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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' girls wrestling team entered Saturday's United Kansas Conference Championships as the four-time defending conference champion and the No. 4-ranked team in Class 6A-5A by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association.
But Heights coach Chad Parks knew the T-Birds couldn't afford to take anything for granted and would need to be on top of their game to stretch their title reign to five straight seasons.
Shawnee Heights' girls wrestling team celebrates its fifth straight United Kansas Conference team championship Saturday at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The T-Birds were up to the task and then some, earning five individual championships and adding three runnerup finishes on their home mats on the way to a 217-179.5 victory over Basehor-Linwood, while short-handed Seaman finished third (129).
"We knew Basehor was going to be really tough,'' Parks said. "They're solid all the way through and when you wrestle a team that's solid all the way through they're going to give you a run. That's all there is to it.
"We needed to come out like always and just focus on doing our job one match at a time and then see how it plays out. I felt we wrestled really well. The girls stayed focused, they worked hard. We were out there battling every match and that's all we ask of them.''
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Freshman Pearmella Carter turned in a huge 38-point, 18-rebound performance Friday night as Highland Park's girls basketball team bounced back from a loss to perennial Class 5A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas with a 66-30 Meadowlark Conference road win over Kansas City-Wyandotte.
Freshman Pearmella Carter scored 38 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in Highland Park's 66-30 Meadowlark Conference win over KC-Wyandotte Friday night. [Highland Park basketball]
Carter hit 18 of 27 shots from the floor and went two of three from the free throw line in the Highland Park win while also recording six steals.
Angelique Gowan-Britt scored 15 points with 9 assists and 6 steals in Highland Park's 66-30 Meadowlark Conference win over KC-Wyandotte. [Highland Park basketball]
Tahtionna Broils scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds in Highland Park's 66-30 win over KC-Wyandotte. [Highland Park basketball]
Carter was backed by Angelique Gowan-Britt with 15 points, 9 assists and 6 steals while Tahtionna Broils scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Highland Park led 15-7 at the end of the opening quarter and 28-17 at the half before outscoring the Bulldogs 38-13 in the second half.
Now 7-4 on the season and undefeated in conference play, Highland Park will travel to Atchison on Monday for a Meadowlark Conference contest.
Topeka West sophomore Imani McGlory led all scorers with 15 points in the Chargers' 58-21 UKC win over Turner. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
West girls take 58-21 runaway UKC decision over KC-Turner
Having lost four of its last five games at the start of the night, Topeka West's girls got back on track in a big way Friday night, taking a 58-21 home United Kansas Conference victory over Kansas City-Turner.
The Chargers started somewhat slowly, scoring seven of their 11 first-quarter points from the free throw line, but West still led 11-5 and then put the game out of reach with an 18-4 second quarter that gave West 29-9 halftime advantage.
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
TopSports.news
The Seaman Vikings boys basketball team hosted the De Soto Wildcats in a United Kansas Conference contest on Friday night, with De Soto riding a quick start to a dominating 68-37 victory.
Sophomore Kae Von Bonner paced Seaman with 14 points in Friday's 68-37 UKC loss to De Soto. [File photo/TSN]
De Soto jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, and with 3:37 left in the opening quarter, the Wildcats led 17-2, only missing one shot up to that point.
De Soto closed out the first quarter shooting 7-12 from the field and led 20-5.
In the second quarter, De Soto extended its lead and had a commanding 44-17 advantage at the half.
“All the credit to them,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "We knew they were good offensively with David Cobin leading the way and so many other guys capable of scoring. They were on fire and we added to it with some turnovers that led to easy baskets.”
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
TopSports.news
A highly anticipated United Kansas Conference battle took place Friday night at Seaman High School, with the No. 2-ranked (Class 5A) Seaman Lady Vikings playing host to the No. 6 De Soto Wildcats.
Junior Anna Becker led the way with 17 points in Seaman's 50-47 UKC win over De Soto Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
Friday's game also had an impact on post season seeding as Seaman entered the game as the top seed in 5A East and De Soto the No. 2 seed.
In a thrilling, back-and-forth game, Seaman edged DeSoto, 50-47, improving to 13-1 overall and a perfect 10-0 in the UKC.
The game began with a quick start by the Lady Vikes, who led 7-2 with 3:38 left in the first quarter.
De Soto had to use a second timeout with 1:47 remaining in the quarter, trailing 12-2. But the Wildcats closed the quarter on a 5-2 run to close the gap to 14-7.
The second quarter started exactly the same, but the roles were reversed. De Soto’s Amanda Tower hit two 3-point baskets in the first 1:20 of the quarter to cut the Seaman lead to 14-13.
The Wildcat run continued until there was 3:53 remaining in the half, with De Soto leading 23-17. The Wildcats shot 7-10 from the field in the quarter and led 27-21 at the half.
“We knew coming into this game that it would be a battle,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "DeSoto is a good team and they can really shoot the ball. Basketball is a game of runs. We hit them with a run to start the game and then they went on a run. I want us to learn that when a team goes on a 6-0 run that we really need to be patient and run our offense. It felt like we tried to answer back too quick with guarded shots.”
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
It was a packed house for Winter Royalty at Hayden High School Friday night and the Hayden boys jumped out early to a 21-12 first- quarter lead and a 34-30 halftime advantage over Class 6A Manhattan before the Indians rallied in the second half to pull out a 68-56 win.
Hayden senior Dom Ridley scored 16 points in Friday's 68-56 Centennial League loss to Manhattan. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Hayden senior Jacob Padilla, who had 14 points, drives to the hoop in Friday's 68-56 Centennial League loss to Manhattan. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“We did a great job of sharing the ball early, with different guys making some big shots for us,'' Hayden coach Trey Brown said. "Dom (Ridley) and Cooper (Colboch) got off to a hot start we had a lot of energy, unselfishness and taking care of the ball and turnovers hurt us in the second half.”
The second half would be a completely different story for the Wildcats as the Indians would tie it up right away at 34 and lead the rest of the way.
“Theyre a really good team and all credit to them,'' Brown said of the Indians. "They made some good shots and we have to get better defensively. We struggle to guard at times and that's the biggest thing and credit to them, they made some big-time shots and we have to limit our turnovers whether that's taking bad shots or actually turning it over. (Turnovers) have killed us all year.
"The final score does not indicate how close the game actually was and our guys played hard,'' Brown said. "We just have to figure out how to win again and get over the hump.”
