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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

The Rossville Lady Dawgs extended their winning streak to four games Friday night with a 54-39 victory over Abilene.

Abilene (4-14) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but Rossville junior Nora Burdiek quickly answered.

Burdiek scored on a layup, drew a foul, and converted the three-point play to put the Lady Dawgs on the board.

Moments later, senior Rylee Dick drove to the basket and finished to give Rossville a 5-4 lead.

After Abilene briefly regained the advantage, Burdiek sparked a 9-0 run, scoring the first points of the surge as Rossville built a 14-6 lead.

The Cowgirls added a late basket, but the Lady Dawgs closed the first quarter in control, 17-8.

Rossville opened the second quarter with two free throws to stretch the lead to 19-8.

Abilene responded by chipping away, outscoring the Lady Dawgs 9-8 in the period to cut the deficit to 25-17 at halftime.

“You know, teams really haven't pressed us all year,” Rossville coach Derek Dick said. “We generally handle the press pretty well, but we struggled with it tonight. I'm not really sure why.

"We have stretches where we look really, really good, but we also have stretches where we look sloppy and undisciplined. That’s what we’ve been trying to clean up, and tonight we kind of reverted back a little bit.”

The third quarter proved to be the difference. Rossville came out firing with an 8-0 run, highlighted by four quick points from Burdiek to push the lead to 33-17.

“They were starting to make me mad, and that makes me want to try even harder and do whatever I need to do to help us win,” Burdiek said of her aggressive play during the run.

Dick also came alive in the third quarter, scoring nine of her team-high 18 points during the period.

“We always try to play through the paint,” Derek Dick said. “Whether it’s throwing it inside to Nora, which is obviously a great option, or penetrating off the dribble and touching the paint before kicking it out. Our percentages are much better when we play through the middle.

"Teams scout us and try to prevent that, especially teams with length like Abilene, but we want to stay aggressive.”

Rossville carried a 44-26 lead into the fourth quarter. Abilene attempted to rally, but Dick hit an early 3-pointer and followed it with a steal and layup to extend the lead to 51-26, putting the game out of reach.

“We've been working hard in practice and everyone has been working together, bringing each other up,” Burdiek said. “I think that's a big, big part of it.”

Rossville (10-8) now turns its attention to a major challenge, a second matchup with Class 3A No. 1 Silver Lake (18-1) Tuesday at Rossville.

The Eagles won the first meeting 69-53 at Silver Lake.

“We just have to keep our momentum going into the matchup,” Derek Dick said.

“We just have to keep working hard and playing as a team, and we can beat them,” Burdiek added.

ROSSVILLE 54, ABILENE 39

Abilene   8 9 9 13 -- 39

Rossville 17 8 19 10 -- 54

Abilene (4-14) -- Herrman 20, Stover 4, Barbieri 4, Taylor 3, Crane 3, Crump 3, Pickerign 2, K. Stover 0.

Rossville (10-8) -- Dick 18, Burdiek 17, M. Sanders 9, Miller 7, Mitchell 2, E. Sanders 1, Bunck 0.

3-point goals -- Abilene 3 (Crump, Taylor, Crane), Rossville 3 (Dick 2, Miller). Total fouls -- Abilene 20, Rossville 15. Fouled out -- Crane. Technical fouls -- none.

By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

Winners of four of their last five games, the Rossville Bulldawgs welcomed Abilene on Friday night -- and rode a historic 40-point performance from senior Jack Donovan to a dominant 95-48 victory.

Senior Jack Donovan scored 40 points Friday night as Rossville rolled to a 95-48 win over Abilene. [File photo/TSN]

Rossville got on the board first when junior Cael Horgan knocked down a 3-pointer for a 3-0 lead. Abilene responded quickly with two baskets to go up 4-3, but Bulldawg senior Cameron Miller attacked the rim to reclaim a 5-4 advantage.

The Cowboys answered with a three, and Miller followed with one of his own to tie the game at 8-8.

Abilene pushed ahead 12-8, but the Dawgs responded with a 7-0 run to take a 15-12 lead. The Cowboys countered with back-to-back 3-pointers to go up 18-15.

Senior Jakoby McDonnell scored inside to cut it to one, and Conner Bush added a basket late to tie the game at 19-19 after the first quarter.

Abilene opened the second quarter with a free throw before McDonnell attacked the rim and drew a foul. He calmly sank both free throws to put Rossville back in front, 21-20.

That’s when Donovan took over.

After scoring just three points in the first quarter, Donovan erupted during a 10-0 run, hitting two 3-pointers to spark the surge.

He added another three and a layup to extend the lead to 34-22.

After both teams traded baskets, Donovan buried yet another three, followed by a layup and a three-point play.

By halftime, Donovan had poured in 20 points -- 17 of them coming in the second quarter alone -- and Rossville held a commanding 50-32 lead.

“Jack's starting to settle in and see the game a little bit more,” Rossville coach Brandon McDonnell said. “I think there were times where we got to a point where we were searching for the shot instead of letting it just settle and come to him. I haven't given Jack the red light -- if he feels hot and decides to heat-check a couple, you kind of let that ride.

"He's a fantastic basketball player. Today he threw that ball up there and they fell through the net, and you can't go wrong when that happens.”

“It really depends on where he takes that first shot from,” Jakoby McDonnell added. “Sometimes I’ll pass it to him and he’s right on the 3-point line, and other times he’s near halfcourt. If he makes the really deep one, he’s probably going to have a good night because he’s feeling it.”

Rossville wasted no time extending the lead after halftime.

Donovan opened the third quarter by drawing a foul and hitting both free throws. He added four more points to push the lead to 62-36, then knocked down another three for his 29th point of the night.

By the end of the third quarter, Rossville had blown the game wide open, leading 79-37.

“I wasn't really thinking about it that much,” Donovan said of his big night. “I was just trying to hit the shots I was putting up. They don’t always go in, but it was nice that they were going in tonight. It was a good feeling.”

Read more …

By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

Cair Paravel Latin girls basketball entered Friday's Senior Night game coming off a big win over league rival Council Grove Tuesday and pushed its win streak to two, handling Heritage Christian, 43-9.

 

Seniors Karysn Hastert and KellyAnn Chada have meant a lot to the Lions program over the last four years and especially the last two years with coach Jaley Barkley, who said she’s loved coaching both of them.

 

“Their connection is just something special,'' Barkley said. "They’re great friends off the court. They’ve been great leaders for me since I took over as coach. The girls look up to both Karysn and KellyAnn and they’ve stepped up in such a big way.”

 

“It’s very bittersweet,'' Chada said. "Obviously this isn’t the last game but it symbolizes the last game in a way which is something I will miss. I’ve really enjoyed having Jaley as a coach. She went here and we’ve had a prior connection and it was great to have her come back to CP.''

 

Hastert started the scoring for CPLS just over two minutes into the game, but then the Lions kicked it into another gear. Junior Becca Gateley drilled a triple to make it 5-0 and after another bucket, Heritage Christian called a timeout with 4:25 left in the first quarter.

 

Cair Paravel went on a 19-1 run to begin the game, thanks to freshman Avery Rosenow and then a Chada and-one as CPLS led 19-3 after one quarter.

 

The second quarter started slow for both teams, but CPLS was all over the Eagles forcing turnovers, leading to fastbreak and transition points, as multiple players scored in the game for a balanced scoring attack.

 

Gateley pushed the advantage to 26-5 after another three and held and Cair Paravel held Heritage Christian to just five points in the half, leading 32-5.

 

Hastert and Chada scored all six points for CPLS in the third quarter as Hastert would finish with a game-high 14 points and Chada with 13. After the 32 point margin (38-6) the running clock began in the fourth quarter.

 

“Once we settled in and got into that rhythm, we had a fun game,” Chada said.

 

Barkley subbed out Hastert and Chada with a little under three minutes left in the game as the Lions picked up win No. 10 on the campaign.

 

“Once the first basket falls, it opens the lid for the girls,'' Barkley said. "Our 3-2 zone has been our bread and butter creating steals and I have a couple of girls in the top of the steals category for the city. Once Karsyn got that first bucket, it helped get the game flowing.''

 

CAIR PARAVEL 43, HERITAGE CHRISTIAN 9

Heritage Christian 3 2 1 3 – 9

Cair Paravel           19 13 6 5 – 43

 

Heritage Christian (10-5) – Mullikin 1 0-0 2, Raj 0 1-2 1, Seashols 0 1-4 1, May 2 1-4 5.

 

Cair Paravel (10-10) – Hastert 6 2-4 14, Rosenow 3 0-0 6, Gateley 2 0-0 6, Welshans 2 0-0 4, Chada 6 1-1 13.

 

3-point goals – Cair Paravel 2 (Gateley 2). Total fouls – Heritage Christian 3, Cair Paravel 8. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.