One Month to Tourney: 3A Teams, Players to Watch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's crunch time. Time for teams to build their resumes, improve their seedings, and polish their rotations in preparation of substate, with the ultimate prize – a state title – awaiting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are teams and players to watch from the 3A classification as we enter the final stretch:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Frontrunner – Beloit:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Beloit is led by a trio of seniors and therefore have a ton of experience and maturity. They also get a lot of output from junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2393757' first='Eli' last='Johnson']</strong>. One of the interesting things about this team is that their lone loss came to ranked 6A Olathe North. They have good size in [player_tooltip player_id='1270292' first='Bryce' last='Beisner'] (see below), Johnson and <strong>Quinn Eilert</strong>. Beloit lacks state playoff experience, but that seems to be a trend among the top 3A teams.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Challenger – (tie) Cheney and Goodland:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ranked second and third in the most recent rankings, we'll list these two in a tie. We love the weapons Goodland puts out there. They have a senior point guard in [player_tooltip player_id='1953946' first='Manny' last='Gonzalez'] (pictured) and senior big in [player_tooltip player_id='1580561' first='Noah' last='Shinette']. Those two are surrounded by playmakers who can all score and handle the ball. Cheney claimed the state title in football and just knows how to win. They have some stars of their own in [player_tooltip player_id='1580488' first='Jackson' last='Voth'], <strong>Josh Burdick</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1624882' first='Carter' last='Peintner']</strong> and company. Interestingly, none of the top three teams in the class participated at state a year ago.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Work to Do – Wichita Collegiate:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What was expected to be a huge year for the Spartans has been instead a season of fits and starts. Guys have struggled with injuries, and they took three losses before Christmas after only losing once in the r entire regular season last year. But with some of the star sophomores out at various times, others have stepped up and carried the team. If this team can get healthy, they can make noise come playoff time. They aren't listed below as players to watch, but as a crew, [player_tooltip player_id='1541007' first='Amare' last='(AJ) Batiste'], [player_tooltip player_id='2209780' first='Sebastian' last='Hines-Turner'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2211301' first='Jaden' last='Parker'] are the trio to watch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Main Man – [player_tooltip player_id='1270292' first='Bryce' last='Beisner']:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He mght be the best player in 3A, but then he might not be. Regardless, he's the best player and key leader of the frontrunner. As a senior, he has remained the team-first, selfless workhorse who makes everyone around him better by not hogging shots but instead crashing the boards, defending, handling the ball and distributing it well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Player to Watch – [player_tooltip player_id='1461340' first='Will' last='Cravens']:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For all his talent, Cravens has flown a bit under the radar because Ellsworth hasn't been a postseason factor. But Cravens had a big senior season on the gridiron and helped the Bearcats make a run. Now he's guiding the basketball team into the state 3A rankings. Cravens is an elite playmaker and creative force with the basketball. He's long, handles the ball well, and is an effortless leaper.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->