Friday, July 27, 2001

 

Kings for the summer Area team earns spot on plane headed for AAU national tourney

By Bill Althaus
The Examiner

Kyle Lower can barely contain his excitement. The Blue Springs South senior guard is about to take his first airplane trip.

And it isn't just your everyday family vacation to Disney World.

Well, he's actually going to the Disney World Amateur Athletic Complex to compete in the AAU National Tournament that begins this weekend.

Lower is a guard on the Kansas City Kings, a local AAU team that earned a berth at the national tournament by finishing in second place at the Missouri Valley Regional Tournament.

"It's just great," Lower said. "I love the guys I play with we have a great team. It's the most fun I've ever had."

And how about that first plane trip?

"I've never been on a plane Ð I'm pumped!"

The Kings are coached by Dr. Randy Culbertson, the vice president/medical director for physician relations at St. Mary's Hospital of Blue Springs and St. Joseph Health Center.

His basketball pedigree is impressive. He was a point guard for legendary coach Bud Lathrop's first state championship team at Raytown South High School (1970) and he played at the University of Kansas (under then coach Ted Owens) and later at Southwest Missouri State University.

"He's a great coach," said Blue Springs center Austin Meyer, a member of The Examiner's 2000 All-Area team. "He knows so much about the game and he's really got us playing as a team.

"We don't care who scores or who gets the rebounds as long as we hustle and play hard."

Members of the team include Lower, Meyer, William Chrisman's Matt Habermehl, Lee's Summit's Adam Ahlquist, Kyle Zammar and Matt Foster, Liberty's Cam Cooper and Josh Tye and Culbertson's son, Chris, a senior at Blue Springs.

Dr. Culbertson has coached AAU teams the past 14 years and has worked with former area standouts like Will Palmer and Robbie Graves, who now play at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

"I don't think I could coach at the high school level because you don't have the type of kids we have on this team," Culbertson said. "These kids are here because they want to play.

"And that certainly makes it easier on their coach. We really concentrate on defense and they don't mind that. You don't see many AAU teams that play the type of defense we play."

While they are teammates during the summer, many members of the Kings bang heads with each other during the school year.

"That's one of the fun things about playing summer ball," said Habermehl, a 6-foot-8 forward. "Although (Chrisman) moved down to the Suburban Middle Eight and we aren't in the same conference as the other guys (who play in the Big Eight), we still play against them in tournaments and the postseason.

"It's fun to get to know the guys on the other teams. This is as much fun as I've ever had playing ball."

The key to the Kings' ignition is Chris Culbertson, who plays the game in much the same fashion his father did more than 30 years ago.

"I know he's my son," Dr. Culbertson said, "but Chris really makes us go."