Big School Seniors to Celebrate in the West

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top two players in the senior class – [player_tooltip player_id='1270090' first='TJ' last='Williams'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1270094' first='Andrell' last='Burton'] –&nbsp; and four of the top seven are located in Wichita. There are top players from the eastern part of the state, and of course dozens in Kansas City and Topeka.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Those kids get a lot of attention. So as the season approaches, let's take a closer look at “Seniors to Celebrate in the West,” starting with the bigger schools (6A-4A):</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Hugoton Five:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hugoton graduated two all-staters after winning 4A state last year. How can they be this loaded? They bring back five seniors from that squad who have a chance to be a contender again. The group is led by all-state caliber point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1300809' first='Dasean' last='Lewis'], who really blew up in the tournament and is ready to direct the offense and score more points this year. They have size in [player_tooltip player_id='1378448' first='Emmett' last='Gaskill'], <strong>Isaac Martin</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2387756' first='Izeyah' last='Harris']</strong> and a dynamic, fearless ball of energy in <strong>Griffin Heger</strong>. Each of those guys played an important role in the state title run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2387770' first='Tochi' last='Okoro']</strong>, 6-foot-4 forward, Dodge City:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A big multi-sport athlete, Okoro will have another season to show what he can do on the basketball court. He will have to take it to another level to help the Demons improve on last season. The Western Athletic second-teamer is fast, tough and explosive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1953943' first='Jack' last='Weimer'], 5-foot-9 guard, Hays:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Hays cupboard was emptied in 2022, so Weimer stepped in as the team leader and had a really nice junior year on a young team. He's a knock-down shooter who can play point or off the ball. With some more maturity around him, Weimer should be even more freed up to shoot it from deep as a senior.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1300816' first='Emilio' last='Zundt']</strong>, 5-foot-8 guard, Garden City (pictured):</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A loaded Garden City team know has to move on following graduation. One of the key returners is Zundt, a energy guy who can run the point and create shots. He causes havoc on the defensive end, and knows how to get the ball to shooters.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->