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T-Bird girls dominate first half, overcome spotty second half for 57-40 UKC win at West
By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' girls had both good and not so good stretches in Friday's United Kansas Conference game at Topeka West.
But the T-Birds ended the 2024 portion of their schedule on a high note, riding a big first half to a 57-40 win over the Chargers.
Sophomore KK Emmot (1) led Shawnee Heights with 23 points in the T-Birds' 57-40 UKC win at Topeka West Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"To come in on the night of Christmas break I didn't know if we would have any focus of if they would have any focus and exactly how this game was going to roll,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "I'm just glad that we got rolling in the first half.
"I was a little disappointed in our second half, but we just need to work on the mental part of that and not get caught up in some of the stuff that we let affect us.''
Shawnee Heights, now 3-1 overall and in the UKC, ended the first quarter with a 7-2 run to take a 15-7 advantage and outscored West 17-6 in the second quarter to take a commanding 32-13 into the locker room at the half.
Topeka West, 0-4, 0-4, came to life in the second half, however, holding Heights without a field goal in the third quarter and outscoring the T-Birds 11-5 in the stanza to get as close as 11 before trailing 37-24 at the start of the final quarter.
Hogan says No. 3-ranked Rural will benefit from loss to No. 1 Buffs moving forward
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a marquee boys wrestling matchup between Class 6A's No. 1-ranked Garden City and No. 3-ranked Washburn Rural, the Buffaloes prevailed 49-27 in Thursday night's dual at Rural.
Washburn Rural two-time state champion Easton Broxterman won a 15-0 technical fall in Thursday's home dual against Garden City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Junior Blues coach Josh Hogan knows that the experience of squaring off with one of the state's premier teams early in the season will only help his team moving forward.
"That's what I just told the boys in the circle there,'' Hogan said. "We train to beat people that are better than us so any time we get a chance to wrestle people that are quote, unquote better than us or maybe actually better than us we'll take our swings.''
Rural had three reigning or former state champs in its lineup but Hogan said Thursday's experience could be particularly valuable for the newcomers and up-and-comers for the Junior Blues.
"Some of the guys that dropped matches tonight were definitely in position to be able to win a match or capable of winning a match, but it's a big environment,'' Hogan said. "Things can get a little scrambled in the brain of a teenager when they've got everybody in the crowd watching them and hooping and hollering.
"Ultimately it will help prepare us for these type of situations that are still yet to come.''
Washburn Rural defending state champion Kristjan Marshall (top) recorded a pin in Thursday's home dual against Garden City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Thursday's dual started with the 150-pound match due to random draw, and after defending 6A champion and top-ranked Kristjan Marshall picked up a second-period pin for Rural at 157 to tie the match 6-6, Garden City won eight of the next nine matches to build a commanding 49-12 lead. The Junior Blues' lone win during that stretch was a forfeit to Rural sophomore 190-pounder Jadyn Baum.
Junior Landen Kocher-Munoz, a former Class 6A state champion and a two-time state finalist, registered a win by major decision Thursday night against Garden City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rural's No. 4-ranked 132-pounder Cooper Stivers, No. 1-ranked 138-pounder Landen Kocher-Munoz and top-ranked 144-pounder Easton Broxterman swept the last three matches of the night, but the Junior Blues were unable to make up the early deficit.
Stivers recorded a first-period pin while former state champ Landen Kocher-Munoz took a 13-5 major decision and Broxterman registered a 15-0 technical fall over Logan Avalon in a match that pitted two-time state champ and three-time state finalist Broxterman against No. 2-ranked Avalon.
Carter leads way with 30 points as Highland Park girls end layoff with 76-18 romp past KC-Turner
By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
After waiting 13 days to get back on the court after their opening game, the Highland Park girls were ready to take it to any opponent.
Kansas City-Turner was the unfortunate team on the receiving end of that pent up energy.
Sophomore Pearmella Carter (24) led Highland Park with 30 points in Thursday's 76-18 win over KC-Turner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
In its first home game of the season, Highland Park steamrolled the visiting Lady Golden Bears 76-18 Thursday night as sophomore Pearmella Carter led the Scots with 30 points.
“We were in the lab for 13 days, beating up on each other,” Highland Park coach Rob Brown said. “You could tell the girls were getting tired of playing each other, so they’ve been hungry for this game tonight.”
Although the game got out of hand quickly, Brown said it was a helpful experience.
“This was good for keeping the girls engaged and disciplining them,” Brown said. “We have a young group, so this was good for them to keep them learning and getting good practice reps in.”
The 6-foot-2 Carter overwhelmed the visitors from the opening tip. She hit 10-15 attempts in the first half for 24 points. She even hit a 3-point shot early in the contest.
“Coming in as a freshman, she wouldn’t do that,” Brown said. “But she’s going to show that more this year.”
“I like to score and be aggressive,” Carter said. “I feel like I can use (my size) to get points in the paint.”
Everyone on the Scots’ bench got meaningful minutes against Turner. Nine different players scored.
