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Versailles
sophomore Kyle Ahrens is seen here putting down a dunk in a game during
his freshman year. Thursday, Ahrens threw one down that had the people
at ESPN buzzing.CNO file photo
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Local boy makes Top 10 on Sports Center
Ahrens wows
crowd and ESPN
By George Starks
In yesterday’s game story on the Versailles victory over LaBrae High
School in the D-III state semi-final game Thursday in Columbus, I
referred to a first quarter dunk by Tiger junior Kyle Ahrens as a
'Thunder Dunk'.
To be honest, it should be a poster shot as he nearly took out Vikings
defender Carl Brown. Not only did this bring a huge crowd to its feet
but at that moment, silenced the Vikings student section. This one
handed slam was, without a doubt, a thing of beauty. The sad part is,
very few cameras were ready to capture the moment, mine included.
On the play, Ahrens made a steal at the mid-court line and the race was
on to the bucket.
While the still cameras weren’t ready, the video cameras were. The
video was posted on You Tube and was picked up by ESPN’s Sports Center.
It was even posted on another local website Friday. This dunk was third
on the Sports Center highlight reel for Friday.
As many of you know, Ahrens, a sophomore, is the premier basketball
player in Darke County. In my opinion, he may very well be in the top
five in the state, regardless of his honorable mention by the AP for
being named as an all-state selection.
I remember a kid named Kyle Gehele that was on the team that went to
state in 2004. As a freshman, no one knew who this kid was. It didn’t
take long and Gehele was a household name in the county’s basketball
circle. When Gehele graduated, a colleague of mine (Dean Eversole) told
myself and Ron Greeson the Ahrens would be the second coming of Gehele,
except he would be better. At that time, we couldn’t imagine anyone
being that good or better for that matter.Dean was right; he may very
well be the best player ever to come out of this county.
I have watched this kid now for two years and still have two more years
to watch him. While Ahrens wowed the crowd at Value City Arena
Thursday, he wowed me as well. Even Mr. Eversole was impressed by the
show that Ahrens put on but I really felt sorry for the kid from
LaBrae. Carl, you were posterized son.
Bottom line: Darke County has produced some outstanding athletes over
the year but none may ever be better than Kyle Ahrens. Not on a
basketball court at least.
To watch this video, click on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUxiXbYeJiA
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