Jaden Gustafson does dirty work to send Maize boys basketball back to Kansas 5A state
Maize senior forward Jaden Gustafson won’t dazzle with a lot of things he does on a basketball court, but he does the kind of dirty work that every great team needs.
He didn’t have the highlight dunk or the crowd-silencing three, but what he did have was a steady stream of baskets that totaled up to a team-high 21 points to send the Maize boys basketball team back to the Class 5A state tournament with a 59-50 win at Andover Central on Friday.
“He’s sneaky because he does all of the dirty work and he scores a lot of his points on layups,” Maize junior Avery Johnson said. “But he’s essential to this team and so important to our winning. I really appreciate all that Jaden does because I know it’s not easy and he gets banged up, but he goes out there and does it each and every week for us.”
Playing alongside Johnson, a high-flying playmaker who routinely throws down highlight-reel dunks in transition, and Kyle Grill, a smooth 14.6-point-per-game scorer, Gustafson’s game is often overlooked on a Maize (18-4) team trying to defending its state championship.
Not that it bothers Gustafson, who has had no problem this season taking full advantage of any team who doesn’t pay him much attention.
“I love Avery and Kyle and I know I am kind of behind them, but it’s cool because those are my boys,” said Gustafson, a Wichita State baseball commit.
When teams try to force the ball out of the hands of Grill and Johnson, they are unselfish enough players to find the openings in the defense. More times than not, it’s Gustafson cutting to the basket or using his big body and tenacity to rebound a miss and score on a put-back.
Gustafson, who is 6-foot-4, leads the team in rebounding at 6.6 per game and it’s not a coincidence he is shooting a team-best 62% from the floor with an average of 11.9 points per game.
“He’s different than a lot of traditional post players,” Maize coach Chris Grill said. “He doesn’t take a lot of shots, but he’s really efficient inside. What he does and how he’s able to get things done is really impressive. He’s a pretty crafty player.”
Gustafson said it begins with the mindset that he brings to every game.
“You’ve got to be tough and know that you’re tougher than the other team,” Gustafson said. “You’ve got to set the tone early and let them know you’re tougher than them.”
Andover Central tried to slow Maize down by playing a zone defense and while Grill (14 points) and Johnson (eight points) each had their moments, Gustafson was the one providing a steady stream of points throughout the game. And when the Eagles needed to put the game away in the second half, he was there to score seven points in the third and fourth quarter each.
While Maize never found an answer for Andover Central’s dynamic guard Kobe Smith, who scored 33 of his team’s 50 points, but it employed a zone defense of its own to limit the rest of the Jaguars, which missed every three-pointer they took. Thanks to other timely baskets from Tayveon Williams and Sam Schmidt in the second half, Maize was always in control of what became a wire-to-wire victory.
“I thought our state championship experience helped us out a lot this game,” Gustafson said. “It looked like Andover Central came out nervous. We’ve already played in so many big games before. I think that helped.”
When Maize hit a three-game losing skid in the middle of the season, which ultimately forced the Eagles to go on the road for the sub-state championship game, the team never panicked. Veterans like Grill, Johnson and Gustafson helped lead the team out of the funk and now have given themselves a chance to go to Emporia and defend their title one last time.
“When we dropped three games in a row, we knew that we had to either figure it out or we were going to keep losing,” Johnson said. “We had a sit-down meeting and figured out what was going wrong and once we figured that out and everybody said what they needed to say, we just clicked. Our chemistry has gotten a lot better and everybody is doing their role now and you can see what we can do when we play to our full potential.”
Maize 59, Andover Central 50
Maize 12 12 19 16 — 59
A. Central 8 10 15 17 — 50
MAIZE (59): Gustafson 9 3-5 21, Grill 5 2-5 14, Johnson 3 1-4 8, Williams 3 0-1 7, Belcher 1 2-2 5, Schmidt 2 0-0 4, Reyes 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 (5) 8-17 59.
A. CENTRAL (50): Smith 14 5-6 33, Perry 4 0-0 8, Clevenger 2 1-2 5, Gulley 1 0-0 2, Kunz 1 0-0 2, Holcomb 0 0-0 0, Ray 0 0-0 0.
Kansas high school basketball sub-state scores
Class 6A girls
Blue Valley 43, Olathe Northwest 41
Blue Valley North 51, Shawnee Mission Northwest 43
Derby 62, Wichita East 19
Dodge City 52, Wichita Heights 46
Olathe North 48, Olathe West 39
Shawnee Mission West 42, Olathe South 33
Topeka 67, Liberal 46
Washburn Rural 47, Manhattan 27
Class 5A boys
Blue Valley Southwest 70, Pittsburg 42
De Soto 50, Shawnee Heights 37
Highland Park 89, Kansas City Piper 52
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 61, Valley Center 42
Maize 59, Andover Central 50
St. James Academy 52, Basehor-Linwood 35
Topeka Seaman 61, Hays 44
Topeka West 73, Andover 59
Class 4A girls
Andale 47, Augusta 29
Bishop Miege 67, Topeka Hayden 31
Clay Center 31, Clearwater 30
Eudora 54, Paola 38
Labette County 49, Fort Scott 41
McPherson 43, Rock Creek 38
Wamego 53, Holton 26
Wellington 58, Circle 29
Class 3A girls
Cimarron 53, Kingman 28
Hesston 29, Cheney 27
Nickerson 63, Wichita Trinity Academy 32
Riley County 39, Smoky Valley 28
Class 2A boys
Hillsboro 60, Sedgwick 26
Inman 43, Moundridge 40
Sedan 31, Conway Springs 30
Sterling 66, Medicine Lodge 54
Wichita Independent 48, Cedar Vale-Dexter 35
Class 1A Division 1 girls
Little River 51, Macksville 35
Norwich 56, Oxford 26
Pretty Prairie 49, Wichita Classical 13
St. John 64, Burrton 27
Class 1A Division 2 girls
Attica 64, Argonia 34
Hutchinson Central Christian 53, Chase 18
McPherson Elyria Christian 58, Stafford 20
South Haven 46, South Barber 23
Saturday’s Kansas high school basketball sub-state title games
Class 3A girls
Nickerson sub-state
Hesston (16-6) at Nickerson (21-1), 7
Class 2A boys
Dexter sub-state
Sedan (19-2) vs. Wichita Independent (16-5), 7
Remington sub-state
Hillsboro (21-1) vs. Inman (18-4), 7
Sublette sub-state
Ellinwood (20-2) vs. Sterling (17-5), 7
Class 1A Division 1 girls
Burrton sub-state
Little River (19-1) vs. St. John (15-7), 7
Udall sub-state
Pretty Prairie (19-1) vs. Norwich (18-2), 7
Class 1A Division 2 girls
Caldwell sub-state
South Haven (17-3) vs. Attica (14-5), 7
Stafford sub-state
Hutchinson Central Christian (17-2) vs. McPherson Elyria Christian (13-6), 7
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