Kansas and Missouri Teams in Kansas City
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The Power Pools get much of the attention at the Triple Crown NIT tournament taking place this weekend in Kansas City. Every year there is a team who fights through the other route to find themselves in the mix come…
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Continue ReadingThe Power Pools get much of the attention at the Triple Crown NIT tournament taking place this weekend in Kansas City. Every year there is a team who fights through the other route to find themselves in the mix come the last day. Today we want to see what other teams from Kansas and Missouri will be attempting to be this year’s success story.
18U Division
We have a couple of teams from the greater Kansas City area set to play in the 18 division. PVA 18 Elite had a good showing in Northern Lights and has clinched a bid in the National division come April. Expect Elinor Engel Elinor Engel 6'1" | MB Shawnee Mission Northwest | 2023 State KS and Jaya Johnson Jaya Johnson 6'2" | MB Olathe South | 2023 State #116 Nation KS to set the tone in the middle. Dynasty 18 Black will also join the party and look to have a competitive weekend of play. This team gets good defensive play from Abigail Christian Abigail Christian 5'9" | DS/L Liberty North | 2023 State MO and Heidi Devers Heidi Devers 5'4" | DS/L St. James | 2024 State KS .
We hop over to Missouri and the west side of the state where both Rockwood 18 Elite and Navy will venture down I-70. 18 Elite placed second in their bid weekend and had a 7th place showing in Chicago at the Windy City Qualifier. Juliette Myrick Juliette Myrick 5'11" | S Eureka | 2023 State #100 Nation MO to Caitlyn Little Caitlyn Little 5'10" | OH Lafayette | 2023 State MO has been a successful connection over the years. The Navy squad has been consistent this winter with three 5th-place finishes in events. A couple of pins to keep an eye on would be Kirstyn Loyd Kirstyn Loyd 5'11" | OH Jefferson | 2023 State MO and Abigail Siess Abigail Siess 5'11" | OH Westminster Christian | 2023 State MO
Jumping back to Kansas and in the state capital Topeka Impact heads east on I-70 for the action. They have a bid under their belts for April and have a lot of championship talent on their team. They finished 5th in the open division at MLK Qualifier. Brooklyn DeLeye Brooklyn DeLeye 6'2" | OH Washburn Rural | 2023 State #30 Nation KS is a household name but watch out for Taylor Russell Taylor Russell 6'0" | OH Washburn Rural | 2023 State KS .
Two teams will embark will up I-35 from the southern part of Kansas with Fight Club 18-1 and Shockwave 18 Black. Fight Club has a Liberty bid and will put a competitive team on the court. Maliyah Johnson Maliyah Johnson 5'8" | OH Hutchinson | 2023 State KS is a scoring machine and Payton Benoit Payton Benoit 5'7" | DS/L Wichita Northwest | 2023 State KS is a tremendous defender. Shockwave will ride Madeline Schrandt on the outside and the ball control of Jordan Bruckner Jordan Bruckner 5'6" | DS/L Wichita East | 2023 State KS and Ally Larkin Ally Larkin 5'6" | DS/L Bishop Carroll | 2023 State KS .
17U Division
We will start this division with the Missouri teams from the St. Louis area. Both HPSTL 17 Royal and Rockwood Thunder 17 Navy are in the mix. The 17 Royal team earned a bid not long ago in their bid weekend tournament with a second-place finish. Grace Killion Grace Killion 5'11" | OH Cor Jesu | 2024 State MO and Nadia Wasilewski Nadia Wasilewski 6'1" | OH Jackson | 2024 State MO are weapons on the outside. Rockwood earned a bid at Northern Lights with a third-place showing. Claire Fulton Claire Fulton 5'11" | S Visitation Academy | 2024 State MO can be a factor at the net.
417 Juniors earned a spot in their region Power league and are ready to face new competition. They have a roster of players who had strong high school seasons this fall for their respective teams. Rilynn Finley Rilynn Finley 6'0" | MB Republic | 2024 State MO and Reagan Baade Reagan Baade 5'8" | OH Ozark | 2024 State MO are a couple of those players. Kansas City is well represented with PVA 17 Elite, Power ‘] 17 Red, Mavs KC 17-1, and Pohaku 17-1. Pohaku has looked strong early this season behind the setting of Ava Martin Ava Martin 5'10" | S Bishop Miege | 2024 State #77 Nation KS . Mavs KC has been getting good defensive play at the net and behind the block. Fiona VanDyke Fiona VanDyke 6'1" | RS Lawrence Free State | 2024 State KS will be one of many players making plays for PVA . Power ‘] 17 Red will be in the mix with their good ball control.
Shockwave 17 Black has a team when hot can be dangerous. They are loaded on the pins and have a quality setter. The players in the middle are key to their success this weekend.
16 U Division
We will start our 16s with Topeka Saints 16-1. The Topeka Saints isn’t a large program but we have noticed over the years they have put together some very good teams with talented players who advance to play at the next level. Maegan Mills and Jo’Mhara Benning Jo’Mhara Benning 6'1" | OH Topeka High | 2025 State KS are solid pin players and Campbell Chabot Campbell Chabot 5'6" | S Topeka Seaman | 2025 State KS is one of the top 2025 setters in the state.
Rockwood Thunder 16 Navy represents the east side of the Show Me State. Mallory Sell Mallory Sell 5'9" | DS/L Marquette | 2025 State MO will be a featured part of the team’s offense. Mavs 816 16-1 will be in the mix based on the Missouri border with Kansas. Madeline Sallee Madeline Sallee 5'10" | RS St. Teresa's | 2025 State MO and Kamryn McDonald Kamryn McDonald 6'0" | OH Lee's Summit West | 2025 State MO can affect a match at the net both offensively and defensively.
The trio of Kansas City teams in Mavs KC 16-1, Power ‘] 16 Black, and PVA 16 Elite will make the short trip downtown. All three of these teams were among the top four in Power league qualifying. Caroline Clayton Caroline Clayton 5'9" | OH Olathe South | 2025 State KS and Logan Parks Logan Parks 5'11" | S Blue Valley North | 2025 State #8 Nation KS are among two of the top players in the class in the country. Power ‘] has been getting lights-out defensive play from Alex Klukvin Alex Klukvin 5'7" | DS/L Olathe Northwest | 2025 State KS and Lily Wedman Lily Wedman 5'8" | S Blue Valley West | 2025 State KS is making good decisions from the setter position. PVA also has displayed a good defense behind Macey Jackson Macey Jackson 5'9" | RS Blue Valley Southwest | 2025 State KS and Summer Anderson Summer Anderson 5'7" | DS/L Blue Valley Northwest | 2025 State KS .
15 U Division
All of the Heart of America teams represented qualified for their Power League. The two Mavs teams, Mavs KC 15-1 and Mavs 816 15-1 stood undefeated after the first play date a couple of weekends ago. PVA 15 Elite, Power ‘] 15 Black, and Dynasty 15 Black complete the other local teams who will take part in the action-packed weekend.
Wichita will be represented by Shockwave 15 Black and Fight Club 15-1. St. Louis will send Rockwood Thunder 15 Elite and 15 Navy. We will spend a lot of time around the 15s courts as we get to know some of the players in this age division.