Tuesday Roundup: Wichita Area Point Guards Stand Out and More

<p>With my eyes mainly down in the Wichita and Greater Wichita area, the point guards decided to really put on high quality performances on the night. A ton of true point guard qualities of leadership, confidence, ball handling, passing, and timely scoring were on full display. Today we look at some of those performances and glance around the state at some other stand out games.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Valley Center Win Over Andover Central</strong></span></p> <p><strong>Top Performer</strong></p> <p>2021 6’2 PG, [player_tooltip player_id="889525" first="Eli" last="Isaacs"], Valley Center: Isaacs put together one of the most complete point guard performances I have seen all season last night, he was terrific. He is the true definition of a "floor general" commanding attention and impacting the game at all times. He is a great passer and is one of the better bounce pass throwers I have seen this year and it is kind of a lost art in the game, especially in transition he threw a couple of on the money bounce passes to streaking teammates for layups. He is solid with the dribble, rarely getting bumped off his line, and that strength is also apparent on the glass, as he is good at rebounding and taking off the other way. Very dependable scoring the ball and is very deliberate on his drives and can knock down the long ball. He finished with an eye popping 25 points, 9 steals, and 7 assists. He is a ready made college point guard.</p> <p><b>Other Notables </b></p> <p>2021 6’3 G [player_tooltip player_id="946230" first="Gabe" last="Phillips"], Valley Center: The Phillips, Isaacs combo at the guard spot is a lethal combination and the two compliment each other on the court wonderfully. Phillips plays extremely confident and in control of his game. The Valley Center guard is a terrific scorer of the ball and was really impressed with his shooting ability in transition and in early offense. He is one of the better guards at attacking off the catch I have seen so far this year. Phillips finished with 19 points, 3 rebounds, and shot 66% from 3.</p> <p>2022 6’8 F [player_tooltip player_id="1076398" first="Noah" last="Simmons"], Valley Center: Simmons is just a load and a force inside, who plays with great court awareness, effort, and skill inside. Runs from rim to rim well, effected the game around the rim on defense by altering and blocking shots, and even showed off the baseline jumper. Simmons finished with 6 points, 7 rebounds.</p> <p>2023 6’4 G/W [player_tooltip player_id="1080194" first="Brian" last="Perry"], Andover Central (Pictured): Perry is a young wing player who showed flashes of tremendous ability last night. He is athletic and guards well on the perimeter and attacks other defenders off the bounce well. With more seasoning he is going to be an absolute problem for the Wichita area teams to guard. He hit multiple 3 point shots, and what even impressed me more was his IQ that he showed after knocking down a couple of 3’s in a short span still gave up an opportunity for a slightly contested three to make an extra pass to a teammate to get him a wide open shot. Perry scored 17 in the ball game.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>High Energy, Defense, and Competitiveness Highlight Wichita East vs Bishop Carroll</strong></span></p> <p><strong>Top Performers</strong></p> <p>2021 5’10 PG AJ King, Wichita East: "Pound for Pound" King has been one of the more competitive guards and oozes toughness while on the court. He hit multiple contested shots during stretches where East would need a bucket and he made a couple of big time passes off o drives to get teammates easy layups or opportunities at the foul line. On defense his motor is always going and he flies around into passing lanes and causes havoc.</p> <p>2021 6’2 G [player_tooltip player_id="946176" first="Carter" last="Reid"], Bishop Carroll: Much like the other top guards on display last night, Reid plays with tremendous confidence especially on the offensive end. His pull up transition game is one of his deadlier tools in his arsenal and he hit a couple of big time pull up 3’s last night. His IQ is also on a high level, and knows when to make the extra pass or when to get guys the ball on cuts. He is a guard that also runs his lanes well in transition and benefits greatly from it.</p> <p><strong>Other Notables</strong></p> <p>2021 6’3 F Braxton White, Wichita East: White brings a lot to the table from the wing/forward hybrid spot including, athleticism, energy, effort, and toughness. He attacked well to his strong left hand and put a ton of pressure on the defense on drives, getting to the foul line, converting and 1s, or scoring the ball.</p> <p>2021 6’1 W Stephen Nguyen, Bishop Carroll: Much like White for East, Nguyen brings a lot of attributes to the Carroll team that will help them rack up wins as the season goes a long. He is a good cutter and had a nice looping cut to the rim from the elbow area and finished a nice layup off a bounce pass. He was active on defense getting deflections and helping create extra possessions. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>A Glimpse Around the Rest of Kansas</strong></p> <p>2022 6’8 F/C  [player_tooltip player_id="1076411" first="Fred" last="Criqui"], St Marys: Criqui was dominate on the inside in a win over Rock Creen scoring 22 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and multiple blocks.</p> <p>2023 6’6 F [player_tooltip player_id="1080164" first="Tyler" last="Little"], Galena: Little showed off the versatility, touch, footwork, and handle in his 14 point, 3 steal, 4 assist performance. Was also 2 of 2 from 3.</p> <p>2021 6’2 G [player_tooltip player_id="889486" first="Jack" last="Hutchinson"], Washburn Rural: Hutchinson put together another 16 point performance, his second in a row and is starting to get his outside shooting stroke going. His IQ, passing ability, and toughness have started to translate to the offensive end.</p> <p>Manhattan Trio:2023 G [player_tooltip player_id="1080171" first="Cameron" last="Carr"] scored 18 points (12 in second half), 2021 G [player_tooltip player_id="889495" first="Owen" last="Braxmeyer"] had 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists, and 2022 G Tate Brown had 16 points in their win.</p> <p>2023 6’1 G [player_tooltip player_id="1080196" first="Kaeden" last="Bonner"], Seaman High School: Hit a game winning three in double OT to give his squad the win over Highland Park.</p>