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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After dropping two previous games to Rock Creek by a total of 30 points, Silver Lake's boys basketball team made a dramatic turnaround Friday night, taking a 51-40 home Mid-East League decision over the Mustangs.
Senior Troy Heiman scored 12 points to lead a balanced Silver Lake attack as the Eagles took a 51-40 Mid-East League win over Rock Creek Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
Friday's win was the second straight double-digit win for the Eagles, who improved to 6-12 overall and 5-4 in the league.
Silver Lake trailed 12-5 at the end of the opening quarter, but outscored the Mustangs 28-15 over the middle two quarters to put itself in position for the win before outscoring Rock Creek 18-13 over the final eight minutes.
Senior Troy Heiman led Silver Lake with 12 points while freshman Dayne Johnson added 10 points, junior Elijah Lopez nine points and junior Spencer Johnson eight.
Senior Jack Bachelor scored 20 points and had 10 assists in Washburn Rural's 78-70 loss at Manhattan Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
MANHATTAN BOYS 78, WASHBURN RURAL 70 -- Manhattan handed Washburn Rural its second Centennial League loss of the season Friday night, dropping the Junior Blues into a share for the league lead with Emporia.
Manhattan (11-8, 5-4) rode a 26-13 first quarter to a big lead and the Indians led 38-28 at the half 59-45 at the start of the fourth quarter before the Junior Blues (14-5, 7-2) made up ground late.
Senior Jack Bachelor led Washburn Rural with 20 points, including four 3-pointers, and also had 10 assists.
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
Looking at a game’s final score can be deceiving.
Clas 5A No. 1 Highland Park beating Sumner Academy 76-61 looks like business as usual for the Runnin’ Scots, but Highland Park coach Michael Williams will be the first to say that wasn’t the case, and that he’s happier it was so.
Senior Tre Richardson led Highland Park with 22 points in the Scots' 76-61 win over KC-Sumner. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
Sophomore Jacorey Robinson goes up for a dunk in Friday's 76-61 Highland Park win over KC-Sumner. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
“(It was) for our own good … to have a test of character and see a couple of quarters where we are down,” Williams said. “To look them in the eye and get them thinking, doubting and worrying a little bit but also figuring out some character in some guys, too.”
Friday night was not the last home game of the season for Highland Park but it was Senior Night for the Scots’ senior class, which meant extra recognition for a group that has them at 17-0 heading into the final week of the regular season.
“They are program changers. We have been trending up and moving in the right direction over the last four to five years and this group of seniors took us to the next level, we leveled up this year,” Williams said. “They don’t only level up a team, they level up a school and a community and you get people behind us.”
The Scots will begin a busy final week at home against Harmon next Tuesday as coach Williams expects his roster to be back at full strength in time for sub-state.
“The beautiful part of the team is that we suit up 12 guys for a reason,” Williams said. “Other guys are able to step in and the show is able to go on and it has been good for growth and development of individual and group pieces overall.”
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Seaman completed its regular-season sweep over United Kansas Conference foe Basehor-Linwood on Friday night, edging the Bobcats, 43-42.
Although offensively, it wasn't Seaman's best performance the defense keyed the victory on the Vikings' home court.
Senior Kaeden Bonner led Seaman with 12 points in Friday's 43-42 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [File photo/TSN]
In the fourth quarter, with a little over a minute to go, the defense didn't panic, holding its one-point lead.
The Vikings' defense did the job and held Basehor-Linwood standout Tyson Ruud without the game-winning hoop with 4.2 seconds remaining in the conference matchup.
"They got that opportunity in the end with their best player having a good look," Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "We got lucky that the last possession didn't go their way. (Ruud) only scored nine points against us the first time, so we tried to use that same gameplan of making him catch it a little further out, not letting him catch in rhythm, not letting him get a bunch of his back-cut dunk plays that he's capable of doing."
Luckily for Seaman (11-7, 8-6), they had its standout senior duo of Kaeden Bonner and Aron Davis on the court. Kaeden Bonner and Davis have battled their fair share of injuries and adversity this season, so having their production on the court means a lot to Cox and the Vikings.
"We've got to rely on them tremendously," Cox said. "They are combined averaging 31 points a game while as a team, we only average 54. So they are a large percentage of what we do, and when teams really start focusing on them, they are able to make the other guys better. They are both good passers, both unselfish, and they also understand that they have the responsibility to go get points for us."
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
The speculation going into Friday night's United Kansas Conference girls basketball matchup was that the contest between top-ranked (Class 5A) Seaman and Basehor-Linwood would be close due to this season's brief history.
But the result on Friday was the opposite, with Seaman rolling through Basehor-Linwood, 68-34.
Junior Taylin Stallbaumer led Seaman with a game-high 23 points in Friday's 68-34 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman's only loss of the 2022-2023 campaign was to Basehor-Linwood on Jan. 10, with the Bobcats prevailing in double overtime on its home court, 74-71.
"We came into this game a lot more focused," Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "The first time we played them, they outplayed us. They outhustled and outcoached us last game, too. I thought we played a focused game this time from the get-go. The unselfish play of our girls, making the extra pass and cranking it up defensively, helped us win."
Despite its overwhelmingly young core, Tinsley and the Vikings have been nothing short of impressive.
In the last two seasons, Seaman has only lost to 5A opponents twice in the regular season.
"I know it sounds cliche, but we are truly focused on one game at a time," Tinsley said. "We realize that there is a lot ahead of us. At this time of the year, you want to play your best. We want to be that team that is hot down the stretch. We are playing good team basketball, but we have more work to do, and that starts in practice."
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
For a team without any seniors, Senior Night might lose its importance.
But for the Highland Park girls (14-3 overall, 9-0 league), they spent Friday night celebrating something else -- the Meadowlark Conference title.
Sophomore Amelia Ramsey scored a game-high 22 points as Highland Park wrapped up the Meadowlark Conference title with a 68-38 win over KC-Sumner Friday night. [Photo by Tr
Highland Park coach Rob Brown talks to his Scots during Friday's 68-38 Meadowlark Conference win over KC-Sumner. [Photo by Trevor Falcon/Special to TSN]
The Lady Scots rolled past second-place Kansas City-Sumner Academy 68-38 to take the crown in their inaugural season in the conference.
“It was one of our goals coming into the year to win the league championship, so they did that and they are in the locker room partying and celebrating a little bit, but our main goal is to get to sub-state playing the right way when we get there,” said Highland Park coach Rob Brown.
Highland Park was led by sophomore Amelia Ramsey’s 22 points, but the young team got contributions up and down the lineup en route to an eighth straight victory.
“In that first five everybody was getting each other looks and we did a good job of doing that,” Brown said.
“It’s a good feeling (having a young team). I’m kind of bragging when I say that I have no seniors. I feel like people are surprised,” Brown said. “The future looks bright and we are going to get this thing rolling the right way.”
