Earning the top seed in the state tournament is in no way a free pass to the semifinals, and Pratt High School coach David Swank expects a challenge from eighth-seeded Circle (14-9) when his Greenbacks (21-2) take the court for their 6:30 p.m. Thursday quarterfinal in Salina.
But, Swank is confident that his six seniors and two state tournament veterans will do what it takes to guide the Greenbacks deep into the tournament.
Pratt’s roster includes seniors Skylar Angood, Brady Batman, Cameron Ford, Rhett Hostetler, Brad Richardson, and Luke Southard, plus junior Matt Swank and sophomores B.J. Dean, Grayson Hostetler, Payson Maydew, Austin McClain and Micah Swank. Sophomores Cooper Batman and Dylan Besser are the team’s alternates for this weekend.
Swank expects the Thunderbirds to work the ball inside to 6-5 junior Jordan Phillips and 6-5 senior Eric Shepard while also applying some pressure defense at the other end of the court.
Phillips averages a double-double with 14 points and 10.7 rebounds for the Thunderbirds, who have won four straight games.
“Their leading scorer is Jordan Phillips, a 6-5 post player. He’s a very wide body on the block and is very offensive minded on the glass,” Swank said of Circle. “He’s their kid they look to to score the ball.”
The Thunderbirds also get a boost from Shepard, who averages eight points and 6.6 rebounds per game. “He’s their second leading scorer,” Swank said. “They really look to get the ball inside. They’ll be patient offensively.”
On the perimeter, Circle guards Alex Gardinier, Kanyon Kinder, and Brett Tunnell are solid, Swank said.
“They’ve got good, steady guards. Alex Gardiner is a 6-2 junior. He’s their go-to guy on defense, their inspiration leader,” he noted. “Their other guards are a couple young guys that handle the ball. Kanyon Kinder is a junior 5-11 shooting guard. He can shoot the three. Brett Tunnell is a 5-9 point guard.”
To counter Circle’s strong post game, the Greenbacks will need another good night from Southard and Maydew. Both players had good moments in the sub-state championship win over Scott City, and they’ll need to continue that momentum if Pratt is going to keep Phillips and Shepard under control Thursday night.
Angood and Matt Swank also figure to see some time defending the Thunderbirds’ post players from the power forward spot while Batman, Rhett Hostetler, Richardson and Micah Swank will be among the Greenbacks responsible for defending Circle’s perimeter players.
Swank expects to see a variety of defenses from the Thunderbirds, who will likely stick to one specific scheme offense.
“Defensively they’re going to play man, run some pressure at us, run some 2-3 zone,” Swank said. “Offensively they’re going to run some four out, one in stuff.”
No matter what Circle throws at Pratt on the court, Swank is concerned with just one thing – winning the game and reaching the semifinals.
“The key in the state tournament is that you’ve got to win the first one. I can give you a lot of moments in Kansas High School basketball history where the eight beat the one,” he said, pointing to the Burlington team led by current Kansas player Tyrel Reed earlier this decade that earned the top seed only to lost to eighth-seeded Rossville, which came in 14-9 on the season.
Swank expects the Greenback fans to help their team avoid a similar outcome by turning out in force for the tournament games, much as they did for the sub-state semifinals and championship.
“We had a great crowd at sub-state, both against Hugoton and Saturday. Our kids were really blessed by the crowd we had,” he said. “I think our kids are going to come to compete. We talk about playing with poise, passion and perseverance and our goal is to have no regrets after every game we play. I’m confident that they’re going to come ready to play Thursday, and we’ll see what happens.”
The tournament field also includes fourth-seeded Kansas City-Sumner (19-4), fifth-seeded Topeka-Hayden (18-5), second-seeded Ottawa (20-3), seventh-seeded Holton (17-6), third-seeded Coffeyville-Field Kindley (19-3), and sixth-seeded Nickerson (17-6).
“It’s a wide-open tournament. The Sumner-Hayden game is an unbelievable game after us (Thursday night),” Swank said. “You’ve got two big time teams there that play in 5A-6A leagues.”
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Earning the top seed in the state tournament is in no way a free pass to the semifinals, and Pratt High School coach David Swank expects a challenge from eighth-seeded Circle (14-9) when his Greenbacks (21-2) take the court for their 6:30 p.m. Thursday quarterfinal in Salina.
But, Swank is confident that his six seniors and two state tournament veterans will do what it takes to guide the Greenbacks deep into the tournament.
Pratt’s roster includes seniors Skylar Angood, Brady Batman, Cameron Ford, Rhett Hostetler, Brad Richardson, and Luke Southard, plus junior Matt Swank and sophomores B.J. Dean, Grayson Hostetler, Payson Maydew, Austin McClain and Micah Swank. Sophomores Cooper Batman and Dylan Besser are the team’s alternates for this weekend.
Swank expects the Thunderbirds to work the ball inside to 6-5 junior Jordan Phillips and 6-5 senior Eric Shepard while also applying some pressure defense at the other end of the court.
Phillips averages a double-double with 14 points and 10.7 rebounds for the Thunderbirds, who have won four straight games.
“Their leading scorer is Jordan Phillips, a 6-5 post player. He’s a very wide body on the block and is very offensive minded on the glass,” Swank said of Circle. “He’s their kid they look to to score the ball.”
The Thunderbirds also get a boost from Shepard, who averages eight points and 6.6 rebounds per game. “He’s their second leading scorer,” Swank said. “They really look to get the ball inside. They’ll be patient offensively.”
On the perimeter, Circle guards Alex Gardinier, Kanyon Kinder, and Brett Tunnell are solid, Swank said.
“They’ve got good, steady guards. Alex Gardiner is a 6-2 junior. He’s their go-to guy on defense, their inspiration leader,” he noted. “Their other guards are a couple young guys that handle the ball. Kanyon Kinder is a junior 5-11 shooting guard. He can shoot the three. Brett Tunnell is a 5-9 point guard.”
To counter Circle’s strong post game, the Greenbacks will need another good night from Southard and Maydew. Both players had good moments in the sub-state championship win over Scott City, and they’ll need to continue that momentum if Pratt is going to keep Phillips and Shepard under control Thursday night.
Angood and Matt Swank also figure to see some time defending the Thunderbirds’ post players from the power forward spot while Batman, Rhett Hostetler, Richardson and Micah Swank will be among the Greenbacks responsible for defending Circle’s perimeter players.
Swank expects to see a variety of defenses from the Thunderbirds, who will likely stick to one specific scheme offense.
“Defensively they’re going to play man, run some pressure at us, run some 2-3 zone,” Swank said. “Offensively they’re going to run some four out, one in stuff.”
No matter what Circle throws at Pratt on the court, Swank is concerned with just one thing – winning the game and reaching the semifinals.
“The key in the state tournament is that you’ve got to win the first one. I can give you a lot of moments in Kansas High School basketball history where the eight beat the one,” he said, pointing to the Burlington team led by current Kansas player Tyrel Reed earlier this decade that earned the top seed only to lost to eighth-seeded Rossville, which came in 14-9 on the season.
Swank expects the Greenback fans to help their team avoid a similar outcome by turning out in force for the tournament games, much as they did for the sub-state semifinals and championship.
“We had a great crowd at sub-state, both against Hugoton and Saturday. Our kids were really blessed by the crowd we had,” he said. “I think our kids are going to come to compete. We talk about playing with poise, passion and perseverance and our goal is to have no regrets after every game we play. I’m confident that they’re going to come ready to play Thursday, and we’ll see what happens.”
The tournament field also includes fourth-seeded Kansas City-Sumner (19-4), fifth-seeded Topeka-Hayden (18-5), second-seeded Ottawa (20-3), seventh-seeded Holton (17-6), third-seeded Coffeyville-Field Kindley (19-3), and sixth-seeded Nickerson (17-6).
“It’s a wide-open tournament. The Sumner-Hayden game is an unbelievable game after us (Thursday night),” Swank said. “You’ve got two big time teams there that play in 5A-6A leagues.”
