Stars of the 5A Championship

<p>Maize took down Topeka West in the 5A finale 55-43. A disastrous second quarter did the Chargers in. Both teams were deep and talented, not necessarily led by any one star player.</p> <p>Here are a few players who stood tall in the big game:</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1080176" first="Avery" last="Johnson"], sophomore, Maize:</p> <p>The star of the final was Johnson, a 6-foot-3 do-it-all guard/wing. He is explosive and dynamic with the ball. The highly-regarded football quarterback knows how to distribute the ball on the basketball court, and can take it to the goal himself when the chance presents itself. He was the leading scorer of the final 17 points on 7-15 shooting.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="730629" first="Jacob" last="Hanna"], senior, Maize (pictured):</p> <p>A 6-foot-3 guard/wing, Hanna earns rave reviews for his defense and rebounding, and he’s no slouch offensively, although he doesn’t take a ton of shots. He led the way in the semifinal game with 17 points, but in the championship it was his 7 boards that led the team. Hanna is a consummate team player, a smooth athlete and a winner.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="946199" first="Winston" last="Bing"], senior, Maize:</p> <p>Perhaps the team’s best outside threat, Bing came up big in the final with 4-7 shooting and 3-6 from behind the arc. In the semifinal against KC-Washington, he hit 5-7 from distance. His threat from deep opened things up for the athletes around him.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1070185" first="Tre" last="Alexander"], senior, Topeka West:</p> <p>Alexander was great from beginning to end this season. As the team developed around him, he didn’t have to do it all, but he showed he was capable of putting the team on his shoulders. In the final, the 6-foot-4 guard/wing hit 6-10 from the field for 13 points. In the semifinal against Desoto, he bulled his way to 17 points, getting to the line 11 times. Great as his physical skills are, his leadership was just as impressive.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1134422" first="Marque" last="Wilkerson"], senior, Topeka West:</p> <p>The remarkable season of the Chargers’ senior came to an end Saturday. He went from reserve to Centennial League co-Player of the Year in the course of about four months. Wilkerson didn’t shrink on the big stage either. He hit 5-10 from the field and 3-3 from the line for 13 in the final. Wilkerson showed how versatile he could be by playing in the paint, handling the ball, shooting from inside and out, and directing the show at times.</p> <p><strong>Zander Putthoff</strong>, junior, Topeka West:</p> <p>Unfortunately for the Chargers, [player_tooltip player_id="1076260" first="Elijah" last="Brooks"], so dynamic but also so up and down all season, didn’t have a great shooting game in the final. Putthoff picked up some of the slack, hitting 4-7 from deep to give the Chargers a critical scoring option. In the end his 12 points weren’t enough, but the 6-foot-4 junior was big in the playoffs. He is long, athletic and do more than just shoot, but that’s what puts fear in the hearts of opponents.</p>