"The team that wins will need to stay healthy, catch some breaks, and not have an off night or you will be out," said Lakeside Coach Kyle Beisner, now in his eighth season.

The Knights (8-0) rated No.2 in Division 1 of 1A and Wilson rated No. 6 in Division 2 of 1A are clearly the favorites.

Lakeside, which includes six seniors from a team that played in the sub-state championship a year ago, is looking to make a state-wide statement by winning the NPL championship. Sharp shooting guard Keegan Heiland, (12 ppg) and wing Alex Renken (12 ppg) lead the Knights in scoring. Post players Miles Thomas (7 ppg), Brandon Smith (10 ppg) and Taylor Clausen (7 ppg) have been solid in the paint. Point guard Jacob Brush has been solid as the fifth starter. "We have got to get better every night," Beisner said about his teams' chances. "These kids have such a desire not to get beat. Every night they play they give us a chance to win. They want to win. You can't teach or coach that will to win." Lakeside has proven worthy of winning league tournaments as they have captured the last two Pike Trail Tournament Championships.

Wilson (5-1) is a team that could bring home some serious hardware. Senior Jake Stoppel, took home the Cunningham Telephone and Cable athlete of the week award this past week. He has been unstoppable scoring 30 plus points four times this season. His 44 point effort against Stockton was a career high and ranks him among Wilson High's best individual scoring efforts. Stoppel does have some help in 5-8 juniors Cole Zelenka (11.5 ppg) and Jordan Bess (9.8 ppg) along with 5-10 sophomore Marcus Denham (6.4 ppg) have all three been in double figures in various games this season. Former Lucas-Luray Coach Mark Spears has taken off with the Dragons.

Rock Hills (6-0) has yet to be ranked but remains unbeaten and the Grizzlies hope to have a say in who takes home the hardware in the tournament. "We hope to have a say in who wins the tournament." Rock Hills Coach Matt Hesting said. "We have to worry about finishing close games and working on rebounding. Those two things will take us along ways." The Grizzlies foursome of juniors Wyatt Flinn, Zach Speigel, Zach Dusky and senior Blake Walter make this team very formidable. Flinn has exploded for 29 and 26 points in the early stages of the season.

Sylvan-Lucas (6-2) has played Wilson and Lakeside and with veteran coach Jude Steckelin any thing is possible. Just two losses to both ranked teams make the Mustangs capable of gaining more confidence and making a run for the title. Plus, the Mustangs have the most seniors (9) of any boys' team in the field. "We feel like we should be as competive as anyone." Stecklein said. "We know Lakeside and Wilson are both very good. We feel like we have a good opportunity as any of the teams. We would like to get to the finals but realize we have to take one game at a time. It is going to be a true test to see who wins and who has the most depth with that many games." Sylvan-Lucas has a balanced attack with four kids in or near double figures. Troy Bland (12 ppg), Tyler Dougherty (10 ppg), Brogan Nailer (10 ppg) and point guard Brandon Poole (8 ppg) have been the Mustangs leading scorers. The fifth starter Ryan Schulties is an excellent defender and rebounder according to Stecklein.

Thunder Ridge (3-3) was rated preseason Division 1, No. 10 but the Longhorns have suffered three losses. The Longhorns losses came to Alma, NE, Lakeside and Smith Center. The two Kansas teams have just once loss among them. Senior guards Austin Herman, (10 ppg) a transfer from Northern Valley and all-everything football star Joel Struckoff, (8 ppg) have led an up and down Longhorn team that hopes to do some damage in the 16 team tournament. The Longhorns have two more seniors including 6-2 post Nathan Larson and 5-8 guard Blane Hrabe. "We need to play basketball. We have had one game per week since the break. If the kids take care of the ball and work our offense we should be okay. We have to be able to score. We are dead if we don't score. We play well enough on defense most nights but we have had trouble shooting the ball." 2nd year Longhorn Coach Clayton McDowell said. "We don't have much of a bench and its going to take a team with a lot of depth and be in great shape to win this tournament."

Lincoln and St. John's/Tipton have 3-3 records and are certainly capable of pulling off some upsets in the NPL tournament. Lincoln has 6-6 senior Wyatt Schroeder who is averaging in double figures (16.2 ppg) including a 33 point effort against Palco. For St. John's/Tipton, Luke Peters, is the only senior and has 19 underclass teammates including, 14 freshmen and sophomores. Sophomore Connor Eilert is averaging in double figures (14.7 ppg).

Here is a look at how the tournament looks from under the bleachers.

Favorite - Lakeside: No.2 in Division 1 and six seniors. Best bunch of athletes to come along for a long time.

Locked In - Wilson: If you need a show stopper, Stoppel can do it all. He will be too much for a lot of teams.

No Surprise - Rock Hills: Hesting knows how to prepare his teams for tournament play. The Grizzlies could go the distance.

Never Say Never - Thunder Ridge: Just two many athletes off state football championship to go quietly in a 16 team tournament. Points are precious.

Tradition - Sylvan is a sports town. Crazy about its sports and winning tradition Stecklein has been to the Big Dance.

Darkhorses - Lincoln with Schroeder and St. John's/Tipton with 19 underclassmen have been more than competive.

Veteran Coaches - Pike Valley's Gary Loring and Northern Valley's Chuck Fessenden would be rich of they were paid by the number of practices and games attended by the pair.

One to Watch - Tescott junior, Austin Herbal is averaging 19.2 ppg.

Meet the Rest - Palco, Logan, Chase, Southern Cloud, St. Xavier and Natoma are either really young or lack depth. Will any of them wear Cinderella's shoe?