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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WASHBURN RURAL GIRLS (7-2) vs. LIFE PREP (6-7)
At Shawnee Heights Lady Thunderbird Classic
Senior Brooklyn DeLeye and No. 3-ranked Washburn Rural will compete in the Lady Thunderbird Classic at Shawnee Heights this week. [File photo/TSN]
No. 3-ranked (Class 6A) Washburn Rural has been off since a 48-32 Centennial League win over Manhattan on Jan. 13 and will return to action in Thursday's 4 p.m. first-round game against Wichita Life Prep. Senior Brooklyn DeLeye finished with 16 points to lead Rural in its win over Manhattan while senior Chloe Carlgren added 12 points. The Rural-Life Prep winner will advance to a Friday semifinal to face No. 1-ranked (6A) Shawnee Mission South. The Rural-Life Prep loser will receive a bye into Saturday's fifth-place game in the seven-school tournament.
Senior Taylor Rottinghaus and Shawnee Heights will host the Lady Thunderbird Classic Thursday through Saturday at Heights. [File photo/TSN]
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS (7-3) vs. WICHITA SOUTH (7-2)
Lady Thunderbird Classic
Tournament host Shawnee Heights, ranked No. 9 in 5A, will face Wichita South, No. 10 in 6A, in a 5:30 p.m. first-round game. Shawnee Heights will be looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses to state-ranked teams, including a 35-31 non-league loss to Hayden last Friday. Senior Taylor Rottinghaus led Heights with nine points against Hayden while senior Emari Doby grabbed 16 rebounds. The Heights-Wichita South winner will advance to a Friday semifinal to take on the winner of the first-round game between Hutchinson and Shawnee Mission North.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake junior girls basketball player McKinley Kruger and Topeka High junior basketball player Bryson Thrasher have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the 2022-2023 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Kruger and Thrasher last week:
Silver Lake junior McKinley Kruger (12) was named the Most Valuable Player in the Burlington Invitational after helping lead the Eagles to the tournament title with three straight double-digit victories. [Photo by Brent Maycock./KSHSAA Covered]
MCKINLEY KRUGER, Silver Lake
Kruger, a 5-foot-6 guard, was named the Burlington Invitational Most Valuable Player after helping lead No. 7-ranked (Class 3A) Silver Lake to the tournament championship.
Silver Lake defeated Independence 52-39 in last Saturday's championship game, with Kruger scoring 20 points and hitting five 3-pointers.
Kruger helped Silver Lake post three straight double-digit tournament victories and the Eagles added a fourth straight double-digit win in Tuesday's 55-36 win at Santa Fe Trail.
Topeka High junior Bryson Thrasher scored a total of 53 points in three Topeka Invitational Tournament games last week, with a high of 23 points. [File photo/TSN]
BRYSON THRASHER, Topeka High
A 6-foot-1 guard, Thrasher scored a total of 53 points in Topeka High's three Topeka Invitational Tournament games last week at Topeka West.
Thrasher scored 23 points in the Trojans' 61-52 overtime loss to Lawrence in the opening round, had 18 points in Topeka High's 63-57 win over Lansing as High picked up its second win of the season and had 12 points with two 3-pointers in Saturday's 64-47 loss to Hayden.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake swept a non-league basketball twinbill at Santa Fe Trail Tuesday night, with both Eagle teams posting double-digit victories.
The seventh-ranked (Class 3A) Silver Lake girls improved to 11-1 with a 55-36 win over the Chargers while the Eagle boys snapped a four-game losing streak in an 81-62 win over Trail.
Senior Troy Heiman led Silver Lake with 20 points in Tuesday's 81-62 non-league win at Santa Fe Trail. [File photo/TSN]
Silver Lake's girls, coming off the tournament championship in last week's Burlington Invitational, posted their fourth straight double-digit victory while handing Santa Fe Trail its second loss in 12 games on the season.
Silver Lake's boys, who improved to 4-8, were led by senior Troy Heiman with 20 points and three 3-pointers while junior Elijah Lopez added 12 points and freshman Dayne Johnson and sophomore Jared Johnson 10 points each.
Coach Michael Bell's Rossville girls advanced to the semifinals of the Jefferson North Invitational with a 48-9 first-round win over Valley Falls. [File photo/TSN]
ROSSVILLE GIRLS 48, VALLEY FALLS 9 -- Rossville rolled to a 45-9 first-round win over Valley Falls in the Jefferson County North Invitational, improving to 8-3 on the season.
With the win the Bulldawgs, who led 32-2 at the half, advanced to a 7:30 p.m. tournament semifinal on Friday against Atchison County, 10-0 and ranked No. 6 in Class 3A by the KBCA.
Freshman Rylee Dick led Rossville with 13 points while junior Kinsey Perine added 10 pointss, junior Katie Spielman eight points and juniors Emma Mitchell and Kinley Porter seven apiece.
Atchison County advanced to the semifinal with a 63-39 first-round win over Atchison.
DE SOTO BOYS 55, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 48 -- De Soto earned a regular-season sweep over Shawnee Heights, taking a 55-48 home United Kansas Conference decision over the T-Birds.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 8 in Class 5A by the KBCA, improved to 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the UKC while the T-Birds fell to 8-4, 6-3.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Basehor-Linwood might have bested Class 5A No. 9-ranked Topeka West the first time the two schools met, but in the second meeting between the United Kansas Conference foes, Topeka West evened it up with a 65-59 overtime win.
Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist talks to his Chargers during Tuesday's 65-59 UKC overtime win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
The Chargers and the Bobcats first met in the 2022-2023 opener, where Basehor-Linwood defeated Topeka West, 58-52. West coach Rick Bloomquist said the difference between then and now is chemistry and maturity.
Bloomquist admits that he has to coach this team like he's 35 years old again, but he knows good teams find ways to win and Topeka West had to scratch and claw for the victory in overtime after giving up a double-digit lead.
"We had more positives in that game than negatives," Bloomquist said. "The best thing about the game is that we won in overtime. We haven't played an overtime game in three or four years. I was a little concerned about how we were going to react. We showed more poise in overtime than we did in the last four minutes of the fourth quarter."
Topeka West had to put its hard hat on defensively down the stretch to lock up Basehor-Linwood's 6-foot-5 guard, Tyson Ruud. The Washburn basketball commit was practically unguardable in the first and fourth quarters.
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
After a first quarter to forget Washburn Rural (9-3) showcased its full potential, outscoring Olathe East (4-7) 42-15 in the middle quarters on its way to a 59-34 non-league home win Tuesday night.
Senior Jack Bachelor led Washburn Rural with 14 points in Tuesday's 59-34 non-league win over Olathe East. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Junior Griffin Durst puts up a shot in Tuesday's 59-34 non-league win over Olathe East. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
“Olathe East did a good job of guarding us and pressing a little bit and we played on our heels a little bit and were too passive (early) and I thought we did a better job in the second half of attacking and being aggressive,” said Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins.
The Junior Blues are as healthy as they have been all season after getting key players like senior Wyatt Conklin back during the teams' third-place finish at the Bill Hanson Memorial Tournament. A full roster has led to wins in three of the last four games and some optimism heading into the final month of the regular season.
“I still definitely think there’s things we need to learn and clean up, but I do think that over the past couple of weeks we have definitely learned some things about ourselves and taken a step or two in the right direction,” Hutchins said. “Wyatt is starting to settle in a bit, I thought tonight was the best he’s looked so far, and I know he’s still got another step he can take.”
Washburn Rural’s offensive surge in the middle 16 minutes came after the Junior Blues were held to just six points in the first quarter of play. The Hawks led by as many as six early on and were in front 8-6 after eight minutes.
“I thought our defense was better,” Hutchins said. “Over the weekend in Pittsburg, we didn’t think we did a great job of playing smart defense and defending as a team and I think that tonight we took a step in the right direction on that front.”
