Thursday Round Up 2/18: Impressive Performances

<p>The delays and rescheduling’s have given us and are a bout to give us, a long consistent run at games here in the next week or so. In trying to keep up with all of the fun, let’s take a glance at some of the top performances around the state of Kansas on Thursday night.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Cameron Campuzano, 6’2 F, 2021, Rural Vista: The big fella is averaging a near double double on the seaosn with 9 points and 13 rebounds per game, but last night he put together a special performance. He scored 25 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out 6 assists, and had 4 blocks. He capped his night off drilling a 35 footer at the buzzer to win the game for the Heat. Campuzano is a big bodied player with nice athleticism who brings his toughness to the floor night in and night out.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Blake Rucker, 6’ G, 2024, Eureka: The freshman guard got his opportunity this season and he has grabbed it by the horns and rode it to a great freshman campaign. He has been on a tear as on late and in a close battle with Cherryvale, he dropped 24 points. He is crafty in transition, can really shoot the ball, and should continue to develop some length and strength to him which will make him even more lethal on offense. He has been putting up some numbers against high quality opponents in year 1, keep an eye out on this kid.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="946268" first="Nolan" last="Puckett"], 6’2 G, 2022, Salina Central: The junior guard got hot last night in a primetime matchup with Valley Center that resulted in a close loss. He scored a career high 16 points and really stepped up in a big game. Puckett has been consistently a solid role player throughout the year and can get hot from 3, and last night was one of those nights. Puckett has the ability to build off this game and give a Center team that could bee seen as under the radar at 6-11 a nice boost heading down the stretch.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="946230" first="Gabe" last="Phillips"], 6’3 G, 2021, Valley Center: The future Kansas Wesleyan guard brought the offensive pop that we are used to seeing dropping 19 points in the win over the previously mentioned Salina Central. He was a really efficient 7 of 9 from the field and picked his spots very nicely on when to get going on offense. Phillips drilled 2 big threes as well and only missed one for the game.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Xander Roberts, 6’1 G, 2021, Augusta: Roberts came off a nice set out of the underneath out of bounds and drilled a game winning 3 pointer for Augusta last night in a big time win over Circle. He has a nice looking shot from distance and he caught the game winner with a nice hop in rhythm and drilled it. He finished with 15 points in the ball game with 4 threes, nearly reaching a career high. Last night we saw a bunch of kids step up around Kansas, and Roberts was one of them</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="946225" first="Drew" last="Middleton"], 5’10 G, 2021, Circle: Middleton’s Circle squad had a chance to fold last night against Augusta, but Middleton would not let them. He finished with 16 points which included a 10 point flurry in the second half to bring his team back to life. A very solid point guard for Circle, Middleton displayed not only his willingness to compete for his team, but his ability to play really well on offense. </p>