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Rural boys drop 60-58 OT heartbreaker to Centennial League
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
When Washburn Rural’s Kiefer O'Connor drained a 3-pointer to tie Manhattan 58-58 with 5.1 seconds remaining in overtime Friday, elation was mixed with trepidation. That was too much time, particularly when Manhattan senior Vince Doering received the inbounds pass and raced up court.
Senior John Hoytal led Washburn Rural with 23 points in Friday's 60-58 overtime loss to Manhattan. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]
Doering had been hitting big shots all night, and the senior dribbled the length of the floor, pierced the Junior Blue defense and flipped in a layup for the 60-58 win just as the buzzer sounded.
Doering’s heroics foiled a valiant battle by the Junior Blues on their Senior Night. Trailing by six points with 4:52 left in regulation, Washburn Rural put together a 7-0 run to take a 41-40 lead with 3:11 remaining. But they couldn’t hold it and needed a shot by senior John Hoytal to send the game to overtime tied 46-46.
The Junior Blues never led in overtime, but tied it on O’Connor's three to give themselves a chance. After a timeout, they loaded up to defend the inbounds pass, with coach Alex Hutchins' instructions fresh in their minds:
“’Don’t get beat off the dribble. Don’t let them get downhill,’ Hutchins said. “That’s pretty much the only thing we said was, ‘Don’t let them get downhill.’ And then we did.”
Having already locked up sole possession of the Centennial League crown in their previous game, Manhattan was playing for Claaa 6A sub-state positioning. When Doering’s shot fell, the entire Indians’ team celebrated in the corner of the gym while the Junior Blues shuffled off.
“Tough to tell how everybody’s doing. I’m sure we’ve got a lot of guys that are hurting,” Hutchins said. “We’ve been in this scenario a lot this year, and too often we’ve not found a way to make the final play and get it done. We say we keep learning and we’re knocking on the door, and hopefully at some point we will kick the door down. Unfortunately, tonight wasn’t that night, but hopefully it’s the next one.
“I thought we did a pretty darn good job defensively most of the night and gave ourselves a chance. We coughed the ball up and turned it over way too many times. But the fact we are still within striking distance is a testament to the defensive end.”
Hoytal led the Junior Blues with 23 points, the only member of the team to crack double figures. Washburn Rural fell to 11-11 on the year, 4-6 in the Centennial League.
Shawnee Heights girls win first UKC title with 54-41 win at Seaman
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' girls ended a decade long league championship drought Friday at Seaman, with the T-Birds clinching their first United Kansas Conference title with a 54-41 win over the Vikings in a packed house on Seaman's Senior Night.
KK Emmot led Shawnee Heights with a game-high 19 points Friday as the T-Birds wrapped up the UKC title with a 54-41 win at Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Heights improved to 19-4 overall and 15-1 in the UKC with its eighth straight victory, with the T-Birds wrapping up the No. 2 Class 5A East sub-state seed.
"I'm super proud for these girls to get the league and super proud for them to come in tonight and play the way they did because this is an incredible atmosphere and Seaman played their hearts out,'' said veteran Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells, who is retiring after the current season. "They did everything they could to get us down and try to get us where we weren't playing at our best.
"We had some girls that stepped up and did what they needed to do.''
Shawnee Heights led Seaman by only a 14-12 count at the end of the first quarter, but broke the game open with a 21-10 second quarter, opening up a 35-22 halftime advantage.
The T-Birds made that 13-point lead hold up the rest of the way, with Heights and Seaman both scoring 19 points in the second half.
Wells said that Friday's tough game and the atmosphere was good for the T-Birds, resembling what Heights is likely to face in postseason.
"That's what we needed and the girls even commented during the JV boys game that, 'Man, this game's going crazy right now,' '' Wells said. "It was a great atmosphere and I'm just proud that our girls came out and after a slow start, we kind of kicked it into gear a little bit and made some things happen.''
Pearmella Carter scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in Shawnee Heights' 54-41 win over Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior KK Emmot scored a game-high 19 points to lead three T-Birds in double figures, with junior Pearmella Carter adding 15 points and senior Reianna Vega 14.
Junior Brynn Spencer led Seaman with 13 points in Friday's 54-41 loss to Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Brynn Spencer paced Seaman (10-13, 8-9) with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, while junior Cara Beaton added 10 points.
Seaman celebrates Senior Night, Cox's coaching legacy with 78-53 romp past T-Birds
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After a painfully slow start, Seaman's boys basketball team took care of business on the court with a 78-53 Senior Night romp past United Kansas Conference and city rival Shawnee Heights Friday night at Seaman.
Seaman senior star KaeVon Bonner scored 38 points Friday night as the Vikings wrapped up a 19-4 regular season with a 78-53 Senior Night win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman coach Craig Cox was honored Friday night for his outstanding coaching career after the Vikings' 78-53 UKC win over city rival Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Then, after that emotional win, the Vikings and the Seaman community made sure that they gave retiring Seaman coach Craig Cox a fitting farewell in the final regular-season game of his outstanding coaching career.
The night got off to an inauspicious beginning for Seaman when Shawnee Heights roared to a 13-point lead and an 11-point advantage at the start of the second stanza.
But Seaman, which improved to 19-4 overall and 14-2 in the UKC, responded in front of a huge home crowd to bury the T-Birds with a 25-3 second quarter, opening up a 40-29 halftime advantage and cruising to the big win.
"I told our guys at the end of the first quarter, I said, 'You know they're running on high and I don't think it's going to stay there. Let's try to change the tempo and see if we can slow down their momentum,' '' Cox said.
"We went to the zone and they had good looks and fortunately for us they didn't make them and then we rebounded really well in our zone and that turned things around. Then I thought we did a better job in the second quarter on the offensive end.''
Shawnee Heights (15-8, 10-6) was still within 12 points (56-44) at the end of the third quarter before senior KaeVan Bonner and the Vikings turned the game into a rout with a 22-9 scoring edge over the final eight minutes.
Bonner had a huge 38-point night, with 14 field goals, a pair of 3-pointers and an 8 of 9 performance at the free throw line, while fellow senior Griffin Zuniga added 10 points.
Junior Cam Ross led Shawnee Heights with 16 points in Friday's 78-53 UKC loss at Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Freshman Quincy Dixon had 14 points in Friday's 78-53 Shawnee Heights loss at Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Cam Ross led Shawnee Heights with 16 points while freshman Quincy Dixon added 14 points and senior JaiMarion Cook 11 for the T-Birds.
Retiring Seaman basketball coach Craig Cox poses with his five seniors during a post-game recognition ceremony. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
After the game the spotlight turned to Cox, who has turned in an outstanding coaching career at Shawnee Heights, Washburn Rural and now Seaman, leading all three teams to state tournament appearances and coaching Heights to Class 5A state titles in 2000 and 2002 and Seaman to the state crown in 2022.
Cox also coached Heights to a pair of state baseball championships before turning his attention to basketball.
A post-game video was played featuring messages from a host of Cox's former players, including PGA star and U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland and current Los Angeles Angels pitcher Ryan Zeferjahn, as well as tributes from many of Cox's coaching counterparts, co-workers and family members.
"It was amazing to see so many people contribute to (that video) and the memories that pop into your head as you see each face and hear their comments,'' Cox said. "I'm really overwhelmed by the whole event.''
Cox had made the decision to retire after the current season months ago and said he feels good about the fact that he's stepping away at the right time.
"Bob Chipman (Washburn University coaching legend) made the comment after he retired, he said, 'You'll know when you know,' '' Cox said. "And I just felt like 39 years had been amazing. Being a (physical education) teacher is phenomenal, but now I have an opportunity to go look at some other things.
"I just kind of had that feeling that the timing (was right). This year's been great as far as the regular season. I couldn't even of thought of it going this well and that's even with a couple of ugly ones that we had along the way.''
Cox had kept the news of his retirement under wraps as much as possible over the season, wanting the focus to remain on his team.
"I wanted it to be for these guys,'' Cox said. "It's their senior year and that's why I'm so happy that my wife, with Travis Brown (Seaman athletic director), made the decision to do my part afterwards so they had their Senior Night and the focus was on them.
"They had the phenomenal game and were able to celebrate a big win over a quality team.''
