Midwest Grind Session Day One Standouts

<p>Kansans showed their stuff at the incredibly competitive Midwest Grind Session at Bel Aire. Teams from as far as Houston and from Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma and elsewhere converged for intense battle.</p> <p>Look for lots of coverage from the weekend, but here’s a peak at some of the top performers from day one of the Midwest Grind Session:</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="889465" first="Blake" last="Danitschek"], 2021, Kapaun:</strong></p> <p>The long and lean wing player can really light it up from beyond the arc. At 6-foot-6, he’s a matchup nightmare and an elite athlete. He’s got great full-court handles and excellent shooting form. He can mix it up in the lane too.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="962478" first="Jayden" last="Garrison"], 2021, Little River:</strong></p> <p>The first-team 1A all-stater can do it all. At 6-foot-2, the can really be a handful for opposing defenses. He is brilliant in the open floor, with great ball-handling skills and great vision. But once the offense sets up, he’s a threat to shoot from anywhere behind the arc. He showed a small-school star can dominate against any level of competition.</p> <p><strong>Kade Perine, 2023, Rossville:</strong></p> <p>Dynamite certainly comes in this small package. Listed at just 5-foot-4, Perine is utterly fearless with the ball in his hands, and he’s constantly making something happen. He led SSA Elite White 15U by driving and dishing, scoring against bigger players, and drawing a ton of fouls. He can take almost any defender off the dribble.</p> <p><strong>Eli Sawyers, 2023, Southeast of Saline:</strong></p> <p>The 6-foot-5 Sawyers is a remarkably versatile and competent player. He knows how to get it done in the open floor, in the lane, and on defense. He was dominant in the lane for Oz Elite 15U. Then he turned around and made an impressive showing with the loaded Kansas Pray N Play 17U team. He didn’t look at all intimidated running with some top talent from two age-groups above.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="868128" first="Christian" last="Williams"], 2021, Trinity Academy (Wichita):</strong></p> <p>One of the best performances by a point guard on day one was turned in by the slick 6-foot-2 Williams. He’s unflappable and a distribute-first point, but also has great range and ability to core in the lane. Williams showed that he can take over a game without taking a lot of shots.</p>