It should come as no surprise that the ACCHS boys basketball team is undefeated (13-0) and last week captured their fifth straight McLouth Tournament Championship.  After all, the Tigers have not lost a regular season game in the past three years and are now 24-1 since Coach Jeff Starkey took over in 2011-12.  The three-year regular season winning streak (53 in a row) coincides with the Tigers return to the Delaware Valley League, where Atchison County is the two-time defending league champ and currently back a top the standings with a 6-0 record in 2012-13. 

After graduating six seniors, ACCHS did not even start this season as a ranked team.  However, they jumped into the KBCA rankings in the third poll of the season on December 10th at the #10 spot.  The Tigers have not only kept winning since, but are now ranked #5 in the KBCA Class 3A rankings and are ranked 4th by the Topeka Capital Journal as one of four undefeated Kansas teams left in 3A boys.  Nemaha Valley took over the #1 spot as Scott City suffered their first loss last week and the Raiders are in the same 3A Sub-State as ACCHS, which is at Hiawatha next month.  

ACCHS has won 10 of their 13 games this season by double-digits, but did survive a 53-48 victory against Valley Falls in the McLouth Tournament Title Game and then on Tuesday, beat Jeff West 63-55 after trailing at halftime.  The Tigers had four players score in double figures against Jeff West and the balance has been great this season for a team scoring 58 points per game. 

Five of the Tigers seven seniors this year are contributing at least 6.3 points per game.  Jacob Hansen leads the way with a mean of 13 points and 7 rebounds plus a team high 21 blocks and 33 steals.  Fellow senior, Ricky Kearney is at 10 points per game with 19 treys and 31 dimes.  Ramsey Hundley, another senior, is next with 8 point and 4 rebounds per night plus a team high 44 assists.  Two other seniors are next in the stat column as Nathan Miller sets at 7 points and 4 boards an outing while joining Kearney as a 74 percent foul shooter, and Brandon Green is averaging 6 points and 3 rebounds while pacing the Tigers with a 57 percent field goal percentage from the field.  

After posting only 8 total wins in three seasons (2006-2008) the Tigers first won the McLouth boys tournament in 2009 and finished with an even 11-11 record.  They went 15-8 in 2010, repeating at McLouth Tourney, and going 7-7 in the Big 7 League before losing in the 3A Sub-State Finals.  In Coach John Wetig's fifth and final year in 2010-11, ACCHS started the season 23-0 and advanced to the state tournament semifinals in Hutchinson, before losing their final two games to place 4th in Class 3A.  It was the best boys basketball season in school history and first state appearance since 1994. 
Last year, under first-year Coach Jeff Starkey, ACCHS again went undefeated in the DVL and regular season before five point upset loss to MH-MA ended their campaign in the sub-state semifinals.    

ACCHS hopes to remain perfect in this final season of the Delaware Valley League as the Tigers are set to return to the Big 7 next year.  They have huge games coming up on Tuesday, January 29th at Riverside (8-5, 5-1) and then versus Valley Falls (9-3, 4-1) on February 1st.