Monday Night Mania: Preview of Primetime Games

<p>Monday has kind of become a new night for High School hoops in Kansas this season with all of the rescheduling’s and fitting in new games to get seasons filled. It has led to some great matchups and fun nights of basketball and tonight is not exception. Let’s take a look at the two marquee games taking place tonight.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Bishop Miege Takes on Blue Valley North</strong></span></p> <p>The BVN vs BVNW game earlier this month is a potential game of the year candidate in Kansas, but this matchup here has those same kind of vibes heading into the matchup. This initial date for this game was circled on my calendar so hearing they will get to play this game tonight really got me excited. Let’s take a look at the game.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Matchups to Watch: The Bigs</strong></p> <p>The paint battle both in terms of scoring and controlling the glass will be fun to watch all night with the talented and veteran duo of 6’8 [player_tooltip player_id="962473" first="Andrew" last="Orr"] and 6’6 [player_tooltip player_id="747099" first="Nikko" last="Taylor"] of Blue Valley North looking to establish themselves early against the likes of the 2022 duo of 6’6 Taj Manning and 6’7 [player_tooltip player_id="787626" first="Mark" last="Mitchell"]. A ton of college talent between the four here and with this level of game, the physicality and energy levels going to be exerted out on the floor will give this game a college feel to it in the interior. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>The Guard Play</strong></p> <p>The plethora of guards that will be featured in this matchup is too hard to cover in just one review. Blue Valley’s talented combination of playmaking, defending, shooting, and leadership from the likes of [player_tooltip player_id="889473" first="Luke" last="Adams"], [player_tooltip player_id="889487" first="Isaac" last="Patterson"], and [player_tooltip player_id="1131273" first="Kernan" last="Bundy"] vs the extremely talented and productive Miege trio of Harrison  Braudis, [player_tooltip player_id="891905" first="Xavier" last="Hall"], and [player_tooltip player_id="891909" first="Christian" last="Bowen-Webb"] will be tremendous. The ability to handle pressure, dictate pace, and knocking down contested 3’s will be big from the guard spot in this one.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Potential X Factors</strong></p> <p>Miege- [player_tooltip player_id="1080169" first="Aiden" last="Wing"]: The 2023 guard has been picking up his productivity as of late and his continued hot streak bleeding over into this big game could be what helps give Miege the advantage here. Wing can give ya a little bit of everything on the floor from defending, knocking down shots, and making plays for others.</p> <p>BVN-J.D Roane: A guy that BVN will turn to from off the bench, Roane is someone who can come in and contribute for them. BVN was able to pull off a win against BVNW with no bench scoring, but they will probably need someone to step up in the second unit tonight and Roane is a prime candidate to give them that. The lefty has some catch and shoot 3 point ability and good instincts on the defensive end to snag a steal or two.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>#10 Valley Center and #4 Andover Are Set to Do Battle</strong></span></p> <p>A top 10 matchup and then throw in Senior night too, what could be better? Both teams come in with 15+ wins on the season and have a great ability to score the ball. This matchup has the chance to be an absolute barn burner tonight.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Senior Guard Matchup Takes Center Stage</strong></p> <p>Valley Center Duo of Eli Issacs and [player_tooltip player_id="946230" first="Gabe" last="Phillips"] take on the dynamic duo of [player_tooltip player_id="730622" first="Jack" last="Johnson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="889490" first="Kaleb" last="Gaddis"]. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The Gaddis vs Isaacs matchups will be one of the better point guard matchups we get this year. Both guards have the ability to get going scoring the ball with Gaddis at a little over 9 points a game and Isaacs at 16.6 points per game, but both really thrive in getting other guys going for their teams and being the spearhead for high powered offenses. The ball pressure and gap help both provide on defense too will make this a great dual tonight.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Phillips and Johnson will help provide a big time "two guard" matchup that could feature a ton of points being put up in the box score. Phillips is a confident scorer and does it at a high level scoring 15 points a game while Johnson is coming off breaking a school record with 41 points in his last outing and is averaging a little over 20 a game. These two are three level scorers and do it with great efficiency and confidence. This will be a fun one. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Potential Key To Victory</strong></p> <p>Winning the turnover battle, who can knock down some contested 2's, and who rebounds the ball best are my three keys to victory in this matchup.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Enjoy a fun night of basketball!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>