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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
What’s more stressful than facing a team twice? Facing a team three times for a chance to keep a season alive.
Coach Bob Wells talks to his Shawnee Heights team during Tuesday's 38-35 Class 5A sub-state win over De Soto. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
For the Shawnee Heights girls’ basketball team, defending its home court against United Kansas Conference foe De Soto required an extra dose of blood pressure medication.
Luckily for Shawnee Heights, it could hold on tight in the fourth quarter at the Birdcage, ending De Soto’s season with a 38-35 victory Tuesday in the semifinal round of Class 5A sub-state play.
“They know us, and we know them, which makes the situation even tougher,” Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. “I thought (De Soto) played well against us and against the tiniest of adjustments that we made. They were doing everything that they could do not to let some of our kids be successful. That’s what good coaches do, and they have one.
“It took for us to make the plays down in the end. For us, being able to get into our trapping situations really helped us because we were able to get some turnovers out of it. That was huge for us.”
Shawnee Heights had split the season series before its win on Tuesday night.
The Thunderbirds dropped the season opener to De Soto, losing by four, but avenged its loss with a nine-point victory on Jan. 12.
Both of the previous contests were in the rearview, and the only thing that mattered to Shawnee Heights was getting the job done on Tuesday night, so they could keep its state tournament hopes alive.
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
Class 5A No. 1-ranked Seaman girls basketball needed only 60 minutes of real-world time to roll past Kansas City-Schlagle, 73-11, Tuesday night in the Vikes' highest scoring game of the season.
Junior Taylin Stallbaumer led 10 scorers for Seaman with a game-high 13 points in the Vikings' 73-11 Class 5A sub-state win over KC-Schlagle. [File photo/TSN]
“We definitely want to be peeking by the end of the year and playing your best basketball. And we’re better when we share the ball, I thought we did that tonight, which is definitely a good sign heading into the sub-state championship,” said Seaman coach Matt Tinsley.
Seaman, 20-1, advanced to a Class 5A sub-state championship on Friday where it will play host to United Kansas Conference rival Piper, who the Vikings are 2-0 against on the year.
“After tonight we are 0-0, everybody is 0-0 again, it’s a one game season and we got to focus, just on little things. This time of year it just comes down to execution and making sure we are executing our alignment and our assignment regardless of who we play we know it’s going to be a good game,” Tinsley said.
Seaman’s season came to an end in the sub-state championship last season, something the team has thought about making sure wouldn’t happen this season since Day 1.
“The first day of practice is when we began the season with the end in mind. But there’s nothing to celebrate, we aren't there yet, we gotta go to work,” Tinsey said.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's been three years since Wichita West came to Washburn Rural and took a 42-40 upset win over the heavily-favored Junior Blues in the opening round of Class 6A boys sub-state competition
For a brief time Tuesday night it appeared as if Campus might pull off a similar stunner, but after the Junior Blues saw a 17-point lead turn into a one-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, Washburn Rural responded with a clutch performance over the final eight minutes to advance to a sub-state final with a 60-51 victory over the Colts.
Senior Jack Bachelor led Washburn Rural with 14 points in Tuesday's 60-51 Class 6A sub-state semifinal win over Campus. [File photo/TSN]
Alex Hutchins' Washburn Rural boys will play for a Class 6A sub-state title on Friday after taking control down the stretch for a 60-51 win over Campus Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
Now 15-5 on the season, Rural advanced to host 15-6 Derby, a 69-52 winner over Wichita West, in Friday's sub-state final.
Senior Jack Bachelor, who paced a balanced Rural scoring attack against Campus with 14 points, remembered the 2020 loss to Wichita West well.
"It was my freshman year and they got us first round,'' Bachelor said. "No game in the playoffs is easy. I knew that and I was like, 'We're taking one game at a time.' People were asking me about Friday and I said, 'We're worried about Tuesday. We've got to prep for Campus and get ready,' because I still had that bad taste in my mouth from freshman year. I knew we had to be ready.''
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Highland Park girls basketball team took an important first step toward a trip to state Tuesday by holding off Leavenworth 53-38 on the Scots’ home floor.
Seeded third in the Class 5A East bracket, the Scots rode a dominant performance by sophomore post Amelia Ramsey to continue the improbable turnaround of the Highland Park girls program.
Sophomore standout Amelia Ramsey scored 27 points and grabbed 27 rebounds in Highland Park's 53-38 Class 5A sub-state semifinal win over Leavenworth Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
It was just three years ago that the Scots could barely field five players. Now, with a roster loaded with underclassmen, they are a game away from a trip to Emporia for the state tournament.
“All along we just told the girls to trust the process,” said second-year Highland Park coach Rob Brown. “One of our goals was to host a sub-state game. And a goal was to win a sub-state game. Now we’re fortunate to get to host a sub-state championship game.”
Highland Park, which improved its record to 18-3, will host Shawnee Heights, the six seed in the East bracket, Friday.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights senior Luke Perkins and Washburn Rural junior Jack Miranda headline the 2023 All-City boys swimming and diving team after combining for four top-four individual finishes in state competition.
The 2023 All-City boys swimming and diving team -- Front, from left: Luke Perkins, Shawnee Heights; Evan Hoobler, Shawnee Heights; Brogan Meier, Washburn Rural; Jack Miranda, Washburn Rural; Will Powell, Washburn Rural; Luke Lemke, Washburn Rural; Cordell Dimick, Washburn Rural. Back, from left: Riccardo Corazza, Shawnee Heights; Ryan Johnson, Hayden; Colin O'Rourke, Seaman; Daniel Ramirez, Seaman; Jaxon Cowdin, Topeka High; Will Stewart, Topeka High;Dylan Gregg, Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The 2023 All-City boys swimming and diving second team -- Front, from left: Grady Johnson, Topeka High; Blaize Appelhanz, Seaman; Stuart Campbell, Topeka High; Thomas Schmidt, Topeka High. Back, from left: Souvish Sinha, Washburn Rural; Branen Moore, Seaman; Eli Wahlmeier, Hayden; Perry Payne, Topeka High; Landon Stuke, Seaman. Not pictured: Truman Brede, Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Perkins capped his prep career with four Class 5A-1A state medals while running his four-year career medal haul to 12 while Rural's Miranda finished his junior season with three medals in the 6A state meet, including a pair of third-place individual finishes.
Perkins, who earned four state medals for the second straight season, posted a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly and a fourth-place finish in the 200 individual medley and swam on Shawnee Heights' fourth-place 200 medley relay and sixth-place 200 free relay.
Miranda finished third in the 6A 200-yard freestyle and third in the 500 free in and swam on the Junior Blues' seventh-place 400 free relay.
Heights All-City first-team sophomore Evan Hoobler and senior Riccardo Corazza earned state medals in the 200 medley and 200 free relays while Corazza added an individual medal to his two relay medals, finishing eighth in the 5A-1A 100 free.
Rural junior Brogan Meier earned a 6A individual medal for the second straight year, taking eighth in the 100 free, and was part of the seventh-place 400 free relay along with Miranda, junior Will Powell and sophomore Luke Lemke.
Seaman senior Colin O'Rourke finished fifth in the 5A-1A 100 butterfly while Viking senior Daniel Ramirez took seventh in the 5A-1A 500 freestyle and eighth in the 200 free.
Topeka High sophomore Jaxon Cowdin finished 10th in the 6A one-meter diving event.
All-City capsules:
