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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team will travel to St. Joseph, Mo. on Thursday to face Missouri Western in a 5:30 p.m. MIAA contest.
Washburn is 12-11 overall and 10-7 in the MIAA while Missouri Western is 19-5, 13-5.
The Ichabods are coming off a thrilling 72-71 home victory over Central Missouri on Saturday, while the Griffons, who were ranked No. 21 last week, dropped out of the Top 25 after double-figure road losses at Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State.
Missouri Western bounced back to defeat Emporia State in White Auditorium on Tuesday evening, 81-67.
Missouri Western won the first matchup against Washburn this season, rolling to an 80-47 win in Lee Arena on Feb. 1.
The Ichabods have five games remaining in the regular season before the MIAA Tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. March 2-6. The top-10 MIAA teams will compete in the tournament.
Washburn is currently sixth in the conference standings.
Ichbod senior standout Hunter Bentley has moved up to No. 9 in the MIAA in scoring with a 14.1 average after scoring in double figures in the last six consecutive games, including three 20-point-plus games.
Bentley needs 34 more points to pass Latisha Yarnell (1984-88) and move up to No. 6 on Washburn's career scoring list.
Abby Oliver scored a season-high 17 points in the WU win over Central Missouri, with 10 of those coming during a fourth-quarter comeback.
Oliver is averaging 8.9 points and 4.5 rebounds and leads the team with 25 blocks.
Macy Doebele is third on the team in scoring at 7.9 points per game and second in rebounds with a 5.1 average.
Against the Jennies, Doebele she grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds to go with seven points.
Nuria Barrientos leads the Ichabods with a 5.3 rebounding average to go with a 6.9 scoring average.
After going just 6-16 in the conference-only 2020-21 schedule, Missouri Western opened the current season on a nine-game winning streak.
Three Western players are in the top 15 in the MIAA in scoring, with Brionna Budgetts averaging 13.1 points, Connie Clarke 12.8 points and Corbyn Cunningham 12.4 points per game.
Clarke leads the Griffons and is sixth in the conference with an 8.6 rebounding average. She also has made a team-best 20 blocks and 44 steals.
Washburn closes out the week at Northwest Missouri on Saturday in Maryville, Mo. (1:30 p.m. start).
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's girls bowling team took control in the four Baker Format games to successfully defend their Centennial League team championship while Washburn Rural's Kaitlyn Doyal broke out of a recent slump to take the individual league title by a 32-pin margin Wednesday at West Ridge Lanes.
Seaman won the team title by a 3,096-3,026 margin over Washburn Rural while Doyal bowled a 668 three-game series to take individual honors.
Individual runner-up Makenzie Millard, who rolled a 636 series, led the way as all six Seaman bowlers earned spots in the top 20 individually.
The Vikings also got a fifth-place finish from Katie Price (576), while Kayla Mize (550) took ninth, Kaitlyn Evans 10th (523), Cheyenne Turkin 11th (518) and JaeLynn Thetford 19th (471).
Seaman coach Bob Benoit feels like the Vikings, fourth at state a year ago, still have work to do with regional and state meets coming up the next two weeks, but he thought his team made progress in the league meet.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Centennial League boys bowling tournament was a battle to the very end, with Seaman's Ethan Burns pulling out the individual title while Washburn Rural claimed the team championship Wednesday at West Ridge Lanes.
Washburn Rural won the team title by a mere four pins over Seaman (3,503-3,499) while the chase for individual honors was even closer, with Burns rolling a 728 three-game series to edge Rural's Josh Hammons by two pins.
Washburn Rural built a big lead through American Ten-Pin and was able to barely hold off Seaman through the four Baker Format games.
Hammons led three Junior Blues in the top 10 and four in the top 13, with Walker Thompson finishing third (683), Logan Glinka 10th (623) and Geo Peoples 13th (599).
"We went in with the same mindset, just throw good shots over and over and don't worry about what other people do,'' Hammons said. "We just stayed consistent all day.''
Rural coach Jo Ricard agreed
"We started off extremely well and towards the end we started to tense and tighten up a little bit through the third game and so forth and I had my assistant (Steve Peoples) talk with them to get them all back on board heading into Baker,'' Ricard said.
Burns was one of three Seaman bowlers in the top 12, with Zander White ninth (625) and Jack Easum 12th (618).
Burns bowled a 692 series in a makeup meet on Tuesday at West Ridge and he said that success carried over to the league meet.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' boys basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak with Tuesday's 71-63 United Kansas Conference win at Leavenworth while clinching a winning season.
Shawnee Heights improved to 11-5 after winning just six games a year ago as four T-Birds scored in double figures.
Sophomore Brennon Dodge led Shawnee Heights, 4-3 in the UKC, with 18 points, while sophomore Jayden Moore and sophomore Dylan Sanchez both added 12 points and freshman Deacon Pomeroy 10 points.
Dodge hit three 3-pointers on the night while Moore went 7 of 8 at the free throw line.
The T-Birds led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter and 32-24 at the half before opening up a double-digit advantage (53-38) with a 21-14 third quarter.
The Pioneers outscored Heights 25-18 in the fourth quarter but the T-Birds held on for the win.
Shawnee Heights will be at home Thursday to host Piper in a non-league game.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 56, LEAVENWORTH 54 -- Shawnee Heights held on for a 56-54 United Kansas Conference road win over Leavenworth in a game that was tight throughout.
The T-Birds, who improved to 8-8, 3-4, was led by junior Emari Doby with 21 points while senior Zoe Oczko added 12 points, junior Taylor Rottinghaus 10 points and senior Abby Schulte nine.
Rottinghaus provided a lift for Shawnee Heights, which played without sophomore starter Breezy Canady, who missed the game due to illness.
The T-Birds will be back in action Thursday, hosting Piper in a non-league contest.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Seaman’s Kaeden Bonner’s stellar 26-point night didn’t happen by accident, with Tuesday night meant to be for the 6-foot-1 junior.
Bonner hit six 3-point shots out of his 10 field goals as the Vikings rolled to a 79-44 home Centennial League win over Topeka High.
“Coming into the game, my team just told me to shoot the ball as much as I can,” Bonner said. “I felt confident. (Topeka High) was playing zone, so that just kept putting me back behind the (3-point) line. My confidence shooting the three has gotten much better.”
“Kaeden is capable of shooting the ball as well as he did tonight, night in and night out,” Seaman coach Craig Cox said. “When he sees the defense playing in the zone, he’s ready to shoot. It was nice for him to produce the way he did for us tonight.”
Bonner lit the match and sparked the momentum for the Vikings early on, scoring the first 12 points off of four 3-point shots.
The massive 79-point game was led by the production of Bonner, but the final score was a team effort.
The Viking starting five all had a piece in the 35-point romp, with Mateo Hyman and Ty Henry both scoring 12 points, while Aron Davis and Gavin Wilhelm combined for 13 points.
“Our guys did a fantastic job of attacking Topeka (High)’s zone. We were able to make the open pass and the extra pass. Our passing and scoring from everyone were great tonight,” Cox said.
Seaman’s first three quarters were eye-opening. Three quarters of scoring 20 or more points made it nearly impossible for Topeka High to keep up. The Vikings knew they were in the driver's seat when they put up 48 points going into halftime.
“Anytime you can get 48 points at the half is great,” Cox said. “I think that second quarter was the difference in the game for us.”
Despite the success from the 3-point line, converting contested shots and dunks, Seaman was also able to have an incredible night from the free throw line.
While Topeka High didn’t foul Seaman at a high rate, the Vikings shot 90 percent when they were given the free opportunity.
Seaman will host Lansing (9-8) on Friday night while Topeka High will hit the road and take on a gritty (4-13) Hayden team.
“I’d like for our guys to continue having fun,” said Cox. “Having fun and playing together should be what the game is all about. If we keep playing unselfish and having good chemistry, we should be good down the stretch.”
SEAMAN BOYS 79, TOPEKA HIGH 44
Seaman 20 28 23 8 – 79
Topeka High 16 13 8 7 – 44
Seaman (10-7, 9-5) – Hyman 4 3-4 12, Henry 5 2-2 12, Bonner 10 0-0 26, Wilhelm 2 0-0 5, Davis 3 2-2 8, Griess 3 2-2 8, Phillips 1 0-0 2, Barta 1 0-0 2, Freeman 1 0-0 2, Finley 0 2-2 2.
Topeka High (4-14, 4-10) – Lyons 2 0-0 5, Mays 3 3-3 9, Baumgardner 1 0-0 2, Flenoy 5 3-4 13, Gomez 2 0-0 6, Thrasher 3 1-2 7, Cameron 1 0-2 2.
3-point goals – Seaman 8 (Bonner 6, Hyman, Wilhelm), Topeka High 1 (Lyons). Fouls – Seaman 12, Topeka High 10. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.