The weather knocked out nearly every game in northeast Kansas. But before the record-setting cold spell could spoil all the fun, two elite teams locked horns Monday night. The matchup between Washburn Rural, #10 in 6A, and Topeka West, #7 in 5A, deserves a closer look.
Here are some observations from this matchup of elites:
Topeka West sends a wave of versatile guards at defenses:
Topeka West doesn’t exactly play small ball. But they hardly play anyone who doesn’t qualify as a ‘guard.’ One by one, guys who can handle the ball take turns bringing the ball up the court, attacking the defense, and pushing for fast break opportunities. Tre AlexanderTreAlexander6'3" | CGTopeka West | 2021StateKS, Elijah Brooks
ElijahBrooks6'2" | CGTopeka West | 2022StateKS (pictured) and Marque Wilkerson can all play a traditional ‘point guard’ role, but they are also athletic enough to play wing or even post. Wilkerson is adept in the high post, in particular, while Alexander is tall and powerful enough to go up against any traditional post player.
Washburn Rural lacks a scorer in the post:
The Junior Blues are not usually a team that relies heavily on a post to score points. But when they are matched against a team of guards,
The weather knocked out nearly every game in northeast Kansas. But before the record-setting cold spell could spoil all the fun, two elite teams locked horns Monday night. The matchup between Washburn Rural, #10 in 6A, and Topeka West, #7 in 5A, deserves a closer look.
Here are some observations from this matchup of elites:
Topeka West sends a wave of versatile guards at defenses:
Topeka West doesn’t exactly play small ball. But they hardly play anyone who doesn’t qualify as a ‘guard.’ One by one, guys who can handle the ball take turns bringing the ball up the court, attacking the defense, and pushing for fast break opportunities.
Tre AlexanderTreAlexander6'3" | CGTopeka West | 2021StateKS,
Elijah BrooksElijahBrooks6'2" | CGTopeka West | 2022StateKS (pictured) and Marque Wilkerson can all play a traditional ‘point guard’ role, but they are also athletic enough to play wing or even post. Wilkerson is adept in the high post, in particular, while Alexander is tall and powerful enough to go up against any traditional post player.
Washburn Rural lacks a scorer in the post:
The Junior Blues are not usually a team that relies heavily on a post to score points. But when they are matched against a team of guards, it would be nice to have a dominant scorer with size. They have several pieces to rotate, but no one has emerged as a post scoring option. Rural has some size inside in 6-foot-3 senior Brady Patterson, 6-foot-6 senior Nick Brady and 6-foot-7 junior Brock Howard. Those options could become very important if Rural is to go deep in the playoffs this year.
Depth an issue?
In Monday’s matchup, only five players scored for Topeka West. But depth doesn’t appear to be an all an issue for the Chargers. They bring a talented guard off the bench in
Sincere AustinSincereAustin5'10" | PGTopeka West | 2023StateKS, who may not get as much playing time as he deserves simply because of the abundance of ball handlers in the starting lineup. But Aaron Lira is a dangerous shooter off the bench. Justus Lowery is a veteran guard who has experience as a starter. William Peterson is a tall and athletic guard option with lots of experience. And Julien Mehrens brings length and size for a change of pace.
Washburn Rural, on the other hand, seems to be searching for someone to take some heat off of
Joe BerryJoeBerry6'4" | CGWashburn Rural | 2021StateKS and
Jack HutchinsonJackHutchinson5'11" | CGHayden | 2021StateKS. Rural occasionally gets significant contributions from Quincey Kidd, a 6-foot-2 guard/forward.
Jack BachelorJackBachelor6'0" | CGWashburn Rural | 2023StateKS is a solid guard/forward who hasn’t shown the ability yet to be a #1 scorer, but has a ton of ability. And Josh Williams has tons of experience and is steady at the point. But the Junior Blues are going to need more production to complement Berry and Hutchinson.
The return of Brooks and emergence of Wilkerson make the difference:
Topeka West rode the broad shoulders of
Tre AlexanderTreAlexander6'3" | CGTopeka West | 2021StateKS prior to the break, and he was outstanding. But one player wasn’t going to take the Chargers very far. But then Wilkerson suddenly developed into one of the top players not only on the team, nor the city, but arguably the state. He’s been on an incredible roll, scoring at least 17 points in nine of the last 10 games.
While all that was going on, it was easy to forget how good Brooks is. Hampered by injuries, the third-team 5A junior got off to a slow start. Other than two huge games in early January, he wasn’t a huge factor. But Brooks has seemingly returned to full health, and is showing why he was the Charger’s best player the last couple of years. He hit 13-14 from the field for 28 points against Junction City and tossed in 18 in Monday’s win over Washburn Rural.
Plenty ahead:
Topeka West has a lot of players and just might have the recipe for a deep run in the playoffs. They held their #7 ranking in the newest list by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association. The Junior Blues, however, fell out of the top 10. But they have a couple of special seniors in Berry and Hutchinson, and a third in Williams. With great coaching and a great culture, Rural may also be able to make noise in the playoffs.
ElijahBrooks6'2" | CGTopeka West | 2022StateKS (pictured) and Marque Wilkerson can all play a traditional ‘point guard’ role, but they are also athletic enough to play wing or even post. Wilkerson is adept in the high post, in particular, while Alexander is tall and powerful enough to go up against any traditional post player.
