One Month to Tourney: 3A Teams, Players to Watch
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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. Here are teams and players to watch from the…
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Continue ReadingIt’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.
Here are teams and players to watch from the 3A classification as we enter the final stretch:
Frontrunner – Beloit:
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 Eli Johnson Eli Johnson 6'5" | C Beloit | 2025 State KS . One of the interesting things about this team is that their lone loss came to ranked 6A Olathe North. They have good size in Bryce Beisner Bryce Beisner 6'7" | PF Beloit | 2024 State KS (see below), Johnson and Quinn Eilert. Beloit lacks state playoff experience, but that seems to be a trend among the top 3A teams.
Challenger – (tie) Cheney and Goodland:
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 Manny Gonzalez Manny Gonzalez 5'9" | PG Goodland | 2024 State KS (pictured) and senior big in Noah Shinette Noah Shinette 6'3" | PF Goodland | 2024 State KS . 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 Jackson Voth Jackson Voth 5'10" | CG Cheney | 2024 State KS , Josh Burdick, Carter Peintner Carter Peintner 6'2" | SG Cheney | 2025 State KS and company. Interestingly, none of the top three teams in the class participated at state a year ago.
Work to Do – Wichita Collegiate:
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, Amare (AJ) Batiste Amare (AJ) Batiste 6'2" | CG Wichita Collegiate | 2026 State KS , Sebastian Hines-Turner Sebastian Hines-Turner 6'5" | C Wichita Collegiate | 2026 State KS and Jaden Parker Jaden Parker 6'1" | CG Wichita Collegiate | 2026 State KS are the trio to watch.
Main Man – Bryce Beisner Bryce Beisner 6'7" | PF Beloit | 2024 State KS :
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.
Player to Watch – Will Cravens Will Cravens 6'3" | SG Ellsworth | 2024 State KS :
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.