Centennial League team observations

<p>The Centennial League’s awards were announced Monday. A lot of deserving players made the list, but there’s room for some debate. Here are a few highlights and observations:</p> <p><strong>Three way tie?</strong></p> <p>Last year there was a split between Washburn Rural’s [player_tooltip player_id="599759" first="Joe" last="Berry"] and Topeka High’s [player_tooltip player_id="726594" first="King" last="Sutton"] for Player of the Year. Not a lot to argue with there. But now the award was split three ways. A case can certainly be made for each of the three honorees – Berry, [player_tooltip player_id="1070185" first="Tre" last="Alexander"] (pictured), and [player_tooltip player_id="1134422" first="Marque" last="Wilkerson"], both of Topeka West. It would be nice to just have one winner. But ok.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1076260" first="Elijah" last="Brooks"], first teamer:</strong></p> <p>There is no question, Brooks is about as good a player as you’ll find in the league, when he’s healthy. But Brooks had so many derailments this year, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he’d been left off the first team. He missed at least three games and withdrew from several others. But rather than quibble with whether he should be on the team, let’s just hope he’s 100% healthy next year to maximize his ability.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="889474" first="Corey" last="Powell"], first teamer:</strong></p> <p>Powell is really good. He’s huge, agile, and has great coordination. He was third-team 5A last year. But Powell really struggled to live up to his potential this year, and Highland Park was a bit of a disappointment. But rather than criticize the choice, let’s celebrate that when Powell flashed his great potential, he was awesome – 31 points in a win over Emporia, 28 in a win over Seaman, 26 in a win over Topeka West.</p> <p><strong>Man on the Rise:</strong></p> <p>You could have predicted five of the six members of the all-league team before a game was played. But [player_tooltip player_id="1134422" first="Marque" last="Wilkerson"]? The 6-foot-1 guard/wing only scored in double figures a handful of times last year, with a high of 15. He wasn’t even a for-sure starter at the beginning of his senior year. All he did was blow up to lead the league in scoring. It made for a nice story and a testament to player development.</p> <p><strong>Left out?</strong></p> <p>You can’t squeeze every deserving player onto a six-man team. But if there is any player who would have been good to see selected, it might be Washburn Rural’s second-teamer [player_tooltip player_id="889486" first="Jack" last="Hutchinson"]. He’s been a gamer for two years for one of the state’s elite teams. He is probably the league’s best shooter, and has been key to the success of the team. The problem is probably that Hutchinson’s scoring output can be somewhat varied based on what defenses permit. Regardless, Hutchinson had a great career and deserves whatever honor he receives.</p> <p><strong>Left out No. 2?</strong></p> <p>If you were trying to find a player who wasn’t mentioned at all in the final awards, you could try to argue for Topeka High guard <strong>Jayden Leesman</strong> and Seaman forward <strong>Cason Stallbaumer</strong>. Leesman developed into arguably High’s best player after the holidays, scoring 14 or more in six of the last 13 games. Stallbaumer developed into another top gun for the Vikings from the perimeter, and he can also take the ball to the rim. He defends bigs and rebounds.</p> <p><strong>Newcomer of the Year:</strong></p> <p><strong>Zander Putthoff</strong> ended the year really strong for Topeka West. He scored 12 in the state championship against Maize. He is primarily employed as a deep threat to draw defenses away from drivers Brooks, Wilkerson and Alexander. An argument could be made for Manhattan sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="1080171" first="Cameron" last="Carr"], who didn’t play varsity as a freshman and who came on as the Indians’ best player by the end of the season. But Putthoff is a good choice.</p>