So my colleague Ken just posted a short list of who he thinks are the best players he's seen in our area. Of course with the caveat that he's actually had to have seen them in action, not just heard of them. Unfortunately he's never gotten to see people like Ashia Woods from Collegiate or Tiffany Bias from Andover Central. Both of those girls are electric on the floor. On the boys side you have your usual super stars like Cecil Shaw at Southeast who is aboslutely lights out when he's on. You can pretty much guarantee a Buffalo victory when Shaw and his counterpart Joe Mitchell are both incapable of missing a shot.
As much as I love to talk about the best of the best in our area I think it's time to give a little love to the underdogs. The assist leaders, the hustlers, the ones who can score a "quiet" 10-12 and are fundamentally sound. The "set-up" players who make the super stars look good.
First off, I gotta tell you about a gal named Whitney Bates from Rose Hill. Not only does she have an excellent last name (no relation that I know of) but she is absolutely mezmerizing when she has the ball in her hands. It's very rare to find a high schooler who has that much finesse when it comes to taking the ball down the court and juking out opposing guards with ridiculous crossovers and mind-boggling behind the back dribbles. If you let her get open, odds are Bates is going to hit the shot. She's a player that you can't really game plan for becuase she's got great court awareness, high "basketball IQ", and is extremely unselfish with the ball.
On the boys side, the first one has to be Christian Ulsaker from Mcpherson. He's one of the main reasons behind the Bullpups nearly perfect record this year, and he's only a sophomore! I'm not sure how many points he averages per game but he's always near the top of the stats list. He makes great cuts to the hoop, is extremely energetic, and most importantly, I've never seen him whine about a foul that did or did not get called. Attitude on the court is everything to me!
Gotta give some love to Heights now. Not only do they have undoubtedly the most talented player in our area in Perry Ellis, they've got one of the deadliest guards as well in Evan Wessel. He's a 6'3 Sophomore that coach Joe Auer aboslutely raves about after every game, even though you may never notice him on the court. Ellis gets most of the love, Austin Bahner is the senior leader with the hot hand from three, and Dorrian Roberts has the flash. However, it's Wessel who makes the Falcons go. He's got great ball handling skills and sees the court beautifully. He sets up the offense and keeps it going. He can play the point or shooting guard and excels at both. Heck, you could even have him post up inside and he'd get the job done. Next time you're at a Heights game, make sure you check out the guard with the Georgia boy haircut and I guarantee you'll be impressed. (Dreamis Smith, another sophomore guard for Heights, came in as a close second to Wessel. But from what I've heard from different sources, Wessel is the harder worker so the nod goes to Evan).
My final "underdog" recognition goes to Abby Henning from Bishop Carroll. I covered the Carroll vs. Goddard girls game a few weeks back and it was just one of those nights for Abby Fawcett. The normally sure-handed Fawcett couldn't seem to connect, but luckily Henning was able to pick up the slack. A combined effort from Henning and Julia Marshall propelled the Eagles past the Lions with Henning impressing me greatly. Fawcett and Marshall get a lot of the publicity, as they should because they are excellent players. However, Henning is the rock of the team. She's always going to put point on the board, seems unfazed if she misses a few shots because she knows eventually she's going to hit from the field. Also, when Marshall or Fawcett start to get into a groove, Henning has no problem handing it off to let them put points on the board. She's another one of those "quiet scorers" that's always reliable, but not usually the one in the spotlight.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comment:
Henning is a really fine player but her impact is mainly on the perimeter. I'd have to give Nicole Walden the vote as rock of the BC Girls' team. She really hits the boards hard all night and is improving every night becoming a better finisher in traffic. Her inside game will be key to how far the Eagles go at State.
On the Boys' side watch Mark Pianalto's game next time you're at a BC game—he plays it the right way constant hustle, diving for loose balls, the textbook coach-on-the-floor. That's the type of player that helps a team take their game to a playoff caliber.
Post a Comment