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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
In the rarity of city matchups in 2023, Class 6A No. 8-ranked Topeka High made the most of its opportunity Friday night with a 60-25 Centennial League romp at Hayden.
After suffering two straight losses to Emporia and Washburn Rural, Topeka High bounced back with a dominant performance against the Wildcats.
Topeka senior Kiki Smith (23) gets ready to pass the ball in to Ayana Leesman in Friday's 60-25 Centennial League win at Hayden. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
"We took those two losses personally," Topeka High coach Brittany Redmond said. "We went back to the drawing board on defense. Everything we did in practice was stressing our play on defense. We want to win on the defensive end. I think tonight showed what we worked on in practice."
On defense, Topeka High prevented Hayden from scoring double figures in any quarter. Topeka High was a bruising force down low, and the Lady Trojans guarded the perimeter and took away passing lanes well.
The Lady Trojans' willingness to crash the boards, create turnovers and force Hayden to take uncomfortable shots allowed Topeka High to play comfortably.
It's a special night for a player when they have the same amount of points as the entire team they're facing.
For Topeka High standout senior Kiki Smith, her 25 points in three quarters of play boosted the Lady Trojans past Hayden.
In two quarters, Smith was the most unguardable player on the court. However, the 25 points on the offensive end were as good as her defensive effort, where she had five steals and a block to match it.
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
It took a total group effort for No. 5-ranked Washburn Rural (7-2 overall, 4-0 in the Centennial League) to extend its winning streak to six games against Manhattan (3-6, 1-2) after standout junior guard Zoe Canfield went down with a first-quarter injury.
Four Lady Blues scored at least eight points in the team's 48-32 win over the Indians.
Senior Brooklyn DeLeye led the way with 16 points as Washburn Rural's girls improved to 7-2 with their sixth straight win Friday night, a 48-32 decision over Manhattan. [File photo/TSN]
“I really like how we responded,” said Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick. “I thought Destiny and Tinly and Kate and Allie helped to fill in after that … MaRyah stepped up, I thought she hit some big shots and handled the ball most of the time after Zoe went out … I was really proud of that.”
Rural’s seniors led the charge, scoring 36 total points, with Brooklyn DeLeye leading the way with 16 points on the day she was named the Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year in volleyball for a second straight year.
“She’s had an awesome day. She’s a competitor, she understands the game and what other teams are trying to do,” Bordewick said. “Brooklyn’s impact is always huge … we get on her shoulders every once in awhile.”
Even at full strength, it was not smooth sailing for Washburn Rural early on. DeLeye had eight of Rural’s 10 first-quarter points but the two teams were knotted at 15 in the second after nine early points from Manhattan freshman Kat Ball.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After jumping out to a commanding 16-point lead early in the second quarter, Shawnee Heights' boys promptly let Seaman right back in the hunt Friday night.
But after allowing the Vikings get within a single point with 4:45 left in the third quarter, the T-Birds outscored Seaman 32-19 the rest of the way to pull away for the 65-51 United Kansas Conference win over the defending Class 5A state champs at Heights.
Shawnee Heights senior Q Stovall scored 21 points in the T-Birds' 65-51 UKC win over Seaman Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"There's a natural tendency for 99 percent of teenagers, and some Division I players, to say, 'OK, we're in control, now I can get mine,' '' Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting said. "So two guys take two bad shots and they hit two 3s. We should be shooting nothing but perfect shots -- we not make them, but we're going to get them -- and then we're going to be 20 ahead at half and the game's over.
"Instead we're going to take two bad ones and they hit two 3s and now we're in a fight. But we recovered and we need people to pressure us, because then we hit layups.''
Shawnee Heights, which improved to 6-2 with its fifth straight victory (all in the UKC), jumped out to 17-4 first-quarter lead over the Vikings (3-4, 3-4) and took a 22-6 lead early in the second quarter on a 3-pointer from sophomore Jaret Sanchez.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It wasn't real pretty, at least on the offensive end, but the No. 1-ranked Seaman girls basketball team achieved its only objective Friday night, bouncing back from its first loss of the season to get back on track with a hard-earned 30-27 United Kansas Conference victory at Shawnee Heights.
Sophomore Anna Becker led Seaman with 11 points as the top-ranked Vikings bounced back from a double-overtime loss on Tuesday to take a 30-27 win over Shawnee Heights Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Freshman Maddie Gragg (32) scored nine points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Seaman's 30-27 UKC win over Shawnee Heights Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"That's all that matters,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said of the win. "Let's just say we had a very spirited practice the next day (after Tuesday's loss). I love our kids. They work so hard, they're good kids, and they want to do the right things.
"The loss hurt them and I could tell they wanted to get better from it. I'm just happy to get the win and happy for the kids because they had some adversity they had to overcome.''
Seaman had its six-game win streak snapped on Tuesday in a 74-71 double-overtime road loss at Basehor-Linwood and on Friday the Vikings ended Shawnee Heights' seven-game streak.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team led for 13 minutes of the first half and went into the break with the score tied, but the Ichabod offense made just five field goals in the second half while host Missouri Southern made 16 baskets and went on to take a 61-45 MIAA victory Thursday.
Washburn's Lakyn Schieferecke led the Ichabods with a career-high 10 points in Thursday's 61-45 loss at Missouri Southern. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will finish out their two-game road trip on Saturday afternoon at Pittsburg State (1:30 p.m. tipoff).
Lakyn Schieferecke scored Washburn's first five points of the game while Missouri Southern missed its first six shots.
The Lions (13-4, 5-4 MIAA) got on the board and responded with five points of their own to even the score and then later tied it up again at 7-all and 9-all before Aubree Dewey put the Ichabods (7-7, 3-5) back up, 12-9, with a free throw and a layup.
The Lions made a floating jump shot with two seconds left in the opening quarter to pull within one, 13-12.
It was back-and-forth scoring in the second quarter as there were six lead changes and two ties.
Missouri Southern took its first lead of the game 45 seconds into the second quarter and never led by more than two points in the frame.
After Missouri Southern hit a three-pointer to go up 21-19, Amaya Davison answered with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to put the Ichabods back in front with 1:46 remaining in the first half.
That would be the final points of the quarter for Washburn and Missouri Southern went one of two at the free throw line with 24 seconds left to knot up the score at 22 at the break.
The Ichabods held reigning MIAA player and freshman of the year Lacy Stokes to just four points in the first half.
Missouri Southern started the second half on a 6-1 run and found its groove offensively, making nin of 15 from the field (60 percent) with three treys.
The Washburn offense went ice cold as the Ichabods made just two of 11 from the floor, but kept things closer by going eight of 10 from the free throw line.
Macy Doebele made both of her free throws with 22 seconds left in the third quarter to trim the deficit down to six, 41-35, but Stokes drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to push the lead back to nine. The Lions scored one more point in the third quarter than they did the first half as they outscored the Ichabods, 22-13.
Washburn's offensive struggles continued in the fourth stanza as it made just three of 14 attempts from the floor and Missouri Southern was seven of 17 to push its lead to as many as 18. Stokes scored the final points of the game with a jumper just under two and a half minutes left to finish out the win.
The Ichabods shot a season-low 25 percent from the field (13 of 52) while the Lions finished at a 40 percent clip (24 of 60).
The Lions had six more rebounds than the Ichabods, 43-37.
The nine Ichabods who saw more than five minutes of playing time all scored two or more points.
Schieferecke led the team with a career-high 10 points, making all three of her field goal attempts and going three of four from the charity stripe.
Gabi Artis had seven points and made all four of her free throws. Doebele had six points and five boards, while Dewey led the team with seven rebounds and four assists and added five points.
Stokes finished the evening with 18 points, five steals, and five assists. Madi Stokes recorded a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds to go with three blocks.
Lions shut down WU offense in 70-50 MIAA men's win
The Washburn Ichabods were held to a season-low 50 points as the Missouri Southern Lions won their seventh-straight game in a 70-50 win over the Ichabods.
Freshman Jarmell Johnson led Washburn with 15 points in Thursday's 70-50 loss at Missouri Southern. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn will be back in action on Saturday at Pittsburg State (3:30 p.m. tipoff) before returning home to host Fort Hays State next Wednesday in Lee Arena.
