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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- In terms of state experience, Wednesday's first-round Class 5A state tournament game between No. 4 seed St. Thomas Aquinas and No. 5 Highland Park was a mismatch.
Sophomore Amelia Ramsey led Highland Park with 12 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 66-22 Class 5A state tournament loss to St. Thomas Aquinas. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Highland Park's Se'Ona Gowan-Britt scored eight points with a pair of 3-pointers in Wednesday's Class 5A state tournament loss to St. Thomas Aquinas. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Aquinas entered this week's state tournament looking for its seventh straight state championship while Highland Park was making its first state appearance since 2012.
And Scots coach Rob Brown felt like that edge in experience made a big difference, particularly early on, as the Saints got off to a dominating start of the way to a 66-22 win at White Auditorium.
"I think we were a little overwhelmed,'' Brown said. "That team's a good team. We came out trying to give them all the energy that they could get, all the positive attitude they could get but it was a tough game.
"That's the six-time defending state champion right there and what, 30 appearances in a row so we knew the task ahead was going to be a tough one. I thought we played a better game in the secon half, slowed it down a little bit better, but that was just a tough start.''
Highland Park ended its breakout season with a 19-4 record while Aquinas, 20-3, advanced to Friday's 2 p.m. semifinal to face St. James Academy, which knocked off top seed Seaman 65-42 in Wednesday's opening game.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
MYLES ALONZO, Topeka West
Topeka West junior Myles Alonzo was a Class 5A regional champion and state placer in the 2022 season. [File photo/TSN]
A junior, Alonzo shot a 78 to tie for 17th in the weather-shortened 2022 Class 5A state tournament at Winfield last spring, earning his first state medal. A two-time TopSports.news All-Shawnee County first-team pick, Alonzo took medalist honors in regional competition, shooting a 76 and winning with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff. Alonzo tied for fifth in the Centennial League meet after placing seventh in the city tournament.
TADD ARMSTRONG, Washburn Rurral
A sophomore, Armstrong earned second-team TSN All-Shawnee County recognition as a freshman. Armstrong tied for 15th in the Centennial League meet with an 82, helped the Junior Blues win the city tltle with a 27-hole score of 132 and finished 27th in Class 6A regional competition to help Rural earn a state team berth with a runner-up finish at regionals.
BRYCE BADSKY, Silver Lake
Badsky, a junior, earned a Class 3A state medal for the second straight season, shooting an 80 to place 10th in the weather-shortened tournament at Salina Municipal. Badsky qualified for state with an eighth-place individual finish in regional competition. Badsky finished 13th in the 3A state tournament as a freshman and is a two-time TSN All-Shawnee County first-team selection.
ANDREW BURDETT, Washburn Rural
Burdett, a senior, earned second-team All-Shawnee County honors as a junior. Burdett placed 10th in the city meet with a 27-hole score of 132 for the city-champion Junior Blues, finished 10th in 6A regional competition with an 82 as Washburn Rural finished second as a team and took 14th in the Centennial League tournament with an 81.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Bo Aldridge
BO ALDRIDGE, Highland Park
Aldridge, a senior, scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as undefeated Highland Park earned its second straight Class 5A state tournament berth with an 80-52 romp past St. James Academy in Saturday's sub-state championship game at Highland Park. The Scots have won 22 straight games dating back to last year's first-round state tournament loss to Maize.
Logan Glinka
LOGAN GLINKA, Washburn Rural
A sophomore, Glinka posted a seventh-place individual finish with a 696 series as Washburn Rural dominated the Class 6A state bowling tournament last Friday at Wichita's Northrock Lanes, winning the team championship by a 3,711-3,576 margin over Olathe Northwest. Glinka, one of two underclassmen in Rural's lineup, bowled games of 205, 254 and 237.
Avery Grunert
AVERY GRUNERT, Hayden
Grunert, a junior, only made one basket in Saturday night's 42-40 Class 4A sub-state overtime victory at Fort Scott, but it was the shot of the year for the 15-7 Wildcats. With Hayden trailing 40-39, the Wildcats inbounded the ball with 3.3 seconds remaining and Grunert banked in the game-winning 3-pointer as time ran out, sending Hayden to this week's state tournament in Salina.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
When high school basketball practice began back in November, it's probably safe to say that very few people outside of the Highland Park girls basketball program thought there was even a chance that the 2022-2023 season would end with the Scots in the Class 5A state tournament.
Highland Park poses for a team picture after punching its ticket to the Class 5A state tournament with a win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But that's exactly where Highland Park will be at 4 p.m. Wednesday when the Scots square off against six-time defending state champion St. Thomas Aquinas at Emporia's storied White Auditorium.
"We're going to go down there and have fun and try to shock the world,'' Highland Park coach Rob Brown said. "We have no seniors so it will definitely be a great learning experience for us.''
Highland Park made major strides in Brown's first season as head coach in 2021-2022 but nothing like the progress the Scots made this season.
The Scots went undefeated in their first season in the Meadowlark Conference and went 19-3 overall, earning their first state berth since 2012 with a win over city rival Shawnee Heights in Friday's sub-state championship game.
"I'm extra proud of our girls, our coaches, everybody,'' Brown said. "It's been a day by day process, keeping everybody on track, getting our grades right, staying out of trouble, coming to practice every day with energy, working hard and keeping everybody bought in.''
Highland Park is the No. 5 seed for state while St. Thomas Aquinas, also 19-3, is the No. 4 seed.
The Scots and Saints are on the same side of the bracket with No. 1 seed Seaman (21-1), which will face No. 8 St. James Academy (17-5) in the opening round at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
On the other side of the bracket No. 2 seed Bishop Carroll (20-2) will face No. 7 Andover Central (17-5) and No. 3 Andover (20-2) will take on No. 6 Emporia (18-3).
The Highland Park-Aquinas and Seaman-St. James winners will play a 2 p.m. semifinal on Friday while the Carroll-Andover Central and Andover-Emporia winners will play the second semifinal at 6 o'clock.
The state championship game will be played at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Here's a look at the other five Shawnee County teams in state tournaments:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Junior Avery Grunert banked in a long 3-pointer at the buzzer Saturday night to give Hayden a 42-40 overtime Class 4A sub-state championship-game win over Fort Scott and a berth in the state tournament at Salina.
Junior Avery Grunert (right) is mobbed by her teammates after hitting the game-winning 3-pointer in overtime to give Hayden a 42-40 win over Fort Scott Saturday night. [Twitter/Hayden girls basketball]
Hayden girls engage in the tradition of taking a bite out of the championship trophy after Saturday night's 42-40 overtime win in Fort Scott. [Twitter/Hayden girls basketball]
Hayden poses for a team picture after winning a Class 4A sub-state championship Saturday night in Fort Scott. [Twitter/Hayden girls basketball]
Trailing 40-39, Hayden inbounded the ball with 3.3 seconds left in overtime and Grunert released her game-winning shot as time ran out.
Fort Scott led 7-5 at the end of the opening quarter before Hayden took a 14-11 lead at the half.
Hayden led 28-21 at the start of the fourth quarter but the Tigers battled back to send the game to overtime tied at 33.
Norma Greco paced the 15-7 Wildcats with 12 points while Kaliya Fulton added 11 and Lauren Sandstom eight points.
Keegan Yarick led Fort Scott, which finished 19-3, with 19 points, hitting nine consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter and overtime.
PITTSBURG BOYS 53, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 52 -- Shawnee Heights came within a whisker of earning a berth in the Class 5A state tournament, dropping a 53-52 decision to Pittsburgn in Saturday night's sub-state championship game.
The game was tied at 12-12 at the end of the opening quarter before Pittsburg (17-5) took a 25-20 advantage at the half.
Shawnee Heights battled back to take a 39-38 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
The T-Birds finished their season 15-7.
HUTCHINSON BOYS 66, TOPEKA WEST 38 -- Once-beaten Hutchinson took control in the first half, opening up a 16-point lead, on the way to a 66-38 win over Topeka West in Saturday's Class 5A sub-state final.
The Salthawks led 19-15 at the end of the first quarter but led by a commanding 36-20 advantage at the half.
Hutch, 21-1, le 54-32 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Topeka West finished its season 14-8.
