Wichita West Heights: Wise Guys

On 02/21/25, the Wichita West Pioneers boys varsity basketball team hosted the Wichita Heights Falcons. The Final score was Pioneers 41, Falcons 56. The game was dominated for the most part by the Wichita Heights Falcons due to a severe size advantage. The Falcons guards were taller than the Pioneers bigs, but the Pioneers stayed engaged early in the game due to their senior leadership and a couple of quick 3-point field goals at the start of the contest. Once the Falcons established their 3-2 zone with their big man at the top of the key moving his feet like a guard, the contest became hard for the pioneers to get around their long out-stretched hands with the defense at times extended above the 3-point line. Later, the Falcons would switch it up and go mostly a 2-3 zone at times throughout the game to confuse the Pioneer guards. Once the game was out of reach for the Pioneers, the Falcons gave them a hint of man defense where it was evident of the size and athleticism advantage.    Combo guard & forward with big man skills. Doesn't fall in love with the 3-point shot, stays committed on defense and is long. Gets a lot of buckets off of his hustle with decent form on his jump shot.   Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1962885' first='Chase' last='Robinson'] was tonight's game leading wise guy. Not only offensively, but Chase showed incredible skill with his ability to move laterally to guard smaller guards on the perimeter while still keeping his hands actively engaged at times. His handle was nothing to snooze at with his early behind the back move at the top of the key in the first quarter to drop his defender and snake his way in for a lay-up. The most impressive part of Chase's game though, is his willingness to do the dirty work at his size and skill level as the #12 ranked H.S. prospect in the state of Kansas. Late in the game when the score was out of reach for the Pioneers, you can see Chase on the hashes at the free throw line battling for position for the offensive rebound during what seemed like an automatic free-throw for his teammate. The shot went in, but if it hadn't, that ball would've undoubtedly been in Chase's hands for a put-back considering he clearly won that position with no other player being engaged near the basket but him and his man who seemed completely overpowered. At Chase's size, he switches and covers a lot of positions for this Falcons team and the reason is obvious.       long, athletic defender who can cover ground very quickly. Solid rim protector and moves feet well.   Senior center [player_tooltip player_id='1588339' first='Amalachi' last='Wilkins'] for the Wichita Heights Falcons tonight was just too big and too long. His ability to guard on the perimeter at the top of the key in a zone and still dominate the middle of the court was just too much for the Pioneers. Had several blocks in tonight's contest and sparked an early route of the Pioneers by catching an early lob dunk after a spin-off from his defender. The play was clearly drawn up by Falcons head coach Joe Auer or at least it's one of their most run plays as the Pioneers seemed to have noticed it early as well, but they still just couldn't stop it. At Amalachi's size and build, he has the ability to play all 5 positions defensively if he decided to. He jumps easy and effortlessly, in fact, when he dunks it doesn't seem like he is even loading up on his lift off, he has just natural athleticism. What makes Amalachi a wise guy is that he truly seems more engaged defensively as far as his interest. Offense seems to bore him a little, like dunking and put backs is too easy for him.       Guard who controls pace very well. Sees the game and makes reads like a point guard at the 2 guard position. Does a good job of communicating on the floor and stays engaged with the coach on side lines for plays. Very hard to speed this guy up.   Junior Guard [player_tooltip player_id='2211361' first='Jalihn' last='Timmons'] was a great middleman in tonight's contest. The one time in this game when the Falcons did not have the lead was very early after the Pioneers hit two early threes and it was Timmons who made a very decisive play at the top of the key as the primary ball handler in this play. He easily and mechanically made a simple dribble drive to the basket as he was warding off the defender with his right hand as the defender was reaching. He got to the paint and made a beautiful bounce pass to the big for and easy lay-up. The timing of this was essential as the Falcons were extremely stagnant on offense at this time and was down on the scoreboard at this time looking for a quick spark. This play gave the Falcons the lead and they never looked back after. The pass itself was to me the best pass of the night and he showed great poise in his attack when I felt the Pioneer defense was actually doing the best defensive job on the Falcons that I saw all night as they had confused the Falcons a bit with their zone before Timmons got the ball. He showed some strong IQ on the play; the Wichita Heights Falcons got this kid for another year of wise guy material.       Attacks on both ends of the court. Off the bench has immediate impact on the game and is relentless. Major energy guy who prefers to be next to or near the coaches on the bench as he goes over game strategy and communicates all game. Intangibles are off the charts on this one.   Junior Forward [player_tooltip player_id='2394619' first='Jorelle' last=''] Hadley plays a lot bigger than he is. During the game, Hadley got involved in every aspect of the action coming off the bench for this elite Falcon squad. Hadley made the Falcon lead insurmountable for the Pioneers as he came off the bench with an aggressive offensive approach as he had made strong decisive moves as attacked the basket from the interior. His rebounding and active help on the boards impressed me with right off the bat, because of this, their bigs had a fairly easy night on the boards. The most impressive part about [player_tooltip player_id='2394619' first='Jorelle' last=''], besides having the greatest name in comic book history, is his engagement with the coaches and players. seems like that rare locker room wise guy that the players and the coaches love and rely on. Has constant communication on the floor and the coaches let him know what they want the team to run at times, especially on the defensive end. This Junior already acts like a Senior and was spectacular tonight by just filling in the gaps. Besides that, he knew his role on this Falcon squad to a tee and most importantly he always knew where his point of attack was on Offensive based on how the Pioneers was playing them in the zone.       Leader, Great communicator on the court. Coach on the floor. Excels at reading offenses and playing the passing lanes on defense. Strong, plays center for the Pioneers but has guard skills. Shooting form is solid. Is used to playing big, but if put at SG can excel.   Senior Caleb Maholmes was tasked with a huge responsibility against the Wichita Heights Falcons. Defending the interior against the Falcons size was the task and it was not easy task being undersized and with a team that was not big enough to give him much help in that area, but Caleb was the key takeaway for the Pioneers in this loss. What makes him a wise guy is that despite being down big in the 4th Quarter, Caleb never stopped communicating and kept a strong positive energy for the team despite the lead being past a comeback. He was clearly the team leader and stayed aggressive on the offensive attack despite getting his shot blocked by several bigger Falcons players. The right play was made by him even though the baskets in the paint weren't a success. Caleb's greatest attribute is his ability to read a play and anticipate passes being made. He had two huge steals late in the game that were pure IQ plays. The Falcon's player didn't so much as turnover the ball as did Caleb just taking the ball from them. Caleb's second-best asset is playing bigger than his size, he knows how to start playing defense early to prevent deep post position and his hands seem pretty solid for a small big. Caleb started the game off with a three at the top of the key to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead right after tip-off. His form was good, and it looked natural for him shooting it, unfortunately he did not shoot much more threes the entire game as he seemed a lot more occupied by battling in the paint.

On 02/21/25, the Wichita West Pioneers boys varsity basketball team hosted the Wichita Heights Falcons. The Final score was Pioneers 41, Falcons 56. The game was dominated for the most part by the Wichita Heights Falcons due to a severe size advantage. The Falcons guards were taller than the Pioneers bigs, but the Pioneers stayed engaged early in the game due to their senior leadership and a couple of quick 3-point field goals at the start of the contest. Once the Falcons established their 3-2 zone with their big man at the top of the key moving his feet like a guard, the contest became hard for the pioneers to get around their long out-stretched hands with the defense at times extended above the 3-point line. Later, the Falcons would switch it up and go mostly a 2-3 zone at times throughout the game to confuse the Pioneer guards. Once the game was out of reach for the Pioneers, the Falcons gave them a hint of man defense where it was evident of the size and athleticism advantage.