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No. 2-ranked Washburn men to host Ottawa in final tuneup for start of MIAA play
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 2-ranked Washburn Ichabods will host the Ottawa Braves at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Lee Arena in their final tuneup up before opening MIAA play next week.
Washburn is 7-0 after rolling to a 105-51 win over Friends on Tuesday while Ottawa is 5-3 this season after dropping an 84-69 decision to McPherson in its last outing.
Former Washburn Rural star Jack Bachelor is averaging a team-high 17.4 points and 5.0 assists for 7-0 Washburn men's basketball. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN
After facing an NAIA foe for the second straight game on Saturday, Washburn will open its MIAA season next Thursday against Nebraska-Kearney and next Saturday against Fort Hays State, with both games in Lee Arena.
"The good thing about this week is we're able to focus a little bit more on ourselves and it's a little more self-scouting than it is on the opponent,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "We've got to respect those guys, but this has been good to hopefully use this practice time to tighten things up.''
"We look at every day as you're getting better or you're getting worse,'' junior Jack Bachelor said. "So taking steps in practice, taking steps in games and just working together and keep getting better as a team and individually is our goal because we know this MIAA conference is the best in the country, so there's going to be no off nights.''
Washburn's players also got the chance to take a short Thanksgiving break from Wednesday afternoon until returning to practice on Friday.
"This is a little bit of a time for them to re-charge,'' Ballard said. "It's a quick break, but a little bit of a re-charge for the players.''
Both Bachelor and sophomore Dillon Claussen have cracked double figures in all seven games this season and sneior Bryson Smith has scored no fewer than 12 points in each of the last six games, including 22 points in a win over Rockhurst.
Bachelor is averaging a team-high 17.4 points and 5.0 assists while shooting 88.9 percent from the free throw line.
Claussen is averaging 16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds.
Claussen led the way with 19 points against Friends, shooting 9 of 11 from the field while adding six rebounds, two steals, and a block. Bachelor followed with 16 points, six assists, five steals, and three rebounds, while hitting four 3-pointers, and Smith added 14 points, three assists, and three steals.
Ichabod women drop 53-49 OT decision to St. Mary's in Thanksgiving Classic
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The first seven points of the game came from Washburn (3-2) as five were scored by senior Payton Sterk.
The Rattlers (4-0) did not get on the board until the 6:45 mark in the opening frame. A layup inside from Britany Kogbara pushed the Washburn lead to nine points and a triple by Aniah Wayne made it 17-7 with 1:47 left in the first quarter. St. Mary's made it a single digit game trailing 17-9 after one.
The Rattlers scored the first five points of the second quarter, pulling within two and eventually tying the game at 19 at the 4:35 mark. The Ichabods shot just 3 of 12 from the field in the quarter as St. Mary's went in front, 23-21. Sterk hit a layup in the final seconds of the half to tie the game at 23.
Brooke Gomez connected from deep to open the second half for Washburn. Both teams traded baskets throughout much of the third quarter, with both shooting exactly 3 of 11 in the 10-minute period. Sterk finished the scoring in the quarter with a 3-pointer to put Washburn up 34-31 heading into the fourth.
With four points to start the quarter the Ichabod lead grew to seven after Madelyn Amekporfor hit a pair of free throws with 8:08 to play. St. Mary's began to chip away from that point, tying the game with 3:34 to play and going in front 43-41 on the next possession. The Rattlers led by two into the final minute until Sterk hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 45. Yibari Nwidadah made a block on the ensuing defensive possession, but the final Washburn offensive possession came up empty, resulting in overtime.
Neither team scored until the Rattlers got a free throw with 3:01 left in the extra period. Sterk scored a layup to put the Ichabods in front 47-46 at the 2:39 mark, but the next seven points came from the home team as St. Mary's took control.
Seaman girls basketball not viewing this season as rebuilding year
By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
In Class 5A, you’ve grown accustomed to the Seaman Lady Vikings basketball program being at the top for the last several seasons.
Senior Maddie Gragg is a three-time All-Shawnee County Top 10 selection for Seaman. [File photo/TSN]
The Vikings went 23-2 and won the state championship in 2024 and posted a 24-1 record and finished as the state runnerup last season. Seaman also made the state tournament in 2023, losing in the first round.
Coach Matt Tinsley enters his ninth year at Seaman and 20th overall as a coach. Tinsley put it simply that this season is just as important as the last couple of years.
“We still have Vikes on our jersey,” Tinsley said. “My expectations are not going to change. I understand why some coaches say it’s a rebuilding year. I don’t take it that way because I feel that if you have to say you’re rebuilding, you’re saying that you’ve been knocked down. I think our tradition and culture speaks for itself and I’m never going to use a rebuilding year because you’re just giving yourself an excuse.
“If you wear our jersey, you’re going to play with pride and play the right way. That’s what I’m excited about is seeing the growth in this team. We have some girls that are hungry and they feel like they have something to prove and I love those challenges as a coach too.”
The likes of Anna Becker, Taylin and Jaida Stallbaumer, Ava Esser, the list goes on of great talent to come from the Viking program. How does Tinsley try to fill those shoes to continue that dominance of great players?
“We got to get these kids to understand what their role is going to be on this team and how they can contribute,” he said. “Every kid out here is going to have a chance to show what they can do to help the team. Every day is an evaluation. My college coach always said that every day is a chance to earn your playing time to excel in your role.
"Whereas last year we could give it to Anna, ‘Hey go make a play’, this year, they’re going to have to rely on each other to make sure that we’re getting shots that we want to shoot, understanding our alignment and assignments and understanding time and score.''
Senior Maddie Gragg, whose only lost five games in her high school career, and junior Cara Beaton said they have to lead by example, encourage and push the pace to show the younger players how it’s done to develop good habits.
“We want to keep that legacy going and I think the standards are the same as last year if not higher and you can tell with the practices we’re still practicing the same just with different players,” said Gragg, a three-time All-Shawnee County Top 10 pick.
“Keep the same intensity as last year, just better attitudes and encouragement,” Beaton said.
Tinsley said he knows with the personnel he has there will be some tweaks made throughout the season and he knows that takes time and he will be patient with the girls on that. He said if they bring the effort and attitude every day to practice and games, they’ll be just fine.
In addition to Gragg, who averaged 13.3 points with 39 3-pointers, Beaton is another player Tinsley has high hopes for running the point guard position after being on the state championship and runnerup teams. Sophomore Lydia Dreher was another name Tinsley mentioned as a solid post player for the Vikes.
“We would like to see some separation in practice, but right now there's a lot of girls that I think can play but we won’t know until game night on how they’re going to respond,'' Tinsley said. "Definitely, our junior class is going to have to take that next step.''
Tinsley said the Vikings' approach this season will be different compared to last year where they had five players that could score 10 points or more a game. He said he will tell the team what they can do versus what they can’t do because that will build their confidence.
“We’re going to be a team that nobody is going to want to play come the end of the season. I feel really good about this team and we’re going to surprise some people,” Tinsley said.
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