NE Kansas Guards Who Impressed

<p>We saw a lot of impressive performances in the weeks before the holidays. New faces, emerging players and noteworthy contributions merit attention as we head to the break:</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1080200" first="Sincere" last="Austin"], 5-foot-10 guard, 2023, Topeka West:</p> <p>Austin showed the handles and maturity to step in as a sophomore and help the Chargers advance to the 5A finals. This season, he’s taking on a bigger scoring load, particularly showing a touch from the arc that we didn’t see last year. Austin scored in double figures in three of West’s five games. He’s currently averaging 10.2 points per game.</p> <p><strong>Trey Carter</strong>, 5-foot-8 guard, 2024, Atchison:</p> <p>Carter is a slick ball handler who has a firm grip on the Atchison offense. He isn’t just a shot-first point guard. He directs traffic and distributes the ball. But he can score and is always a threat to penetrate or drop one from deep.</p> <p><strong>Sam Kaff</strong>, 5-foot-10 guard, 2022, Silver Lake:</p> <p>A transfer to Silver Lake, Kaff has shown some ability to be a leader despite his relative inexperience for the Eagles. He probes the defense and works the ball in to the paint or to shooters on the perimeter. He has some creative ability to set up shooters. He can be a threat to score, but his focus has been on integrating into the offense and playing athletic and opportunistic defense.</p> <p><strong>Kolton Payne</strong>, 5-foot-10 guard, 2022, Riley County:</p> <p>Payne is a fiery competitor for the Falcons, who are trying to cover from graduations and the loss of top returner [player_tooltip player_id="1268824" first="Trey" last="Harmison"] to injury. Payne is tough and aggressive, and he plays an intense style on defense. He crashes for rebounds, tries to draw charges, and mixes it up physically with opposing guards.</p> <p><strong>Kade Perine</strong>, 5-foot-5 guard, 2023, Rossville:</p> <p>The gutsy leader of Rossville has a sure handle and knows how to lead a team, He knows what it means to win, having been part of back-to-back football championships. He carries a heavy load on the Bulldawgs, who have just two seniors and are playing a lot of underclassmen.</p> <p><strong>Jarin Sanders</strong>, 5-foot-9 guard, 2022, Shawnee Heights:</p> <p>Sanders can make some slick moves with the ball, and he’s good at distributing the basketball to shooters. Best of all, he’s tough and aggressive at the defensive end. Sanders is solid and strong and can handle on-ball pressure and drive through contact.</p>