Jack Kenneff, a 6-2 senior just completed a successful season as the quarterback for the Blue Streaks football machine and will transition into a role of being a “glue” guy for the Manheim Township basketball team.
And no matter the sport, Kenneff, whose season-high in points last year was 11 in a loss to Lebanon, said the goal is the same.
“Always winning a championship,” he said. “I am looking to be a leader and bring everyone together.”
While Township will have to rely on some new faces, Kenneff hopes to build on last year’s solid season (6-4 in section, 12-10 overall).
“I think the section race is up for grabs,” he notes. “I think we’ll be in the mix.”
Kenneff, whose fastball was clocked at 91 mph in the summer, will be attending Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, to pitch for the baseball team. Quinnipiac is an NCAA Division I member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
When Matt Johns, who has been coaching basketball for 29 years, and is in his 11th year leading the Manheim Township boys squad, says he’s “very excited” about the possibilities for his 2025-26 team, he speaks from a place of experience.
“The fact that we have the depth to push each other every day in practice is exciting. The fact that there are multiskilled basketball players with this group” is also a big plus, Johns says.
“I think we have a lot of guys who, on any given night, can be our leading scorer.”
The leading scorer many nights last season, when the Blue Streaks finished 12-10, was Yianni Papadimitrou, a 6-3 freshman in 2024-25. The leading returning scorer, he’s now ready to assume more of a leadership role this year.
“This year I want to play with more confidence, take more shots” and also use his defense to help his team win, the sophomore says.
Coach Johns notes how last year’s Blue Streaks squad was off to an 11-6 start before a 1-4 finish, when “we had some injuries and some things that got in our own way.”
Johns says the Blue Streaks lost their primary ball-handlers and scorers from that team, but he feels like this year’s squad is deeper.
“My biggest hope is that we learn quick, because I think we have the talent and the depth and the skill level and the size to be a really, really good team,” he continues. “We don’t want our mistakes to be repetitive, and we don’t want that and our inexperience to hold us back.”
He foresees the team’s leading scorer to be in the 12-to-14-point-a-game range, leading a balanced attack, and if newer players make some rookie mistakes, Johns’ motto is “let’s learn from that mistake, let’s not let that be the thing that defeats us the next time.”
