points per game this year with a high of 17 points against Manhattan CHIEF at the Wabaunsee Tournament. Cooper Woodrow scored 16 against Frankfort and was named to the all-tournament team at Wabaunsee for the second straight year.
• Seaman’s KaeVon Bonner is averaging 30 points per game through the Vikings’ first three games, including 37 in the season opener against Piper. He went into this week with 947 career points, putting him on the cusp of the 1,000-point milestone.
• St. Marys’ Ben DeVader hit 13 3-pointers on just 21 attempts in a big week against Centralia and Jackson Heights. DeVader had 28 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists against Centralia and 26 points and 4 rebounds against Heights.