Nineteen boys basketball teams from Nebraska joined 147 others from Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma and Arkansas in Kansas City at the 2025 Boys Midwest Showcase to compete in front of college coaches from all levels over the weekend.
I spent three days at the Homefield KCK Showcase Center getting eyes on every team from Nebraska and taking note of the most impressive teams, standout players and top performances. Here are some of the players who caught my eye.
Makkiah Sanders, Senior PG, Lincoln Southwest
The most impressive player I saw on day one was the 5-foot-10 point guard from Lincoln Southwest. Sanders went off for 45 points in two games and only missed a total of four shots while doing it.
He scored 27 points — the highest total I saw from a Nebraskan — on 9-of-11 from the field (1-of-1 from 3) and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line while snagging two steals in a 62-53 loss to Park Hill (Mo.). He followed that with an 18-point performance on 7-of-9 shooting (again, 1-of-1 from 3) and 1-of-1 from the foul line with three blocks and a steal in a 68-43 bounce back win over Lee’s Summit West.
Sanders is small but fearless in the way he attacks the basket, just like his twin brother Uzziah. Those two are a force on both ends of the court and will drive the Silver Hawks’ success in the winter. The key will be getting some support around them, which is what happened in the win with 13 points and three 3s from senior Hudson Mezger and an efficient 10 points (including a four-point play) and six rebounds from Lincoln North Star transfer Shaqkobi Kerr.
The Silver Hawks shot nearly 60% from the field against Lee’s Summit West with Makkiah keying the attack.
Coriahnn Gallatin, Senior PG, Millard North
Gallatin nearly matched Sanders’ big game with 26 points in a 72-54 win over Jonesboro (Ark.), and he did it in a completely different way.
The 5-foot-11 senior got off to a slow start, missing all three of his triples in the first quarter. Fellow senior Major Mosser shouldered the load early, going 3-for-3 from deep in the first 10 minutes (and finishing 5-for-8 for 15 points). Then Gallatin hit one in the second quarter, then another. Then he hit four more in the third quarter, and the Mustangs turned it into a blowout. He finished a remarkable 8-for-12 from deep, hitting shots both off the dribble and off the catch.
As a team, the Mustangs shot 16-of-32 from 3 in the victory.
The Millard North roster features a mix of shooting and athleticism that will make the Mustangs tough to deal with when they catch fire, and Gallatin is the one who drives it all.
Leyton Paider and Zach Atchison, Senior Wings, Kearney
Kearney lost a lot of firepower from last year’s squad with Ben Johnson off to Fort Hays State and Jacob Webber heading to La Lumiere in Indiana for his senior year. Leyton Paider is the team’s leading returning scorer, and the Bearcats will need him to take a big step forward this winter as the top option. He looked ready for the role this weekend in the two games I saw.
Though the Bearcats came up a bit short in a 60-56 loss to Hickman (Mo.) on Saturday night, Paider put on a show with 22 points on 8-of-16 from the field including 6-of-12 from 3 plus three assists and three steals.
On Saturday, Paider went off early with 14 of his 17 points in the first half, part of a 40-point explosion from the Bearcats in a 68-54 win against Liberty (Mo.). He shot 5-for-11 from deep overall, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists in the win.
Paider has a terrific stroke and a quick release, allowing him to catch fire from deep. He had three separate quarters with three or more 3s in the two games I watched.
While Paider was the first option with a heavy offensive load, his running mate in Atchison was incredibly efficient playing off of him. Atchison only missed two shots in the two games. He scored 16 points on 7-of-9 from the field (1-of-2 from 3) with four rebounds and three assists against Hickman then totaled 15 points on a perfect 6-for-6 with one triple plus three more assists against Liberty.
Atchison hit some really tough shots from the mid-range and in, closing out multiple quarters with buckets as time ran down.
As a team, Kearney shot 21-of-44 (47.7%) from 3 and nearly 46% overall in those two wins, an impressive display of great team play and shot-making.
Max Jungers, Junior Wing, Creighton Prep
Jungers might be the piece that determines how good Creighton Prep can be next season. He’ll step into a larger role with Trinell Parker off to Central Missouri, and if he can make a leap the Junior Jays should be in the mix in Class A.
In a 57-47 win against Farmington (Ark.), Jungers put up 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting with a pair of 3s, 3-of-5 from the foul line, five rebounds, four assists with no turnovers and two steals. He’s a tough matchup with his combination of height and ability to put the ball on the deck and should be the focal point of Prep’s offense with senior guards Torran Carter-Brown, Cooper Knight and Conner Peters around him.
Jerri’on Williams, Senior Guard, Omaha North
Williams had a pair of strong games in Omaha North wins in Kansas City. He put up 15 points on 60% shooting, eight rebounds, five steals and two assists in a 68-39 win against Boonville (Mo.) on Saturday night then followed it with 17 points on 70% shooting and four steals as the Vikings held on to beat St. Louis University (Mo.) on Sunday.
Williams is a dynamic athlete who routinely turned defense into offense, running the floor off steals for easy finishes. He threw down two or three dunks while I was watching and got fouled on another. The key for Williams is decision-making, and he took good shots while limiting turnovers for the most part in the pair of victories.
If fellow senior Ban Yor can step up his consistency to provide some firepower to go with Williams, North will have a chance to make some noise next season.
Jordan Castor, Junior PG; Easton Switzer, Senior Guard, Lincoln North Star
Lincoln North Star had a great couple days in Kansas City, going 4-0 in the event. The Gators have a lot of players capable of stepping up offensively, but junior point guard Jordan Castor is the one who makes the team go.
In a 79-52 win against Nixa (Mo.), Castor stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points on 5-fo-9 shooting, eight rebounds, six assists (to just one turnover), two steals and a block. He asserted himself a bit more scoring-wise in the second half of a 57-43 win against Principia (Mo.), finishing with 16 points on 6-of-11 from the field and 2-of-3 from the line, four assists, three steals and a block.
Castor is a dynamic playmaker on offense who flew around defensively all weekend as well, showcasing a high motor to go with a lot of creativity. The more he can let the game come to him rather than forcing the issue the better, and he can do that because of the firepower he has around him.
Switzer, a Lincoln Northeast transfer, seems to be fitting in seamlessly with the Gators this month. He scored 17 points with four boards and four assists in the first game and followed with 14 points and three steals against Principia. He hit seven 3-pointers in the two games I watched.
Between Switzer and junior J’Shawn Afuh, who scored 19 points off the bench against Nixa, the Gators have a couple of guards beyond Castor who can get buckets in bunches. As a team, the racked up 20 assists and hit 10 3s in the win over Nixa.
London Dada, Junior Wing, Omaha Westside
At 6-foot-7 with a deft shooting stroke, Dada has as much upside as any player in the state right now. He earned his first Division I offer on Monday from Omaha, who had two coaches in Kansas City watching him and others all weekend.
In a 53-51 loss to Southmoore (Okla.) on Saturday, Dad led the Warriors with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting including 4-of-10 from 3. He got off to a slow start, going 0-for-4 from deep in the first quarter, but got himself going with a couple tough mid-range jumpers in the second quarter and hit some big shots in the second half.
With Westside trailing by three late, the Warriors got him the ball on the wing. He took one dribble toward the corner and pulled up for an off-balance 3 that went down to tie the game before Southmoore scored at the buzzer to pull out the win. It’s shots like that that have coaches so intrigued with him.
Brody Koehler, Senior Wing, Johnson-Brock
The Dalinghauses are gone (both the twins and Coach Lucus Dalinghaus, who moved over to the girls side), but second-leading scorer Brody Koehler is back and ready to shoulder an even larger offensive load as a senior.
In the Eagles’ final game of the event, a 39-43 loss to Vianney (Mo.) that included a clock operator mishap that cost them a chance at the tie or win, Koehler totaled 19 points on 8-of-15 from the field (2-of-3 from 3) and seven rebounds (four offensive).
Koehler scored in a variety of ways, pulling one-foot mid-range fadeaways, driving to the rim, crashing for put-backs and even hitting a step-back 3 in the third quarter. He’s a bouncy athlete as well and will be a handful for the Eagles’ opponents in the winter.
Norris Titans
I’m highlighting the whole team here, because the Titans play as well together with interchangeable pieces as any team I’ve seen this month.
Senior Chris Garner Jr. continues to be the team’s scoring leader with his ability to play off his teammates so well, always be in the right spots for cuts or put-backs and create his own shot in the post or mid-range. He scored a combined 30 points on 11-of-14 shooting (2-of-3 from 3) in the two Norris wins a watched.
Junior Evan Greenfield does a bit of everything and drives a lot of the team’s success, senior point guards Macoy Folkerts and Cooper Rice can both shoot from the perimeter and set up their teammates, athletic junior guard Shane Holen adds a different dynamic as a slasher and offensive rebounder and senior forward Jaxsen Urbanovsky crashes the glass and passes well for his position. Heck, junior Greyson Addison came off the bench and only missed two shots the entire weekend, scoring 20 points on 100% shooting with four 3s in the two games I watched.
The Titans have a lot of options, and that’s without senior Alec Small, their assists leader from a year ago and a dogged defender.
The Titans only faced one team that pushed them, but Norris pulled away late in that one to finish 4-0. They shot nearly 65% from the field including a ridiculous 9-for-11 from 3 in a 70-36 win against Ozark (Mo.) and followed it by shooting nearly 57% from the field and 7-of-16 from 3 in a 65-33 win against Vianney (Mo.).
Sawyer Smith, Senior Guard; Tanner DeCastro, Junior Forward, Ogallala
Ogallala went 24-2 last without a senior on its roster, but the second loss came in the first round of the state tournament — after the team’s best player suffered an ankle injury the day prior that knocked him out.
That injury kept Sawyer Smith sidelined for roughly three months. He returned to the court shortly before the Midwest Showcase and looked like he had hardly missed any time at all in Kansas City. He showed off his ability to get in the paint and spray out to Ogallala’s many shooters — the team shot 12-of-18 from 3 in a 65-30 win against North Scott (Ia.) — and to create his own shot in a variety of ways.
After the Showcase, Smith shared that he had received offers from Western Nebraska Community College and Nebraska-Kearney.
Edan Cain and Rylan Gilmore were double-digit scorers in addition to Smith last season and will be again next year, but the player who caught my eye against North Scott was junior forward Tanner DeCastro. He finished with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting, knocking down a 3, dunking on back-to-back possessions at one point and scoring in the post through contact. He was solid as a sophomore, averaging just under nine points, but at 6-foot-6, if he can make a leap as a junior Ogallala will be even more difficult to deal with.
Nike Orgilbold, Senior Guard, Elkhorn North
Sawyer Smith wasn’t the only player who made a splash in Kansas City after a long injury layoff. Orgilbold missed the entire spring and first couple of weeks in June with a knee injury but made his return at the Midwest Showcase.
Elkhorn North’s toughest test was its last game against Topeka Washburn Rural (Kan.), and Orgilbold was at his best to lead the Wolves to a 54-45 victory. He poured in 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting including 3-of-5 from deep. Orgilbold is a big guard who uses his frame well to create scoring opportunities around the basket, and he’s a terrific perimeter shooter as well.
With Orgilbold at full strength alongside fellow senior Sutton Piatkowski and junior Kellen Murphy, the Wolves have plenty of firepower and should be a contender in Class B next season.
