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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University men's basketball team will be back in Lee Arena for the first time since Jan. 20 at 7:30 Wednesday night, with the Ichabods hosting Missouri Western in an MIAA contest.
Junior Andrew Orr leads the Washburn Ichabods with a 13.5 scoring average entering Wednesday's home MIAA game against Missouri Western. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods are coming off a 2-2 road trip, with wins over Nebraska-Kearney and Rogers State.
Washburn, 14-7 overall, 10-5 MIAA, is coming off a 75-66 loss at Northeastern State last Saturday.
Missouri Western is 15-6 overall and 9-6 in the MIAA race, one game behind the Ichabods in the conference standings. The Ichabods won the first meeting this season against the Griffons, 83-77 in St. Joseph.
Wednesday's meeting will be the 106th in the history of the two programs, with the Ichabods leading 61-44. The Ichabods have won six of the last eight games in the series and the last two played in Topeka.
Junior Andrew Orr leads the Ichabods with a 13.5 scoring average, shooting 85.9 percent from the free throw line and 57 percent from the field. Orr is fifth in the MIAA in field goal percentage and ranks ninth on Washburn's all-time career chart at 58 percent.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
A dismal third period doomed the Washburn Rural boys’ hopes of scoring a big Centennial League win Tuesday, with the Junior Blues falling to the visiting Junction City Blue Jays, 63-55.
Washburn Rural senior Griffin Durst scored 18 points in the Junior Blues' 63-55 loss to Junction City Tuesday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Trailing by just two points at halftime 32-30, the Junior Blues were ambushed by a nine-point Junction City run to start the third period.
Washburn Rural failed to score for nearly four minutes and mustered just three points in the quarter.
By the time the Junior Blues stemmed the tide early in the fourth period, the Blue Jays led 52-33.
“Honestly, we felt like we were getting decent looks. We just weren’t knocking them down,” Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins said of the fateful third period.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Washburn Rural girls took advantage of a lopsided match with Junction City to develop depth and experience among their reserves.
The Junior Blues rolled over Junction City 49-11 Tuesday at Washburn Rural as coach Kevin Bordewick subbed liberally, going deep into his bench within the first five minutes of the contest.
Senior Zoe Canfield led all scorers with 16 points in Washburn Rural's 49-11 Centennial League win over Junction City Tuesday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
By the end of the night, Washburn Rural had given extended minutes to 12 players. Nine players scored for the Junior Blues.
One of the lone returners from last year’s Class 6A state runnerup team understands how important those minutes can be to a developing player.
“I think it’s really important because getting that experience at a young age really helps in the future when they have to step up and play their role,” said senior Destiny Ochs.
“I can remember how it helped me gain confidence getting to play (in varsity games) at a young age and just build up from there. Watching my teammates tonight, I know they are going to play confident in the future.”
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' boys basketball team was solid on offense Tuesday night at Topeka West, but spectacular on defense as the T-Birds rolled to a 58-30 United Kansas Conference victory, their 12th win over their past 13 games.
Shawnee Heights senior Brennon Dodge scored a game-high 17 points in the T-Birds' 58-30 UKC win at Topeka West Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The ninth-ranked (Class 5A) T-Birds limited Topeka West to single-digit scoring in each of the first three quarters and a total of just 19 points over that span and led by as many as 36 points in the final period while forcing a running clock.
"You know what defense means to me and that's big-time defense,'' Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting said. "There wasn't an open shot all night and sometimes it was the third rotation that had it covered. We covered the gaps and got to the ball and we did what we wanted.
"We wanted to come out and not let them get comfortable. If they come out and hit three 3s in the first quarter it would be turned around. It would be the other way around.''
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Topeka West played much better Tuesday night than it had in a 35-point early-season loss to Shawnee Heights.
But that wasn't enough for the Chargers to keep pace with the T-Birds, who went wire-to-wire for a 65-48 United Kansas Conference win at West after scoring the first 13 points of the game.
Shawnee Heights senior Breezy Canady (24) scored a game-high 21 points with four 3-pointers in Tuesday's 65-48 UKC win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"They are much-improved,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said of the Chargers. "Just their on-the-court awareness and the things they're doing on offensively kind of fits the players that they have.
"We knew that they had some girls that just can shoot the lights out. They're definitely doing a good job over here and told the grls, 'You can throw out the scouting report from last time because they've improved that much.''
