by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College sophomore Joe Lendway has been named to the first All-Jayhawk Conference Division II team and freshman teammate Kellan Turner to the second team.
The two Blue Devils led the way in a 22-11 season capped by KCKCC’s first appearance in the NJCAA Division II national tournament. The Blue Devils will open play Wednesday at 11 a.m. against South Suburban of Chicago in Danville, Ill.
A Lansing grad where he played on an undefeated high school championship team as a senior in 2014, Lendway led Regon VI in field goal accuracy, shooting 58.3 percent from the field, and was fourth in rebounding with 6.5 per game. He also led the Blue Devils in scoring (12.9) and had 1.3 assists per game.
A 6-6 forward, Lendway was even better in Region VI games, averaging 15.4 points. His high of 30 points came against Labette. Lendway had five double doubles during the season with a high of 15 rebounds against Allen County. As a freshman, Lendway was second in scoring (13.2) and led in rebounding (5.1), shooting percentage (.599) and blocked shots.
A 5-11 guard, Turner was especially tough down the stretch, averaging 15.8 points the last five games including three in Region VI tournament play. Third in Blue Devil scoring at 10.7 points per game, Turner scored in double figures in nine of his final 12 games. His finest effort came in the Region VI championship game when he scored 18 points on 7-of-9 from the field including a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point, all of which came at pivotal points in KCKCC’s 77-66 win over Brown Mackie.
In addition, Turner was second in team assists with 2.5 and shot 77.3 percent from the free throw line. A graduate of Liberty High School, Turner transferred from Johnson County after suffering a broken right wrist and receiving a medical redshirt.
Lendway was joined on the All-Jayhawk first team by Danzell Wright of Johnson County, Dametrius Walker and Eddie Sims of Fort Scott and Brandon Hashim of Highland, all sophomores except Walker. Wright was named the Most Valuable Player, Walker the Freshman of the Year and Fort Scott’s Michael Cook Coach of the Year.
Fort Scott led the Region VI with a 9-3 regular season record followed by Johnson County (8-4) and KCKCC and Brown Mackie, each 7-5. However, Fort Scott and JCCC shared first place honors in Jayhawk games only at 6-2.
Alan Hoskins is the sports information director at KCKCC.