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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Cold shooting cost Washburn University men's basketball (3-5 overall, 0-2 MIAA) Saturday against Emporia State (7-0, 1-0) on Saturday afternoon at Lee Arena.
The Ichabods shot 32 percent as a team and were unable to mount a comeback in a 74-63 loss.
Andrew Orr (24), celebrating a basket Saturday against Emporia State with teammate Michael Keegan, led the Ichabods with 18 points and 10 rebounds. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Hornets jumped out to a five-point lead in the first five minutes.
Washburn's defense helped withstand a slow offensive start and a five-minute stretch without allowing a point allowed the Ichabods to go on a 9-0 run and lead by three at the 6:29 mark
Shots stopped falling for Washburn and on the other end Emporia State stayed aggressive, leading to 15 first half free throw attempts for the Hornets.
A 14-4 Emporia State run to close the half gave the Hornets a 34-28 lead.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Wrestlers from various schools around the area took to the mats Saturday at the Highland Park Invitational for a showdown to kick off the 2022-2023 campaign.
City schools Hayden, Highland Park and Topeka High competed in Saturday's tournament and all three schools had reason to celebrate.
Hayden wrestling poses for a team picture after the Wildcats' second-place team finish in Saturday's Highland Park Invitational. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
De Soto recorded a first-place finish, with the Wildcats posting six first-place finishes and several other top-three finishes.
Hayden had the most success out of the city schools on Saturday, with the Wildcats finishing second as a team.
“I have high expectations for this team,” Hayden coach Jacob Torrez said. “I expect us to perform highly every time we come out. It went as well as expected. My football players just got back last week. We’ve only had a full week of practice with the whole team together. We have the drive and have a bunch of kids that want to win, get better and do what it takes to get better. They weren’t satisfied today.”
Hayden second with 72 points, winning two individual championships and having several other athletes finishing in the top three in their weight classes.
Caroline North took a first-place finish at 125 pounds on the girls' side and 165-pounder Jude Krentz won a gold medal on the boys' side.
Jamison Kennedy, Jimmy Longstaff, Elaina Wolff, Kylie Carswell, Natalie Hopper, Gabriel Benteman and Jacob Waldy all finished in the top three, contributing to Hayden’s runnerup showing.
Highland Park's Ruby Hernandez stands atop the victory stand after winning the 135-pound championship in Saturday's Highland Park Invitational. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Highland Park finished with a score of 66 points giving its team a third-place finish.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Basketball has taken Mark Turgeon a lot of places and given him a great deal of success over the past four decades.
And on Saturday basketball brought Turgeon back to Topeka and Hayden High, where it all started, with the Wildcats' 1982-83 team that posted a perfect 25-0 record on the way to the Class 4A state championship part of the 2022 Hayden Hall of Fame class.
Mark Turgeon (right) visits with Hayden athletic director Bobby Taul, an assistant coach during Turgeon's Wildcat playing career, before Saturday night's Hayden Hall of Fame induction ceremony. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I can't remember when I was here last,'' said Turgeon, who helped lead Hayden to back-to-back state titles as a junior and senior. "I came back for a football game a couple of months ago, I was in town for a Chiefs game, but I can't remember the last time I was in this building. It's been a long time.
"I think I was back for our 15th reunion, it might have been 10, but I think it was 15 and we're coming up on 40 here so it's been awhile.''
Turgeon, who played on a Final Four team at Kansas before embarking on a successful coaching career, said being back at Hayden with his former teammates and coaches tugged at his heartstrings.
"It's good to be back,'' he said. "We got together last night as a group and just to see everybody and be together and just talk about the good times, it's a lot of fun.
"It started at the Most Pure Heart playgrounds, we had a lot of good competition there. and then being at Hayden, it's the only place I ever wanted to go to high school growing up, and being a part of it and being on the basketball team, my dad played here and my brother played here and my uncle played here so it was important to me. I started coming to games when I was probably three or four years old, so it was a lot of fun just to be a part of it.''
Turgeon said that the closeness that the Wildcats had as a team continues to this day.
"Our bonds will never be broken because we were so close and went through so much together,'' he said. "A lot of us went to Most Pure Heart together and then we added (Chris) Gomez and Tommy Meier and they just blended right in.
"We just were really close, we really cared about each other and I think that's why we were able to do what we did because it was more than just basketball for us. It was about just being great friends.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden coaching legend Ben Meseke was inducted into the inaugural Hayden Hall of Fame class in 2021 as an individual.
And Meseke was back at Hayden Saturday night for the induction of his entire 1982-82 boys basketball team, which made the occasion extra special.
Hayden's 1982-1983 boys basketball team, which posted a perfect 25-0 record en route to the Class 4A state title, was inducted into the Hayden Hall of Fame Saturday night. [Submitted photo]
Former Hayden state champion and Washburn Univerity national champion Tom Meier (right) jokes with former Wildcat teammates during Saturday night's Hayden Hall of Fame induction ceremony. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"It's amazing,'' Meseke said. "I don't use this lightly, but we, and when I say we I mean the whole (Hayden comnunity), we were so blessed to have these kids who were not only tremendously talented, but just great kids to work with,'' said Meseke, who coached a total of 12 state championship teams at Hayden.
The '82-'83 Wildcats were the first-ever city team to post a perfect 25-0 record en route to the Class 4A state championship and are widely regarded as of the state's all-time great teams.
"You'll see on the highlight film, the last play of the state tournament, Tommy (Meier) got the rebound and I think four of the five guys touched the ball and it went the length of the floor and I don't know if the ball touched the floor or not and we scored at the buzzer.'' Meseke said. "They were just so close like that.
"I didn't have to worry about attitudes or cussing or none of that stuff that sometimes you do have to be concerned about. They were just great guys.''
Members of the team included Charlie Appelhanz, Gary Fangman, Chris Gomez, Mike McGreevy, T. Meier, Wes Meier, David Proctor, Rob Reilly, Chris Reyer, Mark Thompson, Mark Turgeon and Gavin Wittman as well as Meseke, assistaht coaches Bobby Taul and Jerry Simecka and manager Jerry Volz. Simecka was also inducted as part of the 2022 Hall of Fame class as an individual.
Meier and Reilly went on to help Washburn University win the NAIA National championship while Turgeon went on to play in the Final Four for Kansas, but Meseke said that what made the '82-'83 team so special was the way the Wildcats operated as a team.
"I had a juco coach come up to me during the (Topeka Invitational Tournament) and he said, 'Coach, I'm going to tell you right now, if you're interested, I will give a full ride -- food, dorm, books, the works -- to your starters, to all five,'' Meseke said.
"I said, 'Well, there's a couple of them that I think want to go a little higher but I will tell the others about your offer,' and he said, 'I either get all five or none.' He said, 'They're like a well-oiled machine and if you take one of them out of there it's not quite the same.' And he was right.''
In addition to the '82-'83 team, Hayden inducted Father Tim Haberkorn for Alumni Achievement, Jerry Simecka for Staff Achievement andTim Morrisey for Contributor Achievement during Saturday's Hall of Fame festivities.
Hall of Fame inductee capsules:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn women's basketball team held a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but cold-shooting second and third quarters proved costly for the Ichabods in a 58-43 MIAA loss to Emporia State Saturday afternoon at Lee Arena.
Washburn (3-4 overall, 0-2 MIAA) jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead to begin the game, with Emma Chapman making a pair of layups during the opening run, but Emporia State (5-1, 1-0 MIAA) ended the first quarter on a 5-0 scoring run to trim the deficit to 9-8.
Washburn freshman Natalia Figueroa scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Ichabods in Saturday's MIAA loss to Emporia State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Lady Hornets took their first lead of the game 47 seconds into the second quarter with a jumper by Tre'Zure Jobe.
Washburn went back in front with five unanswered points, but Emporia State rattled off a 10-0 run in a 3-minute, 22-second span to go up, 20-14. Chapman converted on an old-fashioned three-point play, but the Lady Hornets hit a jumper with 22 seconds left to take a 22-17 lead into the halftime break.
In the third quarter, the Emporia State offense outscored Washburn, 23-7, to take a commanding 45-24 lead into the fourth quarter.
ESU shot 58.33 percent from the field (7 of 12) and went 8 of 11 from the free throw line and held the Ichabods to just 2 of 16 from the floor (12.5 percent) and 1 of 2 at the charity stripe. Emporia State held a 45-24 lead to going into the fourth quarter.
