Kansas high school basketball scores: Wichita Northwest boys look like 6A contender
Last season’s run to the Class 6A state semifinals may have been a surprise to outsiders, but the Wichita Northwest boys basketball team has even higher goals for this season.
It’s been years since the Grizzlies have seriously contended for a City League championship, but they appear to have the firepower this year to challenge Heights and Kapaun Mt. Carmel at the top of the standings.
It all begins with star point guard Eli Benning, who recently became the program’s all-time assists leader, but Northwest also returns Darrian Hammond, Liam Calvert, Franklin Ekue and Deshea Benton from last year’s rotation and added impact transfers in D.J. Brown (Southeast) and River Peters (Emporia), who were both honorable mention all-state players last season.
The Grizzlies, ranked No. 5 in 6A in the latest KBCA poll, have certainly looked the part early this season, as they improved to 2-0 on Tuesday with a resounding 100-25 win over North. Peters led the way with 27 points, while Northwest’s balanced attack had five others in double-figures in Brown (17), Benton (14), Benning (14), Calvert (11) and Hammond (10).
“The potential is definitely there, but we’re still in the progress of getting the chemistry right and all of the pieces to fit together in the way that we need to make it a special year,” Northwest coach Andy Hill said. “There’s definitely a lot of talented guys on this team. And they’re good kids and they’re bought in and they want to get it right. If we keep working hard and paying attention to the details, we can become a pretty good team.”
Adding two talented scorers in Brown, a 6-foot-5 wing, and Peters, a 6-foot-3 guard, to go along with Benning has given Northwest one of the most potent offenses in the state. The Grizzlies have shown that in their first two games, two blowout victories where they have averaged 88.5 points.
But Hill knows Northwest will have to get the job done on the defensive end if the team is going to go as far as it believes it can.
“Right now our biggest focus is on the defensive end of the floor,” Hill said. “We don’t have everybody on the same page defensively right now with our style of play. We try to speed teams up and guard them 94 feet when we can. That’s new to some of our guys. So we have a little work to do on that front to get it right. The good thing is it’s not an effort problem. It’s just learning when and where to be.”
Below is a full list of Kansas high school basketball game scores from Tuesday, December 10.
Greater Wichita Athletic League basketball scores
Boys
East 54, Bishop Carroll 53
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 61, South 28
Northwest 100, North 25
Southeast 67, West 38
Girls
Bishop Carroll 52, East 41
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 45, South 38
Northwest 56, North 25
Southeast 69, West 10
Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League basketball scores
Boys
Andover Central 59, Maize South 53
Cheney 90, El Dorado 32
Circle 54, Labette County 44
Collegiate 78, Independence 74
Derby 72, McPherson 71
Eisenhower 52, Campus 47
Garden Plain 65, Rose Hill 44
Goddard 56, Buhler 50
Maize 59, Hutchinson 46
Parsons 75, Mulvane 53
Salina South 72, Arkansas City 45
Wellington 78, Hutchinson Trinity 67
Winfield 58, Andale 54
Girls
Andale 44, Winfield 26
Arkansas City 56, Salina South 49
Buhler 51, Goddard 46
Cheney 48, El Dorado 16
Collegiate 32, Independence 28
Derby 72, McPherson 32
Eisenhower 43, Campus 14
Garden Plain 58, Rose Hill 27
Hutchinson 50, Maize 34
Labette County 43, Circle 30
Maize South 43, Andover Central 33
Mulvane 49, Parsons 30
Wellington 90, Hutchinson Trinity 17
Central Plains League basketball scores
Boys
Caldwell 45, Douglass 34
Cheney 90, El Dorado 32
Garden Plain 65, Rose Hill 44
Kiowa County 61, Medicine Lodge 43
Meade 67, Kingman 44
Sedgwick 45, Belle Plaine 40
Topeka Hayden 62, Trinity Academy 47
Wichita Warriors 56, Conway Springs 34
Girls
Caldwell 43, Douglass 30
Cheney 48, El Dorado 16
Conway Springs 56, Wichita Warriors 44
Garden Plain 58, Rose Hill 27
Kiowa County 51, Medicine Lodge 45
Meade 53, Kingman 46
Sedgwick 45, Belle Plaine 31
Topeka Hayden 55, Trinity Academy 24
Central Kansas League basketball scores
Boys
Hillsboro 60, Lyons 49
Holcomb 66, Nickerson 52
Wichita Defenders 81, Halstead 53
Girls
Halstead 61, Wichita Defenders 33
Hillsboro 53, Lyons 22
Holcomb 68, Nickerson 21
Heart of America League basketball scores
Boys
Great Bend 62, Sterling 61
Marion 46, Wichita Central Christian 45
Moundridge 66, Inman 30
Remington 49, Fredonia 42
Sedgwick 45, Belle Plaine 40
Wellington 78, Hutchinson Trinity 67
Girls
Great Bend 54, Sterling 36
Marion 46, Wichita Central Christian 26
Moundridge 60, Inman 47
Remington 47, Fredonia 12
Sedgwick 45, Belle Plaine 31
Wellington 90, Hutchinson Trinity 17
Other Wichita-area basketball scores
Boys
Canton-Galva 59, Little River 55
McPherson Elyria Christian 57, Linn 25
Girls
Linn 59, McPherson Elyria Christian 28
Little River 50, Canton-Galva 10
This story was originally published December 11, 2024 at 6:01 AM.
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