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By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

The No. 1 seeded Cair Paravel boys are off to the semifinal round in the Class 2A sub-state bracket, taking down Horton at home Friday night, 68-28.

Chase Hastert paced Cair Paravel with 16 points in Friday's 68-28 win over Horton. [File photo/TSN]

“I love our home crowd, it’s such a cool little atmosphere man,'' Cair Paravel coach Chip Kueffer said. "We have a special community here. Love the student section. We're really grateful that we have another opportunity to pack The Den.”

 CPLS got out to a 4-2 lead but the Chargers went on a mini 5-0 run to lead 7-4 before sophomore Chase Hastert rattled off two 3-pointers to put the Lions back in front 10-9 and the hosts would lead 14-11 heading into the second quarter.

“We weren’t particularly strong with the ball against their zone,'' Kueffer said. "They’ve pretty much run it all this season and we knew it was coming. When we did get it to the spots that we wanted to, we caught it and were hesitant and played on our heels, we jumped passes and floated some shots.

“I think we did a much better job of turning defense into offense in the second half than turning them over because in the halfcourt we were not very good at all.''

Cair Paravel opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run as senior Caleb Cleverdon started it with a trey, as the Lions got the lead to 21-11.

The Lions had it going from distance, as Cleverdon and Hastert would hit one three apiece, extending the lead to 13 (27-14).

Horton’s Talon Hooper drilled one from way beyond the arc right before the buzzer as CPLS took a 33-22 lead into the half.

To begin the third quarter, the Lions started out on fire, beginning with a 6-0 run and forcing the Chargers into a timeout just over a minute into the quarter. After that, CPLS had the fullcourt press on and created turnover after turnover, turning into easy buckets and the lead just kept growing.

“We definitely like to be able to get to that fast start in the first two minutes of the game as opposed to the first two minutes of the third quarter, but that’s something we like to do,” Drew Fay said.

“We knew from film that they were a scrappy team and they play really hard and have given teams a lot of trouble and we came out and struggled.''

Kueffer credited Fay, who finished with 13 points, on that hot start to begin the second half.

“He’s so consistent for us. He showed up ready to play today and he always does, but I just think it's misunderstood how much value he brings to our team,'' Kueffer said. "He’s super composed and a high IQ kind of guy and when he’s the guy who puts the ball in the hoop it's great because everyone puts eyes on him.

"I’m excited for him to get those transition finishes because he’s one of those guys who you love to see make plays.''

Hastert got it to 20 (42-22) off a floater and senior Fay converted an and-one, pushing the advantage to 25 (47-22). It eventually got to 34 points at the end of the quarter, 58-24.

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Brady Christiansen is the unquestioned elder statesman for Washburn University men's basketball, taking the court in 120 games while helping the Ichabods celebrate a pair of MIAA regular-season championships as a well as a trip to the NCAA Division II Final Four last season.

Washburn senior Brady Christiansen cuts down the nets in Lee Arena Wednesday night, celebrating Washburn's second straight MIAA regular-season title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

But to Christiansen, a 6-foot-7 senior forward who is one of four Washburn seniors who will be honored Saturday when the No. 3-ranked Ichabods, 27-1 overall, 17-1 MIAA, will face Missouri Southern (16-11, 10-8) in a 1 p.m. game on Senior Day, it sometimes seems like he just arrived on campus.

"I'm not going to lie, it feels like I was just a freshman not too long ago,'' Christiansen said. "It went by that fast and I blinked and it's Senior Day. It's really hard to believe its here.''

Christiansen has been a solid contributor since he arrived on campus and is proud of what he and the Ichabods have been able to accomplish over the past four seasons.

"I'm grateful for my time here, what I put in, but also getting the program put in the right hands,'' he said. "My ultimate goal is just to leave the program better than when I got here and I couldn't be more grateful for my teammates, everybody else and we're not done yet.''

Christiansen has helped Washburn win back-to-back MIAA regular-season championships in addition to last season's regional championship and Final Four appearance and said he knows he'll appreciate the Ichabods' accomplishments more and more as time goes on.

"In the moment it really feels good, but five, 10 years down the road when you're looking at the ring, that's when you're really going to be like, 'Wow, that team was special, what we did was special,' and hopefully we just keep this going and we've got three things left to do (MIAA Tournament, regionals and nationals).''

Christiansen will be honored Saturday along with fellow seniors Sam Ungashick, Bryson Smith and Isaiah Saams-Hoy.

Ungashick is in his third season with the Ichabods after playing his freshman year at Benedictine while Smith and Saams-Hoy are in their first seasons at Washburn.   

Washburn is coming off a dominant 88-49 MIAA win over Pittsburg State on Wednesday night in Lee Arena, improving to 27-1 and 17-1 in the conference with their 28th straight home victory.

The Ichabods put up 44 points in each half while holding the Gorillas to 34 percent shooting, winning their 11th game in a row over Pitt State.

Sophomore Dillon Claussen led Washburn with a game-high 23 points on 9 of 15 shooting while adding five rebounds and two blocked shots.

Junior Jack Bachelor scored 13 points with eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals against the Gorillas while sophomore Marcus Glock finished with 15 points off the bench, hitting five 3-pointers.

Junior Jeremiah Jones set Washburn's single-season steals record in Wednesday's 88-49 win over Pittsburg State in Lee Arena. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Junior Jeremiah Jones scored eight points with three steals, breaking the Washburn single-season steals record of 82 set by Will McNeill during the 2012-13 season.

The Ichabods will wrap up the regular season on Saturday against the Lions, with the men's game followed by a 3 o'clock women's game between the Ichabods and Missouri Southern.

Missiouri Southern's men are coming off a 95-69 MIAA loss at Central Missouri on Wednesday night.
 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn seniors Gabi Giovannetti, Yibari Nwidadah, Payton Sterk and Aniah Wayne will be honored before Saturday's 3 p.m. game against Missouri Southern in Lee Arena. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]