After Topeka High boys basketball posted just one victory last season, first-year coach Robbie Sanders' Trojans continued their resurgence on Friday, improving to 6-5 with a 72-69 overtime Centennial League road victory at Junction City.
Robbie Sanders' Topeka High team improved to 6-5 with a 72-69 OT win at Junction City Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
The Trojans' win was their second in as many nights, with High topping St. Marys Academy 62-32 on Thursday.
Topeka High posted its first Centennial League win to improve to 1-2 while Junction City fell to 5-5 overall and 0-3 in the league.
Topeka High junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton scored 25 points in Friday's Centennial League road win at Junction City. [File photo/TSN]
Trojan girls roll to 63-29 Centennial win
Topeka High posted its first Centennial League victory of the season Friday night at Junction City, romping to a 63-29 win over the Blue Jays.
Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton paced the Trojans, now 4-6 overall and 1-2 in the league, with 25 points while senior Keimara Marshall added 15 points and sophomore Hailey Caryl had a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds.
Junction City fell to 1-8 overall and 0-3 in the Centennial League.
Washburn Rural girls top Spartans, 45-34
Washburn Rural's girls improved to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in the Centennial League with a 45-34 road victory at Emporia Friday night.
Emporia dropped to 5-7 overall and 0-2 in the league.
Spartans snap Rural boys' six-game win streak
Emporia boys basketball snapped Washburn Rural's six-game winning streak on Friday, taking a 52-46 home Centennial League win.
Emporia, now 11-1 overall and 2-0 in the Centennial League, led 13-12 at the end of the first quarter and 30-23 at the half before Washburn Rural (7-3, 2-1) cut its deficit to three points (37-34) at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Spartans were able to close out the win with a 15-12 advantage over the final eight minutes.
Sophomore Brooks Ballard and senior John Hoytal led Washburn Rural with 13 points apiece while Hoytal registered a double-double with 11 rebounds.
West girls pick up first UKC victory
Topeka West's girls basketball snapped an eight-game losing streak while picking up its first United Kansas Conference win of the season Friday night in a 66-21 road rout at Kansas City-Turner.
The Chargers are now 2-8 overall and 1-7 in the UKC while Turner fell to 2-8 and 0-6.
Chargers get back on track with 20-point road win
The No. 2-ranked (Class 5A) Topeka West boys bounced back from a five-point home loss to No. 3 Seaman on Tuesday with a 60-40 United Kansas Conference road win at Kansas City-Turner Friday night.
Topeka West improved to 8-2 overall and 7-1 in the UKC while Turner fell to 3-7 overall and 0-6 in the league.
Lions protect Flint Hills lead with 27-point road win
Cair Paravel Latin's boys improved to 8-2 overall and remained undefeated in the Flint Hills League at 6-0 with an 86-59 road win at West Franklin Friday night.
The Lions opened up a 20-15 lead at the end of the first quarter and used a 27-17 second quarter to boost its advantage to 47-32 at the half.
Cair Paravel put the game out of reach with a 23-9 third quarter and cruised the rest of the way.
Senior Lucas Marichal and sophomore Chase Hastert led the Lions with 19 points apiece while Blaine Durbin added 18 points, Drew Fay 11 and Caleb Cleverdon 10.
West Franklin, now 1-8 overall and 1-5 in the league, got 22 points from Landon Ohlde and 21 from Zeek Dowd.
Highland Park boys basketball hosted Kansas City-Harmon in a Meadowlark Conference matchup Friday on Winter Royalty night, with the Scots snapping a three-game losing streak with an 80-43 rout over the Hawks.
Highland Park junior JoJo Kingcannon scored a career-high 35 points in Friday's 80-43 Meadowlark Conference win over KC-Harmon. [File photo/TSN]
The Scots would get off to a hot start, with junior JoJo Kingcannon going on a 9-0 run to start the game and scoring 12 of the team’s first 15 point’s in the contest.
The Scots would start the game with a 20-0 run before Harmon would find the basket with a free throw to make it 20-1.
Highland Park would end the first quarter with a 23-8 lead.
“JoJo's been scoring very well for us,'' Highland Park coach Nate Wallace said. "He's close to around 20 a game, if not a little more at this point. I never worry about JoJo. JoJo's locked in, JoJo's bought in, JoJo's a leader. He's a captain and when he brings that type of energy to the game, it makes it easier for the other guys.”
“(I'm) just feeling my shot, being confident in myself,'' Kingcannon said. "Sometimes I get down on myself, but I just know I can't do it as a leader of this team. So it's just the confidence part. I've just got to keep myself motivated and once I'm motivated, I just know that would get the team motivated.”
Harmon would start the second quarter with a 3-pointer before the Scots would go on a 12-2 run to go up 35-12.
The Scots would go into halftime up 44-24, with Kingcannon having 25 points on 10-11 shooting from the field at halftime and finishing with a career-high 35 points.
The second half would be much like the first as the Scots would out-score the Hawks 28-10 in the third, forcing a running clock in the fourth quarter.
“This win was good because we did take a bad loss to Shawnee Heights (Thursday), but just to get another win and going into next week with more confidence with each other (is big). And we're just going to keep it moving.” Kingcannon said.
After avenging its only loss of the season in an emotional five-point United Kansas Conference road win over No. 2-ranked Topeka West on Tuesday, the No. 3 Seaman boys returned to action Friday against a Leavenworth team that entered the night in the throes of a six-game losing streak.
Senior KaeVon Bonner scored 24 points as No. 3-ranked Seaman rolled to a 72-50 UKC win over Leavenworth Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But the Vikings didn't slack off, stretching their winning streak to six games with a 72-50 home UKC romp past the Pioneers.
"It's no disrespect to Leavenworth, but all our guys see is their record and don't know anything about what they're going to bring to the table,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "So coming off of a big win, that human nature letdown is scary.
"So for us to hold it together enough to get the job done and separate ourselves in the second half was good.''
Now 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the UKC, the Vikings led 16-13 at the end of the opening quarter and 30-22 at halftime before turning the game into a rout with a 22-10 third quarter to open up a commanding 52-32 advantage and cruised the rest of the way.
Leavenworth used a box-and-one defense on Seaman senior KaeVon Bonner, but the Viking star still finished with a game-high 24 points while hitting nine of 10 shots from the floor.
"Give Leavenworth a lot of credit for their defensive game plan,'' Cox said. "They came out and showed us that box and one, which we really haven't seen much. We've done some preparation, but until you actually see somebody else do it, it's not the same.
"It gave us an opportunity to see what would work and what wouldn't and I thought we found some stuff there in the third and early fourth quarter that worked.''
Senior Landon Wiltz scored 18 points in Seaman's 72-50 UKC home win over Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Landon Wiltz also had a big night for the Vikings, scoring 18 points while going a perfect five of five from the free throw line.
Seaman girls basketball put together a strong comeback Friday night after falling behind by 11 points in the first half.
But for the second straight game, it wasn't enough, with the Vikings dropping their second United Kansas Conference decision in three days, a 52-46 home loss to Leavenworth.
Seaman senior Maddie Gragg (32) scored 16 points in Friday's 52-46 UKC loss to Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman, which lost 52-38 to De Soto on Wednesday at home, spotted the Pioneers a 27-16 halftime advantage before rallying to get as close as two points with 1:07 remaining, but the Pioneers outscored the Vikings 5-1 down the stretch to hold on for the win.
The Vikings, now 6-4 overall and 6-3 in the UKC, have dropped back-to-back games for the first time since the 2020-2021 season.
"We came out flat and all three games this week we've come out flat,'' said Seaman coach Matt Tinsley, whose Vikings opened the week with a 49-26 conference road win at Topeka West on Tuesday. "You can't dig yourself a hole and then that's just too much energy to come back.
"They'd get a rebound that we have a chance to get and they'd hit a 3 or we'd have a turnover in a critical moment. We're still learning that every possession is so important, especially in a tight game like that. We had no energy in the first half at all. We showed what we can do in the second half, but unfortunately the game is two halves.''
Senior Maddie Gragg led the Vikings with 16 points, 11 in the second half, while junior Cara Beaton added 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Former Washburn Rural and Washburn University star Andrew Beckler has been named to the Ichabod golf staff as an assistant coach for the remainder of the 2026 season.
Andrew Beckler has been named an assistant coach for Washburn University golf for the remainder of the 2026 season. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"Having the opportunity to bring Andrew back and help the team this spring was a no-brainer," said Washburn director of folf Ronnie McHenry. " Anytime you have the chance for a future Hall of Famer, National Player of the Year, MIAA Player of the Year and a professional athlete who's played in a U.S. Open to teach your team, you jump at that.
"We are excited to get him back to Washburn and are looking forward to our players learning from him."
Beckler was an individual and Class 6A state team champion for Washburn Rural before playing collegiately at Kansas State and Washburn.
During his time for the Ichabods, Beckler was the 2020-21 Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year, 2020-21 MIAA Player of the Year, 2020-21 GCAA PING First Team All-American and a two-time All-MIAA pick while winning four tournaments.
He also holds the lowest scoring average in Washburn men's golf history with a 72.00 average over 67 rounds. Beckler is also tied for the third lowest round in history with 64, which he did twice in the 2020-21 season.
Beckler qualified for the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., where he shot a 71 in round 2.
