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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Very few people are more familiar with Washburn Rural's golf program than Hayden Beck.

And now the former Junior Blues' star and 2020 Rural graduate will put that knowledge to work as Washburn Rural's new girls golf coach, beginning in the 2026 fall season.

Former Washburn Rural star Hayden Beck was announced Wednesday as the Junior Blues' new girls golf coach. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Beck takes over for his high school coach, Jared Goehring, as the Junior Blues' girls coach and will serve as an assistant under Goehring as a boys assistant this spring.

Goehring had a 15-year run as Rural's girls coach that included four Class 6A state championships, two runnerup finishes and three thirds while qualifying for state as a team 14 times. Goehring has also led Rural to a 6A boys title and will continue in that role for the foreseeable future. 

Beck, a teacher in Rural's social studies department, said his focus moving forward is to continue his alma mater's outstanding golf tradition while adding his own stamp on the program.

"I've talked to coach quite a bit and I have a lot of respect for the guy,'' Beck said. "Throughout my entire life, even before high school, playing junior golf and taking junior golf lessons through him, I've been able to learn from him and I've been able to learn from the other coaches that came before me, coach (Jeff) Stromgren, coach (Ronnie) McHenry at Washburn, who have been fantastic guys to learn from.

"We've got something great built here. Now my job is to carry on that tradition and keep building. We have that foundation because of all the great work that was done by those before us. Now it's our turn to see what we can do.''   

Beck played golf for the Junior Blues from 2017-2020 before going on to play collegiately at Washburn University.

In addition to his playing career, Beck has spent the past five years working as a junior golf instructor.

"We are excited to welcome Hayden back to Washburn Rural,'' Rural athletic director Charlie Nimz said. "His experience as a player, his passion for teaching and his familiarity with our program and community makes him an outstanding choice to lead our girls golf team.''

 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Shawnee Heights girls basketball protected its share of the United Kansas Conference lead with a 64-51 road win at Basehor-Linwood Tuesday night, the T-Birds' sixth straight win.

Senior KK Emmot (1) scored 21 points Tuesday night as Shawnee Heights improved to 17-4 with a 64-51 UKC win at Basehor-Linwood. [File photo/TSN]

KK Emmot led four T-Birds in double figures with 21 points, including four 3-pointers, as Shawnee Heights improved to 17-4 overall and 13-1 in the conference.

Heights also got 17 points from junior Pearmella Carter, 13 from senior Reianna Vega and 11 points from senior Imani McGlory.

The T-Birds led 15-10 at the end of the opening quarter, 34-25 at the halftime break and 50-35 after three quarters before cruising the rest of the way.

Shawnee Heights will travel to Kansas City-Turner on Friday for a UKC contest.

T-Bird boys take 57-56 thriller over Bobcats

Shawnee Heights boys survived a last-second shot from Basehor-Linwood to take a 57-56 United Kansas Conference road victory over the Bobcats on Tuesday.

With the win the T-Birds improved to 13-7 overall and 9-5 in the UKC and have now won four out of their last five games.

Shawnee Heights will travel to Kansas City-Turner on Friday for a UKC game before hosting Pittsburg on Saturday in a non-league tilt. 

Junior Prince Lassiter led Topeka West with 22 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 78-54 win over De Soto. [File photo/TSN]

West boys roll to 78-54 UKC victory at De Soto

Topeka West improved to 17-3 overall and 12-2 in the United Kansas Conference with a 78-54 Tuesday night road win at at De Soto.

West took control from the opening tipoff, outscoring the Wildcats 27-8 in the first quarter.

The Chargers led 45-27 at the half before opening up a 64-40 margin at the start of the final period.

Junior Prince Lassiter led Topeka West with a game-high 22 points while also grabbing eight rebounds.

Seniors Malakyah Duncan and Gad Munganga added 16 and 14 points, respectively, with both Chargers connecting on four 3-pointers as West hit 10 treys as a team.

Brandon Serna led De Soto (7-12, 4-9) with 11 points.

De Soto tops West girls, 70-41

De Soto's girls romped to a 70-41 United Kansas Conference home victory over Topeka West Tuesday night.

De Soto improved to 10-9 overall and 7-6 in the conference while Topeka West fell to 5-15, 2-12.

Pirates knock off UKC-leading Seaman, 59-50

Piper avenged an earlier United Kansas Conference loss to Seaman Tuesday night, taking a 59-50 home win over the Vikings.

The Vikings suffered only their second UKC loss, dropping to 16-4 overall and 11-2 in the conference.

Piper improved to 14-6 overall and 10-3 in the UKC, winning for the seventh time over its last eight games.

Seaman will be at home Friday to host Basehor-Linwood in a UKC matchup.

Read more …

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.