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A look at this week's midseason prep basketball tournaments involving Shawnee County teams
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Topeka High will host the 64th annual Topeka Invitational Tournament Thursday through Saturday, with Highland Park, Topeka High and Topeka West's boys teams taking part in the event.
Ja'Corey Robinson and the undefeated Highland Park boys are the team to beat in this week's Topeka Invitational Tournament at Topeka High. [File photo/TSN]
Undefeated Highland Park, top-ranked in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, will open the tournament at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, with the 8-0 Scots facing Shawnee Mission North.
Lawrence and Wichita Southeast are on the same side of the bracket with Highland Park and SM North and will play a first-round game at 5 p.m.
The Hi Park-North winner will face the Lawrence-Wichita Southeast winner in a 6:30 p.m. semifinal on Friday.
Topeka West, 5-2 entering a regular-season game Tuesday at Basehor-Linwood, will open its tournament bid at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against its United Kansas Conference rival Lansing.
Host Topeka High (0-8) will close out the first round at 8 p.m. against Olathe East, with the High-East winner advancing to an 8 p.m. semifinal on Friday.
The tournament will conclude on Saturday, starting with the seventh-place game at 10 a.m., followed by the fifth-place and third-place games and the championship contest at 2:30 p.m.
TOPEKA INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
At Topeka High
Thursday
3:30 p.m. -- Highland Park vs. Shawnee Mission North.
5 -- Lawrence vs. Wichita Southeast.
6:30 -- Topeka West vs. Lansing.
8 -- Topeka High vs. Olathe East.
Friday
3:30 p.m. -- Highland Park-SM North loser vs. Lawrence-Wichita State loser.
5 -- Topeka West-Lansing loser vs. Topeka High-Olathe East loser.
6:30 -- Highland Park-SM North winner vs. Lawrence-Wichita Southeast winner.
8 -- Topeka West-Lansing winner vs. Topeka High-Olathe East winner, 8 p.m.
Saturday
10 a.m. -- Seventh place.
11:30 -- Fifth place.
1 p.m. -- Third place.
2:30 -- Championship.
Hayden boys set to compete at Baldwin
Hayden will compete in the six-school Baldwin Invitational this week, opening its tournament bid at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday against Wellsville.
Hayden will take a 4-4 record into the tournament after a tight 46-43 Centennial League loss to Class 6A Manhattan.
The Wildcats will play Augusta at 5:30 Friday and will wrap things up on Saturday in the place games.
The fifth-place game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, followed by the third-place game at 2:30 and the championship game at 4 o'clock.
BALDWIN INVITATIONAL
Tuesday
5:30 p.m. -- Wellsville vs. Augusta, 5:30 p.m.
7 -- Bishop Seabury vs. Baldwin.
Wednesday
5:30 p.m. -- Hayden vs. Wellsville.
7 -- Christ Prep vs. Bishop Seabury
Friday
5:30 p.m. -- Hayden vs. Augusta.
7 -- Christ Prep vs. Baldwin.
Saturday
1 p.m. -- Fifth place.
2:30 p.m. -- Third place.
4 p.m. -- Championship.
Junior Simon Rowley (facing) and Washburn Rural will compete in the Bill Hanson Memorial Tournament at Pittsburg. [File photo/TSN]
Rural boys headed to Pittsburg
Washburn Rural, 6-2 on the season after a Centennial League win over Emporia, will compete this week in the Bill Hanson Memorial Tournament at Pittsburg.
The Junior Blues will play an 8:30 p.m. first-round game on Thursday against Joplin, Mo.
Also on Rural's side of the tournament bracket are Webster Groves, Mo. and Branson, Mo., who will play at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The Rural-Joplin winner will play the Webster Groves-Branson winner in a 7:30 p.m. semifinal on Friday.
The place games will be played on Saturday, capped by the championship game at 2:30 p.m.
BILL HANSON MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
At Pittsburg
Thursday
7 p.m. -- Willard, Mo. vs. Pittsburg (main gym); Webster Groves, Mo. vs. Branson, Mo. (Mallatt gym).
8:30 -- Owasso, Okla. vs. Wichita West (main gym); Washburn Rural vs. Joplin, Mo. (Mallatt gym).
Friday
6 p.m. -- Owasso-Wichita West winner vs. Willard-Pittsburg winner (main gym); Owasso-Wichita West loser vs. Willard-Pittsburg loser (Mallatt gym).
7:30 -- Webster Groves-Branson winner vs. Washburn Rural-Joplin winner (main gym); Webster Groves-Branson loser vs. Washburn Rural-Joplin loser (Mallatt gym).
Saturday
11:30 a.m. -- Third place (main gym); seventh place (Mallatt gym).
2:30 p.m. -- Championship game (main gym); fifth-place game (Mallatt gym).
Senior Jaret Sanchez (3) leads Shawnee Heights into this week's Shawnee Mission West Viking Classic. [File photo/TSN]
T-Bird boys to compete in Viking Classic
Shawnee Heights will open competition in the Shawnee Mission West Viking Classic with a 6 p.m. Thursday quarterfinal against the host team.
The T-Birds, ranked No. 4 in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association rankings, are 5-2 on the season while SM West is 1-4.
The Shawnee Heights-West winner will advance to a 7:30 semifinal on Friday to take on the first-round winner between Ozark, Mo. and Louisburg.
The place games will be played on Saturday, with the title game set for 3 p.m.
WU women ride 30-point third quarter to come-from-behind win over Jets
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball used a 30-point third quarter to overcome a halftime deficit and top Newman 77-66 on Saturday afternoon in a foul-plagued contest in Lee Arena.
Junior Yibari Nwidadah led Washburn with 22 points and 8 rebounds in the Ichabods' 77-66 MIAA win over Newman on Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Gabi Giovannetti had 18 points and went 8 of 8 from the free throw line in Washburn's 77-66 win over Newman on Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Ichabods and Jets combined for 50 total fouls and 63 free throws, with four players, including three for Newman, fouling out.
"Obviously, they had the intention of being physical with us and we caught that early and any time you see that early in a game you know it's going to be hard to stay on your rhythm and stay in anything comfortable,'' WU coach Lora Westling said.
"And so credit to them, they kept us from getting comfortable all night, but I think we had enough weapons and obviously a dominant inside presence (with junior Yibari Nwidadah) that kind of helped us trudge through the mud a little bit.''
WU junior standout Gabi Giovannetti said finding a way to get Saturday's win was very important for the Ichabods, who won three of four games in their just concluded homestand, with the only loss coming in overtime.
"It was very momentum-building for us to get this win and we knew that,'' Giovannetti said. "We came in kind of flat, but we really locked in after halftime and realized what we needed to do.
"We needed to give it to Yibari obviously on offense and then lock in on defense and not them shoot any more 3s and then maximize their fouls on the offense that they were giving us.''
Ramsey comes up big late as No. 3-ranked Hayden tops No. 5 Manhattan, 54-47
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Beating ranked Class 6A teams has become a familiar thing for the Hayden Lady Wildcats, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
After beating defending Class 6A champion Shawnee Mission South in their 2024 finale and then topping 6A runnerup Washburn Rural, the Wildcats knocked off No. 5 Manhattan 54-47 in an instant classic Friday night at Hayden.
Senior Millie Ramsey scored 8 of her 13 points in the closing minutes as Hayden took a 54-47 Centennial League victory over Manhattan. [File photo/TSN]
The Lady Wildcats, who are off to a 9-0 start after placing third in 3A last year, would start off up 12-8 at the end of the first quarter and would go into halftime with a 30-24 lead.
But Hayden would cool off at the end the third quarter, allowing the Indians to come back and tie it up at 40 going into the fourth quarter.
The Centennial League rivals would trade punches until Hayden senior Millie Ramsey would deliver the knockout punch with 4:10 left in the game.
Ramsey would hit the biggest shot of the night with a 3 pointer to tie it up at 46 before hitting another 3-pointer on the next possession to put Hayden up 49-46 with 2:20 left.
Ramsey then put the icing on the cake with a layup to put the Wildcats up 51-46 with 1:15 left in the game, followed by two Brylee Meier free throws and the Cats would survive a hard fought game against the Lady Indians.
Senior Brylee scored a game-high 16 points as Hayden took a 54-47 Centennial League victory over Manhattan. [File photo/TSN]
The Wildcats who got another good scoring night from senior Meier, who would lead all scorers with 16 points.
“She carries us through times when our offense is stagnant with her ability to shoot the ball,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said of Meier. "And when times are tough, she’s been a tremendous leader for us. The comments she makes on the bench during a time out are perfectly in sync with the message.”
“I felt like going into the game I knew I was going to have to be a big leader for the team,'' Meier said. "I just had to make sure we had energy in times where everyone was tired and staying positive when shots weren’t falling.”
