Hot Starts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The season is underway, and there are plenty of guys who hit the ground running. There are way too many to mention, but here are a few who got off to particularly hot starts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2169878' first='Diego' last='Esparza'], 5-foot-8 guard, 2025, Macksville:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ok, there are hot starts, but this is ridiculous. Esparza got 45 against against Ness City, followed by 44 against Spearville. He hit for 10 3-pointers in the first two games. We wondered who would pick up the slack from the state champion Mustangs great class of 2023. Now we know.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1385618' first='Mikey' last='Brand'], 6-foot-4 forward, 2024, Bishop Carroll (pictured):</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We expect Brand to have a big senior season. He got off to a big start with 27 points in a loss to Wichita Southeast. The Golden Eagles came out on the losing end, but Brand stuffed the stat sheet with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2314754' first='Kaason' last='Thomas']</strong>, 5-foot-11 guard, 2024, Campus:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An unranked senior we thought would come out strong was Thomas. So far, so good. He tossed in 24 in a big win over defending 5A champ Andover. His Colts are off to a 2-0 start and could be ready to do more winning than they have in a while.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1962894' first='Luke' last='Albers'], 5-foot-11 guard, 2025, Cunningham:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another small school guard who is lighting it up is Albers. He got 34 in a big opening-night win over Minneola. He throttled down for 20 in a blowout of Chase. But we can see this junior is ready to follow up a stellar football season with a big hoops campaign.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1402310' first='Jaalan' last='Watson'], 5-foot-8 guard, 2025, Olathe North:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the biggest classification, 6A guard Watson demonstrated why he's one of the best guards in the state. He claimed MVP of the Phog Allen Invitational, scoring 52 points, grabbing 25 rebounds and dealing out 13 assists in the three game event.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->