By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

MOUNDRIDGE = The Moundridge Wildcat boys basketball team will have a powerful combo returning as starters to help head coach Vance Unrau find success in his now 35th season at the helm of the Wildcats.

With Logan Churchill, a six-foot-six junior, and five-foot-nine junior Landon Kaufman as the two returning starters for the Wildcats, the team is guaranteed work from one of the better duo forces of high school basketball in central Kansas.

The combo returns 29.5 points per game (Kaufman averaged 20.1 in 2020-21 while Churchill hit for 9.4) to the offense which includes a combined eight rebounds, 3.4 assists and nearly three steals per game as well. Both will gain attention for possible post-season all-state honors.

As for Coach Unrau, he is considered to be one of the top coaches in the business and has accumulated 525 wins in his career with just 224 losses. His track record includes nine trips to the state tournament for the Wildcats, including a run from 1990-93 when they won four straight of their five state championships.

“Both Landon (Kaufman) and Logan (Churchill) had good, solid off-season workouts and will need to continue working to elevate their game for us to have success,” noted Coach Unrau.

While the Wildcats lost three key starters from last seasons team to graduation in Jon Schlosser, Corbin Unruh, and Korbin Wedel, they do return a couple of hard-nosed seniors whose trademark is defense with five-foot-eight Garrett Doherty and five-foot-nine Joseph Schrag, both seniors.

Among other the coaching staff are expecting to pick up their game and contribute are seniors Ethan Brandeweide and Joseph Lane along with junior Alec Huddle.

Coach Unrau continued his pre-season reflections by adding, “Another key to our season will depend on our supporting cast as several are young and less experienced in varsity play. I do feel that we will have more depth this season and that will help us play faster when the opportunities arise. I want our guys to be more committed on the defensive end and show more aggressiveness in the paint, both of which have been rather deficient recently.”

As for the schedule, the Wildcats play a daunting pre-Christmas set of games which include state tournament qualifiers like Elyria Christian, Little River, and Hillsboro.

Concluding his pre-season reflections, Coach Unrau said, “It is a recurring theme that we will play a very difficult schedule both in our league and non-league games. The pre-Christmas schedule will give us all that we want in challenges and my hope is that the guys will accept the challenges and establish ourselves as a team that I think we are capable of being.”

Here is a complete summary of the upcoming 2021-22 season for the Moundridge Wildcat boys:

MOUNDRIDGE WILDCATS OPENING MONTH OF THE 2021-22 SEASON =

Friday, December 3 = Host Elyria Christian

Tuesday, December 7 = Host Moundridge Pre-Season Tournament, vs. Lyons

Thursday, December 9 = Host Moundridge Pre-Season Tournament, vs. Hillsboro

Friday, December 10 = Host Moundridge Pre-Season Tournament, vs. Inman

Tuesday, December 14 = Host Little River

Friday, December 17 = Host Garden Plain in HOA/CPL Challenge

WHAT YOU GET WITH WILDCAT HEAD COACH VANCE UNRAU =

  • Head Coach Vance Unrau is in his 35th season leading the Wildcats.
  • Coach Unrau’s overall record is 525-254.
  • He has led the Wildcats to nine (9) state tournament appearances.
  • Led Wildcat to five (5) Class 2A state titles in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1997.
  • The Wildcats finished Class 2A runner-up in 1989.
  • Lost in the first round of state tournament for Class 2A in 2004, and Class 3A in 2012.
  • Finished third at state tournament for Class 2A in 2013.
  • In 2020-21 the Wildcats finished 14-8 overall and 6-3 in league play.
  • In 2020-21 the Wildcats lost in the sub-state semifinals to Hillsboro.

WILDCAT PLAYERS WHO GRADUATED/TRANSFERRED =

  • Corbin Unruh
  • Jon Schlosser
  • Korbin Wedel

KEY RETURNING WILDCAT PLAYERS FOR 2021-22 =

RETURNING STARTERS =

  • Landon Kaufman = 5’9” junior guard; 20.1 points, 3.7 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 2.9 steals per game in 2020-21.
  • Logan Churchill = 6’6” junior guard/forward; 9.4 points, 4.5 rebounds per game in 2020-21.

OTHER RETURNEES =

  • Joseph Schrag = 5’9” senior guard
  • Garrett Doherty = 5’8” senior guard
  • Ethan Brandewiede = 6’1” senior
  • Joseph Lane = 5’9” senior
  • Alec Huddle = 6’1” junior

INCOMING PLAYERS TO PAY ATTENTION TO =

None Listed.

WHAT COACH VANCE UNRAU HAS TO SAY =

ON THE SEASON SCHEDULE = “It seems to be a recurring theme that we play a very difficult schedule both in our league and non-league games. The pre-Christmas schedule will give us all we want.

OUTLOOK ON THE 2020-21 SEASON = “My hope is that we will accept the challenges and establish ourselves as a team that I think we are capable of being.”

ON THE RETURNING PLAYERS = “We return two starters in Landon Kaufman and Logan Churchill. They both had good off-seasons and will need to continue to elevate their game for us.”

ON THE OTHER WILDCATS ON THE ROSTER = “Another key to our season will depend on our supporting cast, both returnees from last year’s team and the new additions that are less experienced and young. We have more depth this season and that will help us play fast when the opportunities exist. I want our guys to be more committed on the defensive end and show more aggressiveness on the glass. Both of which have been recent team deficiencies. Looking forward to working with this group of guys as it is time to do something special.”

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