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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

Highland Park hosted Kansas City-Sumner on Friday night for a Meadowlark Conference rematch of a 73-52 Scots loss to the Sabres earlier this season.

JoJo Kingannon led three Highland Park players in double figures with a game-high 21 points in Friday's 69-56 home win over KC-Sumner. [File photo/TSN]

And the Scots got their revenge in resounding fashion, rolling to a 69-56 Senior Night win.

Highland Park honored three seniors before tipoff and then made sure the outcome would be different this time.

Sophomore Davion Anderson opened the scoring for the Scots, but Sumner answered quickly. Senior Jaxon Davis attacked the rim, converted an and-one opportunity, and gave the Sabres an early 3-2 lead.

Junior JoJo Kingcannon responded by driving to the basket to reclaim the advantage. Davis continued to pressure the defense, knocking down two free throws to briefly put Sumner back on top, but senior Treonte Mitchell sparked the Scots with a 7-0 run midway through the first quarter, pushing Highland Park ahead 11-5.

Sumner countered with a 5-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to one, 11-10. Both teams closed the quarter strong, with the Scots holding a slim 15-14 lead after one.

Highland Park seized control in the second quarter. Mitchell scored inside to extend the lead to 19-14, then buried a 3-pointer to make it 24-17. The Scots followed with a 7-0 run that broke the game open at 31-19.

Mitchell scored nine of his 13 points in the quarter, helping Highland Park outscore Sumner 26-11 and take a commanding 41-25 lead into halftime.

“It feels really good,'' Mitchell said. "My teammates trusted me, and it was very important to us to get this win on Senior Night.''

Highland Park coach Nate Wallace praised his senior’s resilience and leadership.

“Treonte is one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever had,'' Wallace said. "He’s really buying into his role. This is the second game in a row where he’s scored 15 or 13. When he produces like that, we’re a tough team. He missed his sophomore and junior years for unfortunate reasons, so to see him show up and stay bought in all year has been huge for us.”

Wallace also credited the team’s energy and ball movement in the decisive quarter.

“The second quarter was huge. It gave us the lead and comfort,” Wallace said. “We had several guys check in and contribute. It was an all-around team effort. I loved the ball movement. We’ve been working on shooting and conditioning, so to see shots fall wasn’t a surprise. The way they moved the ball was the most impressive part.”

Kingcannon caught fire to open the third quarter, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 21 points and a 47-28 lead.

Sumner battled back in the period, trimming the deficit to 55-43 by the end of the third.

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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

Shawnee Heights boys basketball extended their winning streak to four games Saturday afternoon with a dominant 80-33 victory over Pittsburg in coach Ken Darting’s final regular-season home game.

Junior Cam Ross led Shawnee Heights with a game-high 21 points in Saturday's 80-33 win over Pittsburg. [File photo/TSN]

The T-Birds came out firing, opening the contest on a 9-0 run.

Senior Ja’Veon Alston scored four of those early points, setting the tone on both ends of the floor.

Pittsburg finally got on the board with a 3-pointer two minutes into the first quarter, but Cam Ross and Alston answered immediately to push the Heights lead to 13-3.

Alston’s defensive intensity created multiple turnovers, leading to easy scoring opportunities. He added his eighth point of the quarter as the T-Birds stretched the advantage to 15.

The Thunderbirds closed the first quarter on a 10-4 run, with Ross scoring five of those points, to take a commanding 30-9 lead.

Ross finished with a game-high 21 points, 15 of which came in the first half.

“I have to credit our defense mainly that allowed me to get to the basket and score,” Ross said. “My point guard, Javion, plays really good defense. He was able to force turnovers and find me slashing to the basket, and just having each other’s back on defense and offense.”

Darting emphasized the team’s defensive identity.

“We're defensive oriented, and we don't have a lot of offensive talent, but if we play the game right and we take the shots we can make, then we're good, because the defense is consistent,” Darting said. “We knew nothing about Pittsburg, so we came in with a mindset of going to get them and figure things out. I thought we did exactly what we needed to do going into playoffs.”

Senior Jaimarion Cook sparked a huge second-quarter surge.

The T Birds went on a 17-0 run midway through the period that carried to halftime, with Cook scoring 10 of his 18 points during the stretch.

Heights entered the locker room with a 51-18 advantage. The second half brought more of the same.

The T-Birds outscored the Dragons 23-7 in the third quarter, highlighted by a 21-0 run.

Sophomore Malachi Lee scored all eight of his points during that burst, including six straight, as the lead ballooned to 74-25, triggering a running clock in the fourth quarter.

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural junior star Daniel Allen captured the Class 6A individual state championship in the 100-yard butterfly and earned four state medals to pace the city contingent in Saturday's state swimming championships Saturday at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatics Center.

Washburn Rural junior Daniel Allen won the 6A title in the 100 butterfly by more than a second and a half and earned four state medals. [File photo/TSN]  

Allen, a multiple Class 6A medalist as a freshman in 2024 before sitting out the '25 high school season, entered the state meet as the No. 1 seed for the 100 fly and delivered a personal-record time of 50.85 seconds in the state final, out-distancing Blue Valley Northwest junior Cameron Hagen, who placed second in 52.37.

Allen posted a third-place state finish in the 100 backstroke in 53.38 and swam on Washburn Rural's fourth-place 200 medley relay (1:40.31) and the Junior Blues' seventh-place 200 free relay (1:30.97).

Washburn Rural sophomore Thomas Appuhn earned four state medals in the 6A state swimming meet, including a pair of fourth-place individual finishes. [File photo/TSN]

Washburn Rural sophomore Thomas Appuhn also earned four state medals for the Junior Blues, who finished sixth as a team with 143.5 points.

Appuhn finished fourth in the 200 individual medley (1:58.89), fourth in the 100 backstroke (54.71) and swam on Rural's 200 medley and 200 free relay teams.

 Junior Andres Morao-Jaspe and sophomore Castle Wallace swam on Rural's 200 medley relay while Wallace and sophomore Quinten Jessop swam on the Junior Blues' 200 free relay.

Morao-Jaspe tied for 10th in the 'B' final of 100 backstroke (56.93) and Wallace placed 12th in the 100 breaststroke 'B' final (1:04.05) while freshman Braeden Montgomery finished 15th in the 500 free 'B' final (5:08.50) and he teamed with senior Joseph Jensen, senior Alexander Jeffries and Morao-Jaspe to finish 12th in the 'B' final of the 400 free relay (3:30.00).

Shawnee Mission East won the 6A team championship with 290.5 points while Blue Valley West was second (270) and Blue Valley North third (218.5).

Seaman junior Kinser Barbosa finished seventh in the Class 5A-1A 100 freestyle Saturday.  [File photo/TSN]

Barbosa earns Class 5A-1A state medal

Seaman junior Kinser Barbosa posted a seventh-place finish Saturday in the 100-yard freestyle (49.56) to lead the city contingent in the Class 5A-1A state meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatics Center. 

Barbosa also tied for 11th in the 50 free 'B' final (22.71) and swam on the Vikings' 15th-place 200 free relay and 16th-place 200 medley relay.

Barbosa swam with seniors Theron Carlson, Josh Hochard and Ryan Sloyer on the 200 free relay and with junior Wyatt Glotzbach, Carlson and Hochard on the 200 medley relay.

Andover won the 5A-1A state team championship with 379.5 points while Seaman placed 25th with 23.5 points.