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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Junior Jack Bachelor led the way Wednesday as newly-named No. 1-ranked Washburn University men's basketball raced past No. 4 West Texas A&M, 74-48, in San Antonio as the Ichabods topped their second straight No. 4-ranked foe.

Junior Jack Bachelor scored a game-high 19 points Wednesday to join Washburn's 1,000-point club for career points. [File photo/TSN]

Bachelor's first basket of the game – a 3-pointer with 15:33 to go in the first half – pushed him over the career 1,000-point mark for his career at Washburn, becoming the 30th Ichabod in program history to reach 1,000 points.

The former Washburn Rural star went on to score a game-high 19 points, hitting 5 of 10 shots from the floor and going a perfect 6 of 6 at the free throw line while adding five assists. 

Bachelor now has 1,017 career points in 77 career games and he is tied with former teammate Michael Keegan at No. 24 overall on Washburn's all-time scoring chart.

Now 13-0 on the season, Washburn seized control in the opening minutes, answering an early West Texas A&M push with a 12-0 run midway through the first half to take control.

The Ichabods shot a sizzling 58.6 percent from the floor in the first half and knocked down seven three-pointers, opening up a commanding 44-24 advantage at the break.

The Ichabods turned 11 Buffs first-half turnovers into 19 points, leading to a 16-0 advantage in fastbreak points.

Bachelor and junior Jeremiah Jones led the Ichabods' first-half charge with with 10 points apiece while sophomore Tyson Ruud added nine points.

The Ichabods maintained control in the second half, weathering a brief West Texas A&M rally before responding with timely baskets and defensive stops.

Washburn outscored the Buffs 30-24 after the break, holding the Buffs to 33.3 percent shooting (6 of 18) shooting while continuing to generate offense off turnovers and in the paint.

The WU lead ballooned to as many as 27 points late.

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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

It had been 12 days in between Games 1 and 2 for the Highland Park Lady Scots, who lost their season-opener to Topeka West.

Rob Brown's Highland Park girls picked up their first win of the season Tuesday night at home, rallying for a 42-40 non-league win over Shawnee Mission West. [File photo/TSN]

But the Scots made the long layoff pay off with a 42-40 home non-league victory over Class 6A school Shawnee Mission West.

The game would be a tale of two halves for the Scots, who saw themselves trailing the Vikings 10-7 at the end of the first quarter and 22-12 at halftime.

But defense wins games and defense it was as the Lady Scots would come out hot and hold the Vikings to 18 total points after halftime while scoring 30 points themselves.

“At halftime, I stressed that it is going to be our defense,'' Highland Park coach Rob Brown said. "We had to make some adjustments. I stressed to them tonight that this game was going to be the first to 40 wins and I was right.

"I keep telling the girls that our defense is going to be key for us. Offense is going to take care of itself, but we have to play defense without fouling.”

The Scots got huge shots when it mattered out of senior Koralee Jones who was cold for the night and had missed her last eight shots before hitting the biggest shots of the night.

With under two minutes to go in the game Jones would hit the net to tie the game at 38 and then with a minute to go in the game Jones would come up big again for her team as she would find the basket again this time to put her team up 40-38.

“It just says a lot about her confidence that it is growing, people don’t know, this is her third year playing basketball,'' Brown said. "So her confidence has grown with every practice and every game. The girls trust her and she trusts her teammates.”

“Just reflecting off the team’s energy, we played aggressive defense and kept grinding on offense, we didn’t let ourselves get flustered and kept attacking, and my shot finally fell when it mattered,” Jones said.

Shawnee Mission West would take a timeout with 18 seconds left and hit a shot to tie the game at 40.

But the Scots would get the ball down the court and it would find it’s way into the hands of sophomore Tavvi Williams-Sanders, who scored the game-winning basket.

“She is always in the right spot and she has that little soft touch to go back up with it,” Brown said.

“It means a lot to me because I wasn’t doing so good, and at the beginning of the game I got mad, but my teammates kept motivating me and I was at the right place at the right time to hit the shot,” Williams-Sanders said.

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By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

Two Class 5A state tournament teams from last season battled it out on Tuesday night, with the Topeka West boys basketball picking up the United Kansas Conference win over Piper, 72-62, moving to 4-0 on the year.

 

Senior Malakyah Duncan led Topeka West with 19 points as the Chargers improved to 4-0 with a 72-62 UKC win over Piper. [File photo/TSN] 

Even though his team got down early in the first quarter, West coach Christian Ulsaker liked how the Chargers didn’t waver.

“Showing the veteran leadership,'' Ulsaker said. "We've got a lot of seniors and juniors who have been battle tested throughout the years at Topeka West. They’re very good at handling pressure and understanding what they need to do to get the wins.''

 

Piper jumped out to a 5-0 lead and it took the Chargers until the 4:35 mark to score their first bucket of the game by senior Malakyah Duncan.

 

The Chargers would then go on a 10-2 run thanks to a Duncan-and-one and a triple from senior Gad Munganga to push the Topeka West lead to 12-7.

 

However, Piper would go into the second quarter with a 17-15 lead as Kamari Knott hit a three to re-take the lead.

In the second quarter, Piper led by five, 20-15, but Munganga wouldn’t go away, knocking down another three in the right corner pocket to get West within two at 23-21.

 

Senior Keimani Paul would then tie it off an offensive rebound with a mini floater off the baseline, forcing a Pirates timeout with 3:28 left in the half. Paul had 15 points on the night

 

Both teams would trade buckets until the end of the half until Ulsaker called a timeout with nine seconds left in the half to draw up an out of bounds play and it worked for none other than Munganga, who drilled another trey to close out the first half, with Topeka West leading 30-29. Munganga finished with 14 points.

 

That type of game, playing in transition, kicking it out for three’s if they’re there is something the Chargers want to continue to do.

“We’re a transition team,'' said Duncan, who had a team-high 19 points. "We've got to get out and run and that’s how we get our points early in the game. That’s our thing.''

 

Junior Prince Lassiter was a great presence down low for the Chargers, finishing with nine points. He would get an and-one opportunity and missed the free throw, but Topeka West grabbed the offensive board and Munganga would make it 36-31.

 

“Overall, they threw a lot at him (Prince),'' Ulsaker said. "A lot of smaller guards trying to front him, kind of frustrate him early. They did a good job of that, I don’t know if last year Prince would’ve stayed as calm as he did.

 

"That’s just a testament to his maturity and his upbringing. He’s doing a great job.”

Munganga pushed the West lead to nine, 44-35, giving the Chargers their biggest lead in the third. And after a Duncan bucket to close out the quarter, the Chargers led 50-44 going to the fourth.

 

West would extend its lead to 10 off a Paul layup as Piper called a timeout with 5:41 left. Piper would go on a mini 6-0 run, forcing turnovers with a halfcourt press to put its deficit to 56-52.

 

Paul stepped up big in the final minutes of the game. He was fouled on a layup but an intentional foul was called and, made one of two free throws and the Chargers got the ball back but didn’t capitalize on the opportunity for more points turning the ball over, leading 63-52.

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