Teams to Watch: 4A

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Until someone unseats Bishop Miege as the top dog in the 4A classification, they will continue to replace talented graduates with equally talented underclassmen at the top of the class.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In addition to the Stags, there are some interesting teams to watch in 4A.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Returners:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Miege – Winners of five of the last six titles, there's no reason to pick anyone other than the Stags to win it all. Someone will have to take it from them. Sure, they graduated some serious talent, but there's always more waiting in the wings. Miege will look to forwards [player_tooltip player_id='1080169' first='Aiden' last='Wing'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1080201' first='Daegan' last='Jensen'] to soften the graduation losses. Guard play will be in the capable hands of [player_tooltip player_id='1300808' first='Patrick' last='Mccallop Jr'], <strong>Mac Armstrong</strong> and <strong>Isaiah Coppage</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Challengers:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>McPherson – The Bullpups will be back with a remarkable group of juniors ready to lead. [player_tooltip player_id='1461339' first='Cory' last='Muehler'], [player_tooltip player_id='1436793' first='Kyden' last='Thompson'], <strong>Kreighton Kanitz</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1556702' first='Owen' last='Pyle'] </strong>will be a year older and considerably better after playing huge roles as sophomores. They will keep things humming around senior big man <strong>Mason Miller</strong>. It's hard to believe a team could be so equipped to replace a graduate like <strong>Seth Madron</strong>, but the Bullpups could be even better this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Unknown:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eudora – Will [player_tooltip player_id='1212168' first='Jaden' last='Hamm'] be on the court? Prep Hoops hasn't heard one way or the other. That's going to go a long way in determining the Cardinals fortunes. His plan was to head to the University of Arkansas as semester. We'll see. The Cardinals do return junior scoring machine [player_tooltip player_id='1461341' first='Logan' last='Sullivan'] and senior point guard <strong>Kale Hammerschmidt</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hayden – The big question in everyone's mind was whether center [player_tooltip player_id='1080188' first='Joe' last='Otting'] would play football this winter, or head off to get a start on his football career at Notre Dame. With Otting in for another season, the Wildcats will have a big scoring and rebounding presence in the paint. They lost some good guards, but have athletic guard [player_tooltip player_id='1080202' first='Jake' last='Mueller'] back. The unknown is how much some newcomers can contribute. Those new faces include transfers <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1624997' first='Mister' last='Cameron']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1630972' first='Jacob' last='Deister']</strong>, freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1530221' first='Ayden' last='McGibboney']</strong> and junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1300863' first='Jacob' last='Padilla']</strong>, who returns from injury.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hugoton – There's not a lot left to answer about the Eagles' two leaders. [player_tooltip player_id='1378394' first='Carson' last='Bennett'] (pictured) and [player_tooltip player_id='1080203' first='Ryle' last='Riddlesperger'] are top-notch play makers. The big question is how will the team, which qualified for the 3A state tournament a year ago, will adapt to 4A after getting bumped up. The youngsters who supported Bennett and Riddlesperger didn't produce in the tourney loss to Hesston. The Eagles will look for more from junior guards <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1300809' first='Dasean' last='Lewis']</strong> and <strong>Griffin Heger</strong> and junior forwards <strong>Isaac Martin</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1378448' first='Emmett' last='Gaskill']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2387756' first='Izeyah' last='Harris']</strong>. Keep an eye on sophomore <strong>Jay Acosta</strong> too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->