Hide Article Text (OCR)
By DARRIN STINEMAN Sports WriterAt six feet tall, Lorrie Wells dominated the Hi-Plains League.Surprise. She did it from thethree-point line.While making 52 percent of her trey attempts, Wells averaged 20.4 points, 8.2 rebounds. 9.3 steals and 6.6 assists in leading Southwestern Heights to a 21-2 record.“I work a lot of camps, and I have a hard time seeing girls from around the state who can do what she can do,” Heights head coach Barry Mellen said. ‘‘It’s only once in a while you get a player six feet tall who can do everything, and as a coach, I really appreciate what she’s done.”Wells, The Telegram’s girls Player of the Year, scored 1,776 points this season for ninth on the all-time Kansas single-season scoring list. But what she does best is win.In Wells’ four seasons, the Mustangs went 92-8 and made it to two state championship games, winning the 2A title in 1992. Although she didn’t start much during her freshmanseason, Wells was the team’s leading scorer each year and broke 28 school records at a tradition-rich program.Among her many senior accomplishments include being named to all-state teams fromthe Associated Press, Wichita Eagle, Topeka Daily Capital and All-Area honors from the the Dodge City Daily Globe and Garden City Telegram. The Hutchinson News is also expected to name her to its All-Area Team.Wells will also play in the Boothill All-Star Classic and was nominated by the selection committee to the Kodak All-American Team.But those honors are routine as Wells as earned each state honor during her sophomore and junior seasons as well.Other career marks according to a record book of the Kansas Sports Magazine, Wells ranks second all-time in steals for a career (464) and second all-time for single-season (164).‘‘I think the biggest thing she gave our program was the desire to be the best,” Southwestern Heights head coach Barry Mellen said. ‘‘Her work ethic is really amazing. She was always in the top two in line drills every day at practice. I never, ever heard her complain that I was running her too much.”With that kind of attitude and oceans of natural talent, Wells was a nightmare for opposingcoaches.“She’s the best high school player I’ve ever seen play,” Stanton County head coach Phil Terpstra said. “She does it all. She can run, shoot, play defense. No doubt she’s the best player outSouthwest Kansas All-AreaGirls Basketball Team First-TeamLorrie Wells......................................SW HeightsSadie Ochs.......................................Garden CityAmy Novack.........................................HolcombAmy Ansel................................................LakinBrenda Jones Stanton CountySecond TeamMandi Wehkamp................................South GrayAmy James...........................................DightonRita Kliewer...........................................UlyssesLisa Jennison............................................HealyJulie Penner............................................IngallsHonorable MentionAmy Smith ......................................Garden CityShandi Kite................... . SubletteNancy Garza ..............................SW HeightsKelly Maestas.......................................HolcombTara Ownbey „.................................SubletteMelinda Cramer........................................HealyJamie Meyers.................................... DeerfieldRachel Lambert......................................SatantaLisa Morrison......................................Scott CityDayna Browder.........................................I^kinhere, and she’s one of the best in the state.”Certainly one of the most versatile. Wells’ size makes her an automatic threat inside, but she may be the state’s best long-range gunner.Wells would commonly be the only girl in all-boy pick-up games near her hometown of Plains, and she said that helped hone her game.“In a small town, there’s nothing to do except play basketball,” Wells said. “They let me play with ’em, so I went with the flow. I was afraid to go inside, so I started shooting outside. I think that’s how I developed my outside shot.”However good she may be at it, shooting is a small part of her repertoire. Even though she averaged more than 20 points a game, she said scoring a lot of points wasn’t important to her.“I didn’t think, ‘OK, I’ve got to have so many points or steals or blocked shots or whatever,” Wells said. “If it’s there, it’s there.”Wells has been inundated with college offers, including some major Division I programs, and she has narrowed her list to Southwest Missouri State, Fort Hays State and Southern Nazarene University, an NAIA school in Bethany, Okla.She said she probably won’t make a final decision until mid April, but one thing she knows for sure.“I do not want to play post,” she said.Sadie OchsOchs was a key component in the revival of the Garden City High girls basketball program.She was the team’s leading scorer (17.0 points), leading rebounder (5.7), leader in steals (61), leading three-point shooter (37) and was second in assists(52).She helped the Buffs post 16 wins in a season for the first time in school history and set the GCHS single-game scoring mark with 36 points against Wichita Southeast.“Sadie wasn’t the type of player to hog all the glory,”GIRLS ALL-AREA 02-03 — Lakin girls coach Tony Helfrich, Ansel, Lakin; Lorrie Wells, Southwestern Heights; Amy center, is surrounded by the Southwest Kansas All-Area Novack, Holcomb, and Sadie Ochs, Garden City. Helfrich Girls Basketball Team selected by the Telegram Sports earned Southwest Kansas Coach-of-the-Year. Wells was Staff. From left are Brenda Jones, Stanton County; Amy the Southwest Kansas Player-of-the-Year.Garden City coach Bob Yadon said. “She’s a quality player. She did a good job getting the ball to other people. But everyone looked to her to score and be the big player for us down the stretch.’’ Ochs is in position next season to become the school’s all-time leading scorer. She’s tallied 565 points in two years and is currently fifth on the list — 378 points behind Deann Craft.Ochs will need to average approximately 20 points per game to break the record late in theyear.Just a junior, Ochs is already receiving attention from various Big Eight schools and other Division I teams.Amy Novack For the amount of time she was able to play, Holcomb head coach Jim Baldwin got a lot of mileage out of Amy Novack.Novack, a 5-9 senior swing player, had to take periodic breaks because asthma, achronic respiratory disease, would cut her wind.“Had she been able to play a full 32 minutes of basketball, it’s hard telling what she could’ve accomplished,’’ Baldwin said.Regardless of that hindrance, Novack had a big year for the Longhorns She led the team in scoring with 21.1 points a game, and was also tops in rebounding (10.0) and steals (5.2).“She was so consistent game-in and game-out,” Baldwin said. “She’s a girl you can always depend on to get 9 or 10 rebounds and score in the mid-20s in points, because she’s so strong inside. We played her outside because of her ball-handling ability, but she worked her way inside and took high-percentage shots.”Novack plans to play volleyball and basketball at Garden City Community College next year.Amy AnselAnsel, a 5-6 shooting guard, helped Lakin to its best season ever.The junior sharpshooter averaged 17 points and made 51 out of 148 three-point attempts (34.5 percent) in leading the Broncs to a second-place finish at the Class 3A state tournament and a 21-5 record.“How she went, the team went,” Lakin head coach Tony Helfrich said. “I felt like when she was one, our team played very well. When she was on, we usually won. ’ ’Ansel, a unanimous first team all-league selection in a Hi-Plains League field that included three state-tournament qualifiers, averaged four rebounds and three steals a game while averaging just two turnovers.But the name of her game is shooting.“She was probably what set up our scoring,” Helfrich said. “She was a constant for us. We knew she was going to score in double figures just about every time she went out on the court. ’ ’Ansel sewed double figures in all three state tournament games and went 6-for-13 from the three-point line.Brenda JonesStanton County’s 5-4 dynamo had to develop leadership quickly for the Trojans, who had just one senior last season.She also developed all phases of her game, averaging 16 points, six rebounds, four steals and four assists a game.“She did about everything for us,” Stanton County head coach Phil Terpstra said. “She was really our cxily returning player who had any experience. It was kind of hard on her playing with inexperienced girls, and she had to battle that. I think she’s one of the top players in our area, by far.”Jones was a unanimous choice for first-team all league in the Hi-Plains League coaches’ balloting.
Newspaper Details
Garden City Telegram
Garden City, Kansas, US
Sat, Mar 27, 1993
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Laurie O.
USA 09 May 2019
Other Publications Near Garden City, Kansas
Garden City Telegram
