TEAM: Osage City Indians/Lady Indians

CLASSIFICATION: 3A

LEAGUE: Flint Hills

COLORS: Red & White

SOCIAL MEDIA: @OCAthletics_ and @OCLadyIndianWBB (girls) on Twitter

2024-25 SCHEDULE:

12/6 vs Chase County
12/10-14 Central Heights Tournament
12/17 at Mission Valley
12/20 at Wabaunsee
1/7 at West Franklin
1/10 vs Council Grove
1/14 vs Cair Paravel
1/17 at Lyndon
1/20-25 Flint Hills League Tournament at Emporia
1/28 at Ottawa
2/4 at Northern Heights
2/7 at Burlington
2/11 vs Perry-Lecompton
2/14 vs Olpe
2/18 vs Holton
2/20 vs Lebo

Flint Hills League game

GIRLS

HEAD COACH: Kate Boss (2nd year, 17-5)

2023-24 RECORD: 17-5, 7-0 in Flint Hills League

2023-24 IN REVIEW: The Lady Indians were disappointed to see their season end in a sub-state semifinal, but that shouldn’t dim the accomplishments in a year that saw them win both the Flint Hills League regular season and tournament championships. With two unanimous All-League selections in senior Campbell Stark and sophomore Emory Speece, the Lady Indians made major strides in their first season under head coach Kate Boss and laid a foundation for continued success moving forward.

2024-25 OUTLOOK: Speece (14 points per game) is the headliner of a group of six returners for the Lady Indians for 2024-25. It’s exciting to imagine what she can be as a junior after two excellent seasons as a starter already. She’s joined by a pair of returning seniors – Lexi Boss, a second-team All-League selection who averaged seven points and eight rebounds per game, and Sadie Shoemaker, who averaged five points per game. A trio of juniors earned ample experience last season and will be expected to contribute this year – Jewelia Kitselman, Peyton Pitts, and Addison Watson. Kate Boss also expects some underclassmen to contribute this year as well. This team is a threat to retain their Flint Hills League crown and go even deeper into the postseason.

FROM THE COACH’S CLIPBOARD: “(Our keys to success are) strong upperclassmen leadership from upperclassmen with a lot of varsity minutes last year, and building off the success of our summer league and multiple girls that played with summer travel teams.” – Kate Boss

BOYS

HEAD COACH: Dennis Fort (31st year, overall record N/A)

2023-24 RECORD: 7-14, 1-6 in Flint Hills League

2023-24 IN REVIEW: The story of Indians basketball in 2023-24 was their inability to close out tight games. Several of Osage City’s 14 losses came by five points or fewer, and any better finishing ability in those games could have had the team’s record looking much shinier even with so little experience on last year’s roster. It was a disappointing step backward for a program that had won 15 or more games in each of the previous three seasons, but it increases the motivation for this proud program to get back on track in a hurry.

2024-25 OUTLOOK: Just one starter returns for the Indians, but he’s a good one. Junior Kason Parsons, who lit up gridirons across the state of Kansas as Osage’s City’s quarterback this fall, was a second team All-League pick after averaging 12.6 points per game last season. The Indians basketball team, like the football team, will go as he goes. Five other letterwinners return for veteran head coach Dennis Fort: seniors Wyatt Bailey and Tyson Gragg, juniors Dylan Theel and Quentin Stark, and sophomore Reed Silver. Fort also foresees an early impact from freshman Sawyer Speece. The standards are high for Indians basketball, and with a more experienced team this season, the opportunity exists to reach those standards and return to winning ways.

FROM THE COACH’S CLIPBOARD: “We played a lot of players last year, trying to figure out the right combination of players to win those games. In the process, we developed a lot of younger players that got a lot of varsity playing time. We hope that experience pays off this year and we can find a group of players that understand how Osage City has played basketball in the past and want to continue that tradition.” – Dennis Fort

–Dan Lucero

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