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By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

The red-hot Cair Paravel Lions ran their winning streak to 17 games Thursday, setting themselves up for the post-season with a 64-43 victory over Jefferson County North.

Chase Hastert paced Cair Paravel with 13 points in Thursday's 64-43 win over Jefferson County North. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

The 20-2 Lions have not tasted defeat since December 12, when they dropped a hard-fought battle with Axtell, the state’s top-ranked team in Class 1A Div. 2.

Thursday, Cair Paravel overcome a size disadvantage by playing gritty defense and shooting the lights out. The Lions hit 23-47 shots, including eight threes to just two for JCN.  

The Lions had to figure out how to stop towering post player Isaac Laird and high-scoring wing man Chance Jenkins. Cair Paravel coach Chip Kueffer decided to put his tallest player, Blaine Durbin, on the lanky Jenkins, leaving senior Caleb Cleverdon to defend Laird in the paint.

“Coach Johnny McDermott put together a flawless scouting report and they followed it to a T,” Kueffer said. "(The Chargers) were a huge matchup problem, and they’re going to make a run, I would be surprised if they don’t win their sub-state. They’ve got a lot of length and they’ve got matchups.

“Caleb Cleverdon, I mean, he doesn’t look like much of an offensive lineman, but he is. So, we just had him sit on (Laird). He had to have help from behind and we had to talk, big time. Really proud of Caleb for the way he showed up tonight.”

Freshman Mateo Gossard reacts after hitting one of his four 3-pointers Thursday night in Cair Paravel's 64-43 win over JCN. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

The Lions led 18-9 early in the second period when they got an outburst from freshman Matteo Gossard, the only non-starter to play for the Lions. Gossard nearly brought the roof down when he connected on four consecutive 3-pointers in the quarter.

“Stay ready, you don’t have to get ready,” Kueffer said of Gossard’s contribution. “He’s a player. No surprise to anybody, but so happy for him. He’s been a spark all year, but really happy to see those shots fall for him.”

“Our guards, Chase (Hastert) and Lucas (Marichal), were driving in, creating open lanes for me and then just dishing the ball. Then I just basically had to finish the job,” Gossard said. “So, thanks to them. When I hit the first one, I kind of was like, ‘I might be able to get hot.’ Then my teammates just kept giving me the ball when there was no one on me.”

Trailing 34-15 at halftime, Jefferson County North made some adjustments and appeared energized to make a run. But senior Drew Fay, scoreless in the first half, converted all four of his field goal attempts in the quarter to help the Lions stay in front.

“It was a great team win. This was definitely one of our best games of the season,” Fay said. “I felt like we all worked together, we all played hard, and things were just kind of clicking tonight. Our passes felt crisp. We were hitting shots. It seemed like things were just going our way.”

The Lions’ offense produced balanced scoring Thursday. Hastert led with 13 points, followed by Gossard and Durbin with 12 apiece. Cleverdon and Fay each tallied 10, and Marichal added seven.

The Lions entered the final week of the season as the seventh-ranked team in Class 2A. Having never been ranked before this season, they now enter the postseason in an unfamiliar role – the hunted as opposed to the hunter.

“It’s interesting because we’re starting to get a little bit of attention from people,” Kueffer said. “We just got to make sure that we deflect and redirect all that attention towards Christ because that’s what we stand on. That’s the cornerstone of everything we do. We’re getting attention for the school, which is a great thing, but we got to make sure that the main thing stays the main thing.”

CAIR PARAVEL BOYS 64, JEFFERSON COUNTY NORTH 43

Jefferson County North 7 8 16 12 -- 43

Cair Paravel                    10 24 15 15 -- 64

Jefferson County North (16-6) – Van Dyke 2-8 0-0 4, Elias 1-5 0-0 3, Fuhrman 3-9 4-8 10, Jenkins 4-9 1-1 10, Laird 5-5 2-4 12, Lindsay 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 17-39 7-13 43.

Cair Paravel (20-2) – Hastert 4-7 3-8 13, Marichal 1-4 5-6 7, Durbin 6-16 0-0 12, Cleverdon 4-7 0-0 10, Fay 4-6 2-3 10, Gossard 4-7 0-1 12. Totals: 23-47 10-17 64.

3-point goals – Jefferson County North 2 (Elias 1, Jenkins 1), Cair Paravel 8 (Gossard 4, Cleverdon 2, Hastert 2). Total fouls – Jefferson County North 14, Cair Paravel 13. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural junior Daniel Allen, a multiple event city and Centennial League individual and relay gold medalist. leads the city contingent for the state swimming championships Friday and Saturday at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatics Center.

Washburn Rural junior Daniel Allen is the top Class 6A seed for the 100 butterfly and the No. 2 seed for the 100 backstroke. [File photo/TSN]  

Allen, a multiple Class 6A medalist as a freshman in 2024 before sitting out the '25 high school season, is the No. 1 seed for the 100-yard butterfly (51.39 seconds) and the No. 2 seed in the 100 backstroke (52.82).

City and Centennial League team champion Washburn Rural will be well-represented in the 6A state meet, with sophomore Thomas Appuhn (200 individual medley, 100 backstroke), junior Andres Morao-Jaspe (200 individual medley, 100 backstroke) and freshman Braeden Montgomery (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle) all qualifying in two individual events while sophomore Castle Wallace is qualified in the 100 breaststroke, sophomore Quenten Jessop is qualified in the 50 freestyle and freshman Benjamin Allen is qualified in the 100 butterfly.

Washburn Rural sophomore Thomas Appuhn is the No. 4 seed in Class 6A for the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 backstroke. [File photo/TSN]

Appuhn is the No. 4 seed in the 200-yard individual medley (2:01.27) and the No. 4 seed in the 100 backstroke (55.50).

The Junior Blues are also qualified in the 200 medley relay, 200 free relay and 400 free relay.

Topeka High senior Will Stewart is qualified in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle.

Seaman junior Kinser Barbosa is the No. 5 Class 5A-1A seed in the 100 freestyle and the No. 7 seed in the 50 freestyle. [File photo/TSN]

In 5A-1A Seaman junior Kinser Barbosa is the No. 5 seed in the 100 freestyle (49.23) and the No. 7 seed in the 50 free (22.41).

Hayden sophomore Patrick Luke is an individual qualifier in the 50 free while Seaman is qualified in the 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free relays and Hayden is qualified in the 400 free relay.  

The three-day state meet will get under way with Thursday's diving prelims and semis, with the 5A-1A event at 10 a.m. and 6A at 4:30 p.m., but the city does not have a qualifier in either of those events.

The 5A-1A swimming preliminaries will start at 10 a.m. on Friday, with the 6A prelims following at 4 p.m.

Championship 5A-1A finals will get under way at 10 a.m. Saturday, followed by the 6A finals at 4 o'clock. 

STATE SWIMMING/DIVING SCHEDULE 

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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

With both teams needing a win and each ranked seventh in their respective classes by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, Hayden hosted Manhattan Tuesday in a huge Centennial League matchup.

 Sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein led the way with 20 points in Hayden's 66-61 win over Manhattan Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]

In a game that went down to the wire Wildcats were able to outlast the Indians for a 66-61 win.

Hayden jumped out to a fast start behind sophomore Sophia Wichman, who has earned a start in the last two games due to illness and has stepped up in a big way.

“It's definitely boosted my confidence a whole lot because just playing with Hailey (Schmidtlein) and Blakely (Walter) together, we work so well together,'' Wichman said. "I feel like when us three are in the game together, we just know each other really well, and it builds my confidence because I know I have them to help me.”

Wichman scored the first five points of the game before Manhattan senior Delaney Larson found the basket.

Walter then knocked down a 3-pointer to give Hayden an early 8-2 lead. Manhattan struggled offensively in the first quarter as the Wildcats surged ahead 24-12 by the end of the period.

“We played last week and kind of just played halfcourt basketball, and we really felt like this team's better when we push the tempo,” Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said. “So we really tried to push the tempo and create space early in possessions, and we did that.

"(Lauren) Borjon hitting some big threes helped us spread them out even more.”

Wichman opened the second quarter with another basket, but Manhattan began to chip away at the lead.

Schmidtlein attacked the rim and got to the free throw line, converting four straight as Hayden built a 33-18 advantage. The Indians responded with a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 33-27.

Schmidtlein answered with two more free throws, and after the teams traded baskets down the stretch, Hayden carried a 42-35 lead into halftime.

Manhattan came out of the locker room energized, scoring two quick baskets to trim the lead to 42-39.

Hayden struggled offensively in the third quarter as the Indians continued to close the gap. With Hayden leading 46-45 and 3:18 remaining in the third, seniors Kat Ball and Delaney Larson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Manhattan its first lead of the game at 51-46.

The surge forced Reynoldson to call a timeout.

“I told them great teams aren't just going to sit back -- they punch back hard, and now we’ve got to counter with everything we have,” Reynoldson said.

“He just said we need to stick together, that we're going to win this game, but we have to get the rebounds because they got so many offensive and defensive rebounds,'' Wichman said.

"We just needed to box out, and whoever was going to fight the hardest was going to win this game. We were all just like, ‘We got this -- we need to fight hard.’ We were encouraging each other.”

Manhattan carried the lead into the fourth quarter, but Hayden refused to back down.

The Indians went ice-cold from the field while the Wildcats opened the final period on a 13-0 run.

Manhattan didn’t score until the 1:55 mark of the fourth quarter.

“It just says a lot,” Wichman said. “It shows that our coach has so much faith in us that we can apply ourselves. I think us working together and knowing we can win as a team -- and encouraging each other -- made the difference.”

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