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By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

The No. 1 seeded Cair Paravel boys are off to the semifinal round in the Class 2A sub-state bracket, taking down Horton at home Friday night, 68-28.

 

Chase Hastert paced Cair Paravel with 16 points in Friday's 68-28 win over Horton. [File photo/TSN]

“I love our home crowd, it’s such a cool little atmosphere man,'' Cair Paravel coach Chip Kueffer said. "We have a special community here. Love the student section. We're really grateful that we have another opportunity to pack The Den.”

 CPLS got out to a 4-2 lead but the Chargers went on a mini 5-0 run to lead 7-4 before sophomore Chase Hastert rattled off two 3-pointers to put the Lions back in front 10-9 and the hosts would lead 14-11 heading into the second quarter.

“We weren’t particularly strong with the ball against their zone,'' Kueffer said. "They’ve pretty much run it all this season and we knew it was coming. When we did get it to the spots that we wanted to, we caught it and were hesitant and played on our heels, we jumped passes and floated some shots.

“I think we did a much better job of turning defense into offense in the second half than turning them over because in the halfcourt we were not very good at all.''

 

Cair Paravel opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run as senior Caleb Cleverdon started it with a trey, as the Lions got the lead to 21-11.

The Lions had it going from distance, as Cleverdon and Hastert would hit one three apiece, extending the lead to 13 (27-14).

Horton’s Talon Hooper drilled one from way beyond the arc right before the buzzer as CPLS took a 33-22 lead into the half.

To begin the third quarter, the Lions started out on fire, beginning with a 6-0 run and forcing the Chargers into a timeout just over a minute into the quarter. After that, CPLS had the fullcourt press on and created turnover after turnover, turning into easy buckets and the lead just kept growing.

“We definitely like to be able to get to that fast start in the first two minutes of the game as opposed to the first two minutes of the third quarter, but that’s something we like to do,” Drew Fay said.

“We knew from film that they were a scrappy team and they play really hard and have given teams a lot of trouble and we came out and struggled.''

Kueffer credited Fay, who finished with 13 points, on that hot start to begin the second half.

“He’s so consistent for us. He showed up ready to play today and he always does, but I just think it's misunderstood how much value he brings to our team,'' Kueffer said. "He’s super composed and a high IQ kind of guy and when he’s the guy who puts the ball in the hoop it's great because everyone puts eyes on him.

"I’m excited for him to get those transition finishes because he’s one of those guys who you love to see make plays.''

Hastert got it to 20 (42-22) off a floater and senior Fay converted an and-one, pushing the advantage to 25 (47-22). It eventually got to 34 points at the end of the quarter, 58-24.

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By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

The Washburn Rural girls lost their regular-season finale Friday night at home to Manhattan, 61-46, which ensured the Indians would share the Centennial League crown with Topeka High.

Freshman Brynn Anderson led Washburn Rural with 13 points in Friday's 61-46 loss to Manhattan. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

After tying the game at 20, the Junior Blues fell off the pace late in the second period. They trailed 30-24 at the half and 44-33 after three periods. Washburn Rural crawled back to within seven, 49-42, midway through the final period, but ran out of gas at that point.

The Indians needed a win to split the league title with Topeka High, which finished its season on Tuesday. Both teams finished the season with 8-2 league marks.

“Manhattan is a really good team. I told (Indians coach Scott Mall) I’m not sure that’s not his best team since they won state in 2017,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. “We were just kind of off balance all night. We didn’t help ourselves turning the ball over so much, especially in the first quarter. But they are really, really good.

“We had our chances. We were able to keep it close, but we didn’t execute very well under pressure when they did apply the pressure they did, and that was a little disheartening.”

Washburn Rural freshman Brynn Anderson knocked down all four field goals she attempted – all three-pointers – to lead the team with 13 points. Senior Hallie Walker hit all three of her field goal attempts as well. But the rest of the Junior Blues struggled mightily from the field, connecting on just eight of 33 shots from the field.

Senior Ella Hirschi added 10 points for Rural with a pair of 3-pointers.

Still feeling her way back from ACL surgery, junior Maddie Vickery missed all nine of her shots and scored just six points, all from the free throw line.

Despite the loss to close the regular season 15-8, 5-5 in the league, Bordewick was upbeat about the overall direction of the Junior Blues. Washburn Rural played three freshmen in critical points in the game Friday, and in just the last eight days began working Vickery back into the rotation.

“With this group doing what they’ve done so far this year, it seems to me somewhat miraculous,” Bordewick said. “Just the way they’ve come together and played together. And we’re still getting Maddie mixed in a little bit, too. So, it’ll take a little bit. It takes a little while to get used to a new player, even though she’s a two-year starter.”

Washburn Rural now awaits the Class 6A sub-state schedule to find out where it will play on Tuesday. While the regular season didn’t end like they wanted, the Junior Blues are getting a lift by the addition of Vickery – a Kansas State basketball commit – at playoff time.

“I tell you what, she’s looked so good in practice this week. I saw really great things from her in practice,” Bordewick said of Vickery. “Now, she wasn’t shooting it well tonight. But she knows what to do to correct that. So, I’m not too worried about her.”

MANHATTAN GIRLS 61, WASHBURN RURAL 46

Manhattan         16 14 14 17 -- 61

Washburn Rural   8 16 9 13 -- 46

Manhattan (18-5, 8-2) – Larson 3-5 0-0 7, Depusoir 2-2 1-2 5, Ball 4-6 5-6 14, Busch 5-7 5-8 17, Banks 6-12 1-2 16, Ingram 0-5 0-0 0, Becket 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-38 12-18 61.

Washburn Rural (15-8, 5-5) – Rutherford 0-2 0-0 0, Hirschi 4-12 0-0 10, Walker 3-3 1-3 7, Anderson 4-4 1-2 13, Carlgren 3-6 0-0 7, Vickery 0-9 6-7 6, Smith 1-3 0-0 3, Hinck 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-40 8-12 46.

3-point goals – Manhattan 7 (Banks 3, Busch 2, Ball, Larson), Washburn Rural 8 (Anderson 4, Hirschi 2, Carlgren, Smith). Total fouls – Manhattan 14, Washburn Rural 17. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none. 

By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

When Washburn Rural’s Kiefer O'Connor drained a 3-pointer to tie Manhattan 58-58 with 5.1 seconds remaining in overtime Friday, elation was mixed with trepidation. That was too much time, particularly when Manhattan senior Vince Doering received the inbounds pass and raced up court.

Senior John Hoytal led Washburn Rural with 23 points in Friday's 60-58 overtime loss to Manhattan. [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]

Doering had been hitting big shots all night, and the senior dribbled the length of the floor, pierced the Junior Blue defense and flipped in a layup for the 60-58 win just as the buzzer sounded.

Doering’s heroics foiled a valiant battle by the Junior Blues on their Senior Night. Trailing by six points with 4:52 left in regulation, Washburn Rural put together a 7-0 run to take a 41-40 lead with 3:11 remaining. But they couldn’t hold it and needed a shot by senior John Hoytal to send the game to overtime tied 46-46.

The Junior Blues never led in overtime, but tied it on O’Connor's three to give themselves a chance. After a timeout, they loaded up to defend the inbounds pass, with coach Alex Hutchins' instructions fresh in their minds:

“’Don’t get beat off the dribble. Don’t let them get downhill,’ Hutchins said. “That’s pretty much the only thing we said was, ‘Don’t let them get downhill.’ And then we did.”

Having already locked up sole possession of the Centennial League crown in their previous game, Manhattan was playing for Claaa 6A sub-state positioning. When Doering’s shot fell, the entire Indians’ team celebrated in the corner of the gym while the Junior Blues shuffled off.

“Tough to tell how everybody’s doing. I’m sure we’ve got a lot of guys that are hurting,” Hutchins said. “We’ve been in this scenario a lot this year, and too often we’ve not found a way to make the final play and get it done. We say we keep learning and we’re knocking on the door, and hopefully at some point we will kick the door down. Unfortunately, tonight wasn’t that night, but hopefully it’s the next one.

“I thought we did a pretty darn good job defensively most of the night and gave ourselves a chance. We coughed the ball up and turned it over way too many times. But the fact we are still within striking distance is a testament to the defensive end.”

Hoytal led the Junior Blues with 23 points, the only member of the team to crack double figures. Washburn Rural fell to 11-11 on the year, 4-6 in the Centennial League.

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