Best high school players honored on 2024 Wichita Eagle girls basketball All-Metro team

The Wichita Eagle announced its 20th annual All-Metro girls basketball team on Monday, honoring some of the best high school players in the state of Kansas from the 2023-24 season.

The All-Metro team features the top players and the top coach from Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties based on statistics, team success, postseason recognition and area coaches’ feedback. Maize South senior Ashley Singhateh was named the Player of the Year after leading the Mavericks to the program’s first appearance in a state championship game in the Class 5A finals.

Here is the full look at the 2024 Wichita Eagle All-Metro girls basketball team. The boys team can also be found on Varsity Kansas.

Macayla Askew, Derby sophomore

One of the top young posts in the state, Askew exploded for 35 points in the Class 6A state semifinals. She totaled 60 points across three state games to help Derby to a 20-win season and a fourth-place finish. The 6-foot-1 sophomore averaged 14.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks while shooting 60% from the field and 72% from the foul line. She earned second team all-state honors in Class 6A and first team all-league honors in AV-CTL Division I.

Derby coach Bryan Chadwick on Askew: “For me being a new coach, it was incredible to have a player like Macayla in my first year. She really was willing to do everything for us. She rebounded, she facilitated, she scored, she defended, she blocked shots. And she was so coachable on top of that. She hasn’t played a lot of basketball, but she already gets it. And we love that.”

Kendal Brueggen, Hesston junior

The 5-foot-10 wing has already begun to rack up the Division I offers, including one from Wichita State. It was easy to see why during her junior campaign, as Brueggen averaged 22.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 3.3 steals and led Hesston all the way to the Class 3A state championship game. The sharpshooter made a total of 59 3-pointers this season on 38% accuracy. She was named a top-10 overall player in the state on top of earning first team all-state honors in Class 3A, plus first team recognition in the Central Kansas League.

Hesston coach Matt Richardson on Brueggen: “Kendal is just one heck of a hard worker. She shows up all five days of the week and works her butt off and spends extra time in the gym shooting on her own. It’s not like she was new to anybody’s scouting report and she was still able to shoot 38% on 3s. She doesn’t just have 20-foot range. She can hit from 25-26-27 feet. And then she just did a tremendous job once we got to state. Her recognition when we got to that next stage was fabulous; she stepped up in the moment and was able to hit some shots and also create for others. She just did an outstanding job all season long.”

Zoey Buckner-Franklin, Independent freshman

Already attracting heavy interest from all three Division I schools in Kansas, Buckner-Franklin showed why she is one of the top class of 2027 players in the state. In her debut season, the 5-foot-7 point guard averaged 20.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.6 steals while shooting 59% from the field and leading Wichita Independent to the Class 2A state championship. She was named a first team all-state selection in 2A and honored as the MVP of the Central Plains League.

Independent coach EJ Garnes on Buckner-Franklin: “Zoey is just an all-out competitor. She wants to win at all costs and she wants the ball in the big moments. She’s just one of those special players who you know you can trust and rely on. She may not be having a great scoring game or defensive game, but when it comes down to winning time and the big moments, she’s always ready to perform regardless of how she has been playing. She’s just an extremely special player.”

SaMiyah Ellis, Heights junior

In her first season playing in the City League, Ellis made a major impact to lead Heights to an undefeated league championship and trip to the Class 6A state tournament. Playing on a team loaded with talent, the 5-foot-8 point guard still managed to average 17.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists during her junior season. She was named a top-15 overall player in Kansas, a second team all-state pick in 6A and a first team all-league player in the City League.

Heights coach Kip Pulliam on Ellis: “She could really score it at all three levels and that made a big difference for us. She wasn’t just a player who could score in one or two different ways, she was a threat from all three levels. She’s also one of those players who really works hard on her game in the offseason and after practices. She just puts in the time to become as good of a player as she can be.”

Ashley Singhateh, Maize South senior

After transferring in from Eureka, Singhateh blossomed in her first season of playing high-level high school basketball. She averaged 18.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.7 steals this season for Maize South, as the 5-foot-8 guard helped lead the Mavericks to the program’s first appearance in a state championship game. She led the Class 5A state tournament in scoring with 60 points in three games, including a victory over seven-time defending state champion St. Thomas Aquinas. The Butler Community College basketball signee was named a top-5 overall player in Kansas this season, Player of the Year in Class 5A and MVP of the AV-CTL Division I.

Maize South coach Ben Hamilton on Singhateh: “Ashley was a phenomenal athlete and a phenomenal player for us. The biggest thing about her game was she helped make everyone on the court with her better. Her assist-to-turnover ratio was 6 to 1, which is the best I’ve ever heard of. As a coach, sometimes I just hope for a 2-to-1 ratio from my point guard. She was able to get everyone else involved, while also being able to score the ball whenever we needed her. But she was so much more than just a scorer for us. She broke our single-season assists and steals records, so it would have been pretty scary what she could have done here in four years.”

Brooke Walker, Andover senior

Already proven as one of, if not the most talented player in Kansas, Walker played her senior season through several serious injuries, including a labrum tear that required surgery immediately following the season. The 5-foot-8 senior, signed to play for Utah, still managed to average 12.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.8 steals while hitting 39 3-pointers on 39% accuracy. She finished her career with 1,372 points, 410 rebounds, 287 assists and 352 steals, helping Andover win its first game at state since 1996 last season and then a 24-1 season that ended with a third-place trophy this year. A three-time All-Metro selection, Walker was named a top-10 overall player this season, a first team all-state pick in Class 5A and MVP of the AV-CTL Division II.

Andover coach Hannah Alexander on Walker: “What Brooke accomplished over four years at Andover High is just unbelievable. I know we didn’t finish where she wanted this year, but just how she handled herself this whole season, getting everybody’s best game, everybody’s best defender, she really did a tremendous job. Her stats were down, but that’s because she was playing through injuries and we were a better overall team and she’s not the kind of player who cares about her individual stats. Those are the kind of players that you want to play with and you want on your team.”

EJ Garnes, Independent coach

In just his second year in the program, Garnes guided Independent to its first state championship in program history. The Panthers shook off three early losses, all to non-KSHSAA competition, to finish with a 22-3 record and a Class 2A title after a 19-point victory over Riverside in the state finals. Garnes, a former standout player himself in Wichita, coached a team with just one senior, Stephie Safi-Salumu, along with talented underclassmen like All-Metro pick Zoey Buckner-Franklin, Deena Holmes and Kiasia Allen. He was also named the Coach of the Year in Class 2A and the Central Plains League.

Garnes on Independent’s team: “This season was just a lot of fun. I won’t act like it was always on the up and up all season long. Every team faces adversity along the way and we had our fair share of it, but I think for me, that’s the part that makes the journey even more fun and this season so special and enjoyable. Knowing that it wasn’t always easy. There were tough moments in practice and tough games and we had to overcome injuries, illnesses and a lot of other things that could have hindered us from accomplishing what we accomplished. But through it all, we stuck together and when the state tournament came around, we played our best brand of basketball. I’m proud of my girls for mentally going through the rigors of a season and being able to play our best when it counted the most.”

All-Metro girls basketball second team

Zion Butler, South senior

Aliyah Green, Andover junior

Brooke Grimes, Andale sophomore

Leah Henke, Bishop Carroll junior

Ava Howie, Maize South senior

Kennadi Jackson, Heights junior

Peyton McCormick, Cheney senior

Lizzie Romer, Kapaun Mt. Carmel senior

Stephie Safi-Salumu, Independent senior

Dominique Schutte, Halstead senior

Destiny Smith, Derby senior

Hayden Snodgrass, Andover Central senior

Elizabeth Tjaden, Clearwater senior

Ben Hamilton, Maize South coach

All-Metro girls basketball third team

Reagan Ayres, Cheney senior

Justine Berlin, Clearwater sophomore

Rylan Chandler, East junior

Paige Corter, Flinthills junior

Carly Dameron, Eisenhower senior

Teagan Garrison, Mulvane senior

Julia Herrman, Collegiate junior

Ramya Kennedy, South senior

Mya Mayberry, Heights senior

Flora Morgan, Berean Academy senior

Emily O’Brien, Remington sophomore

Abby Proctor, Hesston junior

Alana Shetlar, Andover senior

Morgan Thatcher, Valley Center senior

Kya Thornton, Circle senior

Alana Webb, Southeast junior

Ivey Wheeler, Trinity Academy freshman

Bryan Chadwick, Derby coach