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BY ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's boys and girls wrestling teams took runnerup finishes at the Centennial League Championships Saturday at Topeka High.
The Manhattan girls defeated Washburn Rural 42-38 in the opening dual round. Manhattan and Washburn Rural won the rest of their respective duals, which helped the Tribe secure its first Centennial League championship in girls history.
Washburn Rural's Emmerson Blanco won the 140-pound championship in Saturday's Centennial League wrestling tournament. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural's Ashley Schwarz won the 155-pound championship in Saturday's Centennial League wrestling tournament. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
“We knew it was going to be tough coming in,” Washburn Rural girls head coach Damon Parker said. “Coach (Shawn) Bammes and that crew over in Manhattan have done a fantastic job with their girls. Looking at it on paper, we knew it was going to be a real tough matchup for us … We knew we were going to have our hands full and we were going to have to be at our absolute best and we weren’t in that first dual today. We wrestle that dual 100 times, we win 50 and they win 50.
"It was a lot of fun. We are absolutely not letting the fact that they finished four points above us in that one dual cloud how well our kids wrestled today.”
Washburn Rural’s girls had won four straight Centennial League titles (2020-2024) coming into Saturday. While not taking home the league championship stings for the Washburn Rural group, the optimism is high for its program for the remainder of the season.
“It’s been such a blast,” Parker said. “I’m sure I say something like this every year, but I don’t remember having this much fun coaching. I’m not sure this team is equipped to win a state championship this year, but I also remember saying the same thing last year. It’s all about who shows up when it matters. There’s no team that’s more dangerous than the team that doesn’t care whether they win or lose. We do not place any kind of value on them as human beings on how they do out there on the match. And I think that bleeds over to the way they wrestle.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Washburn men defended their number one position atop Division II basketball and tightened their hammerlock on the MIAA by downing Central Missouri 83-60 Saturday at Lee Arena.
Sophomore Brayden Shorter led Washburn with 18 points in Saturday's 83-60 MIAA win over Central Missouri. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Ichabods improved their record to 22-0 behind a balanced scoring effort. Sophomore Brayden Shorter led the way with 18 points, while seniors Andrew Orr and Jacob Hanna contributed 14 apiece.
Senior Andrew Orr scored 14 points in Saturday's 83-60 MIAA win over Central Missouri. [Phto by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn senior Jacob Hanna scored 14 points Saturday as the Ichabods improved to 22-0 with an 83-60 win over Central Missouri. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn stretched its lead out to 20 points early in the second half. But Central Missouri gradually whittled the deficit to nine points with 12:45 remaining.
The Ichabods extinguished the threat, outscoring the visitors 33-19 the rest of the way.
“I felt like a couple of times we had chances to bury them, and we didn’t,” Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. “We need to learn from that. We pulled away eventually, but I just didn’t feel like we had the discipline we normally had played with there for some spurts.
“In this game, we could get away with that. But we’ve got to learn from that, because eventually, coming into the MIAA tournament and the regionals, that’s going to get you.”
Ballard’s words serve as a reminder that this team has lofty goals, as well as the pressure that comes with the No. 1 ranking.
“There’s been a target on our backs from Day 1,” Shorter said. “We really like that, actually, because we get every team’s best shot.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Washburn University women exacted some revenge on Central Missouri by turning a close game into a 75-61 blowout at Lee Arena Saturday.
Junior Payton Sterk scored 28 points in Saturday's 75-61 Washburn MIAA win over Central Missouri in Lee Arena. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Ichabods shook off an early deficit with a third-quarter explosion. Washburn outscored the visitors 29-11 in the period to turn a close game into a 62-40 runaway. Leading the way was Payton Sterk, who knocked down 4-5 shots for 10 points in the period.
Sterk added another 11 points in the fourth period as the Ichabods cruised to the finish line. The junior closed with 28 points – 21 coming after halftime.
The Ichabods improved to 13-10 overall, 7-6 in the MIAA. They were bent on getting back at the Jennies, who defeated Washburn 85-72 in Warrensburg right before Christmas break.
“It’s our goal to never get beat twice by teams, so this was a big one,” Sterk said. “We really wanted that one and we just remembered how we lost it at Central Missouri. So, we just made sure we did the complete opposite to them.”
“We thought we gave one away at their place earlier this year,” Washburn coach Lora Westling said. “No disrespect to them. Obviously, they are a great team. But I thought we did some things that were pretty uncharacteristic (at Warrensburg).”
Gabi Giovannetti (5) scored 18 points, 14 in the first half, as Wasburn avenged an earlier loss with a 75-61 win over Central Missouri. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Saturday, Sterk picked up in the second half where fellow junior Gabi Giovannetti left off. Giovannetti, who led the Ichabods with 14 points in the first half (18 for the game), checked out late in the third period with an injury and did not return. Initial reports were that the injury would probably not affect her availability long term. Sterk praised Giovannetti’s impact when she was in.
“Gabi was hot in the first half,” Sterk said. “We were all just doing what goes together and plays well. Her going out was a big loss. She’s a key player and we all love having her out there with us. When she went out, we knew we all needed to pick up our energy.”
“Payton fills up the box score and she finishes. She’s a special scorer,” Westling said. “But that doesn’t happen without team balance. Part of the reason that frees (shooters) up is how hard our posts are working to block off the opposite block. And I thought Amaya (Davidson) and Brooke (Gomez) did a great job of game management and getting the ball where it needs to go.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Topeka West hung with the second-ranked team in the state, but an icy start to the fourth period put the Chargers off the pace. Piper took a 71-60 victory against the Chargers, the only team in the United Kansas Conference to beat the Pirates this season.
Topeka West senior Kamoni Ford scored 14 points with three 3-pointers in Friday's 71-60 UKC loss to No. 2 Piper. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka West won a dramatic 59-58 battle at Piper in December and it hoped for another upset Friday, and to stop a three-game losing skid in the process.
The Chargers led once in the contest, when Kamoni Ford dropped in a 3-pointer midway through the second period to take a fleeting 24-23 lead. But Piper kept a slim margin on the Chargers for the next quarter and a half.
Leading 56-51 to start the fourth quarter, the Pirates turned it on. They reeled off a 13-0 run to start the final period and held Topeka West scoreless until the 3:30 mark. It was too much for the Chargers to overcome.
“We were right in it, and then we kind of let the wheels fall off at the end,” Topeka West coach Christian Ulsaker said. “Basketball is a game of runs and I think what happened is we just couldn’t sustain the run as long as it needed to happen. It’s hard to do that against a team like Piper.
“They are a very well-coached team by coach (Steve) Wallace. They’ve got some very good players. They got to their spots and we kind of let them on the defensive end.”
Piper guard Derrick Jackson dominated the game by penetrating and scoring in the mid-range. He hit his first seven shots to score 17 points in the first half. He finished shooting 13-17 for 28 points on the night.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The gauntlet that is the United Kansas Conference forced the Topeka West girls into another matchup against a Top 10 team Friday. The Piper girls, ranked fifth in the 5A class by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, came to Topeka and earned a 66-20 win over the Chargers.
Junior Imani McGlory puts up a shot in Friday's 66-20 UKC loss to Piper. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Sydney VanDyke tied for team-high honors with 5 points in Friday's 66-20 UKC loss to state-ranked Piper. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The tempo and athleticism of the Pirates overwhelmed Topeka West out of the gate. The Chargers were held scoreless until Imani McGlory dropped in a 3-pointer at the first period buzzer. But by that time, Piper had already reeled off 20 points to start the contest.
“Their speed just got us,” Topeka West coach Angie Ketterman said. “They are very good. Very quick. They are probably one of the best teams, that could very well be playing for a state title. They have that.”
The Pirates’ Faith McCallop put up 21 points while her sister Grace added 13.
The Chargers were led in scoring by McGlory and Sydney VanDyke, who each tallied five points.
