Point Guards to Watch at State

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Point guards stand out under the bright lights. It's tough to win a title without a really good one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last year's state tournaments highlighted some great senior point guards. <strong>Grant Stubblefield</strong> (Blue Valley Northwest), <strong>Carson Bennett </strong>(Hugoton) and <strong>Landon Kauffman </strong>(Moundridge) each helped their teams win titles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We expect to see great point guard play again this year. You already know [player_tooltip player_id='1270268' first='David' last='Cobin'], so we won't include him in this list. Here are some other point guards to keep an eye on at the state tournaments:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>6A - [player_tooltip player_id='1402310' first='Jaalan' last='Watson'], 5-foot-8 guard, 2025, Olathe North (pictured):</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are some other really good guards in the 6A class. Be sure to watch Wichita Northwest's tandem of [player_tooltip player_id='2169828' first='Eli' last='Benning'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1270290' first='Tasean' last='Williams']. But we will highlight Watson here because he's such a joy to watch. He goes about his business with a smile on this face and a bounce in his step. He is lighting quick when he puts the ball on the floor and he can create mismatches and draw defenders to set up teammates.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5A – [player_tooltip player_id='1172929' first='Michael' last='Kates'], 5-foot-9 guard, 2024, Maize South:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We considered going with a couple of brilliant 2025s in Kapaun's [player_tooltip player_id='1408946' first='Corbin' last='Johnson'] &nbsp;or Andover's [player_tooltip player_id='1173007' first='Jason' last='Kim']. But we will highlight the senior Kates, who has been really good ever since his freshman year. The Mavericks got sent home early last year, but we don't expect that this year. Kates is powerful with the ball, gets downhill to bust up a defense, and unselfishly dishes to all the great talent around him.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>4A – [player_tooltip player_id='1300809' first='Dasean' last='Lewis'], 5-foot-10 guard, 2024, Hugoton:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are a lot of good guards who will be Salina, but we will highlight Lewis because he's about as true a point guard as there is. He gets his teammates involved, particularly by pushing the tempo and spreading the floor. Lewis experienced a title run last year and has taken over leadership of the team as a senior.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>3A – [player_tooltip player_id='1953946' first='Manny' last='Gonzalez'], 5-foot-9 guard, 2024, Goodland:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Most of the time when you talk about great point guards, you base it on ball handling and distribution. Gonzalez is really good at those aspects. But two talents in which he might be the best are defense and perimeter shooting. He makes opponents' lives miserable with his on-ball defense and never lets up. And the guy hits 40% from deep. What's not to like?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2A – <strong>Daniel Kejr</strong>, 6-foot guard, 2024, Southeast of Saline:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>No one expected the Trojans would be back here after graduating a wealth of talent. Just about the guy back with any experience is Kejr, and he took over leadership at the point. He helped the team grow together and got them playing at their best at playoff time. He was enormous down the stretch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1A Div. I – <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2387806' first='Aidan' last='Page']</strong>, 5-foot-11 guard, 2024, Bishop Seabury:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Page hasn't received nearly the credit he deserves this season. He plays with some other guys who get more publicity, and because of their style, he doesn't always have the ball in his hands on the point. But he fits the attributes of a point man and he unselfishly makes winning plays. He's a slick ball handler with a ton of quickness and speed. He can shoot it as well as he distributes it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1A Div II – [player_tooltip player_id='1588418' first='Daniel' last='Cramer'], 5-foot-10 guard, 2025, Dighton:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This guy has been a stat monster ever since his freshman season. He racks up assists at a high rate. But he also scores, rebounds and records a ridiculous number of steals. He has carried a lot of weight for the Hornets and is ready for this opportunity.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->