Welcome to Top Sports News

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Tuesday night's Washburn Rural boys basketball performance against Emporia wasn't real pretty. In fact, things got downright ugly at times, particularly in a scoreless fourth quarter.

Washburn Rural's bench celebrates Tuesday's 46-44 overtime Centennial League win over Emporia Tuesday night at Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
 But all that mattered to Rural coach Alex Hutchins was that his Junior Blues somehow found a way to escape with a 46-44 overtime home Centennial League decision over the Spartans.

"Find a way to win,'' Hutchins said. "We've been talking about it, even before the last couple of games, about how we've got to be gritty and we've got to find ways even when it's not pretty to get it done.

"Friday against Junction we had three points at the end of the first quarter and tonight we don't score in the fourth quarter but find a way to win both. Yeah, would I prefer it look a little different? Sure, but I'd rather it be that way than a pretty loss.''   

Washburn Rural, now 11-8 overall and 4-3 in the Centennial League, looked to be on cruise control after taking a 39-26 lead into the fourth quarter.

But Emporia (15-5, 4-3) pitched a 13-0 shutout over the final eight minutes of regulation to send the game to overtime tied at 39.

Junior Zach Wright scored the game-winning basket for his only points of the game in Washburn Rural's 46-44 overtime Centennial League win over Emporia. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

The Junior Blues trailed 42-41 in the four-minute extra session and there were ties at 42 and 44 before junior Zach Wright emerged as the hero, scoring his only basket of the game on a driving layup with 19 seconds remaining for what proved to be the game-winner.

"I saw a guy help and I was like, 'I'm just going to take it, I want to win the game,' '' Wright said. "I saw a little opening, I Euroed into the guy and made the layup.

"Coach always talks about finding a way no matter how it is, and that's what we did.''

Emporia called a timeout with 11.6 seconds left to set up a final play, but junior Harrison Trelc, who had burned Rural for a game-high 19 points, missed a 3-point attempt from the top of the key as time ran out.

Sophomore Brooks Ballard led Washburn Rural with 18 points in Tuesday's 46-44 overtime Centennial League win over Emporia. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN] 

Junior Cooper Schmidt had seven points and 14 rebounds in Washburn Rural's 46-44 overtime win over Emporia. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Sophomore Brooks Ballard led Washburn Rural with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while senior John Hoytal added eight points and eight rebounds and junior Cooper Schmidt had seven points and 14 rebounds as Rural avenged an earlier 52-46 loss to the Spartans in Emporia.

Read more …

By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

The Silver Lake girls, ranked atop the Class 3A field statewide, bolted to a 9-0 lead and never looked back at Rossville Tuesday, steamrolling the Lady Dawgs, 71-31.

Junior Savanah Wende scored a game-high 25 points with five three-pointers in Silver Lake's 71-31 win over Rossville. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Junior Savanah Wende dropped in five three-pointers and scored 25 points to lead Silver Lake. She scored 10 points in the first period, which saw the Lady Eagles take a commanding 23-9 advantage.

Silver Lake increased its lead to 41-20 at halftime. The Lady Eagles then outscored Rossvile 25-8 in the third period to put the game away.

“I’m really proud of our effort over the 32 minutes,” said Silver Lake coach Kyle Porter. “Especially because last time we played (against Rossville), in the third quarter, we let them go on a little run, made the game much closer. I’m really happy with our approach in the third and fourth quarter.”

Senior Kailyn Hanni scored 23 points in Silver Lake's 71-31 win over Rossville Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Silver Lake senior Kailyn Hanni scored 23 points, and sophomore Karys Deiter added 16 in support of Wende’s 25.

“Savanah, when she’s on, she just adds another dimension,” Porter said. “We’re going to need her to score and to hit open threes for us. She’s a player who always thinks the next shot is going in and I think you saw that tonight.”

“I feel like we’ve been playing great together lately, and I’m just trusting in my teammates and they got me the ball tonight, so props to everyone, really,” Wende said. “I feel like when I get hot, I just bring a positive energy that my teammates build upon to just make them better.”

Senior Rylee Dick scored 16 points in Rossville's 71-31 win loss to Silver Lake Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Rossville was frustrated into 12-43 shooting by the Silver Lake defense. Rylee Dick and Nora Burdiek combined for 26 points for the Lady Dawgs, but did so on just 10-36 shooting.

“Defensively, we played really connected, being able to do some things to limit (Burdiek) and (Dick),” Porter said. “I really want to credit Paige Heiman’s defense in the post and then Kylie Hanni, what we asked her to do with post doubles was phenomenal in taking away (Burdiek). Those are two unsung players that deserve a lot of credit for tonight.”

Silver Lake improved to 19-1, 10-0 in the Big East League with three games remaining in the regular season.

SILVER LAKE GIRLS 71, ROSSVILLE 31

Silver Lake 23 18 25 5 -- 71

Rossville      9 11 8 3 -- 31

Silver Lake (19-1, 10-0) – Ka. Hanni 9-17 4-4 23, Heiman 1-1 0-0 2, Ky. Hanni 0-3 0-0 0, Deiter 5-12 6-8 16, Wende 9-16 2-2 25, Thompson 0-0 1-2 1, Erb 1-1 0-0 2, May 0-1 0-0 0, Gerber 0-0 0-0 0, Erb 0-0 0-0 0, Eisenbarth 1-1 0-0 2, Tamaat 0-0 0-0 0, Wise 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-52 13-16 71.

Rossville (11-9, 4-7) – Dick R. 6-23 2-4 16, M. Sanders 0-1 1-2 1, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Burdiek 4-13 1-4 10, Miller 2-4 0-0 4, E. Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Bunck 0-0 0-0 0, Perine 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Hubbell 0-0 0-0 0, Donovan 0-0 0-0 0, P. Dick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-43 4-10 31.

3-point goals – Silver Lake 6 (Wende 5, Ka. Hanni 1), Rossville 3 (Dick 2, Burdiek 1). Total fouls – Silver Lake 7, Rossville 11. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none. 

By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

Following a Silver Lake score that gave the Eagles a 50-49 lead, Rossville senior Jakoby McDonnell drove the length of the floor and dropped a driving jumper at the buzzer for a thrilling 51-50 finish in a rivalry known for thrilling finishes.

Senior Jakoby McDonnell (0) scored the game-winning basket at the buzzer Tuesday night, giving Rossville a 51-50 win over rival Silver Lake. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]]

Rossville has seen Silver Lake senior Dayne Johnson hit so many big buckets over the years, it could have wilted when Johnson scored and was fouled with 8.7 seconds remaining. Johnson’s basket tied the game at 49-49. His free throw could have been the final nail in the Rossville coffin.

The play Rossville coach Brandon McDonnell drew up faltered, so his son Jakoby was forced to improvise.

“We were supposed to run a play that we added in for times like that, but I guess we were a little antsy. We weren’t ready,” Jakoby McDonnell said. “So, at that point, with just (a few) seconds left, you just got to go down the court and get to the basket, either make it or get fouled. I knew once I saw a little bit of space I was going to get downhill and try to get fouled or get the basket.”

McDonnell slipped through the right side of the Silver Lake defense and bounced off the chest of a defender as his shot went off the glass and in at the final horn.

“That play broke down from what I called,” Brandon McDonnell said, explaining that not all the Rossville players heard the play call. “And I’ve always told the boys ‘I have full confidence in you. If it breaks down, you have to turn into a basketball player quickly.' Jakoby got downhill, he saw an opening, went into (the defender), finished hard and finished strong.”

Rossville, ranked ninth in Class 2A, avenged a disappointing December loss at Silver Lake. The Bulldawgs improved to 13-6, 7-4 in the Big East League. Coach McDonnell praised the rivalry with Silver Lake.

“That’s what you’ve got to love about playing Silver Lake as a whole,” the Rossville coach said. “It brings good energy. You want good basketball like that, and that’s what came out tonight.”

“This was a very big win for us seniors,” Jakoby McDonnell added. “We didn’t want to go out our last time playing them on a loss, especially with Senior Night and the whole town being here. It was just great for the Rossville community.”

Johnson has been a thorn in the Bulldawgs’ side for years. He finished with 20 points, but Rossville utilized a special defense to try to keep Johnson from taking over the game. Brandon McDonnell called the defense “amoeba,” which he described as a zone with a lot of shifting and checkoffs and which put the Bulldawgs in good position to rebound.

Senior Jack Donovan scored 12 points to tie for team-high honors in Rossville's 51-50 win over rival Silver Lake. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Both teams’ defensive strategies slowed the pace and stifled the other team’s number one scorer – Johnson for Silver Lake and Jack Donovan for Rossville. Coming off a 40-point outburst last Friday, Donovan was held to 12 points.

“To be honest, I was so engaged in the game that when the buzzer went off in the second quarter, I thought it was the end of the first quarter,” Brandon McDonnell said. “The score was 18 to 19. I’m looking at the score saying ‘Ok, let’s go for the second quarter.’

“That’s the way it was on both ends. They put us in a little press to slow us down because we like to get up and down the court. And for us, we knew that, hey, Dayne is very good. We can’t do much with him when we’re doing a man-on-man action. So, we have to throw a little amoeba at them, try to make him pass the ball as much as possible.”

Senior Dayne Johnson scored a game-high 20 points in Silver Lake's 51-50 loss to Rossville. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

The strategy worked, barely. Johnson finished with 20 points, but on 8-20 shooting. The Eagles relied on some big three-point shots to stay in the game. Camden Kruger and Joel Miller each dropped three three-pointers. All three of Miller’s triples came in a three-minute stretch late in the fourth period.

The loss was Silver Lake’s first in Big East play. The Eagles dropped to 15-5, 9-1 in the league.

ROSSVILLE BOYS 51, SILVER LAKE 50

Silver Lake                 9 9 16 16 -- 50

Rossville           15 4 15 17 -- 51

Silver Lake (15-5, 9-1) – Kruger 3-9 0-0 9, Johnson 8-20 4-4 20, Rooks 1-6 0-0 3, Bergman 1-5 0-0 2, Miller 3-8 0-0 9, Womack 1-3 0-0 2, Kraus 2-6 0-0 5, VanVactor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-57 4-4 50.

Rossville (13-6, 7-4) – McDonnell 6-13 0-0 12, Donovan 5-11 2-2 12, Bush 1-2 0-0 2, Miller 4-6 0-0 10, Johnson 3-4 1-2 7, Horgan 2-3 0-0 6, Lewis 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 22-40 3-4 51.

3-point goals – Silver Lake 8 (Kruger 3, Miller 3, Rooks 1, Kraus 1), Rossville 4 (Miller 2, Horgan 2). Total fouls – Silver Lake 8, Rossville 7. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.