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West boys outlast UKC rival Piper in 86-78 double OT thriller, advance to semis
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- After splitting a pair of knockdown, dragout regular-season United Kansas Conference regular-season matchups with Piper, Topeka West basketball coach Christian Ulsaker knew that Tuesday's Class 5A quarterfinal was going to be another fierce battle.
Senior Keimani Paul scored 28 of his game-high 30 points in the second half and OTs, leading Topeka West to an 86-78 Class 5A state tournament win over Piper Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But not even Ulsaker could have predicted what transpired at White Auditorium, a double-overtime thriller that had momentum swing after momentum swing and big play after big play before No. 3 seed Topeka West took control in the second extra session to outlast No. 6 Piper, 86-78, and advance to the state semifinals.
"That's what winners do,'' Ulsaker said. "Give (Piper) coach (Steve) Wallace and DJ (Derrick Jackson) and that team all the credit. They didn't want to go home, you could tell, and we didn't want to go home, so it's fun to see two teams battle it out to get a chance at Wichita.''
Topeka West, now 23-3 on the season, advances to an 8 p.m. Thursday night semifinal matchup with No. 2 seed Bonner Springs (25-1), which topped Kansas City-Washington, 68-49.
The stage for Tuesday's Topeka West-Piper marathon was set when Topeka West jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, only to see Piper (18-8) battle back to forge ties at 10-10 and 14-14 before before the Pirates ended the opening quarter with a 5-0 run to take a 19-14 advantage.
Piper went up 21-14, its biggest lead of the night, early in the second stanza, but this time it was West that battled back, with the Chargers tying the game at 23 and eventually going in front 28-23 before the game was tied at 28 and 30.
Piper got the final bucket of the half, on a Cooper Crawford dunk, to take a 32-30 lead at the break.
The back and forth affair continued in the second half, with four lead changes in the third quarter before Piper took a 48-45 advantage into the fourth.
Topeka West almost immediately tied the game on a Malakyah Duncan 3-pointer, one of four ties in the period, including a 59-59 deadlock to force overtime.
West went up 58-56 on a Paul hoop before Jasper Phillips hit a free throw to give the Chargers a 59-56 lead with 7.5 seconds left in regulation before Piper star Jackson drained a clutch 3-pointer at the buzzer.
There were four ties and four lead changes in the first OT and West again had a late lead, at 71-69, before Jackson scored with 8.2 seconds left to send the game to a second extra four-minute period.
But this time the Chargers were able to put the Pirates away after scoring the first nine points of the second OT to open their biggest lead of the night at 80-71 with 1:11 left.
Piper battled all the way back to get within 81-78 with 26 seconds remaining before West ended the game with a 5-0 run.
Senior Malakyah Duncan scored 17 points in Topeka West's 86-78 Class 5A state tournament win over Piper Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Paul scored 28 of his game-high 30 points in the second half and overtimes while Duncan scored 17 points, Prince Lassiter 13, Jay'Veon Lassiter 11 and Gad Munganga 10 points for the Chargers.
"The first half (Paul) was pretty frustrated, 1 for 2 in the first half,'' Ulsaker said. "He was kind of like, 'Give me the ball, give me the ball,' and I just went in there (the locker room) and said, 'I gave your the ball, OK.' You wanted it, we gave it to you and that's what seniors do. They want the big moments.
"Gad had them, Lok (Duncan) had them, Kei had them. That's a team that wants to win a basketball game.''
"I was mad I wasn't getting (many) touches and they were hounding me first half, but I know that I did not want my season to end today, so I got after it,'' Paul said.
"We took control. We knew the shot that (Jackson) hit to turn it into overtime, we knew that wasn't supposed to happen, so we knew we needed to seal the game with free throws, stay poised and mature, and that's what we did.''
Hayden turns tables on Andale after earlier losses, rolling to state semis, 54-37
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Andale has gotten the better end of recent meetings with Hayden, with the Indians not only handing the Wildcats a heartbreaking three-set loss in last fall's Class 4A state championship volleyball match but also taking the past two 3A state title games in football.
Sophomore Sophia Wichman came off the bench to score 11 points and grab five rebounds in Hayden's 54-37 Class 4A state tournament win over Andale Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But Hayden gained a big measure of revenge on Tuesday in White Auditorium, with the No. 4-seeded Wildcats rolling to the 4A state basketball semifinals with a 54-37 quarterfinal win over the Indians.
Now 20-6 on the season, Hayden will face No. 1 seed and defending 4A champion Wellington (23-1) in a 2 p.m. Thursday semifinal at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Sophomore Sophia Wichman, who gave the Wildcats a big lift with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals off the bench, said no one had to tell Hayden how important Tuesday's game was.
"That came up all this week,'' said Wichman, who was also a member of the Wildcats' volleyball team. "We were all just so hyped up. We were like, 'We cannot lose because we lost in volleyball and in football, so we have to take something back.' ''
No. 5 seed Andale (17-7) led 13-12 at the end of the opening quarter and 17-12 after two straight buckets to open the second quarter, but Hayden outscored the Indians 15-5 over the remainder of the first half to take a 27-22 advantage.
After holding a 15-9 scoring edge in the second stanza Hayden outscored Andale 16-7 in the third quarter to take a commanding 43-29 advantage into the fourth.
Hayden, third in 4A last season after a third-place finish in 3A in 2024, went on to take a game's biggest 21-point cushion (52-31) on a three-point play from sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein and cruised the rest of the way for the 17-point win.
Sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein scored a game-high 14 points with 5 rebounds and 4 steals in Hayden's 54-37 Class 4A state tournament win over Andale Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Blakely Walter scored 11 points in Hayden's 54-37 Class 4A state tournament win over Andale Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Schmidtlein led all scorers with 14 points and added 5 rebounds and 4 steals while sophomore Blakely Walter scored 11 points with Hayden's lone 3-pointer.
Senior Reese Huscher had a game-high five steals for the Wildcats.
Abbigail Winter led Andale with 12 points, including the Indians' only two treys, while Brooke Grimes added 11 points and Mayla Spexarth grabbed 17 rebounds.
Hayden didn't have one of its best offensive nights Tuesday, shooting 34.4 percent from the floor while going 1 of 14 from 3-point range and just 11 of 26 from the free throw line.
But that was plenty good enough for the Wildcats, who pestered Andale into 31.6 percent shooting and 29 turnovers.
"They came out and our first possession they stole it and got a layup,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said. "That was a terrible way to start, but I think the mixture of us playing some man to man, some fullcourt press and then that halfcourt 1-3-1 we played was really effective.''
Vikings ride big plays to 57-46 come-from-behind 5A win over Maize South
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- The Seaman boys turned in momentum-changing plays in every period of their 57-46 Class 5A quarterfinal victory over Maize South Tuesday in Wichita.
Seaman senior KaeVon Bonner dunks the ball for two of his 24 points in the Vikings' 57-46 Class 5A state tournament win over Maize South Tuesday night in Wichita. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]
The fourth-seeded Vikings’ come-from-behind win gives them a shot at top-seeded Kapaun Mt. Carmel on Thursday. The Crusaders are the defending champs in 5A and extended their undefeated 2025-2026 streak to 26 games by knocking off Shawnee Heights Tuesday.
Seaman had to withstand a shaky first half and a hot start by Maize South. The two teams traded punches the entire first half. The Vikings got a shot of adrenaline from a driving two-hand dunk by KaeVon Bonner to close the first quarter. Still, the Mavericks led essentially the entire first half, building a six-point lead with 1:25 before halftime.
The Vikings closed the first half with back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit to 22-20. A Bonner 3-pointer with just three seconds left would have sent the Vikings to halftime in the lead, but an official ruled Bonner stepped on the sideline on the catch-and-shoot attempt.
Despite being denied the big shot before the half, the Vikings felt the momentum shifting. Senior Landon Wiltz seized the opportunity. He buried a 3-pointer to open the second half to give the Vikings a 23-22 lead. Two minutes later, he knocked down another to put Seaman up 28-25. The Vikings never trailed again.
“My final comment before we took the floor was we’d been a really good second-half team this year,” said Seaman coach Craig Cox. “We were 0-6 (on 3-pointers) in the first half. The only one we actually made, we stepped out of bounds. So, we were a little bit frustrated. So, for (Wiltz) to step up and make them was very huge momentum-wise.”
“We play defense to offense,” said Bonner. “So, when we get stops and just run down the court, I feel like we’re a good running team, so that starts our momentum. When Landon started (the second half) with those threes, yeah it was a big momentum change for us for sure.”
The Vikings outscored the Mavericks 18-8 in the third period and closed the quarter leading 38-30 on a rim-rocking fast break dunk by Bonner. Cox said the dunks and 3-pointers were not the only highlights.
“You know, those are big momentum plays, but also like Matthew McConnaughey stepping up and taking a charge. That’s a huge momentum play,” Cox said. “We made a lot of big, big plays that allowed us to build that lead.”
Once the Vikings were in the lead, they didn’t surrender to a late run by the Mavericks. The Vikings knocked down 11-12 free throws in the final period, including 8-8 from Bonner, to close out the game.
Facing a variety of defensive looks, Bonner was just 3-6 from the field in the first half for eight points. He focused on breaking down the Maverick defense and distributing the ball. In the second half, he found his scoring touch. The senior finished with 24 points. Wiltz scored 11 of his 13 points after halftime. Griffin Zuniga added 10.
Seaman basketball poses for a picture with its student section after Tuesday's 57-46 Class 5A state tournament win over Maize South. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Seaman's basketball team celebrates with its student session after Tuesday's Class 5A state tournament win over Maize South. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]
