This player is leading Maize South’s hot start after illness kept him off the court
Kael Kordonowy had more dunks in a championship game than most high school basketball players have made in a career.
His five slams and stifling defense around the rim helped Maize South to a 66-50 win over Wichita Heights in the Valley Center January Jam title game Saturday. The Mavericks have won seven straight and are one of the hottest teams in Kansas.
Coach Kip Schultz called it as he saw it.
“Down the stretch, Kael just showed what Kael is all about,” he said. “He’s a double-double guy every single night. I couldn’t be more proud. The last time we did this was the last time we went to state.”
Kordonowy finished tied for a championship game-high 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting. He didn’t miss from the free-throw line, and made every opposing shot in the paint a pain.
Heights shot 40.9 percent from the paint. Kordonowy had five blocks. His 6-foot-7 frame closed out on nearly every shot, and he was outstanding with 13 rebounds.
He said though he has been the standout lately, it’s not about the stats.
“At the beginning, there was some issues,” he said. “But we’ve really tried to come together as a team and put away our individual quests for a single goal. Doing that has helped us go on this run.”
Kordonowy said to play the way he is playing this season is meaningful. It was a constant struggle to reach his potential last year.
Early into the 2017-18 season, Kordonowy caught a cold that started to eat at his strength. He never fully recovered and was forced off the court after about three minutes.
Coupled with that, Kordonowy said he learned he was allergic to dairy and gluten products, and that was 80 percent of his diet. Since getting on a new regimen and recovering, he has added 15 pounds of muscle and is continuing to add weight through the season.
“I had lost strength in my legs, and as a post, it’s really important to be able to sit down and get position,” Kordonowy said. “I lost that and never really got it back. I started playing really bad. And when I would get in, I wasn’t in shape to get over the right position and got into foul trouble.”
Kordonowy had one foul in the championship game. It was his only of the tournament.
The Mavs started the season 4-0 with wins over Arkansas City and Andover Central, a pair of AVCTL II foes that finished third and fourth at the Class 4A-Division I tournament. They lost three of their following four games, but all of their losses came to teams that reached the 5A state tournament.
The wheels started to come off at last year’s January Jam. The Mavs lost to Topeka Seaman and finished third in the tournament. They lost seven of their last nine to finish 9-11.
Schultz said last year the potential was there, but they struggled to find consistent leadership, and that led to the fade late into the season. It’s different now, he said.
“We met with them today and said, ‘Hey, this is for you; we’re going to coach and manage you, but you guys know what we expect,’ ” Schultz said. “These guys led the team.
“There was two huddles today where I said, ‘You guys know what you need to do. Call it.’ They ran the huddle. I just sat back and observed the fruits of your labor.”
This season has a different but still familar feel, Schultz said.
In 2015, Maize South finished the season 22-3. The Mavs beat Mill Valley and Bishop Carroll at the state tournament and finished runner-up to Wichita Heights, who had won its fifth title in seven years.
It was the best finish in Maize South history. That was the last time the Mavs won the January Jam.
After that 2015 midseason title win, Maize South was 10-2. The Mavs are 10-3 ahead of a big week that starts Tuesday night back at Valley Center and finishes with 10-1 Campus at home.
For Maize South to continue on its win streak, Kordonowy will have to continue to pull the strings to the Mavs’ puppet. He is the cog that makes it come to life.
“We don’t have a chance with out him,” he said. “We talked about this this morning. Kael and I have been together through his brother’s career. He changes more shots than any kid I’ve ever coached.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2019 at 1:52 PM with the headline "This player is leading Maize South’s hot start after illness kept him off the court."