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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There's no doubt that Washburn University men's basketball coach Brett Ballard was extremely disappointed in his team's performance in last Saturday's 72-67 home loss to Lincoln.
The Ichabods, now 5-8 overall and 2-5 in the MIAA, dug themselves a 20-point hole before a second-half rally came up short against the Blue Tigers.
"Disgusted is a good word for it,'' Ballard said of his mood in the wake of the Lincoln loss. "The film verified kind of what I felt. We just didn't execute the game plan, didn't compete at a high enough level and let them get a ton of confidence.
"Obviously against teams in this league you can't do that and we dug ourself too much of a hole.''
Washburn junior Tyler Nelson (14) is coming off an 18-point game in last Saturday's 72-67 MIAA loss to Lincoln. [File photo/TSN]
Brett Ballard's Washburn University men's basketball team will be aiming to bounce back from a 72-67 loss to Lincoln in Thursday's game at Missouri Southern. [File photo/TSN]
The good news is that the Ichabods will have a chance to bounce back from that loss in Thursday night's 7:30 conference game at Missouri Southern, the first of two straight road games.
"We're going to need our upperclassmen to set the tone if we want to flip this thing, and we can,'' Ballard said of Washburn's slow start to the season. "In order for us to have the success we need to have, they've got to be consistent at both ends of the floor.
"There is time, but you get to the middle of January and it's go time so you've got to put your foot on the gas.''
Washburn will be facing a Lion team that is one of the hottest teams in the MIAA entering this week, stretching their winning streak to six games with a 75-65 road win at Nebraska-Kearney.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University women's basketball team, fresh off of a double-digit victory over Lincoln, will play two road games this week, including a 5:30 p.m. MIAA contest at Missouri Southern Thursday night.
The Ichabods moved back above .500 on the season with last Saturday's 73-59 win over Lincoln, improving to 7-6 overall and 3-4 in the MIAA.
Washburn junior point guard Aubree Dewey leads the 7-6 Ichabods in scoring, assists and minutes played entering Thursday's game at Missouri Southern. [File photo/TSN]
Lora Westling's Washburn women's basketball team is 7-6 on the season after last Saturday's double-figure MIAA win over Lincoln. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn floor leader Aubree Dewey said there's no doubt the Ichabods have showed significant improvement since the start of the season.
"We talked a lot this week about our performances during preseason and just what a completely different basketball team we are now than when we started,'' Dewey said.
"We've been putting a lot of stuff together and just executing a lot better recently and I can see that getting even better in the future.''
WU first-year head coach Lora Westling has also seen that improvent out of her young team.
"Our quality of practice is better, our attention to detail is better, our shoot-arounds are better and when everything leading up to games is better then you're games are going to be better,'' Westling said. "It just works out that way.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Wednesday was the day that Washburn Rural senior bowling standout Walker Thompson and his Junior Blue teammates have been waiting for since last March -- the start of a new season.
Walker Thompson
The perennially-strong Rural team stubbed its toe in Class 6A regional competition a year ago, falling short in its bid to earn a team berth for the state tournament, and the Junior Blues are looking for redemption in 2023.
Rural got that bid off to a good start in Weddnesday's season-opening Topeka High quadrangular at Gabe Bowl, with Thompson winning the individual title with a 693 three-game series while Rural captured the team championship by a 2,616-2,517 margin over Junction City.
"I feel great, I've been looking for this for a whole year,'' Thompson said after bowling games of 235, 235 and 223 Wednesday. "Last year we got kicked out in regionals and this year I've been dying to come back.''
Rural's Geo Peoples finished second individually with a 674 series while Logan Glinka narrowly missed the top five, rolling a 625 series.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park's boys basketball team celebrated its rise to the No. 1 spot in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Class 5A state rankings with a 107-64 romp past Meadowlark Conference foe Kansas City-Sumner Academy Tuesday at Sumner.
Senior Bo Aldridge (1) and the top-ranked Highland Park boys are coming off a 107-64 Meadowlark Conference win over KC-Sumner Academy on Tuesday. [File photo/TSN]
With the win the Scots improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
Highland Park will travel to KC-Harmon for a Meadowlark Conference game on Friday before competing in the Topeka Invitational Tournament next week at Topeka West.
HIGHLAND PARK GIRLS 64, KC SUMNER ACADEMY 20 -- Highland Park improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the Meadowlark Conference with a 64-20 conference road win over KC-Sumner, ranked No. 7 in Class 5A by the KBCA.
Sophomore DeAsia Sanders scored 20 points on eight of 12 shooting from the field for the Scots against the Sabres while sophomore Amelia Ramsey added 14 points.
Highland Park will be at home Friday to host KC-Harmon in a Meadowlark Conference contest before competing in the Salina Invitational Tournament next week. The Scots will play Salina South in a first-round game on Thursday, Jan. 19, at Salina South.
HAYDEN GIRLS 37, JUNCTION CITY 27 -- Hayden snapped a two-game losing streak with the Wildcats' first Centennial League victory, a 37-27 road decision at Junction City.
Hayden improved to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the Centennial League after dropping games to state-ranked Emporia and Washburn Rural to open league play.
Junior Lauren Sandstrom and sophomore Brylee Meier led Hayden with 13 points apiece.
Hayden will be back in action Friday, hosting No. 8-ranked (Class 6A) Topeka High in a Centennial League game.
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
Hours after becoming ranked for the first time all season, the No. 9-ranked (Class 5A) Shawnee Heights girls (6-1 overall, 6-1 United Kansas Conference) held Kansas City-Turner (0-7, 0-6) scoreless for the first 15 minutes of action and won 43-7.
“That’s something that we have been stressing,” said Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells. “There were definite goals to accomplish on defense and we told them it didn’t matter who was in the game ... we said ‘Do it on defense,’ and I’m really proud of their effort tonight.”
Bob Wells' Shawnee Heights girls basketball team improved to 6-1 on the season with a 43-7 UKC win over KC-Turner Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
The Thunderbirds' win was a true team effort, with all 15 available players logging minutes in the first three quarters. Twelve players scored with the high mark being just seven points.
“That’s something I really appreciated, they are sharing the ball and they are moving without the ball. It really was once we got into a little rhythm shooting the basket got a little bit bigger for us and everybody started knocking them down,” Wells said.
