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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Playing in a midseason tournament championship game for the fourth straight season, Shawnee Heights' boys basketball team completed the final piece of the puzzle on Saturday, claiming the championship in Shawnee Mission West's Viking Classic with a 68-41 romp past traditional Class 6A stalwart Blue Valley North, No. 7-ranked by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
Shawnee Heights' boys basketball team poses for a picture after winning the Viking Classic championship on Saturday. [Submitted photo]
Senior Jaret Sanchez led Shawnee Heights with 21 points in Saturday's 68-41 win over Blue Valley North. [File photo/TSN]
The No. 4-ranked (5A) T-Birds built a 14-12 first-quarter advantage and poured it on the Mustangs from there.
Shawnee Heights used 14-5 second quarter to take a 28-17 halftime lead and outscored North 26-16 in the third quarter to turn the game into a rout.
Heights (8-2) finished off the win with a 14-8 fourth quarter, with Blue Valley North needing a late 3-pointer to top the 40-point mark.
"Probably one of the biggest wins at SHHS,'' said veteran coach Ken Darting, who coached five state championship teams at Silver Lake and Highland Park. "That (Blue Valley North) team is really good. Our defense took them out of everything they wanted to do. Need to build on it now.''
Senior Jaret Sanchez led Shawnee Heights with 21 points while JaiMarion Cook added 12 points on four 3-pointers and Ontarius Emmot added 11.
The T-Birds also got 8 points from Deacon Pomeroy and 6 from DaQuan Lee.
Silver Lake's girls basketball team poses for a team picture after winning the tournament championship in the Burlington Invitational. [Silver Lake basketball]
Silver Lake girls claim Burlington title
Silver Lake's girls, No. 3-ranked in Class 3A, captured the Burlington Invitational championship with a 70-60 win over previously-unbeaten Labette County.
Junior Kailyn Hanni, who was named the tournament's most outstanding player, led the 8-1 Eagles with 22 points, backed by Savannah Wende with19 points and Jaylie Whitehead with 11.
Labette County, No. 6-ranked in 4A, fell to 10-1.
Hanni, who scored 64 points in the tournament, was joined on the all-tournament team by Ella Bolan.
Silver Lake's boys also advanced to the tournament championship game, with the Eagles dropping a 67-38 decision to Ottawa, top-ranked in Class 4A and 10-0 on the season.
Junior Dayne Johnson led Silver Lake (7-2) with 19 points while tournament most outstanding player Aiden McCullough scored a game-high 26 points for the Cyclones.
D. Johnson, who scored 68 points in the tournament, was named to the all-tournament team along with the Eagles' Jared Johnson, who had 57 points in his three tournament games.
Rossville's boys basketball team poses for a team picture on Saturday after winning the tournament championship in the Valley Falls Invitational. [Rossville Athletics]
Rossville boys claim Valley Falls title
Rossville boys basketball downed Perry-Lecompton 49-41 Saturday to cap off its championship run in the Valley Falls Invitational.
Senior Kameron Badura paced 8-3 Rossville with 21 points and averaged 17 points in the tournament for the Bulldawgs.
Juniors Jack Donovan and Cameron Miller both added 9 points for Rossville, No. 8-ranked in Class 2A, with both Donovan and Miller being named to the all-tournament team.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 1-ranked Washburn University Ichabods tied the program record for the most consecutive wins to start a season on Saturday at Missouri Western, improving to 19-0 and 10-0 in an 85-52 win over Missouri Western at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
Sophomore Brayden Shorter scored 22 points with four 3-pointers as No. 1-ranked Washburn improved to 19-0 with an 85-52 win at Missouri Western on Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
With Saturday's win, Brett Ballard's Ichabods have equaled their win total for the entire 2023-2024 season in a 19-11 campaign.
The Ichabods trailed 5-3 3:18 into the game but after a layup from freshman Dillon Claussen and a 3-pointer by senior Michael Keegan, Washburn found itself up 8-5.
The teams traded baskets and then the Ichabods rung up a 22-2 run over the next 7:45 to take a 32-11 lead, going 8 of 12 from the field and hitting 4 of 6 3-pointers while holding the Griffons to 1 of 7 shooting.
Washburn would go on to lead 41-26 at the break.
Washburn opened the second half hitting their first four shots, including both 3-pointers, but went 1 of 7 from the free throw line as they pushed the lead to 18 at 52-34 with 14:24 to go.
On Washburn's next possession, Brayden Shorter's third 3-pointer of the night jump-started a 17-4 run and his fourth 3-pointer finished off the run as the Ichabods led 69-38 with 7:22 to play.
Washburn would go on to lead by as many as 35 with 48 seconds to play as Washburn won its fourth-straight game in a row over the Griffons (13-7, 5-5).
Shorter, a sophomore, led the Ichabods with a game-high 22 points while adding five rebounds to pace five Washburn players in double figures.
Keegan had 12 points and four rebounds, followed by senior Jacob Hanna and junior Brady Christiansen with 11 points and senior Andrew Orr with 10 points, eight boards and two blocks.
Sophomore Jack Bachelor had double-digit assists for the second straight game with 10, adding eight points.
The Ichabods shot 54 percent from the field for the game, hitting 30 of 56 overall and 11 of 22 from deep, as Washburn held the Griffons to 35 percent shooting on 17 of 48 shooting and 3 of 16 from 3-point range.
Western did hit 15 of 17 free throws compared to 14 of 26 for the Ichabods.
Washburn had a massive 40 to 22 advantage on the glass, including 12 offensive rebounds, and the Ichabods also dominated the transition game, outscoring the Griffons 21 to 0 in fastbreak points.
The Ichabods will look for their 20th win of the season on Thursday, hosting Fort Hays State in Lee Arena (7:30 p.m.).
Junior Payton Sterk led Washburn with 21 points in a 62-56 road loss to Missouri Western on Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
WU women's road bid falls short
Washburn went back and forth with Missouri Western for 40 minutes on Saturday afternoon but came up short, falling 62-56 on the road.
To begin the game Washburn (11-9 overall, 5-5 MIAA) was stingy on defense as it held the Griffons (12-6, 7-3) without a field goal until the 4:12 mark of the first quarter. In that time the Ichabods built a 9-1 lead after a driving layup by junior Payton Sterk.
Missouri Western began hitting from outside, knocking down four 3-pointers in the first quarter to erase the Ichabod lead. A 3-pointer by Sterk in the final seconds of the quarter made it a one-point game after the first.
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Hayden boys basketball entered the Baldwin Invitational coming off a 3-point loss to Manhattan and was looking to get something started as they would face defending Class 3A state champ Wellsville in Round 1.
Sophomore Mason Becker led Hayden with 20 points in Saturday's 63-49 win over Baldwin as the Wildcats captured the tournament title. [File photo/TSN]
The Wildcats topped the Eagles 63-50 and never looked back, rolling to a 74-34 win over Augusta in the second round and capping their tournament run with a 63-49 win over host Baldwin, No. 4-ranked in Class 4A, in Saturday's finale.
Baldwin would have nothing for the Wildcats as the championship game was all Hayden.
The Wildcats would go up 14-8 after the first quarter and roll behind their sharp shooting 5-foot-11 sophomore guard Mason Becker, who would finish the night with 20 points while shooting 5-6 from 3-point range.
“I really love our group, I am not surprised at all with Mason,'' Hayden coach Dwayne Anthony said. "Earlier in the year we were coming off some football legs, is what I call it, and I saw how my guys played and worked with each other. I knew it was a matter of time before the ball goes into the basket.''
Senior James Kuta (3) scored 19 points to help Hayden top Baldwin 63-49 in the final of the Baldwin Invitational. [File photo/TSN]
Junior Connor Hanika (5) scored 15 points in Saturday's 63-49 Hayden win over Baldwin. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden would also get a huge night from their two post players in 6-3 senior James Kuta and 6-4 junior Connor Hanika, who would have 19 and 15 points respectively.
“I am not surprised with Kuta, he has been creeping at the door, he does so many of the hard work things for us,'' Anthony said. "He rebounds, rebounds, rebounds, and is starting to get settled into his offensive game where he puts those right back in the hoop.”
“I thought I played hard,'' Kuta said. "I missed a couple layups, but I also made a lot and just hard defense all over, and I made sure I got the rebounds when I could and do whatever I could to help our team win today.”
“Kuta is a big time player, he does all the dirty work and tonight had some big time threes,'' Becker said. "But Kuta is a hard worker and with him and Hanika down low, it is tough to stop.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Mikey Williams is usually a reliable free throw shooter, including a 90.9 percent average in the first city stats, which made his struggles at the line in Saturday's Topeka Invitational Tournament championship game a bit frustrating for the Highland Park senior star.
Highland Park senior Mikey Williams (middle) scored a game-high 15 points in Saturday's 44-41 win over Topeka West in the Topeka Invitational championship game en route to being named tourament MVP. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Highland Park poses for a team picture after winning the 2025 Topeka Invitational championship Saturday at Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But Williams was able to get eight charities to fall in the fourth quarter, including five in the final 1:32, as the top-ranked and undefeated Scots held off city rival Topeka West 44-41 to claim the tournament championhip in the first all-city final in 21 seasons.
"Usually I'm a really good free throw shooter,'' Williams said. "I'm the guy they look to shoot free throws at the end of a game, but I don't know, maybe it was just fatigue from three games in a row. I think the fatigue just sort of settled in my legs, they were feeling heavy.
"Every time after I missed I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I need these to seal the game,' so I was super frustrated because I knew my team needed those in that moment, but I'm just glad we got the win.''
Williams was a big part of that win and the Scots' championship, being named the tournament most valuable player after scoring a game-high 15 points in the final as top-ranked (Class 5A) Highland Park improved to 11-0 on the season.
Highland Park struggled at times against the No. 7-ranked Chargers (8-3), but did the things it needed to do to get the win according to Scots coach Mike Williams.
"You can't be disappointed with that at all,'' said Williams, whose Scots played without senior starter Da'Mykel Hales due to illness. "In tournament play you're looking to advance and you get to the championhip game you're looking to win any way possible.
"And I felt like our guys did that, even when our offense wasn't as clean at times as it has been. Credit to teams having a good game plan, focusing in on things that they can take away from us and how they should play us and we responded. And I think when our offense kind of slowed our defense got stingy and we just take pride in it.''
Highland Park led the bulk of Saturday's game, but Topeka West refused to go away.
The Scots led 6-4 after a low-scoring opening quarter and 19-14 at the half before going up by a game-high 8 points (27-19) with 5:15 left in the third on a Williams bucket.
But the Chargers answered in a hurry, cutting their deficit to 29-28 at the end of the third and taking a brief 30-29 advantage at the 7:28 mark on a hoop from junior Keimani Paul.
That West lead only lasted about a minute, however, as Highland Park senior star Ja'Corey Robinson was fouled on a driving dunk and converted the 3-point play to give the Scots a 32-30 advantage.
Sophomore Joseph Kingcannon followed with a basket and Williams hit two free throws to put Hi Park up 36-30 with 4:54 remaining.
Topeka West clawed within a point twice, the final time on two Malakyah Duncan free throws with 9.6 seconds left, but Williams hit two charities at the other end to give Hi Park its final margin.
"The shots weren't falling for us, especially in the first half,'' West coach Christian Ulsaker said. "Now I'm sure that's what coach Williams would say as well, but we were missing bunnies early and then we just didn't make the right plays at the end. I think we need to play a little bit more tougher as when we're attacking the rim we can't get bumped out of our spots and we've got to finish at the rim.''
But Ulsaker was also proud of his team for the way it kept battling back.
"If you want to bring back up the Shawnee Heights game (a 74-45 loss), these boys were able to deal with adversity better,'' he said. "They didn't back down. A run happens and then they came back with a run of their own, which is very pleasing to see for sub-state and state material.''
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Silver Lake advanced to the championship games in both the girls and boys divisions of the Burlington Invitational with Friday semifinal wins.
Junior Dayne Johnson (2) scored 28 points Friday as Silver Lake advanced to the title game in the Burlington Invitational with a 97-88 triple-overtime win over Burlington. [File photo/TSN]
Junior Kailyn Hanni led Silver Lake with 22 points in Friday's 50-48 semifinal win over Girard in the Burlington Invitational. [File photo/TSN]
Silver Lake's boys needed three overtimes to outlast host Burlington 97-88 while the Lady Eagles edged Girard, 50-48.
Silver Lake and Burlington were stll deadlocked after two overtime periods before the Eagles outscored the Wildcats 13-4 in the third OT to close out the win.
Junior Dayne Johnson and senior Jared Johnson scord 28 points apiece to lead Silver Lake while senior Brody Deiter added 21 points.
Silver Lake and Girard's girls were close throughout before the Eagles eked out the two-point win.
Junior Kailyn Hanni led the Eagles with 22 points, followed by Jaylie Whitehead and Ella Bolan with 10 points each.
Silver Lake faced Labette County in Saturday's girls final while the Eagle boys faced Ottawa.
Ballard leads way with 20 as Rural boys advance to title game
Senior Kaden Ballard scored 20 points with four 3-pointers to lead four double-figure scorers for Washburn Rural Friday as the Junior Blues advanced to the championship game of the Bill Hanson Memorial Tournament at Pittsburg with a 64-58 semifinal win over Webster Groves, Mo.
Ballard was backed by senior Amare Jones with 14 points, junior Simon Rowley with 12 points and junior John Hoytal with 10.
Webster Groves led 19-15 at the end of the first quarter before Washburn Rural (8-2) used a 21-15 second quarter to take a 36-34 halftime lead.
Webster Groves regained the lead at 47-46 at the start of the fourth quarter but the Junior Blues closed out the game with an 18-11 fourth quarter to pull out the win.
Rural was scheduled to take on Owasso, Okla. for the championsip at 2:30 p.m.
Shawnee Heights roll to Viking Classic championship contest
Shawnee Heights' boys were ahead by just five points at the end of the third quarter Friday night before taking control over the final eight minutes for a 65-51 win over Ozark, Mo. in the semifinals of the Viking Classic at Shawnee Mission West.
Senior Jaret Sanchez led the T-Birds with 20 points, followed by junior JaiMarion Cook with 16 points and junior Ontarius Emmot with 11.
Heights advanced to Saturday's championship game to face Blue Valley North.
Bulldawgs advance to tourney title game with 66-60 win
Rossville's boys advanced to Saturday's championship game in the Valley Falls Invitational with a 66-60 win over the Northeast Kansas Nighthawks.
Rossville got a game-high 28 points from junior Cameron Miller while senior Kameron Badura added 17 and junior Jack Donovan 14 for the Bulldawgs.
