Mid-Season 5A League Player of the Year Favorites

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We are past the mid-way point of the season and many of the teams in 5A have gone through the first rotation of the round-robin schedule with their opponents. Here's a look at who we feel are the front-runners for the Players of the Year in each league right now.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NWOC:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='1110842' first='Kallen' last='Gutridge'] (2024 Wilsonville)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As the leading scorer in class 5A and a member of the top-ranked Wildcats, Gutridge is certainly the favorite to take home player-of-the-year honors through eight league games. If La Salle, which is tied with Wilsonville at 7-1 in conference play, is able to upset the Wildcats and come away with the league title, [player_tooltip player_id='1256716' first='Nick' last='Robertson'] may enter the conversation, but today, it's Gutridge's honor to lose, as the junior averages a staggering 23.7 points per game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MWL:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='1110575' first='Joey' last='Banry'] (2024 North Eugene)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While the Midwestern League is the most difficult to select at this point, Banry takes the slight edge due to his Highlanders being currently unbeaten in league play, two games up on Churchill and Ashland. While North Eugene has rattled off seven straight wins and seized control of the Midwestern League title race, Banry has been integral, averaging a team-leading 12.4 points alongside 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MWC:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='1315401' first='Spencer' last='Karsseboom'] (2023 Woodburn)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As the Bulldogs have jumped out to an eye-popping 9-0 start in Mid-Willamette play, Karsseboom has been an electric scorer and one of the state's most slept-on stars. With a wide variety of offensive tools, the 6-foot-3 senior has been a consistent contributor as Woodburn has impressively positioned itself as one of the top-ranked teams in 5A. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>IMC:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='1110580' first='Pearson' last='Carmichael'] (2023 Summit)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At the moment, Bend holds sole possession of first place in the Intermountain Conference, but Summit's Carmichael has been dominant enough for the second-place Storm to take home the mid-season honor. Averaging 21.7 points per game, good for third in the 5A classification, Carmichael has been arguably the most lethal scorer in the conference, next to Mountain View's [player_tooltip player_id='1113084' first='Quincy' last='Townsend'], who averages 23.1 points per game. At 4-4 in league play, the Cougars are currently removed from the title race, but with seven games left, Townsend and Mountain View can still involve themselves</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->