Locals shine in boys Panhandle Prep All-Star game

Perhaps it was Red Team Co-Head Coach Jay Ehler who summed up how much of the 20th Annual Panhandle Prep All-Star Game was fun and how much was competition.

"I'm always competitive so competition is fun for me," said Ehler.

Fun or competitive or likely both, there was plenty of panhandle pride to be had as five locals suited up in the annual contest at Cougar Palace in Scottsbluff on Friday. On the Red Team were Creek Valley's Lane Godfrey and a Sidney trio of Paxton Ehler, Logan Lewis and Lucas Rosenbaum. The one local opposing was Bryant Knigge of Potter-Dix who suited up for Blue.

While all the locals made an impression on the scoreboard it may have been the lone Coyote who outshined all. Knigge scored 20 points to lead all players on both sides. Trevor Kamerzell, however, earned MVP honors after dropping in 17 points for the winning Red Team. A late surge helped Red pull away from Blue by an 89-72 count.

For the Ehler family it was an especially rewarding evening as Paxton's grandfather Rod Ehler joined with his son Jay to coach the Red squad. Rod was a longtime coach and referee and coached Jay's younger brother at Scottsbluff at one point. Jay Ehler, also a longtime coach before becoming Sidney's Superintendent of Schools, still holds the Bearcats record for most points scored in a game with 50.

As usual, Paxton did his bit with 13 points while the other Raiders Lewis and Rosenbaum each bent twine for 10 each. Godfrey netted a pair while playing in a unit with the three Sidney players and Kimball's Jake Reader. Godfrey, who medaled at the NSAA Golf Championships last week, found playing a lot of golf is not the best way to stay in basketball shape.

"I knew a lot of the guys and met a few others so it was a lot of fun that way," said Godfrey. "But after practice I was really worn out after just playing mostly golf the past couple of months. I realized pretty quickly how out of shape I was."

Godfrey will soon reacquaint himself with the double duty of playing basketball and golf. This fall he is headed to Hastings College where he has been signed to play both.

With Knigge taking the floor to open the game, the Blue team asserted itself early. Knigge shook the nylon from downtown in the opening moments to give Blue a 5-0 lead. Knigge went on to score 7 points during the opening five minutes in which Blue took a 13-4 lead.

"It's an all-star game so the coach just told us to have fun," said Knigge who will be playing basketball and pole vaulting at Briar Cliff College in Iowa this fall. "It was a lot more intense than I thought it would be and that made it more fun. It was a real pleasure to play with all these great players."

Both sides employed two units of five players each that rotated in every five minutes. After the first five minutes had elapsed the Sidney group with Godfrey and Reader took to the floor. Before another five minutes had elapsed the Red Team pulled even. Before long Red took the lead and never looked back.

"Most of us know each other pretty well and we're all pretty close," said Lewis. "Sure it was a lot of fun but we really got after it in practice. It was kind of a good mixture of fun and work."

While Knigge was just as busy scoring in the second half as he was in the first, it was the Sidney contingent that had the last say. All three Sidney players had a hand in six of the final eight points of the game. Lewis scored first from underneath after receiving a perfect pass from Rosenbaum. Ehler then dropped in a pair of free throws and a jumper to end it.

"The Sidney kids played well together. They were a fun group to coach," said Jay Ehler.