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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Undefeated and top seed Highland Park didn't play its best basketball in the first half of Thursday's Class 5A boys first-round game, holding a somewhat precarious five-point advantage over No. 8 seed Basehor-Linwood
But coach Mike Williams said there was no panic or consternation in the Scots' locker room at the break, just a message of patience and encouragement.
Highland Park sophomore Jacorey Robinson (23) scored a team-high 17 points, including nine in the third quarter, as the Scots advanced to the Class 5A state semifinals with a 60-49 win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Highland Park coach Mike Williams congratulates his players late in Thursday's Class 5A state tournament win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
HIghland Park's bench celebrates a Scot 3-pointer in Thursday's 60-49 Class 5A state tournament win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
And coming out of the locker room, the Scots flashed the form that has led to 23 straight victories, with Highland Park building a 15-point lead at the end of the third quarter and leading by as many as 19 in the fourth on the way to a 60-49 victory at White Auditorium.
"I thought we did a good job of just staying poised,'' Williams said. "The game ain't over the first quarter, it's not over the second quarter. Our guys came into the locker room, nobody was panicking, nobody was pointing fingers at anybody.
"We were just trying to figure it out and I thought they did a good job of that as we went through the second half.''
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Silver Lake's girls basketball team took its first step towards a Class 3A state championship with a 72-41 opening-round win over Santa Fe Trail in Wednesday night's final game of the night.
Now the Eagles get another shot at the team that ended that quest a year ago.
Junior McKinley Kruger scored a game-high 20 points and hit four 3-pointers as Silver Lake advanced to the Class 3A state semifinals with a 72-41 win over Santa Fe Trail. [File photo]
Goodland took a 59-53 semifinal win over Silver Lake last season on its way to its first state championship since the 1980 while the Eagles bounced back to post a third-place finish. Goodland will take a perfect 24-0 record into Friday's 6 p.m. semifinal while Silver Lake is 23-1.
While Silver Lake rolled to a 31-point win in its second meeting of the year with Santa Fe Trail, Goodland fought off a serious upset bid from Frontenac to take a 53-48 victory, its 37th straight victory.
After losing by 19 points to Silver Lake in late January, Santa Fe Trail jumped out to a 13-9 first-quarter lead after holding the Eagles to just 20 percent shooting in the first quarter (three of 15).
But Silver Lake took control in the second quarter, exploding for 32 points and hitting 13 of 18 shots from the field in a 32-8 quarter to open up a 41-21 halftime lead.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's already been a special season for Highland Park's boys basketball team, which will enter Thursday's Class 5A state tournament as one of only two undefeated boys teams in Kansas (along with 3A Galena) while not having a game closer than 11 points all season.
Highland Park senior Jahmir Kingcannon cuts down the nets after last Saturday's 80-52 win over St. James Academy. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Highland Park poses for a team picture after earning a second straight trip to state with an 80-52 win over St. James Academy Saturday night at Highland Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But although Mike Williams and his 22-0 top-seeded Scots are proud of what they have accomplished after earning a second straight state berth, they also know there is still work to do, beginning with Thursday's 2 p.m. first-round game against No. 8 seed Basehor-Linwood (9-13) at Emporia's White Auditorium.
"We want to polish, clean up and make sure we're on point,'' Williams said. "We're not putting new stuff in, we're not changing the system, but we are challenging ourselves though.
"We've been to this tournament twice in the last three years and kind of laid an egg in the opening round, so we're challenging ourselves to take the opening-round matchup seriously and make sure we're doing something to set us up to make sure we're around Friday and Saturday night.''
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Anyone who follows Kansas high school basketball closely knows that St. James Academy was far from a typical No. 8 state seed.
And it didn't take long for the Thunder to emphatically prove that point in Wednesday's Class 5A state girls tournament opener at White Auditorium, with St. James riding a 20-0 run in the first half to a 65-42 victory over top seed Seaman.
Matt Tinsley talks to his Vikings during Wednesday's 65-42 first-round loss to St. James Academy in the Class 5A state tournament. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Freshman Maddie Gragg led Seaman with 10 points in Wednesday's 65-42 Class 5A state tournament loss to St. James Academy. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
"We didn't have our best game and that's too bad, but that's not going to change what I feel about my girls in that locker room,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "That's not going to change our season. We still had a great run.
"It hurts and the girls are hurt, which means they invested a lot into it, and it should hurt if you put a lot of time and effort and sacrifice into it. We're going to learn from it and we don't want to feel like this again. We want to get back here next year.''
Seaman, which finished its season 21-2, was within 10-8 with 5:05 left in the first quarter after a basket from freshman Maddie Gragg, but the Vikings would go more than eight minutes before scoring their next points, with the Thunder using their mammoth run to take a commanding 25-8 advantage at the end of the opening quarter and a 30-8 lead in the early stages of the second.
"It went to 30-8 quick,'' Tinsley said. "They just seemed to have anothe gear that we didn't have.''
Seaman outscored the Thunder by an 11-4 margin to end the half but St. James still led 34-19 at the break after shooting 73.3 percent in the first quarter and 51.7 percent for the half while limiting the Vikings to 25.9-percent shooting in the half.
The Vikings got no closer than 15 in the second half and St. James, which competes in the powerhouse Eastern Kansas League, closed the third quarter with a 9-1 run to take a 55-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
St. James boosted its lead to a game-high 25 points early in the fourth while Seaman got no closer than 19 down the stretch.
"We play in a great league, the EKL is a really, really strong league and we know that going through the battles in our league, but also our out of league play, we go through some tough tests,'' St. James coach Justin Snell said. "So I try to tell my girls that, 'We may not go undefeated in all those games but those gamess are preparing us for this time.' ''
The Thunder finished the game at 57.1 percent from the field while Seaman finished at 28.6 percent. St. James also finished with a 34-26 rebounding edge.
St. James senior Riley Bruggeman scored a game-high 27 points while 5-foot-11 sophomore Reese Messer added 17 points and senior Lauren Steinlage 10.
Gragg led Seaman with 10 points while sophomore Jaida Stallbaumer added nine points and junior Taylin Stallbaumer and sophomore Anna Becker eight points apiece. Becker also contributed seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
With Wednesday's win St. James advanced to a 2 p.m. semifinal on Friday to face EKL rival St. Thomas Aquinas, which advanced twith a 66-22 first-round win over Highland Park.
"This year we've played them twice and we haven't had a close game yet,'' Snell said. "They kicked our butts both times but hopefully the third time's the charm.''
ST. JAMES ACADEMY GIRLS 65, SEAMAN GIRLS 42
St. James 25 9 21 10 -- 65
Seaman 8 11 13 10 -- 42
St. James Academy (18-5 ) -- Kerwin 2-4 0-0 5, Steinlage 5-6 0-4 10, Bruggeman 10-15 6-8 27, Messer 8-16 0-0 17, Becker 3-6 0-0 6, Halnny 0-0 0-0 0, Robinson 0-2 0-0 0, Menghini 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-49 6-12 65.
Seaman (21-2) -- J. Stallbaumer 3-7 1-2 9, T. Stallbaumer 2-11 2-2 8, Becker 3-11 2-2 8, Gragg 3-12 2-4 10, Gormley 2-3 1-2 5, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Schumann 1-4 0-0 2, McLaughlin 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, E. Stallbaumer 0-0 0-0 0, Wilhelm 0-1 0-0 0, Moulden 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-49 8-12 42.
3-point shot -- St. James Academy 3-12 (Bruggeman 1-4, Messer 1-4, Kerwin 1-1, Becker 0-2, Robinson 0-1), Seaman 6-21 (J. Stallbaumer 2-2, Gragg 2-5, T. Stallbaumer 2-9, Becker 0-3, Gormley 0-1, Schumann 0-1). Total fouls -- St. James Academy 10, Seaman 13. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- Seaman bench.
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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.
