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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Three Shawnee County girls standouts will wrestle for high school state championships on Thursday.
Rossville sophomore Kendra Hurla will be shooting for her second straight state championship when she faces Pratt's Jadyn Thompson in the Class 4A-1A 120-pound final at Salina's Tony Pizza Events Center.
Broxterman advanced to the state finals for the second straight season and will be looking for her first state title when she faces off against Hannah Glynn of Blue Valley Southwest in the Class 6A-5A 120-pound final at Park City's Hartman Arena.
Shawnee Heights senior 191-pounder Maranda Bell advanced to the state championship match for the first time after finishing third in last year's state tournament.
Bell will face Meya Howell of Derby in the title match.
Two-time state team champion Washburn Rural will begin Thursday's competition (9 a.m. start) one half point behind Dodge City (67.5-67.0) in the 6A-5A team standings while Wichita North is third with 59.5 points and Emporia fourth with 54.5.
Shawnee Heights is currently seventh in the team standings with 49 points.
Ten Washburn Rural wrestlers are still alive for state places entering Day 2, with Broxterman, 126-pound freshman Annie Gallegos and 155-pound senior Jaliah Johnson already having clinched state medals.
Gallegos and Johnson both won their first two matches Wednesday before losing in the semifinals and are assured of at least a sixth-place finish.
Kristen Rezac (101), Kaitlyn Morris (109), Alexis Fredrickson (132), Madison Davison (138), Laiken Clark (143), Ta'Ani Rhoten (170) and Sophia Ross (235) all went 1-1 Wedneday.
Shawnee Heights junior 115-pounder Molly Busenitz advanced to the semifinals and is assured of a top-six state finish, as are Seaman 126-pound senior Rylee Murray and Topeka West 235-pound sophomore Tristyn Johnson.
Shawnee Heights' Odessa Schmidt (109), Alexandria Buce (120), Reece Taylor (126), Haley Haltom (132) and McKenna Haltom (143) all went 1-1 on Wednesday and will compete on Thursday.
In addition to Rylee Murray, Seaman wrestlers Taylie Heston (109), Madison Murray (115), Jenna Best (120), Koti Best (132) and Alex Conway (191) all moved on to Thursday with 1-1 records as did Highland Park's Kimberly Rodriguez (101) and Celeste Gonzales (191) and Topeka High's Marilena Zuniga (138).
In the 4A-1A state tourney at Salina Silver Lake's Karley Holmes (101), Hailey Horton (155) and Ellen Doty (115) and Rossville's Keera Lacock (126) and Reagan Wonnell (138) all went 1-1 Wednesday and will wrestle on Thursday.
State boys tournament will be contested on Friday and Saturday, with the 6A and 5A meets at Hartman Arena, 4A at Salina and 3A-1A at Hays.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman dominated Tuesday's Class 5A-1A bowling regional at Emporia's Flint Hills Lanes, with the Vikings sweeping the team and individual championships.
Seaman's boys claimed the team championship a 3,610-3,554 margin over De Soto to punch their ticket to next week's 5A-1A state tournament at Northrock Lanes in Wichita while Shawnee Heights earned the third team berth for state by an eight-pin margin over Mill Valley.
Seaman ran away with the girls team championship by a 3,141-2,891 margin over Augusta whiile Topeka West took the third team berth for state by a 2,806-2,739 margin over city rival Shawnee Heights.
Seaman seniors Jack Easum and Makenzie Millard took top individual honors, recording 279 games on the way to 700-plus three-game series.
Easum took the boys title by a 747-717 margin over De Soto junior Antonio Miranda, with Easum rolling games of 235, 279 and 233.
Millard bowled her 279 in Game 1 and fell to a 165 in the second game before bouncing back with a 265 third game to finish with a 709 series. Augusta senior Kassidy Miller finished second with a 683 series.
Centennial League champion Ethan Burns, a junior, finished fourth individually for the Vikings with a 697 series while Seaman junior Zander White also cracked the top 10, finishing ninth with a 659 series.
Junior Josh Egly led third-place Shawnee Heights with a 649 series, finishing 12th individually, while senior Kaleb Rohrke was right behind Egly in 13th with a 647 and senior Aidan VanMetre took 16th with a 638.
Topeka West sophomore Cole Rodriguez finished 10th individually with a 655 series, earning an individual state berth for state.
Seaman junior Katie Price finished third in the girls individual standings with a 630 series while the Vikings also got a 10th-place finish from sophomore Cheyenne Turkin with a 540 series.
The third-place Topeka West girls put a pair of bowlers in the top 10, with sophomore Brenna Rutschman taking fourth with a 627 series and sophomore Megan Wood finishing sixth with a 601 series.
Shawnee Heights senior Karli Gilliland was the top individual girls qualifier, finishing fifth with a 603 series.
The 5A-1A state tournament will be held on Friday, March 4, at Northrock Lanes, with the boys bowling at 8:50 a.m. and the girls following at 1:40 p.m.
Seaman's boys finished third as a team in last year's state meet while the Viking girls were fourth and Millard finished fourth individually.
Washburn Rural and Topeka High will take part in a 6A regional at West Ridge Lanes on Friday, vying for state berths.
The 6A state tournament will be contested on Thursday, March 3, with the boys at 8:50 a.m. and the girls at 1:40 p.m.
CLASS 5A-1A BOYS REGIONAL Team scores
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Sophomore Taylin Stallbaumer and freshman Anna Becker combined for 36 points Tuesday night as Seaman's girls basketball team posted its fourth straight win, taking a 49-40 Centennial League decision at Manhattan.
Stallbaumer led the Vikings with 21 points while Becker added 15 as Seaman improved to 14-5 overall and 12-4 in the Centennial League.
Manhattan (7-12, 6-9) led 10-8 at the end of the first quarter but the Vikings took control with a 20-5 second quarter, building a 28-15 halftime advantage.
Manhattan outscored Seaman 25-21 in the second half, but it wasn't enough for the Indians to overcome their halftime deficit.
Seaman, ranked No. 6 in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, will close out its regular season on Friday at home against No. 4-ranked (5A) Emporia.
WASHBURN RURAL GIRLS 61, JUNCTION CITY 14 -- Washburn Rural, ranked No. 3 in Class 6A, improved to 17-2 overall and 13-2 in the Centennial League with Tuesday's 61-14 league win at Junction City.
Sophomore Zoe Canfield powered Washburn Rural early and finished with 19 points, one of 10 players to crack the scoring column for the Junior Blues.
Canfield was the lone Rural player in double figures as the Junior Blue starters left the game midway through the third quarter. Senior Campbell Bagshaw and sophomore Jada Ingram added eight points each and senior Trenna Whitmore seven points for Rural.
Junction City fell to 2-17, 2-14.
Washburn Rural will finish its regular season at Highland Park on Friday.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's boys basketball team continued its late-season surge Tuesday night, taking a 52-40 Centennial League road win at Emporia.
The win was the second straight for the Wildcats and their third over the past four games.
Hayden, now 6-13 overall and 4-11 in the league, got 16 points apiece from senior Trent Duffey and junior Joe Otting while junior Jake Muller added 14 points.
Hayden ended the game with a 22-10 run to pull away for the victory.
Emporia, which fell to 3-16, 2-13, got 12 points from River Peters and 11 from Parker Leeds.
Hayden will travel to Manhattan on Friday.
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59-53 By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
After not losing a single game in 16 consecutive contests, the Topeka High Lady Trojans dropped their second game in their last three contests Tuesday night at High.
But Tuesday's non-league battle against perennial power Bishop Miege could prove to be a benefit for the Trojans heading into Class 6A postseason.
Tuesday night’s matchup between 4A No. 2-ranked Miege and 6A No. 2-ranked Topeka High was a physical contest marked by solid defense and timely offense.
The game wouldn’t favor either team until the last 35.5 seconds, when Miege would pull away for the 59-53 win.
“I loved the game tonight,” Topeka High coach Hannah Alexander said. “(Bishop Miege) challenged us. We will be able to watch the film and grow from this. Those are the kind of games that we learn from. We of course wanted to win, but seeing the fight in our girls, I was proud of them.
“We need to be ready to respond (on Friday).”
Miege would make a statement early in the first quarter with an 8-2 run over the Trojans. Topeka High would claw back from the early deficit with outstanding team basketball. Everyone on High’s starting five scored the basketball before the quarter ended.
Topeka High junior guard Kiki Smith didn’t see the floor for the first 5:15 of the second quarter due to being “overworked” and the Stags took advantage of Smith’s absence by going on a strong 12-2 run.
Smith’s return sparked the Trojans' offense with a converted 3-point shot just eight seconds after checking in and Topeka High went on a 13-4 run.
Senior Tae Thomas would lead Topeka High in points in the quarter with six and she would go on to lead the team in points with 17 on the night.
Coming out of the locker room at halftime, Alexander emphatically wanted the Lady Trojans to speed up the tempo.
“We were just trying to get the ball rolling,” Alexander said. “We wanted to get some fast points in transition. We wanted to push the tempo.”
Topeka High came out of the halftime break firey. The half-court press defense forced Miege to make some uncomfortable passes in the third quarter, turning the ball over a few times. Topeka High was able to hold powerhouse, Bishop Miege, to a slim nine points in the quarter.
The fourth quarter would be dictated by the performances of Miege freshman Kirston Verhulst and senior Allie Burns. The duo would combine for 13 out of the 18 points scored in the final quarter of regulation. Nine of the 13 points tallied were from the free throw line.
Burns was the epitome of a momentum-shifting player for the entire game. Burns hit two buzzer-beating, near the halfcourt Trojan logo 3-point shots to end the second and third quarters. The second-quarter shot gave Miege the lead, while the last-second shot in the third quarter tied the game.
Burns would make the key clutch shots for Miege down the final stretch of the game. Burns would hit a tough contested shot with 1:08 to go in the game to tie the highly-contested game. Burns would then be fouled two times after that. The most important foul was with 35.5 to go. Burns would knock down both of her free throws, giving Miege the six-point lead that would lead them to victory.
“(Allie Burns) is a leader for us and has played in a lot of big games in her four years with (Bishop Miege),” Bishop Miege coach Jeff English said. “We push our team to play against the best players, best teams in the state and the best teams in other states around us. She’s well-equipped to be put in that position and she showed that tonight.”
When these two teams last met, Bishop Miege won 70-52. Alexander wasn’t thrilled about Tuesday's loss but was proud of the performance tonight compared to last year’s romp.
“We need to bring it every possession,” Alexander said. “We need to work on our offense, defense and subbing in key situations. It’s something that we coaches, mainly me, need to work on. I probably should’ve called timeouts near the end.”
“I think there are a lot of things to take away from this game.”
Miege was thrilled with Tuesday night’s victory and was able to take away some lessons from the hard-fought, physically demanding match.
“We’re coming off of a huge and emotional win over our rival, St. Thomas Aquinas, and our kids carried it over into tonight by playing hard,” English said. “Topeka (High) is great. They presented a lot of matchup issues for us. Luckily the ball bounced our way a couple of times down the stretch.
“We are glad that we were able to come away with the win.”
Topeka High (17-2) will end the 2021-2022 regular season by hosting city rival Topeka West (2-18) on Friday night.
BISHOP MIEGE 59, TOPEKA HIGH 53
Bishop Miege 16 16 9 18 – 59
Topeka High 15 14 16 8 – 53
Topeka High (17-2) – Wiley 4 3-5 11, Caryl 3 3-4 9, Thomas 5 4-6 17, Shields 3 0-0 8, Smith 3 0-2 8.
Bishop Miege (17-2) – Burns 6 5-6 19, Verhulst 5 4-7 16, G. McCallop 4 1-1 9, An. Smith 1 0-0 2, Ad. Smith 5 3-5 13.
3-point goals – Topeka High 7 (Shields 2, Smith 2, Thomas), Bishop Miege 4 (Burns 2, Verhulst 2). Team fouls – Topeka High 15, Bishop Miege 13. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.