Seniors Participate in Metro All-Star Game

Seniors Zach Schneider and Vance Wentz played in over 100 games together in their 4 years at Shawnee Mission East; tonight will be the last time the two suit up together on the same court. They were both picked to play in the Greater Kansas City Basketball Coaches Assossation Kansas vs. Missouri All-Star Game that will take place at Shawnee Mission South at 7:30 featuring some of the best players from both sides of the border chosen by the coaches. All players picked are current seniors at their school.

Zach and Vance both played on the Varsity team for all 4 years of high school and have grown a special bond together. The two were the leading scores for the Lancers this year averaging a combined 30 points. “It is kind of weird because we have been playing together for so long and it is kind of surreal, but it is part of moving on into the next stage of our careers. It should be fun I’m excited about it, but at the same time it is bittersweet just because we have gone through so much together. Hopefully we can go out with a win in a game that is not as serious as all the other ones,” said Wentz who will be moving to Bozeman, Montana next year to play for Montana State University.

Schneider still has not made a decision as where to play, but did make a big decision in the past couple weeks. “I decided I wanted to play college basketball and still have a few visits left to take,” said Schneider, “I thought I was going to end up at KU for a long time and not until recently I realized I wanted to pursue basketball at a higher level.” He took a visit to William Jewell last week and still has visits scheduled to Central Missouri and Northwest Missouri.

The Kansas team is being coached by Mike Brensko who retired from Shawnee Mission West this past season. They held their only two practices on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Thursday night a reception was held for all of the players to present awards and have a little preview for the game. “Zach and I were talking about how you talk trash on the guys all year when you play them in league, but then you get with them for something like this and they are all pretty cool,” said Wentz.

Both seniors won postseason awards for the Sunflower League and the state of Kansas. The Kansas Basketball Coaches Association (KBCA) released their all-state selections on Tuesday with Schneider receiving first team honors and Wentz getting second team honors. To receive this award “coaches in the KBCA and other Kansas coaches send in their nominees for all-state. Ballots are then tabulated,” said Randy Walling who is the Executive Director of the KBCA.

Schneider also won the Sunflower League Player of the year as well as first team honors and was a DiRenna award finalist for the best player in the Metro area. He also received second team all-state from kansas-sports.com and third team from the Wichita Eagle. Wentz was a second team Sunflower League selection.

Most all-star games are not as competitive as regular season games because usually they do not count for much especially on the defensive end. “The coaches have said they don’t think there will be much defense but they would like us to put in a little effort on that side of the ball,” said Wentz, “It is just different because everyone on the team averaged around 14 or more points and they were all league and the best or second best player on their respective teams.”

Before the boys game tonight there will be a girls game and also there will be a dunk contest at halftime of the boys game.