Players to Watch at the 2025 3A State Tournament

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 3A state tournament tips off Wednesday, March 12, at Hutchinson Sports Arena. Heading the field are the 3A championship game finalists from 2024, Silver Lake and Hesston. The defending champ Eagles, from the Big East League, enter as the #5 seed while Central Kansas League representative Hesston is the top seed. Girard, from the Crawford-Neosho-Cherokee League, is the lone other returner. Flint Hills League's Osage City, Colby and Holcomb are in from the Great Western Activities Association, and Neodesha is from the Tri-Valley League. Second seed Halstead, from the Central Kansas League, makes its first appearance to the show since becoming one of the 'Forever 4' in the 2020 pandemic shorted state tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#1 Hesston (23-0) v #8 Holcomb (18-5)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1215999' first='Callie' last='Yoder']</strong>, 5'3", PG, Hesston, 2025 - Yoder is a strong ringleader for the Swathers. She defends and handles the ball with quickness and finds the right pass in a variety of situations. Hesston is dangerous in transition because they play together very well and Yoder is a essential part of the attack.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='398376' first='Kendal' last='Brueggen'], 5'10", SF, Hesston, 2025 - The Missouri State University commit's overall game makes her difficult to defend and to score on. She uses her length, hops, athleticism and skill set to score over or by defenders and to defend inside and on the perimeter. The Swathers are a dangerous transition team and Brueggen's ability off the rebound to run lanes well or to lead the attack leads to many easy baskets.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='456532' first='Halle' last='Jones'], 5'5", CG, Holcomb, 2025 - Jones is a diversely talented guard that will play and defend multiple positions. The senior works well in transition and leads a talented group of shooters. She uses her solid frame and IQ to create opportunities on both ends of the floor. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1213559' first='Malia' last='Ruda']</strong>, 5'9", PF, Holcomb, 2026 - Ruda leads Holcomb's interior defense and defensive rebounding efforts. She uses her solid frame working in the half court to spread the ball around to the shooters and to defend inside.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#2 Halstead (22-1) v #7 Neodesha (18-3)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='539009' first='Prayer' last='Roebuck'], 5'10", C/SF, Neodesha, 2025 - Roebuck is a do everything player. The southpaw's skill set is diverse. She scores it at all three levels, handles with smarts and will carry her team when she feels it is needed. The Coffeyville Community College basketball and volleyball commit averaged 19.1 points and 4 steals on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1213555' first='Allison' last='Stover']</strong>, 5'6", PG, Neodesha, 2028 - When senior [player_tooltip player_id='539212' first='Samantha' last='Stover'] went down with a season ending injury younger sister Allison stepped in nicely at the point. She has shown solid handles, three point shooting ability and solid defense. Her perimeter defense and ability to find the right shooter out of the offense will be a key to the Blue Streaks' success.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='872360' first='Dalaina' last='Schutte'], 5'9", SF, Halstead, 2025 - Schutte is a athletic, versatile scorer at all three levels. But in the Dragons' sub-state win over a big Nemaha Central team she was a crucial defender and rebounder. She has solid hops and good length, making her a challenge to find and limit her offensive effectiveness in the paint.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kaci Young</strong>, 5'4", PG, Halstead, 2025 - The Hutchinson Community College softball commit is the ring leader for the Dragon attack. Fast with the ball, she effectively uses her hand speed and lateral quicks to get a step on the drive and to make life difficult for opposing point guards. She gets to the line and is a perimeter threat but where she is most dangerous is in creating perimeter shots for her teammates feeding them for easy baskets in transition.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#3 Osage City (22-1) v #6 Colby (21-2)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='773208' first='Emory' last='Speece'], 5'2", PG, Osage City, 2025 - Speece is a floor leading, tempo pusher who will also knock down perimeter shots off the catch. She also is a scorer with some "now you see it, now you don't" show the ball ability on finishes. Speece averaged 4 steals per game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='899198' first='Kaelyn' last='Boss'], 5'9", PG, Osage City, 2028 - The Boss's scoring has been a huge driver of the Indians success. Already having scored more than 450 points on the season, she has averaged 23.2 points, 5.2 steals. A heady, physical defender she works with strong energy running transition breaks and creating opportunities for her teammates with her passing. She shoots the three ball well off the catch and the dribble-up. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='616737' first='Logan' last='Nolan'], 5'4", PG, Colby, 2025 - I have been watching the Colby Community College commit and her teammates during both high school and club ball seasons for a few years. One thing I always look for is how long it takes for opponents to figure out the Nolan/Barton led backcourt is among the most difficult to press with any success. Nolan has strong handles, quickness on both ends of the floor and just knows how to attack pressure. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='456516' first='Alisabeth' last='Barton'], 5'6", SG, Colby, 2025 - The Barton/Nolan backcourt is a highly experienced one that makes slicing up full court pressure almost comical. I have been watching Barton and her teammates, both high school and summer ball, tear up defenses routinely. Often she is on the receiving end of transition passes that she scores fluidly and with creativity. She has solid length for her height and good timing to catch passes and turn them into points. Those skills enable her to get the ball out into the transition game. Barton uses her length, experience and headiness to great effect defensively also.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#4 Silver Lake (21-2) v #5 6 Girard (21-2)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='416009' first='Kailyn' last='Hanni'], 5'8", PG, Silver Lake, 2025 - There is not another player in the 3A field with as much state tournament experience as Hanni. Reaching the state tournament for a third straight season, (she was the only freshman on a loaded Eagles squad in 2023) she is looking to lead her Eagles to back-to-back state titles. Arguably the top point guard in the classification Hanni has not just quality handles, passing and three level scoring ability but is also a high IQ defender. An astonishingly strong shot blocker, her quick hands and vision generate scoring chances by the bushel. She averaged 17.2 points, 6.2 assists and 3.5 steals a game this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ella Bolan</strong>, 5'11", SF/PF, Silver Lake, 2025 - Especially defensively Bolan has admirably stepped into the gaping hole in the middle left by all-state center Makenzie McDaniel, now at Emporia State University. The solid bench player from a year ago has carved out a key role as a rim protector and has a perimeter shooter with range. Bolan's footwork has really grown in the past year, enabling her to be a serious problem moving without the ball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1213557' first='Madison' last='Coester'], 5'11", PF, Girard, 2026 - There is no substitute for experience and Coester, who played in the 2024 3A state tournament, knows what to expect. She brings solid size, length and speed to the table. She also helps bring the ball up against ball pressure. As her game has grown, including being a consistent inside-outside scoring threat, over the past year she has become an even more difficult player to defend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1216005' first='Karsyn' last='O'Rand']</strong>, 5'4", PG, Girard, 2027 - After going toe-to-toe with Burlington's [player_tooltip player_id='836278' first='Alexa' last='Splechter'] the talented point guards she will likely be matched up with begins with the Eagles' all-stater [player_tooltip player_id='416009' first='Kailyn' last='Hanni']. The quick ball handler is going to have her work cut not just defensively. O'Rand will be challenged with taking care of and distributing the ball efficiently to her scorers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->