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Washburn baseball opens MIAA play with series win at Newman, narrowly misses sweep
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The first five batters of Sunday's game reached base for Washburn, 4-6 overall, 2-1 MIAA, with a walk by Ian Luce and singles by Jackson Mervosh and Easton Wasinger, the second scoring a run.
Another run came around to score on an error in the field and Levi Risenhoover plated another with a single into left to make it 3-0.
The Jets (3-10, 1-2) got two runs back on a hit and an error in the bottom of the inning.
In the second Washburn got a runner on with an error before Chase Littrell smashed a home run to right field to get the two runs back. Newman strung together three hits in the bottom of the third inning to pull within one.
Littrell struck again, plating one run in the fourth as he scored Trenton Barry, who doubled.
Kai Bennett finished off his start on the mound with a scoreless fourth inning. A pair of doubles in the fifth, first from Wasinger and then Brandt Beeby boosted the Ichabod lead to 7-4.
In the sixth Washburn got two more runs, one on an RBI grounder by Trey West and another on a single from Luce.
Max Strash entered the game in the fifth and tossed a pair of scoreless innings.
In the home half of the seventh Newman took advantage of a pair of errors by the Ichabods that extended the inning and allowed four runs to come around and make it a 9-8 game.
Washburn left two runners on in the top of the eighth, and in the bottom the Jets scored a pair to go in front for the first and only time in the game.
The Ichabods out-hit Newman 11-10 while also leading in walks 6-5. They committed four errors in the game while the Jets had just two.
Four pitchers combined for nine strikeouts, led by seven in 4.0 innings for Bennett. At the plate Littrell went 2-4 with three RBI while Wasinger and Beeby also had multi-hit games.
Highland Park avenges 21-point loss with 69-56 Senior Night romp past KC-Sumner
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Highland Park hosted Kansas City-Sumner on Friday night for a Meadowlark Conference rematch of a 73-52 Scots loss to the Sabres earlier this season.
JoJo Kingannon led three Highland Park players in double figures with a game-high 21 points in Friday's 69-56 home win over KC-Sumner. [File photo/TSN]
And the Scots got their revenge in resounding fashion, rolling to a 69-56 Senior Night win.
Highland Park honored three seniors before tipoff and then made sure the outcome would be different this time.
Sophomore Davion Anderson opened the scoring for the Scots, but Sumner answered quickly. Senior Jaxon Davis attacked the rim, converted an and-one opportunity, and gave the Sabres an early 3-2 lead.
Junior JoJo Kingcannon responded by driving to the basket to reclaim the advantage. Davis continued to pressure the defense, knocking down two free throws to briefly put Sumner back on top, but senior Treonte Mitchell sparked the Scots with a 7-0 run midway through the first quarter, pushing Highland Park ahead 11-5.
Sumner countered with a 5-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to one, 11-10. Both teams closed the quarter strong, with the Scots holding a slim 15-14 lead after one.
Highland Park seized control in the second quarter. Mitchell scored inside to extend the lead to 19-14, then buried a 3-pointer to make it 24-17. The Scots followed with a 7-0 run that broke the game open at 31-19.
Mitchell scored nine of his 13 points in the quarter, helping Highland Park outscore Sumner 26-11 and take a commanding 41-25 lead into halftime.
“It feels really good,'' Mitchell said. "My teammates trusted me, and it was very important to us to get this win on Senior Night.''
Highland Park coach Nate Wallace praised his senior’s resilience and leadership.
“Treonte is one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever had,'' Wallace said. "He’s really buying into his role. This is the second game in a row where he’s scored 15 or 13. When he produces like that, we’re a tough team. He missed his sophomore and junior years for unfortunate reasons, so to see him show up and stay bought in all year has been huge for us.”
Wallace also credited the team’s energy and ball movement in the decisive quarter.
“The second quarter was huge. It gave us the lead and comfort,” Wallace said. “We had several guys check in and contribute. It was an all-around team effort. I loved the ball movement. We’ve been working on shooting and conditioning, so to see shots fall wasn’t a surprise. The way they moved the ball was the most impressive part.”
Kingcannon caught fire to open the third quarter, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 21 points and a 47-28 lead.
Sumner battled back in the period, trimming the deficit to 55-43 by the end of the third.
T-Bird boys improve to 15-7 with fourth straight victory, 80-33 over Pittsburg
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights boys basketball extended their winning streak to four games Saturday afternoon with a dominant 80-33 victory over Pittsburg in coach Ken Darting’s final regular-season home game.
Junior Cam Ross led Shawnee Heights with a game-high 21 points in Saturday's 80-33 win over Pittsburg. [File photo/TSN]
The T-Birds came out firing, opening the contest on a 9-0 run.
Senior Ja’Veon Alston scored four of those early points, setting the tone on both ends of the floor.
Pittsburg finally got on the board with a 3-pointer two minutes into the first quarter, but Cam Ross and Alston answered immediately to push the Heights lead to 13-3.
Alston’s defensive intensity created multiple turnovers, leading to easy scoring opportunities. He added his eighth point of the quarter as the T-Birds stretched the advantage to 15.
The Thunderbirds closed the first quarter on a 10-4 run, with Ross scoring five of those points, to take a commanding 30-9 lead.
Ross finished with a game-high 21 points, 15 of which came in the first half.
“I have to credit our defense mainly that allowed me to get to the basket and score,” Ross said. “My point guard, Javion, plays really good defense. He was able to force turnovers and find me slashing to the basket, and just having each other’s back on defense and offense.”
Darting emphasized the team’s defensive identity.
“We're defensive oriented, and we don't have a lot of offensive talent, but if we play the game right and we take the shots we can make, then we're good, because the defense is consistent,” Darting said. “We knew nothing about Pittsburg, so we came in with a mindset of going to get them and figure things out. I thought we did exactly what we needed to do going into playoffs.”
Senior Jaimarion Cook sparked a huge second-quarter surge.
The T Birds went on a 17-0 run midway through the period that carried to halftime, with Cook scoring 10 of his 18 points during the stretch.
Heights entered the locker room with a 51-18 advantage. The second half brought more of the same.
The T-Birds outscored the Dragons 23-7 in the third quarter, highlighted by a 21-0 run.
Sophomore Malachi Lee scored all eight of his points during that burst, including six straight, as the lead ballooned to 74-25, triggering a running clock in the fourth quarter.
