Rural girls celebrate Vickery's return with 50-47 come-from-behind win over Vikes
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Through the first half of Thursday's non-league game at Seaman, Washburn Rural star Maddie Vickery looked a lot like a player who hadn't played a basketball game in more than six months.
But slowly but surely, the 6-foot-2 junior Kansas State commit started to look more and more like the player local fans have been accustomed to seeing, coming alive in the second half to help Washburn Rural overcome a 19-point deficit in a 50-47 win over the Vikings.
Washburn Rural junior Maddie Vickery (left) made her season debut Thursday at Seaman, scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds in a 50-47 win. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Vickery, who suffered a torn ACL late in the summer season, went 0 of 6 from the field in the first half but scored all 11 of her points in the second half, including three 3-pointers, while also grabbing seven rebounds and registering two blocks as the Junior Blues improved to 14-6 overall.
"We talked about that and she's not nervous about the knee, but this was her first game in a long time, so I felt like it was going to take a little while,'' Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. "I think if the first one may have gone in maybe not as long, but in the second half she looked really good.
"It was kind of like the old Maddie. She really looked good. She was energetic, she was moving well and her shot looked a lot better the second half. We look up to her and we're excited to have her back.''
Vickery came off the bench for the first time with 5:19 left in the opening quarter and was in and out the rest of the night, playing 19 minutes, 45 seconds.
After her slow shooting start Vickery hit a 3-pointer for her first basket of the night at the 3:23 mark of the third quarter and hit another 3 with 4:17 remaining to put Rural up 43-41 and canned another trey with 2:13 left to break a 45-all deadlock, putting the Junior Blues ahead to stay.
"I wouldn't say it was really nerves because I've put in a lot of work and I've trusted the process,'' Vickery said. "And I know I'm going to be fine because I know God's got me,
"I mean, a little bit of pressure, but other than that I don't think it was really nerves. I haven't played a game in about six and a half months, so it was a little bit different to adjust to. Practice is different than a game. But once I got to the second half ... I kind of settled in and got out of my head and stuff like that.''
And once she got her first shot to fall, Vickery knew she was really back.
"It was kind of a big weight off my shoulders that I was putting on myself,'' she said. "I'm glad the shots kept falling. I'm happy that I'm able to do this and that I was blessed to be given this opportunity and all my hard work is paying off.''
Seaman (9-11) put together a 20-0 run at the end of the first quarter and start of the second stanza to take a 24-5 lead before Rural senior Ella Hirschi hit a 3-pointer with 5:06 left in the half to help stem the tide.
Seaman was still in front 29-13 at the break, but Washburn Rural responded with a 22-8 third quarter to get within 37-35 at the start of the fourth.
Freshman Kamryn Smith came off the bench to lead Washburn Rural with 12 points on four 3-pointers in Thursday's 50-47 win at Seaman. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Freshman Kamryn Smith hit her fourth 3-pointer of a 12-point night with 4:53 left to give Rural its first lead since an early 5-4 advantage.
"I told her in the first half, 'I'm sorry, I can't play you because you're not playing hard enough and that's the standard that we have,' '' Bordewick said. "And then she woke up and she was playing hard on the defensive end. Yeah, her shot was really helping us tremendously, but it's because she's in the flow, she's engaged and she got after it. That's what we asked her to do and she did a great job.''
Jeff North girls snap Cair Paravel’s three-game winning streak, 35-30
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Cair Paravel girls’ three-game winning streak was snapped in a 35-30 home loss to Jefferson County North in the final regular season game Thursday. The Lions finished the schedule with an 11-11 record and now await their postseason assignment.
Becca Gateley led CPLS with 11 points, including three 3-pointers, in Thursday's 35-30 loss to Jefferson County North. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Lions stayed in lockstep with the visiting Chargers right to the end. Neither team led by more than four points until the final seconds, and Cair Paravel led by one point, 30-29, with 3:40 left.
It was at that point that the foul disparity became too much for the Lions to overcome. Cair Paravel committed 20 fouls to the Chargers’ 10. The Chargers hit 14-20 free throws to the Lions’ 2-4. Cair Paravel’s two seniors – Karsyn Hastert and KellyAnn Chada – both fouled out in the final minutes.
“Obviously, fouls were a big part of the game, and it was hard because three of my girls were playing with four fouls,” said Cair Paravel coach Jaley Barkley.
The Lions got just three points from their leading scorer, London Backman, and none from Chada.
“You could definitely tell Jefferson County North had scouted us. They were all over Karsyn and they really shut down KellyAnn and London,” said Barkley. “I’m proud of the girls that stepped up. They hit some shots.”
Karsyn Hastert had 10 points in Thursday's 35-30 Cair Paravel loss to Jefferson County North. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Becca Gateley got hot in the second half, hitting three consecutive 3-pointers to keep the Lions in it. She finished with 11 points, followed by Hastert with 10.
Though the loss dropped the Lions to .500, Barkley said the three-game win streak injected a sense of pride in the team.
“The girls have really enjoyed having that winning record,” Barkley said. “It’s kind of brought a different fuel and energy to the team that wasn’t there last year. Being .500 puts us kind of in the middle of the pack (for sub-state) as opposed to some of the years before.”
The Lions are 5-2 in February and hope to be peaking at the right time.
“From our first game of the season ‘til now, we’ve improved in all areas,” Barkley said. “I’m just proud of the girls for everything they’ve learned throughout this season in every individual game. They’ve been very coachable and have grown so much.”
JEFFERSON COUNTY NORTH GIRLS 35, CAIR PARAVEL 30
Jefferson County North 10 4 11 10 -- 35
Cair Paravel 7 8 8 7 -- 30
Jefferson County North (13-9) – Blattner 2-7 3-4 8, Johnson 1-9 2-2 4, Thompson 2-7 4-8 8, Porter 2-6 0-0 4, L. Noll 0-6 2-2 2, Schrick 1-4 0-0 2, R. Noll 1-6 1-2 3, Hernandez 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 10-47 14-20 35.
3-point goals – Jefferson County North 1 (Blattner), Cair Paravel 4 (Gateley 3, Backman). Total fouls – Jefferson County North 10, Cair Paravel 20. Fouled out – Hastert, Chada. Technical fouls – none.
Rick Peterson
Washburn women in Oklahoma for final regular-season road trip
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball is in Oklahoma for its final regular-season road trip of the 2025-2026 season, beginning with a 5:30 p.m. Thursday game at Central Oklahoma.
Senior Gabi Giovannetti scored a game-high 17 points to lead Washburn in a 72-64 MIAA win over Northeastern State last Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn improved to 17-7 overall and 10-5 in the MIAA with a 72-64 win over Northeastern State last Saturday in Lee Arena.
Washburn is one win away from equaling its win total in an 18-13 season in 2024-25 with a minimum of five games remaining.
Central Oklahoma improved to 9-15 overall and 4-11 in the MIAA with a 64-61 win over Rogers State at home last time out.
Senior Yibari Nwidadah averages team-highs of 11.9 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Ichabods while also shooting a team-high 56.7 percent from the floor.
With 286 career offensive rebounds Nwidadah ranks thirdin program history and she is fifth with 790 career boards.
Her career field goal percentage of .578 is the second best in program history. In scoring she ranks 13th among all Ichabods with 1,265 career points and is 11th in program history with 69 career blocked shots.
Senior Payton Sterk is second on the team with an 11.7 scoring average while hitting a team-high 38 3-pointers.
Sterk currently sits 17th in program history with 100 3-pointers made in just 55 career games with Washburn.
Sterk's career free throw percentage of 86.5 percent is the best for any Ichabod.
Senior Gabi Giovannetti scored 10.7 points per game and is second on the team with 33 3-pointers. She also is swiping a team-high 1.8 steals per game, ranking seventh in the MIAA in steals.
Giovannetti is tied for sixth in program history with 145 career 3-pointers made. She is 19th among all Ichabods with 57 blocked shots and she ranks 31st in program history with 948 career points.
Holding opponents to 57.7 points per game, Washburn ranks first in the MIAA in scoring defense.
Forcing 18.21 turnovers per game, the Ichabods lead the conference.
Five players scored in double figures for the Ichabods in Saturday's win over Northeastern State, led by 17 points from Giovannetti. Sterk had 11 points with five assists and junior Britany Kogbara came off the bench to score 11 points with nine rebounds and a pair of blocks. Senior Aniah Wayne and sophomore Brooke Gomez scored 10 points apiece.
Nykaiya Dillard is scoring a team-high 12.4 points per game for Central Oklahoma while Kaitlyn McCarn is averaging 11.2 points.
Jerney Bennett is averaging 8.5 points with team-highs of 4.0 blocks and 8.0 rebounds per game. She is fourth in the nation and first in the MIAA in blocks while ranking seventh in the conference in rebounds.
Washburn leads the all-time series between the two teams 16-12.
Washburn plays its final regular season road game of the year on Saturday against Rogers State in Claremore, Okla.
Senior Gabi Giovannetti scored a game-high 17 points to lead Washburn in a 72-64 MIAA win over Northeastern State last Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN] 
