All-Metro boys basketball: Introducing the top 5 players in the Wichita area

The Eagle’s annual All-Metro team is one of the most coveted postseason honors in Kansas.

Only the top five players from Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties can earn a spot on the team. Here are the selections from the 2019-20 season.

Xavier Bell - Andover Central, Sr.

Senior, Guard, 6-3, 24.6 PPG

Midway through the regular season, it wasn’t clear whether Andover Central would have what it takes to even host a first-round sub-state game.

In fact, the Jaguars were one seed away from having to go on the road for both of their sub-state games. But Bell took over.

Bell was an All-Metro and Top 5 selection last year and helped Central to the first state championship in school history. This year, with two of the Jaguars’ top scorers gone, even more of the load was on Bell’s shoulders.

He averaged 24.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block every night, and those numbers went up dramatically late in the season. Bell scored 30 points in Andover Central’s stunning 61-59 sub-state championship victory at undefeated Bishop Carroll.

He scored 28 in the Jaguars’ season-ending 76-72 quarterfinal loss to last year’s state runner-up, Basehor-Linwood.

Bell is pledged to play at Division I Drexel.

Sterling Gaston-Chapman - Campus

Junior, Guard, 6-5, 17.7 PPG

Any one of five Campus Colts could have landed on this year’s All-Metro team, but no one did more, more often, than Gaston-Chapman.

He averaged 17.7 points for the undefeated Colts. He was Campus’ most consistent shot-creator and opened the floor for the offense to flow.

Gaston-Chapman was instrumental in Campus’ 66-50 win over No. 8 Manhattan in the Class 6A state quarterfinals. He scored a game-high 26 points with six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

But perhaps Gaston-Chapman’s most important game came in the final home game of the season, when Campus clinched its first trip to state since 1996. He scored 17 points as the Colts beat Derby 69-58 over AVCTL I rival Derby.

It was Campus’ third win over Derby in the 2019-20 season.

Gaston-Chapman will be back next year along with impressive center Keither Florence as the Colts look to go further than a trip to the final four.

Easton Hunter - Andale

Senior, Guard, 6-2, 21.3 PPG

This is Hunter’s first and final appearance on the All-Metro basketball team.

He has been the AVCTL IV Most Valuable Player each of the past three seasons. He has earned the same honor at Andale’s midseason tournament. Now, after averaging 21.3 points per game and helping Andale to its third straight state appearance, Hunter has earned a spot on this year’s team.

Coming off a football state championship in the fall, Hunter and Andale started slow, winning one of their first four games. But Hunter caught his groove and the Indians sprinted to a 59-31 sub-state championship victory over Nickerson.

Andale lost 65-61 to perennial state-title contender Bishop Miege in the state quarterfinals. Hunter scored 26 points in his final game.

Jack Johnson - Andover, Jr.

Junior, Guard, 6-1, 19.1 PPG

If not for Johnson, Andover’s undefeated season would have likely had at least two losses.

Johnson hit game-winning shots against Derby and Arkansas City. On top of that, he was Andover’s go-to shot creator throughout the season. He averaged 19.1 points per game and had the Trojans two wins away from the first state championship in school history.

Johnson’s three-point shooting has always been among the best in the Wichita area, but his added dimension of getting to the basket with ease this season changed the complexion of how far Andover could go in 2020.

Andover faced a 17-point deficit against Derby and trailed by 15 against rival Andover Central. Johnson was instrumental in pulling the Trojans back to wins in each of those games.

Johnson was named to the AVCTL II first team.

Tanner Mans - Bishop Carroll, Sr.

Senior, Guard/Forward, 6-6, 13.8 PPG

Like former Top 5 selection Luke Evans in 2018 for Bishop Carroll, Mans was without question the best leader in the Wichita area this season.

Averaging fewer than 14 points per game, Mans didn’t need to fill the stat sheet for his impact to be felt across the City League. Carroll captured its first GWAL title in school history on its way to its first undefated regular season.

Mans was vocal and inspired, emotional but calculated. He played to the strengths of his teammates, and his ability to defer to them at critical moments made Carroll arguably the best regular-season team in Kansas.

Carroll lost 61-59 in its Class 5A sub-state game to defending state champion Andover Central.

Mans holds offers from Fort Hays State, Newman and Washburn.

Martin Shetlar - Andover

All-Metro Coach of the Year

Since arriving at Andover, he hadn’t led a team to better than an 11-10 record.

The Trojans finished at that mark each of the previous two seasons. But this year, Andover went 23-0.

Shetlar’s molded his coaching perfectly around his personnel. The Trojans became a prolific three-point shooting team. And with an All-Metro player in Jack Johnson to get to the basket, the Trojans became one of the toughest teams to defend.

Shetlar increased the intensity at practice heading into the 2019-20 season. That paid off: The Trojans were two wins away from their first state championship in school history.

This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 5:10 AM.

Hayden Barber

The Wichita Eagle

316-269-6760

Wichita Eagle preps reporter Hayden Barber brings the area updates on all high school sports while adding those hard-to-find human-interest stories on Wichita’s student-athletes.