By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The perfect basketball season is an impressive, albeit common enough feat. The perfect volleyball season – far less common. For the same school to do both in the same year? It rarely happens. Greg Maxwell coached the Ellinwood High school volleyball team to a 47-0 record on the way to the Class 2A state championship in November. Now on the basketball sideline, his Lady Eagles ended the regular season at 22-1. The lone blemish: a 67-59 loss to Ellsworth on Jan. 26.
“Honestly, when it happened, you could see it,” Maxwell said. “It was their first loss of the school year. I wouldn’t say it rattled them, but it got their attention – kind of a reset. We lost to a really good team, and it was a team that played really well against us, a very well-coached team. It was a respectable loss on so many levels. I actually came away from it feeling really good about it.”
Ellinwood has little control over its schedule, so the Eagles have not defeated any teams in the final rankings of the season, but the team does have impressive wins against the likes of Class 3A Hoisington (11-9 overall), Medicine Lodge (15-5), two wins over Central Plains (15-8), and two wins against LaCrosse (13-9). Thirteen of the 22 wins this year have come by at least 30 points, and several more by at least 20 points. Even on an off night, Ellinwood has proved it can win. The evidence: a 35-22 win against Central Plains in the Central Prairie League tournament championship.
“The big difference for us this year is we can score multiple ways,” Maxwell said. “Last year, we lived and died with the three. Our defense was mediocre last year. We were still learning the speed of the game. We were extremely young and we’re still young in some positions, but we can score in so many ways. In our league championship, we didn’t hit a 3-pointer and were still able to come away with a win. Last year, there’s no way that would have happened.”
In hockey, the line change is a crucial part of the game. With a deep bench of athletes, Maxwell has the ability to substitute all five players on the court at any time. The result is a tenacious pace that teams struggle to keep pace with.
That shows up in the stat book with no clear go-to player on any given night. Senior Julia Schlessiger leads the team at 14.5 points and 7.2 rebounds a game. Sophomore Mette Maxwell is averaging 11 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.6 steals a night. Sophomore Brynn Widener, who went off for 28 points in Friday’s win against Otis-Bison, is averaging 10 points a game. Juniors Reece Stickney and Alyvia Batchman bring a combined 13 points a game.
The Eagles are winning despite a young roster. Schlessiger and Regan Widener are the only two seniors on the team. The aforementioned juniors are joined by Addi Stickney and Bennett Jacobs, who combine for four points a game. A talented sophomore class includes Eleanor Joiner (3.7 ppg), Ayla Ritchie (3.9 ppg), and Reagan Wirtz (3 ppg). Freshman Avery Panning is adding 2.3 points a contest.
Ranked No. 2 in the final KBCA rankings of the season, Ellinwood won a coin flip with Hoxie to take the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A Smith Center sub-state. The Eagles host Hutchinson Trinity Tuesday at 6 p.m., and would host the winner of the No. 8 Smith Center/No. 9 Rawlins County game on Tuesday, March 3 at 6 p.m. No. 4 Medicine Lodge is the other big threat in Ellinwood’s half of the bracket.
The sub-state semifinal and championship games will be played at Smith Center High School. The other half of the bracket includes Hoxie (22-1), Oakley (19-4) and Wichita County (13-8). Ellinwood’s confidence to win big games cannot be overlooked down the stretch.
“Every time you ask these kids, they talk about their volleyball confidence and belief,” said Maxwell. “It’s just a championship mindset, game preparation. These girls are unbelievable in how they prepare and how they view competition. From the first thing in the morning when I see them at school, to how they prepare after school, and into actual game time, I love that about them. That is going to be valuable. It’s going to get exciting here, and it’s going to get tight for them. That belief you can win is extremely valuable in these moments.”