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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For three quarters Tuesday night at Topeka High, Hayden's boys basketball team played as well as it has in Dwayne Anthony's two seasons at the school.
Senior Connor Hanika scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Hayden's 64-59 Centennial League win at Topeka High Tuesday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And over the final seven minutes or so, the Wildcats gave their coach plenty of things to address when they return to practice.
But after letting a 21-point advantage early in the fourth quarter get down to a one-possession game in the closing seconds, Hayden escaped with a 64-59 Centennial League sweep over Topeka High, with the Wildcats completing a season sweep over the Trojans.
"It got crazy, thank God for timeouts,'' Anthony said. "My guys are just learning how to play basketball, and I mean at a level that we want to play. And it doesn't always look pretty.
"We did good for the first three quarters and then that fourth quarter we get a little shaky, then the intensity comes up, and we've got to go back and talk about it tomorrow and just to continue to level up.''
Hayden, which had taken a 16-point win over High earlier in the season, took it to the Trojans again in the rematch, with the Wildcats never trailing en route to improving to 9-9 overall and 2-4 in the league.
But after using a 20-9 second quarter to open up a 29-17 halftime behind a big 14-point, eight-rebound first half from senior Connor Hanika, Hayden boosted its lead to 21 points late in the third quarter and led 48-29 at the start of the final period.
"The guys came out and executed what we planned,'' Anthony said. "I tell the guys that it's a simple game, and when they embrace that and give their energy, it's a lot of fun for us.
"But sometimes the energy wanes or the thought process wanes and that's where we have to get better.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High girls basketball took control early Tuesday night and never looked back, avenging an earlier 11-point Centennial League loss to Hayden with a 59-47 league romp past the Wildcats at The Dungeon.
Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton scored a game-high 23 points in Tuesday's 59-47 Topeka High win over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Trojans, who topped the .500 mark for the first time this season, only trailed once on the night, at 3-2, and there was just one tie, at 6-6, before Topeka High, now 9-8 overall and 4-2 in the league, scored the final eight points of the opening quarter to go up 14-6.
Topeka High went on to open up a 14-point advantage (27-13) before Hayden (13-5, 4-2) scored the final seven points of the half to cut its deficit to 27-20.
But the Trojans scored the first four points of the third quarter to go back in front by double-digits and led by 14 twice before taking an 11-point (45-34) advantage at the end of the third quarter and led by as many as 17 early in the fourth.
"It's always nice to get a good start,'' Topeka High coach Ron Slaymaker said. "Every coach would say that, but if you don't you don't fold your tent, but it's nice to get it and I thought we played with energy and all the things you want to play with in any game.
"And we just kept it going, pretty much through the whole game.''
Sophomore Hailey Caryl (40) scored 15 points Tuesday as Topeka High improved to 9-8 with a 59-47 win over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton paced the Trojans with a game-high 23 points while sophomore Hailey Caryl added 15 points and all seven Topeka High players that saw action cracked the scoring column as High won its third straight game.
"They're playing really well right now,'' Slaymaker said.
Sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein led Hayden with 14 points in Tuesday's 59-47 loss at Topeka High. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein overcame a slow start to lead the Wildcats with 14 points while senior Ella Foster and sophomore Blakely Walter added 11 each.
Foster helped keep the Wildcats in the hunt with three 3-pointers while Schmidtlein and Walter both connected on two treys.
Topeka High will go on the road Thursday for a non-league game against Seaman, which handed the Trojans a 75-60 loss in the final round of the Capital City Classic on Jan. 31.
Hayden will return to action Friday with a Centennial League game at Emporia.
TOPEKA HIGH GIRLS 59, HAYDEN 47
Hayden 6 14 14 13 -- 47
Topeka High 14 13 18 14 -- 59
Hayden (13-5, 4-2) – Walter 4-9 1-2 11, Schmidtlein 5-12 2-2 14, Foster 3-5 2-2 11, Huscher 0-2 0-0 0, Watts 0-1 0-0 0, Wichman 1-1 0-0 2, Mitchell 0-4 1-2 1, Borjon 1-3 0-0 3, Connell 2-7 1-2 5. Totals 16-44 7-10 47.
Topeka High (9-8, 4-2) – Short 3-4 0-0 6, Marshall 1-3 0-0 2, Rayton 8-21 6-7 23, Caryl 6-7 2-4 15, Gotru 2-3 2-2 6, Triplett 1-2 1-1 3, Whayne 1-2 1-2 4. Totals 22-42 12-16 59.
3-point goals – Hayden 8 (Foster 3, Walter 2, Schmidtlein 2, Borjon), Topeka High 4 (Rayton 2, Marshall, Short). Total fouls – Hayden 6, Topeka High 9. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Leah Crawford
LEAH CRAWFORD, Seaman
A sophomore bowler, Crawford shot a 661 three-game series to capture the girls individual title in Friday's city championships at Gage Bowl. Crawford rolled games of 224, 211 and 226 to take individual honors by 36 pins as Seaman rolled to its third straight city team championship by a 3,293-2,970 margin over Washburn Rural.
Cianna Graves
CIANNA GRAVES, Shawnee Heights
Graves, a senior girls wrestling star, won the United Kansas Conference championship at 155 pounds while also recording the 100th pin of her career on Saturday at Piper as No. 3-ranked (Class 5A) Shawnee Heights claimed the team championship by a 179.5-163 margin over top-ranked Basehor-Linwood. Now 28-2 on the season, Graves went 3-0 on the day with three pins.
Caleb Menke
CALEB MENKE, Hayden
Menke, a 175-pound junior wrestling standout, reached the 100-win milestone on Thursday at Royal Valley, a rare accomplishment for an underclassmen, and followed that up with the 175-pound championship in Saturday's Centennial League tournament at Washburn Rural, posting a 5-0 record on the day, including a 55-second pin and a 15-0 technical fall.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A five-run sixth inning propelled Washburn University softball to a 7–5 comeback victory over Truman State on Sunday in the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in Bentonville, Ark., lifting Washburn to an 8-2 record on the season.
Sophomore Dalaney Anderson hit a three-run home run to power Washburn softball to a 7-5 comeback win over Truman State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Trailing 5-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Washburn's offense erupted with a game-changing rally.
Erin Boles opened the surge with an RBI single, plating Ashley Gaughan to make it a 5-3 game.
Two batters later, Dalaney Anderson delivered the game's biggest swing, a three-run home run to left field that put the Ichabods ahead 6–5.
The inning continued with a double from Seaman product Aspen Burgardt, followed by an RBI single from Madi Moore to extend the lead to 7–5.
Anderson finished the day with three RBI, all coming on her go-ahead blast.
Boles, Shawnee Heights grad Taylor Brees, Moore, and Maddie McGee all contributed an RBI as Washburn totaled 10 hits.
In the circle, Jenna Sprague was outstanding in relief for the Ichabods.
Entering in the fourth inning, Sprague tossed 32/3 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while keeping Truman off the board to earn her first win of the season.
Truman built an early lead, thanks to a grand slam from Cassie Smith, but after Washburn starter Kierra Goos exited, Sprague steadied Washburn and shut the Bulldogs down the rest of the way.
Washburn's scoring began in the second inning when McGee drove in Danielle Schlader. Brees later added an RBI double in the fourth as part of a two-hit performance.
Washburn returns to action Friday through Sunday in Tahlequah, Okla. at the Cherokee Classic.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' girls regained the United Kansas Conference wrestling championship Saturday at Piper, with the Class 5A No. 3-ranked T-Birds topping No. 1 Basehor-Linwood by a 179.5-163 margin.
Shawnee Heights senior Olivia Stevens (left) reached the 100-win milestone in Saturday's UKC wrestling tournament while T-Bird senior Cianna Graves registered her 100th career pin. [Photo courtesy of Shawnee Heights wrestling]
The T-Birds garnered five individual conference titles while posting 10 top-three finishes.
Shawnee Heights got gold-medal performances from freshman 120-pounder Brinnley Morris, junior 125-pounder Audrey Hinkly, sophomore 130-pounder Olive Jones, senior 145-pounder Olivia Stevens and senior 155-pounder Cianna Graves.
Stevens, 27-4 on the season, and Graves, 28-2, both reached career milestones on Saturday, with Graves reaching 100 pins for her career while Stevens notched her 100th career victory.
Shawnee Heights also got runnerup UKC finishes from sophomore Bianca Juarez (110), senior Shelby Watson (170) and junior Brooklyn Binkley (190) while sophomore Halle Hall (115) and freshman Raelyn Kelly (130) placed third.
