3A Statistical Standouts at the Break

<p>The holiday break is here. Time to take stock in how teams and players have performed in the first month of games.</p> <p>As has been so well documented on Prep Hoops, the top ten teams in the state rankings have been led by some fine performances early in the season. But we don’t want to overlook some of the great individual work that was done in the early going.</p> <p>Here are some of the 3A statistical standouts at the break (in alphabetical order):</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1268823" first="Sergio" last="Chavez"]</strong>, 6-foot guard, 2022, Southwestern Heights:</p> <p>Chavez is back from an honorable-mention 3A junior campaign. He lit up Ulysses for 36 points, and scored 29 against Minneola. Chavez is leading the Mustangs with 21.2 points and is averaging 3.0 steals.</p> <p><strong>Kellen Marshall</strong>, 6-foot-1 guard, 2022, Council Grove:</p> <p>Marshall has always been a versatile and efficient guard. But he’s taken his scoring output to a new level as a senior. Marshall has scored in the 20s three times and is averaging 19.0 points per game. He’s also dishing out 3.6 assists and making 2.2 steals per game.</p> <p><strong>Nakari Morrical-Palmer</strong>, 6-foot-3 forward, 2023, Southeast of Saline:</p> <p>Palmer is a do-everything athlete who teams nicely with fellow junior [player_tooltip player_id="1080163" first="Eli" last="Sawyers"]’ 18.0 points per game. Morrical-Palmer is grabbing 9.2 rebounds, and posting 4.2 assists and 2.3 blocks per game.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1268858" first="Jackson" last="Swartz"], 6-foot-5 forward, 2023, Chaparral (pictured):</p> <p>No one who watched Swartz last summer is surprised that he is blossoming as a new star in 3A. He is absolutely stuffing the stat sheet through five games this year. The junior is scoring 22.0 points, dealing out 4.2 assists, nabbing 4.2 steals, and grabbing 6.8 rebounds for the Roadrunners.</p> <p><strong>Bralen Thompson</strong>, 6-foot guard, 2022, Hoisington:</p> <p>The Cardinals are adjusting to life after star forward Drew Nicholson. Thompson is the senior guard trying to lead the way. Thompson is doing it all so far, scoring 18.8 points and averaging 8.4 rebounds.</p> <p><strong>Kaden Walker</strong>, 6-foot-4 forward, 2022, Prairie View:</p> <p>Walker is pulling in a ridiculous 15.6 rebounds per game. The senior is also averaging 11.4 points. He started the season with an unbelievable 24 point/24 rebound performance against Jayhawk Linn. Walker has grabbed double digit rebounds in every game this season.</p>