1A Div. 2 Sophomore Award Winners

<p>All-state honors are typically dominated by seniors, and to some degree, by juniors. Sophomores have to be pretty special to earn some statewide recognition. At the smaller classes, it does happen more frequently, and at the 1A Div. 2 class, a handful of sophs were recognized for their play last year.</p> <p>At the state’s smallest level, two sophomores – [player_tooltip player_id="1080198" first="Jaxson" last="Brandl"] of Tribune and [player_tooltip player_id="1212165" first="Alec" last="Carlson"] of Pawnee Heights were actually on the first-team. Wheatland-Grinnell’s [player_tooltip player_id="1212166" first="Jett" last="Vincent"] wasn’t far behind, gaining second-team honors.</p> <p>Here are some other 2023s recognized for their play at the 1A Div. 2 level last season:</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1146298" first="Ben" last="Busse"], 5-foot-11 guard, St. Francis:</p> <p>Busse will be tasked with replacing all-stater Jesse Baxter. Busse does some of everything and has that football-toughness that he brings to the court. He has good handles and can score in a variety of ways, earning honorable mention in the smallest class as a sophomore.</p> <p><strong>Isaac Detweiler</strong>, 5-foot-11 guard, Axtell:</p> <p>By making the all-Twin Valley League team in football and basketball as a sophomore, Detweiler demonstrated what type of athlete he is. He can really light it up from deep, frequently knocking down four or more 3’s in a game. He received honorable mention 1A Div. 2 for his stellar play.</p> <p><strong>Dakota Rodriguez</strong>, 6-foot forward, Stafford:</p> <p>Rodriguez’ athleticism really shined on the glass and at the defensive end. He recorded an impressive 3.4 steals per contest last year, while also clearing more than 5 rebounds a game en route to 1A Div. 2 honorable mention. He showed the ability to score the ball as well, and will be one of the top small-school returners in central Kansas.</p> <p><strong>Titus Sherer</strong>, 5-foot-5 guard, Tribune:</p> <p>The quick and creative Sherer creates a lot of havoc at the defensive end. He frequently turns steals into points, and pushes the ball aggressively into traffic.</p> <p><strong>Ali Smith</strong>, 5-foot-8 guard, Hartford:</p> <p>Another multi-sport star, Smith showed as a freshman that he can really stuff the stat sheet, racking up points, rebounds and assists at an impressive rate. He earned honorable mention as a sophomore, racking up double-figures frequently. He notched 20 against South Coffey.</p>