Introducing the 2022 Wichita Eagle high school boys, girls basketball All-Metro teams
The Wichita metro area featured some of the best talent in Kansas this season and that star power is highlighted on The Wichita Eagle’s 18th annual All-Metro high school basketball teams.
It was a clean sweep for Wichita Heights for the area’s Player of the Year awards, as junior guard Marcus Zeigler won the Boys Player of the Year and senior guard and Louisville signee Zyanna Walker won the Girls Player of the Year.
The All-Metro teams consist of the five most valuable players and the top coach from Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties, based on statistics and area coaches’ feedback.
Here is a look at the full 2022 Wichita Eagle and Varsity Kansas All-Metro basketball teams:
Boys All-Metro team
Kyle Grill, Maize senior
When graduation left Maize in need of more scoring to try to defend its Class 5A championship, Grill rose to the occasion in his senior season. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged a career-high 14.4 points to go along with 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals this season. His steady play scoring and creating for others helped guide Maize to a 19-win season and a return trip to 5A’s Final Four, which included a road win over higher-seeded Andover Central in the sub-state finals and a first-road win over Highland Park at state. He joins his older brother, Caleb, who is now a starter at Iowa State, as an All-Metro selection.
Cason Richardson, Hesston senior
If it was even a question who the best boys basketball player to come from Hesston was, Richardson left no doubt after this season. Richardson cemented his legacy by returning from a major knee injury to average 15.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists to help lead Hesston to the Class 3A state championship. The 6-foot-2 guard finished his career as Hesston’s all-time leading scorer with 1,279 career points, a 2-time All-Metro pick and was the top player on Swather teams that won back-to-back state titles.
Kobe Smith, Andover Central junior
Arguably the most gifted scorer in the area, Smith averaged 19.9 points to help lead a dramatic turnaround at Andover Central under coach Tyler Richardson. The Jaguars tripled their win total from the 2021 season, winning 18 games, spending time as the No. 1-ranked team in Class 5A and reaching a sub-state title game. Smith, a first-year transfer from Wichita Southeast, was a big reason why, as the 6-foot-1 guard was a terror driving toward the basket. He shot 52% on 2-pointers and averaged more than 5 free throws per game at a 77% clip.
Henry Thengvall, Kapaun Mt. Carmel senior
While it was a team-wide effort in Steve Eck’s first season back on the sidelines that made Kapaun Class 5A’s most consistent team, Thengvall was the most dynamic player for the Crusaders. The 6-foot-6 senior averaged 20.2 points and 5.4 rebounds, while shooting 44% from the floor and 86% from the foul line. Thengvall was the offensive force that helped Kapaun to a 21-2 season that included an undefeated City League championship and No. 1 seed at the state tournament before falling to eventual champion Topeka Seaman.
Marcus Zeigler, Wichita Heights junior
The heart and soul of a Heights team that won the program’s sixth state championship under coach Joe Auer. The 6-foot-1 junior guard returned from a season-ending shoulder injury his sophomore year to be the steady force at both ends for the Falcons. He was a superb on-ball defender for Class 6A’s No. 1 defensive team and averaged a team-high 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals this season. While Heights used its team defense to win the state title, Zeigler emerged as a reliable team leader for the 23-2 Falcons.
Joe Auer, Wichita Heights coach
The accolades continue to roll in for the City League’s winningest all-time coach who has now won state championships (2009-12, 2015, 2022) in three different decades to cement his legacy as one of the state’s finest coaches. Auer followed a familiar formula for the 2022 Class 6A title, emphasizing defense and rebounding for a team that embraced it in stride. Led by a core of senior Dre Kemp, senior Chase Harris, junior Marcus Zeigler and sophomore T.J. Williams, the Falcons finished the season with the No. 1-rated defense in Class 6A and captured the state title with a 61-54 victory over Blue Valley Northwest in the finals.
All-Metro second team
Isaiah Atwater, Maize South junior
Asa Barnes, Wichita Southeast junior
Jameer Clemons, Derby senior
Jack Duarte, Wichita Collegiate senior
Harrison Voth, Cheney senior
T.J. Williams, Wichita Heights sophomore
Greg Raleigh, Hesston coach
All-Metro third team
Will Anciaux, Kapaun Mt. Carmel junior
Luke Grace, Cheney senior
Jake Proctor, Hesston junior
Eli Shetlar, Andover junior
Kellen Simoneau, Rose Hill junior
Adriel Smith, Rose Hill senior
Jeff Buchanan, Andale coach
Girls All-Metro team
Addy Brown, Derby junior
Now a 2-time All-Metro selection, Brown was the driving force behind Derby’s third Class 6A state championship game appearance in the last five state tournaments. The 6-foot-3 junior forward did a little bit of everything for the Panthers (23-2), leading the team in scoring (14.8 points) and rebounding (9.3) to go along with 3.5 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.8 blocks. She did most of her damage in the paint, shooting 60% on 2-pointers, and making teams pay for fouling her (80% from the line) and finished the season with 11 double-doubles. After leading Derby to the title game and recently committing to Iowa State as one of the top class of 2023 recruits in Kansas, Brown has carved out her own path following older sister, Kennedy, also an All-Metro selection who led Derby to a state title and now starts for Oregon State.
Brittany Harshaw, Andover Central senior
Another 2-time All-Metro selection, Harshaw finished with one of the most distinguished careers for what has been a state powerhouse under Stana Jefferson. She was the engine behind Andover Central’s 45-game winning streak spanning the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, while the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the Jaguars’ chance of winning in 2020 and they came up short to St. Thomas Aquinas in the 2021 title game. The Creighton commit saved her best for last, as the 6-foot-1 senior leading the team in scoring (18.3 points), rebounding (6.5) and assists (3.5) to go along with 2.6 steals while leading the Jaguars to a 19-6 record and third-place finish in 5A -- again knocked off by Aquinas.
Maycee James, Goddard senior
No one in the area filled up the stat sheet better than James, who helped more than double Goddard’s win total from the previous season with a 15-6 record. The 5-foot-9 senior guard was everywhere on the court, averaging 17 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 6.8 steals. She finished with 13 double-doubles and even two triple-doubles, as well as topping 20 points six times. James also showed off the clutch gene this season, hitting the game-winning or game-tying basket in five games. She is committed to play next season at Butler County Community College.
Brooke Walker, Andover sophomore
No one experienced a bigger breakout season than the Andover sophomore, who showed this season why she will likely be one of the state’s top 2024 recruits. A 5-foot-8 point guard, Walker averaged 18.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 6.1 steals to help lead the Trojans to a 13-win season and a sub-state championship game appearance. She was tenacious on the defensive end, which routinely allowed her to turn her defense into offense, while also showing a knack for slicing through defenses and pulling up for mid-range jumpers or finishing in traffic.
Zyanna Walker, Wichita Heights senior
The 2022 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year is one of the most talented players to come through Wichita in decades, proven by her commitment to Louisville, a program that recently made the NCAA Final Four. What makes Walker’s season even more impressive is that she was coming off two major knee injuries, not that you could tell by her averages of 25.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 6.8 steals. The 5-foot-8 guard was a force on both ends this season in the City League, helping the Falcons to an 18-4 record.
Kody Kasselman, Garden Plain coach
The Owls are no strangers to state championship games under Kasselman, as they played in their third title game in the last four state tournaments this March. Unlike those appearances in 2018 and 2019, this time Garden Plain was the underdog entering the Class 2A state tournament with a 6-loss record, a No. 7 seed and no scorer averaging more than 9 points per game. That didn’t matter, as Garden Plain ended the undefeated season of Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan with a 13-point victory in the first round, then continued its storybook run with a win over Smith Center in the semifinals. While the Owls were unable to stop undefeated Sterling from claiming another state title, their run was one of the most inspired across the state from a team led by Celia Puetz, Brooke Hammond, Maddie Rolfs, Sydney Puetz, Molly Zoglman, Carly Hitt and Naomi Dooley.
Second team
Maryn Archer, Derby junior
McKenzie Fairchild, Andale junior
Kendall Forbes, Bishop Carroll senior
Kyla Frenchers, Maize senior
Brynn McCormick, Cheney senior
Ellie Stearns, Andover Central senior
Dan Harrison, Derby coach
Third team
Brooke Hammond, Garden Plain senior
Avery Lowe, Maize South junior
Kaleigh O’Brien, Remington junior
Cyanna Stanley, Wichita Heights senior
Elizabeth Tjaden, Clearwater sophomore
Lillie Veer, Berean Academy junior
Kristin Wiebe, Berean Academy coach
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