New Names from Substates

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Before we turn our attention to state tournaments, let's take one more look at new names we learned from the past week. Here are some guys we learned a lot about, and liked what we saw.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Carter Charvat</strong>, 6-foot-2 forward, 2024, Hayden:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wildcats are going dancing! That wasn't something many people expected to happen. But in true Hayden fashion, the players believed even when others didn't. Charvat has been a warrior in the paint all season, and he was a steady influence through the 14 losses. He rebounds relentlessly and is really good at finishing in traffic. He has nice hands and knows how to get open to receive passes in the paint. This senior hasn't received much attention because he's just a blue collar, team-first guy. But offensively he converts a high percentage and gets double-figures or close to it pretty much every game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jackson Cheney</strong>, 6-foot-1 forward, 2025, Beloit:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Beloit has some seniors who have received the headlines, and rightly so. But Cheney stood out in the substate round. He's guy who can handle the ball and shoot it from the perimeter. But he's just so rugged and physical that we'll call him a forward for this article. He can bang in the paint and drive with power to the hoop. He accounted for 11 points in a rough final versus Nemaha Central, dropping a couple of threes and helping handling the ball in crunch time.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Colby Frehe</strong>, 6-foot-8 forward, 2025, Nemaha Central:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Frehe is an interesting player. He is long and lean. He is still growing into his height, but he has ball skills and versatility. He isn't just a stationary post. He gets on the perimeter, runs the floor and can handle the ball. Right now his top talent is shot blocking, and he gets a lot of them. He times his jump and gets off the floor, and with his length he can affect shots by anyone close to him.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ethan Morton</strong>, 5-foot-9 guard, 2026, Hiawatha:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Morton developed into the Red Hawks' number two option as a sophomore as a quick guard who can light it up from the perimeter. He regularly got in double figures and got eight points in the fourth quarter as Hiawatha fought to come back against Sabetha. He should be a key figure in the Red Hawks plans next year as nearly everyone returns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2387803' first='DJ' last='Thomas']</strong>, 6-foot-5 center, 2024, Piper:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While other players have been in the spotlight, Thomas jumped out in late season games for the Pirates. He takes pressure off teammate [player_tooltip player_id='1756342' first='Devin' last='Kerr'] by doing a lot of the dirty work, including defending opposing bigs in the paint. He is a leaper who cleans the glass and intimidates drivers. Thomas has nice moves around the goal and finishes at a high rate. He is a graceful athlete who can run the floor with the best big men. He has nice hands and passes well from the paint.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->