The best, little basketball program in Nebraska you might not have heard of is closer to the Kansas border than any of the towns it plays against. It’s in the Mountain Time Zone. It’s closer to Wray, Colo. than McCook.
But, Dundy County-Stratton coach Nathan Behlke has a program that has won 41 of their past 45 games. They’ve had seven straight winning seasons in the coaches 9-year tenure at his alma mater in Benkleman, where he also teaches ag classes and farms. Oh, and they are ranked first in the latest Omaha World-Herald rankings at 18-0.
And, if you are sitting down, Class D-1, they don’t have a senior starter. Behlke just smiles.
“We’ve got pretty good classes all the way into elementary school,” he beams. “We try to get them involved early here. If they want to be student managers, I let them. We’ve got a nice youth program with good community support.”
This year his Tigers run out three juniors and two sophomores in the starting five. In a day and age where 30 points can win you some games, DCS tries to get there by halftime. They’ve scored 50 points or more in every game this season.
Sophomore Aubrey Fredrick averages 16.9 points and just over eight rebounds per game. Junior Nicole Kent also pours in 15.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest. The other three starters — juniors FayeLee Stanford, Kaylee Burke and sophomore Emily Jones — all have scored over 100 points in 18 games. The Tigers have had four different players lead the team in scoring during the season.
“We have great balance,” Behlke said. “We like to get out in transition and score quick. We’ve had a few times this year that the ball doesn’t even touch the floor before we have a shot up. We like to force tempo and get as many possessions as we can.”
They’d also like to make a little history if they can. While Stratton advanced to the D-2 semifinals in 1998, Benkleman and the combined school — formed in 2007-2008, has only participated in the state tournament field in 1984 and last year where the Tigers lost to eventual C-2 runner-up Hastings St. Cecilia 50-43.
“We probably snuck up on them last year,” Behlke said. “But after that game, we said in the locker room that there was a goal to get back to Lincoln and we’d like to contend for a championship. We think we can do that.”
In an era where offense is an afterthought, the Tigers put up 66.7 points per game. They have scored in fifties only three times in their outings. But that doesn’t mean they don’t guard — allowing just 37.5 points per game. You do the math, DCS is that good.
Before Lincoln the goal is a Republican Plains league title this week. DCS will take on 13-4 Wauneta-Palisade on Thursday and play the Southern Valley, Bertrand winner in the finals.
“We’ve kind of leveled out here the last few weeks,” Behlke said. “We’ve battled some sickness here a little bit, but I think we are as healthy as we can be now. We play together in the summer, they’ve played a lot of basketball together.
“We just hope we can keep getting better.”
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Thank you for the nice story you wrote about the Dundy County Stratton Girls. They are certainly working hard as a group to achieve their goals. – Very Proud of every single one of them!
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