The 2016 Wichita Eagle All-State girls basketball team
KYLAH COMLEY
5-4, sr., Sterling
Stats: Comley, who led Sterling to a 23-3 record and fourth-place in Class 3A, was a four-year starter who scored 1,596 points. She averaged 18.8 points as a senior, scored 59 at the state tournament and had nine steals in Sterling’s quarterfinal win. A quick guard with ballhandling skills, she could drive past defenders and score on a layup or pull up for a jumper. Comley also was a threat from the perimeter. For most of her career she guarded opponents’ best offensive players, but as a senior, she became the help-defender, which allowed her to roam and help, as well as jump into passing lanes for steals. She’s knowledgeable about the game, and early in a game she usually had figured out players’ tendencies.
College: Sterling
NCAA women’s pre-tournament pick: Connecticut
Most memorable moment: “Making it to state this year. We have five seniors, and we all get along really well. We made it our frosh year, as well.”
Advice you’d give to young athletes: “I would probably tell them just to get in the gym and work on stuff. If it’s something you really want to do, and its a dream of yours, just get in the gym and spend time on it.”
Favorite pastime outside of basketball: “I play other sports, volleyball and softball. I enjoy that, and I spend a lot of time at my church with fifth- and sixth-grade youth group and help with that and I do a preschool.”
Coach Jill Rowland: “Since her freshman season, she could have averaged 20 or more a night every night. She has the ability to go and create shots, but she has really chosen to play the game a different way.
“Her first two years she averaged 15 points a game, and I had four kids averaging double digits. She was a big part of that ability to deliver the ball. Only in her senior year has she been around 20 points, and the only reason we’ve done that is because we had to have her score more.”
KENDRIAN ELLIOTT
6-2, sr., Wichita South
Stats: Elliott helped lead the Titans to their fourth straight title, which is unprecedented in Class 6A. She is 96-4 in her career and was 25-0 for the first time. Elliott, Kansas’ Gatorade player of the year, averaged 13.4 points and more than 10 rebounds. A four-year starter, she averaged a double-double each season despite being double- and triple-teamed. She scored 1,315 career points, which ranks 15th in City League history. A dominating presence inside defensively, she averaged more than two blocks.
College: Tulsa
NCAA women’s pre-tournament pick: Connecticut
Most memorable moment: “Besides winning state, was whenever we went to (Lawrence for the midseason tournament) and I got to hang out with my team and my coaches. We did a couple fun things, like going to the movies, and it was a really fun time. I really took advantage of it because it was my last year.”
Advice you’d give to young athletes: “If it comes easy, then it’s not going to work out. you can never give up. It’s going to be a tough road especially if you want to win and accomplish things.”
Favorite pastime outside of basketball: “For the past four years I haven’t been very much outside of basketball, but something else I enjoy as far as another sport is volleyball.”
Coach Antwain Scales: “She’s as strong as an ox. The physical presence of her… I was the practice dummy, and to be honest, me and her would bang a lot.… Her ability to alter shots and be able to make sure that we had that inside presence, against teams that don’t have that inside presence, it makes it tough on them. Those teams that have true centers pose a matchup problem. (With Elliott), we did a good job on being able to matchup with people. She is in the top three of three-point shooters on our team, but being able to utilize her out there hinders us from having a rebounder.”
ERICKA MATTINGLY
5-9, sr., Wichita South
Stats: Mattingly, a two-time All-State selection, helped lead South to the Class 6A title for the fourth straight season, which no other 6A team has done. A four-year starter at point guard, she is 96-4 in her career and was 25-0 this season. She averaged 11.7 points, as well as more than six assists, four rebounds and nearly four steals per game. She finished with 874 career points. Mattingly is quick to get past her defender to score, but she also added a more consistent jumper, which caused defenses even more problems. Her ballhandling skills are top-notch, which allowed her to efficiently run an offensive scheme designed to run time off the clock or up the tempo to blow past teams.
College: Texas-Arlington
NCAA women’s pre-tournament pick: Connecticut
Most memorable moment: “Definitely winning four straight championships in a row. It’s more exciting not only for me, but just so I can get it done for (coach) Antwain (Scales). Being able to leave him with four state championships.”
Advice you’d give to young athletes: “Stay focused. Keep working hard. Practice does make perfect. And even though people might not like practice, that’s where you get better and keep learning.”
Favorite pastime outside of basketball: “I’m a big movie watcher. I watch a lot of movies. Go to movies, rent movies.”
Coach Antwain Scales: “She always had that defiance. I don’t mean as far as her attitude, but that will to win. She’s a kid that wouldn’t take no for an answer. We’d be in a shootaround and I’d be out there talking a little trash. It burns her spirits because she wants to win everything.
“What I originally talked to her was to be the coach on the floor. Sometimes she had to adopt the mentality of think whatever I was thinking without me telling her. That’s a coach’s dream, someone who really knows what we want to accomplish.”
GRACE MITCHELL
6-2, sr., Wellington
Stats: Mitchell led the Crusaders to third place in Class 4A-I and a 24-1 record. She scored 62 points in three games at the 4A-I tournament. This season she averaged 21.7 points. 7.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. While she made 57 percent of her two-point shots, Mitchell also was efficient on the perimeter where she caused headaches for opposing defenses because of her 48-percent shooting from three-point range. Her versatility allowed her to play with her back to the basket and utilize her drop step or she roamed around on the wing, which is where she was most comfortable.
College: Nebraska
NCAA women’s pre-tournament pick: Connecticut
Most memorable moment: “When we beat Labette County, and we’re all storming the court, tackling each other and we’re just enjoying the moment. It was all worth it — all the line drills we did in the fall — it was just great.”
Advice you’d give to young athletes: “No matter what the sport is, find the passion, and work as hard as you can at it.”
Favorite pastime outside of basketball: “Hang out with my friends, be with my dog, Zeke. He’s a toy golden retriever.”
Coach Eric Adams: “She’s a great help defender.… She was always there on the help side line to normally block a shot or at least alter a shot, which we consider a turnover. She’s a great athlete and is really a mismatch nightmare for teams. She’s hard to guard, which requires a lot of teams to go to a zone, and when you do that, it gets her that opportunity to knock down more threes.
“She’s the ultimate gym rat. She shoots and shoots and shoots. After practice every day, she puts up 100 threes. She’s very hard on herself. She shoots from 10 different spots to get 100 around around the three-point arc. She’s hitting 84 out of 100, and she’s frustrated.”
BRENNI ROSE
6-0, sr., Shawnee Mission Northwest
Stats: Rose led SM Northwest to the Class 6A title game and a 22-3 record. She had 43 points and 26 rebounds during the tournament, including 25 points in the semifinal. A versatile athlete, she averaged 18.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.4 steals. A physical player, she can battle inside, which some games is exactly what her team needed to win. She could also attack the basket, driving past defenders or step out and hit the three. Because of her ability to play a variety of positions, teams found it difficult to stop her from scoring, even with double and triple teams. But if teams collapsed on her, she saw the court so well that she would then make the pass and pick up the assist.
College: Drake
NCAA women’s pre-tournament pick: Connecticut
Most memorable moment: “Beating Olathe South (in the 6A semifinals) for the first time in 12 years to go to the state championship. It was crazy, unbelievable.”
Advice you’d give to young athletes: “During the summer, when no one wants to get up every day for weights, I’d get up and do it. Just go and do it, it will help you in the long run.”
Favorite pastime outside of basketball: “Swim. I grew up in Independence and during the summer, my dad was a manager at the pool. I’m the middle child of five, and we’d go and swim every day.”
Coach Tyler Stewart: “Her dad is the boys head coach, so she grew up around basketball. Her basketball IQ is extremely high, and you can see it on the court. One of the best things she does is she can score and make the pass.
“Defensively, she is so smart and understands the game and understands the angles and understands where she needs to be at all times.… At state she really carried us offensively and really scored the ball well and did a little bit of everything. We lost two girls to (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries this season, and she stepped up her game.”
ANTWAIN SCALES
Wichita South coach
Scales, a two-time All-State coach of the year, led the Titans to a 25-0 record as they became the first Class 6A team to win four straight titles.
The Titans are 96-4 over the past four seasons and Scales is 110-13 in his five seasons at South.
He ranks eighth in City League history for total wins and is first for total wins in a five-year span. Scales ranks second in league history for winning percentage (.894).
South dominated opponents in its first perfect run, outscoring teams 57.6-24.7. The Titans, who beat SM Northwest 36-30 in the title game, gave up single-digit points three times, including a 60-1 sub-state semifinal win.
Senior Kendrian Elliott: “I just couldn’t really say anything bad about him, except maybe when we’re running for him. I just think the best thing about him is it’s a lot more than basketball for him. He’s helped us build character, and he’s tried to help us through our lives.
“… I think a lot of times, whenever our team does face adversity, we look to him for direction. Especially me sometimes, some stuff can be frustrating because the target has been on our back for four years. He just really guides us through everything and shows us the direction we should go. He hasn’t led us in the wrong direction, and that’s why we win.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 12:25 PM with the headline "The 2016 Wichita Eagle All-State girls basketball team."