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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

Winners of four of their last five games, the Rossville Bulldawgs welcomed Abilene on Friday night -- and rode a historic 40-point performance from senior Jack Donovan to a dominant 95-48 victory.

Senior Jack Donovan scored 40 points Friday night as Rossville rolled to a 95-48 win over Abilene. [File photo/TSN]

Rossville got on the board first when junior Cael Horgan knocked down a 3-pointer for a 3-0 lead. Abilene responded quickly with two baskets to go up 4-3, but Bulldawg senior Cameron Miller attacked the rim to reclaim a 5-4 advantage.

The Cowboys answered with a three, and Miller followed with one of his own to tie the game at 8-8.

Abilene pushed ahead 12-8, but the Dawgs responded with a 7-0 run to take a 15-12 lead. The Cowboys countered with back-to-back 3-pointers to go up 18-15.

Senior Jakoby McDonnell scored inside to cut it to one, and Conner Bush added a basket late to tie the game at 19-19 after the first quarter.

Abilene opened the second quarter with a free throw before McDonnell attacked the rim and drew a foul. He calmly sank both free throws to put Rossville back in front, 21-20.

That’s when Donovan took over.

After scoring just three points in the first quarter, Donovan erupted during a 10-0 run, hitting two 3-pointers to spark the surge.

He added another three and a layup to extend the lead to 34-22.

After both teams traded baskets, Donovan buried yet another three, followed by a layup and a three-point play.

By halftime, Donovan had poured in 20 points -- 17 of them coming in the second quarter alone -- and Rossville held a commanding 50-32 lead.

“Jack's starting to settle in and see the game a little bit more,” Rossville coach Brandon McDonnell said. “I think there were times where we got to a point where we were searching for the shot instead of letting it just settle and come to him. I haven't given Jack the red light -- if he feels hot and decides to heat-check a couple, you kind of let that ride.

"He's a fantastic basketball player. Today he threw that ball up there and they fell through the net, and you can't go wrong when that happens.”

“It really depends on where he takes that first shot from,” Jakoby McDonnell added. “Sometimes I’ll pass it to him and he’s right on the 3-point line, and other times he’s near halfcourt. If he makes the really deep one, he’s probably going to have a good night because he’s feeling it.”

Rossville wasted no time extending the lead after halftime.

Donovan opened the third quarter by drawing a foul and hitting both free throws. He added four more points to push the lead to 62-36, then knocked down another three for his 29th point of the night.

By the end of the third quarter, Rossville had blown the game wide open, leading 79-37.

“I wasn't really thinking about it that much,” Donovan said of his big night. “I was just trying to hit the shots I was putting up. They don’t always go in, but it was nice that they were going in tonight. It was a good feeling.”

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By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

Cair Paravel Latin girls basketball entered Friday's Senior Night game coming off a big win over league rival Council Grove Tuesday and pushed its win streak to two, handling Heritage Christian, 43-9.

 

Seniors Karysn Hastert and KellyAnn Chada have meant a lot to the Lions program over the last four years and especially the last two years with coach Jaley Barkley, who said she’s loved coaching both of them.

 

“Their connection is just something special,'' Barkley said. "They’re great friends off the court. They’ve been great leaders for me since I took over as coach. The girls look up to both Karysn and KellyAnn and they’ve stepped up in such a big way.”

 

“It’s very bittersweet,'' Chada said. "Obviously this isn’t the last game but it symbolizes the last game in a way which is something I will miss. I’ve really enjoyed having Jaley as a coach. She went here and we’ve had a prior connection and it was great to have her come back to CP.''

 

Hastert started the scoring for CPLS just over two minutes into the game, but then the Lions kicked it into another gear. Junior Becca Gateley drilled a triple to make it 5-0 and after another bucket, Heritage Christian called a timeout with 4:25 left in the first quarter.

 

Cair Paravel went on a 19-1 run to begin the game, thanks to freshman Avery Rosenow and then a Chada and-one as CPLS led 19-3 after one quarter.

 

The second quarter started slow for both teams, but CPLS was all over the Eagles forcing turnovers, leading to fastbreak and transition points, as multiple players scored in the game for a balanced scoring attack.

 

Gateley pushed the advantage to 26-5 after another three and held and Cair Paravel held Heritage Christian to just five points in the half, leading 32-5.

 

Hastert and Chada scored all six points for CPLS in the third quarter as Hastert would finish with a game-high 14 points and Chada with 13. After the 32 point margin (38-6) the running clock began in the fourth quarter.

 

“Once we settled in and got into that rhythm, we had a fun game,” Chada said.

 

Barkley subbed out Hastert and Chada with a little under three minutes left in the game as the Lions picked up win No. 10 on the campaign.

 

“Once the first basket falls, it opens the lid for the girls,'' Barkley said. "Our 3-2 zone has been our bread and butter creating steals and I have a couple of girls in the top of the steals category for the city. Once Karsyn got that first bucket, it helped get the game flowing.''

 

CAIR PARAVEL 43, HERITAGE CHRISTIAN 9

Heritage Christian 3 2 1 3 – 9

Cair Paravel           19 13 6 5 – 43

 

Heritage Christian (10-5) – Mullikin 1 0-0 2, Raj 0 1-2 1, Seashols 0 1-4 1, May 2 1-4 5.

 

Cair Paravel (10-10) – Hastert 6 2-4 14, Rosenow 3 0-0 6, Gateley 2 0-0 6, Welshans 2 0-0 4, Chada 6 1-1 13.

 

3-point goals – Cair Paravel 2 (Gateley 2). Total fouls – Heritage Christian 3, Cair Paravel 8. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.

 

By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

Cair Paravel Latin's boys basketball team picked up its 15th straight win Friday on Senior Night, improving to 18-2 with a 73-34 home victory over Heritage Christian.

 

“It’s obviously super fun,'' CPLS senior Caleb Cleverson said. "I think with this group of guys, I couldn’t pick a better group to do it with. At a Christian school, we talk about God is the middle term and we’re united as a team with God in mind, so when the first five go out there, we are pursuing Christ.”

 

“It was kind of a weird game,'' Lions coach Chip Kueffer said. "I thought our kids did well. I felt like they did some things fundamentally sound like they should. It’s tough because you want to stay sharp and when things are going well in games like this, it’s really easy to develop some bad habits, get away with one handed passes, jump to pass or take some sloppy shots, but I think we did a pretty good job in spurts of trying to stay disciplined.”

 

Senior Lucas Marichal continued his stellar season, especially his 3-point shooting, hitting two in the first quarter, pushing CPLS in front 5-4. The team would go on a 9-0 run, leading 13-4. Marichal pushed that lead to 10, 18-8 and pushed the Red Lions to a 22-12 advantage after one.

 

“We had all the pieces but I don’t think we knew we could play to this level that we’ve been playing at and we’ve played some really good teams this year,'' said Marichael, who finished with a game-high 20 points. "I think we’ll be very well prepared down the road.''

 

CPLS put up 23 points in the second quarter from a variety of players, thanks to another 12-0 run. Cleverdon knocked down a triple at 29-12. Then at 31-12, the Eagles called timeout with 4:27 before halftime.

 

Senior Drew Fay, who chipped in 11 points, capped off the 12-0 run with a bucket down low to put CPLS in front, 34-12.

 

CPLS then ran away with the game late in the second quarter, taking a commanding 45-16 lead while holding Heritage Christian to four points in the quarter.

 

In the third quarter, CPLS jumped out to another big run of 10-0. Fay got an and-one opportunity, missed the free throw but sophomore Blain Durbin, who provided 19 points, grabbed the rebound for the putback as the Lions opened up a 39-point cushion, their biggest of the game (55-16).

 

Kueffer did pull the seniors with over five minutes left in the third quarter but they returned to begin the fourth quarter before they were eventually pulled once again.

 

The Lions led by 43 at one point with the running clock in effect (73-30).

 

“If you come out and watch some pretty poor basketball you kind of get out of it but I don’t think our guys or their team did that,'' Cleverdon said. "Both of us were playing really hard and fighting for every point so I think it was pretty easy for us on the bench to stay locked in.''

 

“I think we’re having fun, there’s a lot of season left,'' Kueffer said. "We have big dreams, big aspirations. I think we’re treating people the right way. One of our advantages is we don’t have one guy, we’ve got five or six that can lead the charge.

 

"Basketball is a crazy sport that’s why March is Madness because anybody can beat anybody. We have to stay disciplined and sharp.''

 

CAIR PARAVEL 73, HERITAGE CHRISTIAN 34

Heritage Christian 12 4 11 7 – 34

Cair Paravel           22 23 21 7 – 73

 

Heritage Christian (9-6) – Freerksen 2 0-0 5, June 2 0-0 4, May 2 2-4 6, Perry Cruz 7 5-5 19.

Cair Paravel (18-2) – Gossard 1 0-0 2, Turcato 1 2-2 5, Congdon 1 0-0 2, Hastert 4 0-0 9 Marichal 7 3-4 20, Durbin 9 12 19, Cleverdon 2 0-0 5, Fay 5 1-2 11, Bond 0 0-3 0.

 

3-point goals – Heritage Christian 1 (Freerksen), Cair Paravel 6 (Marichal 3, Hastert, Turcato, Cleverdon). Total fouls – Heritage Christian 8, Cair Paravel 11. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.