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By CHARLES SPURLOCK

Special to TopSports.news

The Class 4A girls sub-state championship game on Friday night was a rematch from last season as the Hayden Wildcats hosted the Baldwin Bulldogs.

 

Hayden girls basketball rolled to a Class 4A state tournament berth with a 51-22 win over Baldwin. [Hayden girls basketball]

Following a competitive first half, the Lady Wildcats punched their ticket to the state quarterfinals with a 51-22 victory.

Hayden overwhelmed the visiting Lady Bulldogs with a 10-0 run over the first four minutes of the game. Following a timeout, Baldwin settled in and was able to cut the lead down to 12-9, but sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein scored to end the quarter with Hayden leading 14-9.

Baldwin took the lead (15-14) at the start of the second quarter, thanks to two 3-pointers by sophomore Logyn Scoby and junior Audrey Searl, respectively.

 

Hayden immediately responded with a 3-pointer of their own by sophomore Blakely Walter, to regain the lead at 17-15. The Lady Wildcats outscored the Lady Bulldogs 9-1 to end the first half and led 26-16.

 

The second half was total domination by Hayden as they outscored Baldwin 25-6, leading to a running clock halfway through the fourth quarter.

 

Coach Carvel Reynoldson was able to give the four seniors -- Ella Foster, Reese Huscher, Lauren Borjon and Kadence Watts a proper send-off as he substituted each one of them separately over the final two minutes of the contest.

 

Hayden was able to force Baldwin into 26 turnovers in the game 

 

Schmidtlein led the Lady Wildcats with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Walter was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 12 points. Watts pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

 

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by sophomore Cami Collum and junior Emerson Nigh, who both scored 5 points apiece.

 

The Hayden Wildcats will advance to play in the state quarterfinals this coming Tuesday, March 10. The pairings and location of their game will be released on Saturday.

HAYDEN 51, BALDWIN 22

Baldwin   9 7 3 3 -- 22

Hayden 14 12 14 11 -- 51

Baldwin (11-14) -- Scoby 1-6 0-0 3, Neufeld 1-6 1-2 3, Collum 0-3 5-8 5, Nigh 2-9 0-0 5, Searl 1-3 0-0 3, Griffith 0-1 0-0 0, Brunker 0-0 0-0 0, Chambers 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 6-29 7-12 22. 

 

Hayden (19-6) -- Walter 5-12 0-2 12, Schmidtlein 10-24 1-4 21, Foster 0-4 0-0 0, Huscher 1-1 0-0 3, Watts 2-3 1-2 3, Wichman 1-1 2-2 4, Mitchell 0-3 0-0 0, Borjon 1-5 0-1 3, Wrench 0-0 0-0 0, Connell 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 21-56 4-11 51.

 

3-point field goals -- Baldwin 3 (Scoby, Nigh, Searl), Hayden 5 (Walter 2, Huscher, Borjon, Connell). Total Fouls -- Baldwin 14, Hayden 18. Fouled out - Connell. Technical fouls -- none. 

Details

Created: 06 March 2026

By RICK PETERSON                                                                                                          

TopSports.news

Shawnee Heights freshman state champion wrestler Brinnley Morris and Hayden junior boys bowling standout Reece Renyer have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.

The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2025-2026 school year.

Here's a brief look at the recent accomplishments of Morris and Renyer.

Brinnley Morris, Shawnee Heights 

BRINNLEY MORRIS, Shawnee Heights

Morris capped her freshman wrestling season with the Class 5A 120-pound state championship last Saturday in Park City.

Morris, who finished the season 21-3 dominated Salina Central’s Natalia Garcia wire-to-wire, leading 15-4 in the second period before ending the match with a pin. 

One of three state champions for the T-Birds, Morris helped Shawnee Heights post a third-place team finish for the second straight season.

Reece Renyer, Hayden  

REECE RENYER, Hayden

A junior boys bowler, Renyer rolled his first perfect 300 game in the second game in last Wednesday's Class 4A-1A regional tournament at Gage Bowl.

Renyer finished third individually with a 652 series to help lead the Wildcats to the team championship by a 3,413-3,297 margin over Ottawa.

Renyer followed his regional performance up with a 698 series in Friday's state tournament at Wichita's Bowlero Northrock, posting an eighth-place individual finish.  

 

 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Topeka West's boys basketball team is known for its explosive offense, with the Chargers scoring 70 or more points in 15 wins, including three in the 80s.

Senior Malakyah Duncan, who led Topeka West with a game-high 15 points, holds up the Class 5A sub-state trophy after Friday's 60-46 win over Bishop Carroll. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

But to a man, the Chargers agreed that defense was the difference in Friday's 60-46 win over Bishop Carroll in a Class 5A sub-state championship game on West's home court.

"Absolutely,'' West coach Christian Ulsaker said. "I thought our defense kind of went up a notch or two, just in terms of the physicality and the tenaciousness we played with on defense.

"That just leads to our offense kind of getting going. You can have off nights shooting it, but your defense has to be there every night.''

Now headed to the 5A state tournament for the second straight season, the 22-3 Chargers trailed 16-8 Bishop Carroll 25-20 at halftime and fell behind 28-22 at the 6:09 mark of the third quarter after a 3-pointer from Carroll senior Brody Kreutzer.

But it was at that point that the Chargers' defense really kicked in, with West ending the third quarter on a 16-0 run to build a 38-28 advantage thanks to the 18-3 quarter.

Topeka West senior Jay'Veon Traylor cuts down the nets after the Chargers' 60-46 Class 5A sub-state win over Bishop Carroll Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

"We went into the locker room at halftime, knowing we needed to get more intensity and more rebounds,'' West senior Jay'Veon Traylor said. "The intensity got up, we started playing better defense and just won the game.''

Senior Malakyah Duncan agreed.

"We get defensive stops, we get out on the fastbreak and we just went on from there,'' Duncan said. "Our defensive stops really got our energy up.

"Their defense was suffocating, but we just had to figure out a way to put the ball in the hoop and that's what we did in the second half. We just played defense and do what we do and put the ball in the hoop.''  

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