Hey there, kids! Time to get back to long posts and reflections on the high school scene. Be sure to check back weekly to see if I'm writing anything remotely interesting. Could be worth the 7-minute read.

So I covered the Olathe South/Gardner Edgerton tournament championship on Friday night, just thinking I would write about two city rivals ranked among the state's best (OSouth #8, ONorth #9 in Class 6A). But I came out so impressed with Olathe North senior Gary Watts' game, I had to shine a light on him. (Get it? Watts...light?!! I tell ya, these puns are super awesome!)

The game itself was also good, Olathe North holding off South 54-53. It's funny, the OSouth student section came dressed in rain gear, shower caps, bath robes and one clever dude with an umbrella hat, to drive home the point that jumpers would be raining down. But that forecast didn't come true until the third quarter (South scored only FOUR points in the second and trailed by 14)...that's when the Falcons splashed three after three after three to claw back in. With 7:06 remaining in the fourth, South finally tied the game on two made free throws before Gary Watts came back down the floord and nailed a three. Watts may score a lot but he's also a point guard and for the next few possessions, he dropped dimes to his cousin/teammate Lance Chandler. It helped that South missed its final six three-pointers down the stretch (the last being a despertion fling at the buzzer) and North survived the comeback.

But back to Watts, who's trying to become the best KC player you've never heard of. Last week, he scored 41 against Blue Valley West and he's really just a point guard...correction, a skinny point guard. He wears one of those Under Armour shirts under his jersey and although he says it's a size XL, I'm willing to bet that thing is much smaller. But What Watts lacks in size, his game makes up for it. He has an array of floaters and moves that create enough space between him and the defender so that he can take jump shots. Great arc shooter, too, and when he's on, that shoot looks very good. I didn't see him take the ball to the rim with much success but with two football players on the low block (Trey Walker and Doug Peete), Watts can just dump the pass off, which he did several times on Friday night.

 Here's a fun story Watts told me yesterday. I noticed the word 'DiRenna' written on his left wrist and he told me that that is his motivation for this season and former DiRenna award winner Marcus Denmon is his role model. Watts admires Denmon so much that he tracked him down on Facebook and requested to be his friend a while back.

"I've always looked up to him," Watts said.

 The two didn't really know each other but were brought together by a girl Watts knows. The story goes that one day Watts and the lady friend were out and about when she caught Denmon's eye. He thought she was Watts' sister so he asked him to hook them up. Watts jumped at the chance and so playing match maker brokered a friendship between he and Denmon. Now they talk and Denmon offers advice to Watts like: "Just stay level headed." So here's a lesson for you kids... if you aspire to meet your basketball idol, first track him down on social networking web sites then make sure when you do meet him, hang around pretty girls so that you get his attention. Works everytime.

So my story in Saturday's Star got trimmed for length (bummer), I want to post it here in its entirety to show a little more context about Watts' game and maturity. In there, I describe another moment when Watts' dead-eye shooting held back South.

By CANDACE BUCKNER

The Kansas City Star

OLATHE – There are a lot of things about Olathe North senior Gary Watts, when you first see him on the court, that could paint him as a normal high school super star player. Through a 32-minute game, he can make observers shake their heads in amazement and roll their eyes in dismissal.

 Watts has the swagger and confidence to believe he’ll make every shot. And when he doesn’t, that’s alright, because when at first he doesn’t succeed, he’ll shoot, shoot again He has a strong will and oftentimes when he feels that the referees missed a call, he’ll slap his hands toward their direction as he did during the Olathe North’s tournament championship win over Olathe South 54-53, on Friday night.

 He plays with the letters M-V-P scribbled on his right wrist and the word ‘DiRenna’ scrawled on his left. DiRenna, by the way, is the annual award given to the best player in the metro area.

 Yes, this is Gary Watts. The volume shooter who fancies himself as the best player on the floor. But that’s not all there is to him.

 So since you may not know him all that well, allow me this introduction.

 Kansas City, Gary. Gary, Kansas City. He’s been dying to meet you.

 “Basically I’ve flown under the radar my whole high school career,” Watts said. “No one know who I am, at least I think, and this (season) is my motivation.”

 If Watts keeps playing like he did on Friday night, shooting rain-making three-pointers, staying cool under pressure, setting up teammates and leading all scorers with 25 points (he’s actually shooting well over 50 percent for the season) and getting named the Olathe South-Gardner Edgerton Most Valuable Player, then that word written above his left shooting hand may be his by the time the season’s up.

 While Watts’ super-star act comes out on the floor, after the final buzzer, he turns into a young man you wouldn’t mind seeing your daughter take to the winter dance. Watts, the son of a preacher, smiles and says ‘yes ma’am’ when addressing women and also pushes for teammates’ names to get into the paper.

 “Lance (Chandler), my cousin, I feed off him,” Watts said of his teammate who with 1:28 remaining in a tight game stole the ball and nailed a crucial free throw to give the team a 54-51 advantage. “I’m more a laid back player and he’s more energetic. His defense leads to offense.”

 In his first full season at Olathe North, Watts has balanced team and individual success. As starting point guard, Watts has the team on a four-game winning streak, its best start in a while, while he has already broken two school records. Watts transferred in from Olathe Northwest last season but did not start immediately. And when he got into the game, coach Gabe Davis noticed some trends.

 “It was evident that he didn’t respond well to harsh criticism,” said Davis, who also noticed the same Watts’ reaction when adversity arose. “I figured out how to talk to him. He wanted to be talked to like a man. I said, as long as you act like a man, I’ll treat you like one.”

 Now he’s the man.  Just from that time to the first four games of the season, Watts has matured. When Olathe South slashed the 14-point Eagle halftime lead, senior Rustin Dowd nailing a three to bring the Falcons within the same margin, Watts coolly dribbled down court, asked for a clear out, threw an entry pass to senior T.J.Sheble, called for it back and made a three-pointer of his own.

 “It was contagious,” Davis said. “He came down and answered and you can tell by his swagger going back, by his body language, ‘Guys, we’re going to be alright.’”

 The Eagles survived a 25-point South third quarter and a desperation three at the buzzer couldn’t pull the Falcons back to the winner’s circle. A spot enjoyed immensely by the North fans who rushed the court at game’s end. Watts never got too crazy, he humbly accepted his MVP award and smiled his thanks to everyone who wanted to shake his hand afterwards – the proper introduction to a player everyone should get to know.