Eagles flying high: Maize girls and boys basketball teams have chance to be special
No area high school has had a better week for their basketball teams than Maize.
On Tuesday, the Maize boys rallied for a 77-70 victory over Andover to knock off the No. 1-ranked team in Class 5A and end their 30-game winning streak. On Wednesday, the Maize girls topped a ranked Wichita Heights team, 60-56, to improve to 5-0 this season.
After an up-and-down 12-9 campaign last season, the Maize boys returned four starters and welcomed Avery Johnson back from injury. The Eagles are sharing the basketball, averaging 17.1 assists per game, while Illinois-Springfield signee Jacob Hanna (15.4 points, 4.7 rebounds), Johnson (12.6 points, 3.0 assists), junior Kyle Grill (11.9 points, 4.1 assists) and senior Winston Bing (9.3 points, 3.1 assists) lead the attack.
“We have four guys who can get 25 points on any given night,” Maize coach Chris Grill said. “They’re that capable. But the funny thing is that each one of them has been under 10 points this season. We have a lot of guys who can step up and score and we do a pretty good job of sharing the basketball. We’re still working at it.”
Meanwhile, COVID-19 issues forced the Maize girls team to quarantine to start the season and miss the first five games on their schedule. The Eagles, ranked fifth in Class 5A, are off to a 5-0 start, which includes wins over 6A No. 3-ranked Derby (41-29) and 6A No. 7-ranked Wichita Heights.
Maize girls coach Jerrod Handy said his team’s senior leadership from Sydney Holmes, Baylee Miller and Olivia Wedman has been the key to the team’s strong start.
“It always comes down to senior leadership and we have some of the best senior leaders I’ve ever had with their leadership and their desire and their accountability,” Handy said. “It’s a fun group to be around.”
Those seniors were able to hold their fellow teammates accountable during the 10-day quarantine to start the season. Handy knew he could only do so much during the time away, hosting daily Zoom meetings and assigning film study and workouts for the players to complete.
Maize’s defense has allowed just 34.6 points per game with the outlier being Wednesday’s up-tempo 60-56 win over Heights. Holmes, a Pittsburg State signee, is routinely breaking 20 points and Miller, a 5-foot-9 forward, is controlling the paint for the Eagles and had a double-double in the win against Heights. Juniors Kyla Frenchers and Brekkyn Pierce are also starters who have helped Maize to its undefeated start.
“We’ve got a really good group of seniors and juniors and everybody is buying into their role and understand what we do,” Handy said. “It’s a special group. Hopefully we can stay healthy and we don’t let covid back in and we’re able to finish off this season.”
The Maize boys team also feels like it has a special group this season. Hanna, a 6-4 wing, has been the team’s vocal leader and one of the area’s best all-around players. As a senior, Hanna is averaging 15.4 points on 73% shooting, 4.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.1 steals.
“Where Jacob has improved the most is his defense,” Grill said. “I can trust him more to guard the other team’s best player on the court and he has been doing a really good job against those players. That’s where his game has evolved and improved the most. He’s obviously a long and athletic kid and now he’s locked in defensively and doing really well.”
Bing and Keegan Harrod have given the team a pair of reliable senior ballhandlers and shooters, while Johnson, a 6-5 guard, has given the team a new dimension it was missing last season. Kyle Grill is torching the nets this season, shooting 55% on three-pointers, and has proven capable of shouldering a bigger offensive play-making role, while fellow juniors Jaden Gustafson and Mason Belcher excel in their roles of rebounding and defending for the team.
Their potential was realized in the victory over Andover.
“It was a great win because that’s a really good basketball team with a ton of depth,” Grill said. “Our guys did a much better job after the first half. We’ve still got a long ways to go, but I think when you see that you can win and not be perfect and beat a really good team, then you know you can improve and get better. That’s really encouraging for our guys.”
The Maize girls return to action on Monday when they host Andale, while the Maize boys are off until next Thursday when they begin the Valley Center tournament against Wichita Northwest.
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