3A Girls Quarterfinals: Standout Seniors

On March 12th, 2025 the Quarterfinals began @ The Hutchinson Sports Arena where the neutral site hosted the KSHSAA State Basketball Tournaments for the class 3A Girls. GAME 1, the Halstead Dragons defeated the Neodesha Blue Streaks 50-33 to improve to a 22-1 overall record which later catapulted them to an excellent tournament & state championship. Game 2, the Colby Eagles defeated the Osage City Indians 57-31. Game 3 at the time, the 24-0 Hesston Swathers defeated the Holcomb Longhorns 52-37 to go 25-0. For the Finale Game 4, the Silver Lake Eagles defeated the Girard Trojans 56-45 to go 22-2 which would spark them in a strong showdown later against the Undefeated Swathers and a close championship loss against the Dragons. The showcase had plenty of Seniors battling it out for supremacy. These were some of the key Senior Standouts on opening night.    Has top tier athleticism. At her size, she led the team in rebounding as a guard against Neodesha with 6 boards including 1 huge rebound where she skied over 2 bigs in the paint to capture it. She was also perfect from the field and the free throw line on this night going 2-2 from the field and 3-3 from the stripe helping Halstead get on the right track to start their road to a chip.     Has strong potential at PG and as a Big. She has guard skills and likes to post up when given the opportunity. Even though she had a rough night against the eventual state champs, Prayer showed that for this team she can take on Point Guard and Center responsibilities which definitely stood out in their game against the Halstead Dragons. She is comfortable with her dribble and doesn't mind trying to defend out on the perimeter against smaller, quicker guards.     Is an aggressive scorer and ball hawk who attacks constantly and can comfortably play all 32 minutes. Alisabeth did just that against the Osage City Indians. She led the team in scoring with 23 along with her teammate [player_tooltip player_id='621266' first='Shaylee' last='Holzmeister'] who also had 23 and Alisabeth topped it off with a whopping 17 rebounds at the guard position. Her constant attack on both ends was unwavering against Osage City and it seemed too much for anyone to handle for a full game. Probably the most impressive part of her game besides her cardio is the fact that she has a solid, unique, and very efficient free throw line routine that allows her to stay consistent from the stripe despite her high usage rate. On this night, she went 11-13 from the FT line in the win.     From a skill perspective Kendal is the most advanced in the 3A Girls tournament. As a big guard, her handles is D1 college level. She is also the fastest player from end to end in the tournament as well which is saying a lot. She is very aggressive offensively as a slasher and as a shooter. She absolutely thrives on the fast break, and she knows it too. Her defensive attacks and playing in the passing lanes proved way too much for the Holcomb Longhorns. Her hands are constantly active even when the ball is on the other side of the court. She knows her defense will transition into her fast break offense where her dribbling, speed, and shiftiness will take over. Kendal played basically the entire game on fast break watch until it got out of reach for Holcomb. She can run for days, and it showed in tonight's matchup where Holcomb actually got out early to a double-digit lead over the Swathers early in the first half. The pace eventually caught up to Holcomb and Kendal despite having an off night seemed to visually dominate the contest.     Big bucket getter around the basket. plays even bigger than her size and uses her length very well. Abby was the key to the Swathers victory in which she led a comeback against Holcomb in the second half and went 6-9 from the field and also 50% from beyond the arc going 1-2 from there. She was perfect from the FT line in this contest and showed poise all throughout the game despite being down early. She proved that she can be a solid closer.     Great glue player and leader by example. She exemplifies true toughness. Kaycee dives on the floor for every single loose ball and is always in the midst of any form of action. Her hard-nosed play clearly stands out and you can see why it was a huge reason the Swathers were undefeated at this point. During the game against Holcomb, the Longhorns could never regain the rhythm that they had in the first half due to Kaycee disrupting every opportunity they had at a rebound or a pass entry into the paint. During the game, what stood out about Kaycee was a simple box-out. Only, for her that box-out was a seek and destroy mission that flung her opposing player all the way into the concession stands for popcorn and a soda. Kaycee Mason's playstyle is what makes basketball fun to watch.

On March 12th, 2025 the Quarterfinals began @ The Hutchinson Sports Arena where the neutral site hosted the KSHSAA State Basketball Tournaments for the class 3A Girls. GAME 1, the Halstead Dragons defeated the Neodesha Blue Streaks 50-33 to improve to a 22-1 overall record which later catapulted them to an excellent tournament & state championship. Game 2, the Colby Eagles defeated the Osage City Indians 57-31. Game 3 at the time, the 24-0 Hesston Swathers defeated the Holcomb Longhorns 52-37 to go 25-0. For the Finale Game 4, the Silver Lake Eagles defeated the Girard Trojans 56-45 to go 22-2 which would spark them in a strong showdown later against the Undefeated Swathers and a close championship loss against the Dragons. The showcase had plenty of Seniors battling it out for supremacy. These were some of the key Senior Standouts on opening night.