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Rural girls overcome slow start in 55-24 home Centennial League win over Emporia
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Looking at Friday's 55-24 final score it would appear that the fourth-ranked Washburn Rural girls had an easy time with Emporia.
But the winless Spartans got Rural's attention with a solid first-half performance and Junior Blues coach Kevin Bordewick got his team's attention by putting four starters on the bench for the bulk of the first quarter before the hosts took control over the final 17 minutes to improve to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Centennial League.
Washburn Rural sophomore Maddie Vickery scored a game-high 17 points in Friday's 55-24 win over Emporia. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Kate Hinck scored 16 points and led Washburn Rural's defense in Friday's 55-24 win over Emporia. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Emporia, which fell to 0-7 and 0-2, jumped out to an 8-0 lead, including six early points in Friday's opening quarter, prompting Bordewick to make mass substitutions about two minutes into the game, with sophomore Brooklyn Rutherford the lone Junior Blue starter to stay in the game.
"They know better and we've talked about it,'' Bordewick said of the slow start. "We got off to a zero to eight start against Hayden on Friday and we talked all week about being the aggressor, being smarter with the ball, running your offense and we did none of what we had worked on in practice.
"I did think Brooklyn did what she was supposed to do and that's why she stayed and it was just the little things that she was doing that I didn't feel like the other four were. Above all, we're kind of known as a team that plays hard and we get that from how hard we work in practice. I thought we had really good practices this week and then it doesn't show up and that drives me insane, so obviously I'm the link that's not connecting the two and somehow I've got to figure out how to get that message across from the start.''
Emporia led 10-6 at the end of the first quarter and was still tied at 16-all with 1:06 left in the half before sophomore Maddie Vickery scored on a follow shot and junior Ella Hirchi hit a 3-pointer to give Rural a 21-16 halftime advantage.
The Junior Blues then scored the first 14 points of the second half and outscored the Spartans 22-5 in the third to take a commanding 43-21 advantage into the final stanza.
Ichabod men begin run as nation's No. 1 team with 83-72 win over ESU
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University men's basketball passed its first test playing as the No. 1 team in the nation on Wednesday night, taking an 83-72 win over Emporia State in Lee Arena.
Senior Andrew Orr (right) scored a game-high 21 points Wednesday night as Washburn improved to 16-0 with an 83-72 win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Michael Keegan had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals in Washburn's 83-72 win over Emporia State Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Brett Ballard's Ichabods won their 16th straight game to open the season, improving to 16-0 overall and 7-0 in the MIAA, while handing the Hornets their sixth loss in a row.
And while Wednesday's win wasn't quite as many games during the Ichabods' win streak WU has still had just one single-digit game on the season.
"It's hard to win in this league so definitely (Ballard) is still happy, but obviously there's things we can work on,'' said Washburn senior Michael Keegan, who turned in a banner overall performance for the Ichabods. "There were some things we let go easy, but kudos to (the Hornets). They really played hard, they played well.
"Overall, we're very happy for a win. Staying undefeated is a very big thing for us right now.''
Ballard said that while his team might not have been as sharp as it wanted to to be,the Ichabods achieved their main objective of getting a win over their rival.
"I think you get somewhat spoiled,'' Ballard said. "You win a rivalry game by double-digits and you feel a certain type of way about it and I understand that. I thought that Emporia deserved a lot of credit.
"They battled us and had a nice game plan. They frustrated us on the defensive end. Luckily we got 16 offensive rebounds and that was really the difference in the game but our first-shot offense was not very good. I thought we got good looks and didn't make some of them. We're not going to apologize for winning by double-digits, but I do think a lot of things we need to clean up.''
Washburn trailed by just one point on four different occasions in the opening minutes, including a 10-9 Hornet lead with 17:23 to play in the half, but Washburn used a 7-0 run over the next 60 seconds to go in front 16-10 and never trailed again, leading for 37:59 of the 40-minute contest.
Washburn Rural Hall of Fame to induct Hedberg, Brennan, 2008 softball team Friday night
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Longtime former Washburn Rural teacher and tennis coach Kevin Hedberg, Brenda Holaday's 2008 Class 6A state championship softball team and the late Michael Brennan, a Rural graduate and world-renowned musician and composer, will be inducted into the Washburn Rural Hall of Fame Friday night at Rural.
A social hour will be held from 4:30-5 p.m. in the WRHS cafeteria, followed by the induction ceremony from 5-7 p.m. The inductees will also be recognized at halfcourt between the girls and boys varsity basketball games against Emporia.
2025 WRHS Hall of Fame inductees:
2008 GIRLS SOFTBALL TEAM -- Coach Brenda Holaday's Junior Blues won the 2008 Class 6A championship at Hummer Sports Park. The team defeated Olathe Northwest in the championship game by a score of 2-1 and finished with an overall record of 23-2. During the State Tournament, the team did not allow a single earned run and gave up only one run in three games. The Junior Blues also won Centennial League and regional championships. The title was the second state championship for the softball program, which also won titles in 1995 and 2014. Holaday was named the Kansas softball coach of the Year in 2008 and Paige Ladenburger was named the Gatorade Player of the Year. Many of Rural's softball players played more than one sport at Rural and their ability to multitask, be team players, develop tremendous leadership skills and build great work ethic has contributed to their adult life and the impact they continue to have on others and in this community. Four of the 2008 players went on to earn their medical doctorate degrees in their chosen field, three became nurses or work in the medical field, two became teachers in USD 437, and four became business leaders. Seven of the 13 went on to play college ball. Coach Holaday left Washburn Rural in 2016 after being a part of all three state championships and posting a 351-93 record, 14 Centennial League championships and 16 6A state tournaments. In her 19 years of coaching at Rural Holday was named Centennial League and City Coach of the Year nine times. Holaday took over the reins at Washburn University’s softball program before the 2017 season. Her teams have won two MIAA Conference titles, appeared in three NCAA tournaments and she has been named MIAA Coach of the Year twice.
