- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Like everybody associated with Washburn University men's basketball, Ichabod coach Brett Ballard went through some anxious hours waiting for the NCAA Tournament field to be announced Sunday night.
But now that the 21-10 Ichabods are safely in the field, Ballard is confident that his team can do some damage.
"I felt like we deserved to be in, but I'll be honest, I was really, really concerned we weren't going to get in,'' Ballard said. "I knew we just had so many good teams in our (Central) Region that it was going to be tough, but I felt like we deserved it and am obviously happy now.''
The Ichabods will face off with the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (25-5) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D. at the Sanford Pentagon.
Washburn is the No. 7 seed and coming off an 84-76 loss to Northwest Missouri in the MIAA Championship game. The Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed and fell to Minnesota State Moorhead 81-73 in the NSIC Championship game.
The Ichabods are 15-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament in 15 previous appearances and reached the NCAA Championship game once during the 2001 season, falling to Kentucky Wesleyan, 72-63.
Minnesota Duluth is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2002-03 season, while Washburn is in the tournament for the fourth time in five seasons under Ballard.
Washburn went though some tough times early in the season while playing without standouts Tyler Geiman, Jonny Clausing and Tyler Nelson, but the Ichabods caught fire after returning to full strength.
"We played the third-toughest schedule in the country, so early without our guys it was a struggle and it was frustrating, but it made us re-evaluate some things and it made us really lock in and focus on some details and we were able to get some guys some experience,'' Ballard said.
"And now that we've got all our parts, you can see what this team is capable of. We're playing well. Our region's tough, but I really like where our guys' head space is right now and feel like we can go beat anybody.''
Geiman leads the Ichabods in scoring average at 15.3 points per game, with 5.1 rebounds per game and 6.6 assists per game.
In the last 13 games he is averaging18.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 7.6 assists.
Jalen Lewis is scoring 13.6 points per game while hitting 64 of 164 3-pointers while Clausing is averaging 15.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks since moving into Washburn's starting lineup seven games ago. For the season Clausing is averaging 10.7 points and 5.2 rebounds.
Michael Keegan, the 2021-22 MIAA freshman of the year, is averaging 9.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game.
The Bulldogs have all five starters averaging double figures, led by Drew Blair at 18.6 points per game. Austin Andrews is averaging 18.1 points with 9.5 rebounds per game. Joshua Brown is scoring 15.0 points per game, Charlie Katona 11.5 and Jack Middleton 10.4 points per game.
With a win, the Ichabods will face the winner of the Northwest Missouri-MSU Moorhead game on Sunday at 5 p.m.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 8 seed Hayden dominated the second half Thursday against No. 1 Eudora, pulling away for a 64-53 victory in a first round Class 4A state tournament game at Salina's Tony's Pizza Events Center.
Hayden, which improved to 10-13, trailed 21-13 at halftime after Eudora led by as much as 10 points, but the Wildcats outscored the Cardinals 51-32 after the break to take control.
With the victory Hayden advanced to Friday's 8 p.m. semifinal to face No. 5 Bishop Miege (16-6), the defending state champion. The Stags advanced with a 70-40 win over Abilene.
Hayden opened the second half with five straight points from 6-foot-5 junior standout Joe Otting and took a 27-24 lead midway through the quarter after a 3-pointer from senior Trent Duffey and a traditional three-point play from junior Jake Muller.
The Wildcats started the fourth quarter with a 33-31 advantage after Muller scored to end the quarter.
Eudora, which ended its season 18-4, took a one-point advantage on a Kale Hammerschmidt 3-pointer and Hammerschmidt tied the game at 43-43 with 4:50 remaining but the Wildcats outscored the Cardinals 21-10 the rest of the way despite struggling at the free throw line, including six straight misses at one stretch.
Duffey canned two huge charities with 1:30 left to give Hayden a 56-49 lead and Otting gave the Wildcats an eight-point advantage with two free throw makes with a minute left.
Otting led Hayden with 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Duffey added 16 points and Muller nine, Dominic Ridley seven and Peyton Bartlett six.
Sophomore Logan Sullivan led Eudora with 17 points while Jaden Hamm added 12 points and Hammerschmidt 11.
Hayden became the second Topeka team to knock off a top seed, following the lead of Seaman's boys, who beat Kapaun Mt. Carmel in Class 5A on Wednesday.
Shawnee County has a total of four teams in the state semifinals, with Silver Lake's girls advancing in 3A and Washburn Rural's girls advancing in 6A.
HAYDEN BOYS 64, EUDORA 53
Hayden 6 7 20 31 -- 64
Eudora 9 12 10 22 -- 53
Hayden (10-13) -- Bartlett 2-6 0-2 6, Muller 4-9 1-5 9, Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Duffey 3-9 8-10 16, Otting 7-10 6-12 23, Foster 0-1 0-0 0, Ridley 1-4 5-7 7, Ham 1-1 0-0 3, Charvat 0-0 0-0 0, Alfonsi 0-0 0-0 0, Gorman 0-0 0-0 0, Rice 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-40 20-36 64.
Eudora (18-4) -- Hamm 3-9 6-8 12, Hammerschmidt 3-5 2-2 11, Rader 3-4 0-2 7, Parker 1-4 0-0 3, Sullivan 7-21 2-3 17, Hoobler 0-0 0-0 0, Giffin 0-0 0-0 0, Arnold 0-0 0-0 0, Siemon 0-0 0-0 0, Dunback 1-2 0-0 2, Votaw 0-1 0-0 0, Barron 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 18-46 11-17 53.
3-point shots -- Hayden 8-18 (Otting 3-3, Duffey 2-5, Bartlett 2-4 Ham 1-1, Muller 0-2, Ridley 0-3), Eudora 6-16 (Hammerschmidt 3-3, Rader 1-1, Parker 1-2, Sullivan 1-9, Votaw 0-1). Total fouls -- Hayden 18, Eudora 28. Fouled out -- Hammerschmidt, Dunback. Technical fouls -- none.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Thursday's Class 3A girls state tournament game between Silver Lake and Cherryvale belonged to the Eagles' Makenzie McDaniel.
McDaniel, a 6-foot sophomore, registered a big double-double as the No. 1-seeded Eagles rolled to a 63-33 victory to advance to Friday's state semifinals.
McDaniel hit 16 of 21 shots from the field on the way to a 34-point outing and grabbed 16 rebounds as Silver Lake improved to 23-1.
With Thursday's win Silver Lake moved on to a 4 p.m. semifinal against No. 4 seed Goodland, which took a 38-37 first-round win over Southeast-Saline.
Cherryvale, which ended its season 15-9, was within six points (15-9) at the end of the opening quarter, but Silver Lake held the Chargers to just two points in the second quarter en route to opening up a huge 31-11 halftime advantage.
The Eagles' lead grew to 49-26 at the end of the third quarter and Silver Lake continued to pull away over the final eight minutes.
Silver Lake, which does not have a senior on its roster, is in the 3A final four this season after making it to the state quarterfinals a year ago.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High's girls basketball season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion at Wichita State's Koch Arena Wednesday, with sophomore Jadyn Wooten scoring on a driving layup as time ran out, giving Blue Valley a 33-32 win in a first-round Class 6A state tournament game.
Wooten, who led all scorers with 14 points, went the length of the floor for the game-winning hoop after coming up with a steal after 20-3 Topeka High rebounded a missed free throw with the Trojans nursing a one-point lead.
Wednesday's game between the No. 3-seeded Trojans and No. 6 Tigers was close throughout the game, including an 8-8 tie at the end of the first quarter.
Topeka High took a slim 17-16 halftime advantage, but the Tigers used a 7-4 third quarter to take a 23-21 lead into the fourth quarter.
Neither team could pull away over the final eight minutes, setting the stage for the dramatic ending.
Both teams struggled offensively, with Blue Valley shooting 32.4 percent (12 of 37) and Topeka High shooting 26.7 percent (12 of 45).
Senior Tae Thomas led Topeka High with 12 points, including three 3-pointers, but was the lone Trojan with more than seven points.
Senior DayShauna Wiley pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for the Trojans.
Senior Sophie Deveney backed Wooten with 12 points and 10 rebounds, with Wooten and Deveney the only Blue Valley players to score more than three points.
Blue Valley improved to 20-3 with Wednesday's win, advancing to a 2 p.m. semifinal Friday to face No. 2 seed Derby (22-1).
The Panthers advanced to the semifinals with a 41-17 win over Shawnee Mission West.
BLUE VALLEY GIRLS 33, TOPEKA HIGH 32
Blue Valley 8 8 7 10 -- 33
Topeka High 8 9 4 11 -- 32
Blue Valley (20-3) -- Deveney 4-14 1-3 12, C. Bax 1-4 0-0 3, E. Bax 1-2 0-0 2, Wooten 5-12 4-9 14, Daniels 0-0 0-0 0, Simmons 0-3 0-0 0, Lister 1-2 0-0 2, Rinamam 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-37 5-12 33.
Topeka High (20-3) -- Wiley 1-8 1-3 3, Caryl 1-3 1-2 3, Thomas 4-14 1-2 12, Shields 3-9 0-0 7, Smith 3-6 0-1 7, Leesman 0-4 0-0 0, Baird 0-1 0-0 0, Benning 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-45 3-8 32.
3-point goals -- Blue Valley 4-17 (Deveney 3-12, C. Bax 1-1, E. Bax 0-1, Wooten 0-1, Simmons 0-2), Topeka High 5-19 (Thomas 3-8, Shields 1-5, Smith 1-4, Leesman 0-1, Baird 0-1). Total fouls -- Blue Valley 10, Topeka High 15. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural put on a shooting clinic in Wednesday's Class 6A state tournament girls quarterfinal, with the No. 4-seeded Junior Blues rolling to the state semifinals with a 66-43 romp past No. 5 Dodge City at Wichita State's Koch Arena.
Sophomore Zoe Canfield was the ringleader for the 21-2 Junior Blues, who advanced to a 6 p.m. semifinal Friday to face 23-0 and No. 1 seed Olathe North.
Canfield hit six of seven 3-pointers en route to a game-high 23-point night as Washburn Rural shot 59.5 percent from the field overall (22 of 37) and hhit eight of 11 3-point attempts, as junior MaRyah Lutz added a pair of 3-pointers for the Junior Blues.
Junior Brooklyn DeLeye, whose status was uncertain after a late-game injury in Rural's sub-state championship game last Friday, joined Canfield in double figures with 11 points and also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds and blocked a pair of shots.
Seniors Emma Krueger and Katelynn Brogan added nine and eight points, respectively, for Washburn Rural, with Krueger adding six assists and three steals.
Washburn Rural jumped out to a 16-11 first-quarter advantage and boosted its lead to 31-21 at the half.
Rural increased its cushion to 51-36 at the start of the fourth quarter and outscored the Red Demons 15-7 over the final eight minutes to pull away for the rout.
Dodge City, which finished its season 19-4, got 21 points from senior Camree Johnson, but Johnson was the only Red Demon with more than seven points.
On Friday Dodge City will face an Olathe North team in the semifinals that advanced with a 54-51 first-round win over No. 8 seed Blue Valley North.
WASHBURN RURAL GIRLS 66, DODGE CITY 43
Dodge City 11 10 15 7 -- 43
Washburn Rural 16 15 20 15 -- 66
Dodge City (19-4) -- Unruh 2-7 0-0 5, Johnson 8-13 4-8 21, Clark 2-6 2-2 6, Gonzalez 0-5 0-0 0, Perez 3-7 0-0 7, Potts 1-2 0-0 2, Gere 0-0 0-0 0, Landa 0-0 0-0 0, Lembright 0-0 0-0 0, Pfaff 1-1 0-0 2, Gamez 0-0 0-0 0, Hernandez 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-41 6-10 43.
Washburn Rural (21-2) -- Lutz 2-6 0-1 6, Krueger 4-6 1-1 9, Canfield 6-9 5-6 23, Ingram 3-5 1-2 7, DeLeye 4-7 3-4 11, Bagshaw 0-0 2-2 2, Carlgren 0-1 0-0 0, Brogan 3-3 2-3 8, Whitmore 0-0 0-0 0, Schuler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-37 14-19 66.
3-point shots -- Dodge City 3-7 (Unruh 1-2, Johnson 1-3, Perez 1-1, Gonzalez 0-1), Washburn Rural 8-11 Canfield 6-7, Lutz 2-3, DeLeye 0-1). Total fouls -- Dodge City 17, Washburn Rural 9. Fouled out – Johnson, Gonzales. Technical fouls -- none.