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Created: 02 January 2026

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

No. 1-ranked Washburn University men's basketball will ring in 2026 at 3 p.m. on Saturday, hosting Emporia State in the long-standing Turnpike Tussle.

Junior Jack Bachelor is averaging 16.2 points with 36 3-pointers and 64 assists for 13-0 and No. 1-ranked Washburn. [File photo/TSN] 

Saturday's game will be the 223th meeting between Emporia State and Washburn, with the Ichabods leading 114-108.

The ESU series is the most-played series for Washburn, with the two teams starting the series in 1905-06, Washburn's first recorded year of basketball.

"We've talked to our guys about how important this game is for our program and our fans,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "I like it because it's got our guys excited that we're at home against a rival after when you've had a long week of practice.''

Washburn is 13-0 overall and 3-0 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, one of six remaining undefeated teams in Division II, while Emporia State is 4-8 overall and 0-3 in the MIAA after falling 78-71 at Central Missouri on Thursday.

The Ichabods took an eight-day holiday break after beating then-No. 4 Lubbock Christian on Dec. 16 and No. 4 West Texas A&M 74-48 on Dec. 17 in the River City Classic in San Antonio.

"Coming off San Antonio you're kind of wanting to keep playing because you're really rolling, but it was a good time for a break, just mentally and physically,'' Ballard said. "Everybody got to go home.''

Washburn returned to practice on Monday and Ballard has been pleased with the Ichabods' work this week as they prepare for the Hornets while also trying to continue building on their hot start to the season.

"We're really harping on battling complacency,'' Ballard said. "It's human nature when things are going well to get complacent, so we're trying to challenge them as much as we can mentally to battle that with competitive practices.'' 

Washburn leads the nation in scoring margin in the NCAA Division II ranks at plus 29.3 points per game and is seventh in field goal percentage at 51.3 percent, which leads the conference.

Washburn is fifth in rebound margin at plus 12.5 and ranks sixth in scoring defense (60.2 points per game). The Ichabods have not been out-rebounded in a game and have only been tied once (vs. Lubbock Christian).

Ichabod sophomore Dillon Claussen, who is averaging 16.6 points and 6.8 rebounds, ranks sixth in the nation in field goal percentage at 68.1, which also leads the MIAA.

Junior Jeremiah Jones leads the nation in total steals with 43 and he is ranked fourth in steals per game at 3.31.

Junior Jack Bachelor, a former Washburn Rural star, now has 1,017 career points in his 77 career games played. He is tied with former teammate Michael Keegan on Washburn's all-time scoring chart at No. 24 overall.

Bachelor, who is averaging 16.2 points with 36 3-pointers, is 19th in the nation in total assists with 64 and second in assist to turnover ration at 3.76 to 1.

The Ichabods' 13-game winning streak is second in the nation behind Daemen, which has won its last 15 contests.

Washburn's 22-game homecourt winning streak is third in the nation behind Nova Southeastern's 93 wins and Miles' 23 victories. The Ichabods' homecourt winning streak is tied for the fourth longest in program history.

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

A scheduling quirk resulted in Topeka High's girls playing two straight games against USD 501 rival Highland Park.

And after ending the 2025 portion of their schedule with a 30-point win over the Scots at Topeka High, Ron Slaymaker's Trojans were even more dominant Friday at Highland Park, rolling to an 87-31 victory to improve to 2-4 on the season.

Sophomore Hailey Caryl scored a game-high 26 points in Friday's 87-31 Topeka High win at Highland Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton scored 21 points for Topeka High in Friday's 87-31 victory over Highland Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Senior Keimara Marshall scored 18 points Friday in Topeka High's 87-31 win over Highland Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Topeka High sophomore Hailey Caryl led all scorers with 26 points while junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton added 21 points and senior Keimara Marshall scored 18 to lead the way in the Trojan rout.

Veteran Topeka High coach Ron Slaymaker said Friday was important to continue to making strides after an 0-4 start while playing its first four games without Caryl.

"Highland Park's a little short-handed, but sometimes they can make you look bad,'' Slaymaker said. "I just wanted us to be solid and get our running game going, which we did.

"We got out 23-0 and 25-1 and we starterd subbing and it gets a little frantic there. But the start of the second half it was the same thing and we played really well.''  

Topeka High took control in the opening eight minutes, outscoring the Scots 25-1. 

High was still in front by 24 points (44-20) at the half before hitting the Scots with a 35-3 lick in the third quarter to force a running clock in the fourth quarter with a 79-23 advantage.

"Our practices have been high and low, really good, really bad,'' Slaymaker said. "So I was pleased to see them come out and play well because our schedule's pretty tough from here on out. Game, game, game, game, so there's not much time for practice and there's still a lot of things we need to clean up.''

Junior Zayah Kincaid led Highland Park with 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while senior Koralee Jones added 8 points as the Scots fell to 1-4 on the season.

TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 87, HIGHLAND PARK 31

Topeka High    25 19 35 8  -- 87

Highland Park   1 19 3 8  -- 31

Topeka High (2-4) – Short 2-4 2-4 6, Marshall 8-11 2-2 18, Rayton 9-15 1-2 21, Caryl 10-16 6-7 26, Gotru 1-5 0-1 2, Triplett 1-2 0-0 2, Conley 0-0 0-0 0, Whayne 2-2 0-0 4, Mathews 0-2 0-0 0, Martin 3-7 0-0 8, Brown 0-4 0-2 0. Totals 36-68 11-18 81. 

Highland Park (1-4) – Cosey 2-7 0-0 6, Kincaid 3-9 3-4 11, Jones 4-10 0-0 8, Williams Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Barnett 0-1 0-0 0, Grace 0-4 0-0 0, Atkins 0-1 0-0 0, Cameron 0-0 0-0 0, Hooper 2-6 0-0 6, Inyard 0-2 0-0 0, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Watson 0 0-0 0. Totals 11-40 3-4 31.

3-point goals – Topeka High 4 (Rayton 2, Martin 2), Highland Park 6 (Cosey 2, Kincaid 2, Hooper 2). Total fouls – Topeka High 13, Highland Park 15. Fouled out – none.

By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

It took three periods, but Shawnee Heights and Hayden finally shook off the rust accumulated over the holiday break, turning a snoozer into a thriller that the T-Birds won in the final seconds, 38-36, at Shawnee Heights Friday.

Junior KK Emmot scored a game-high 18 points in Friday's 38-36 win over Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Just one day after New Years, the Wildcats and T-Birds came out looking like they needed more practice, or more sleep. They struggled to a 20-20 tie after three quarters. But then the offenses got in gear. Hayden led 31-26 with 2:25 remaining. But then the T-Birds went on a 10-2 run to lead 36-33 with just seconds remaining.

Hayden sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein, frustrated into an inefficient shooting night, let fly a 3-pointer from about 25 feet that tied the game with 6.2 seconds remaining.

Shawnee Heights junior KK Emmot was not intimidated by the moment, however, but rather seized command of the game. Knowing the T-Birds were in the bonus, she took the inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor, drawing a foul with 2.9 seconds on the clock. Emmot calmly stepped to the line and sank both free throws, as she had twice earlier in the period. She scored nine of her 18 points in the final quarter to lead the T-Birds to their fourth victory of the season.

“Lucky enough for us, we hit some shots coming down the stretch,” Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. “Then (Schmidtlein) hit a big shot coming down the stretch when she hadn’t (shot well) from the perimeter all game. Kudos to her for stepping up and hitting that.”

Wells drew up a play to give Emmot a chance to decide the game.

“I thought we did a good job getting the ball where we wanted to get the ball, finding a way to get it into KK’s hands. She was definitely the first option,” Wells said. “She was just gonna take it and go do what she does.”

Emmot hit six of six free throws down the stretch and accounted for seven of the T-Birds’ final eight points. She said pressure does not bother her.

“I work good with pressure and stress. I don’t really care,” Emmot said. “I just know that if I start hustling, everyone else (takes) their energy from me. In the fourth quarter we just had to get going. I was screaming at everyone, ‘We have to get hyped!’ And then we just started hitting shots.”

“She works her tail off. I’m super proud of her,” Wells said of Emmot. “And all the girls, at some point in time, stepped up and hit shots, and that’s what we needed to happen. We just need to get where everybody is rolling at the same time. This is a fun group to watch.”

Hayden, ranked second in Class 4A in the most recent poll by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, struggled to get its offense in gear. Schmidtlein hit just 4-19 attempts from the field and finished with 16. Lauren Borjon added 11.

Wells said playing a game so early in January, with so little time to practice, contributed to the ragged performance by both teams.

“When you have four days to practice, where you’re trying to get your legs back and get your shot back, you can’t have both,” Wells said. “I think you saw that from both teams.”

“I think there’s some sickness going around,” Emmot added. “And you could tell (Hayden) was not in super great shape either. I think both of us were just playing with the same amount of hustle and everything. It was just no one could score. We were both pretty gassed.”

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 38, HAYDEN 36

Hayden                 8 8 4 16 -- 36

Shawnee Heights 5 9 6 18 -- 38

Hayden (6-2) – Schmidtlein 4-19 6-10 16, Foster 0-2 0-0 0, Huscher 0-0 0-0 0, Borjon 4-10 1-2 11, Watts 2-5 2-5 6, Walter 0-3 0-2 0, Connell 0-1 0-0 0, Mitchell 1-2 0-0 3, Wichman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-32 9-19 36.

Shawnee Heights (4-3) – Emmot 4-18 8-11 18, Schmidt 0-5 1-2 1, Carter 2-3 0-2 4, Baum 1-5 4-6 7, Vega 3-9 0-2 7, Brees 0-2 0-0 0, Hamilton 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 10-43 14-25 38.

3-point goals – Hayden 5 (Schmidtlein 2, Borjon 2, Mitchell 1), Shawnee Heights 4 (Emmot 2, Baum 1, Vega 1). Total fouls – Hayden 15, Shawnee Heights 15. Fouled out – Schmidt. Technical fouls – None.