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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.
Topeka High senior Tae Thomas scored a team-high 12 points with three 3-pointers in the Trojans 33-32 Class 6A state tournament loss to Blue Valley Wednesday at Wichita. [File photo/TSN]
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.
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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.
Washburn Rural sophomore Zoe Canfield puts up a shot in Wednesday's 66-43 Class 6A state tournament win over Dodge City at Wichita's Koch Arena. Canfield hit 6 of 7 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 23 points. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural's bench roots on its Junior Blue teammates during Wednesday's 66-43 Class 6A state tournament win over Dodge City in Wichita. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
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.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman senior girls bowler Makenzie Millard and Highland Park junior basketball player Bo Aldridge have been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Athletes of the Week for last week.
Millard was the Class 5A-1A runner-up and led the Vikings to the state team title last Friday at Wichita's Northrock Lanes while Aldridge helped lead the Scots to a 5A state tournament berth.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Millard and Aldridge last week:
Seaman senior Makenzie Millard finished second individually in the Class 5A-1A state bowling tournament last week, helping lead the Vikings to the state team title. [File photo/TSN]
MAKENZIE MILLARD, Seaman
Millard, a senior bowler, earned her third Class 5A-1A girls state medal last Friday at Wichita's Northrock Lanes, posting a career-best second-place finish while leading Seaman to the state team championship.
Millard bowled a 697 three-game series, including a first-game 279, after finishing fifth at the state meet as a sophomore and fourth as a junior.
Millard led the Vikings to the team championship by a 3,173-3,144 margin over Bishop Carroll.
Junior Bo Aldridge had a pair of 27-point games last week as Highland Park advanced to the Class 5A state tournament for the second time in three seasons. [File photo/TSN]
BO ALDRIDGE, Highland Park
The Highland Park junior basketball standout scored 54 points in two games last week as the Scots advanced to the Class 5A boys state tournament for the second time in three seasons.
Aldridge scored 27 points in a 78-65 sub-state semifinal victory over St. Thomas Aquinas last Tuesday to help the Scots reach the sub-state championship game.
Aldridge followed that up with another 27-point performance in Friday's 89-52 romp past Piper as Highland Park reached the 5A state tournament.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- The 2021-2022 season certainly didn't end the way Topeka West's boys basketball coach Rick Bloomquist wanted it to.
But Bloomquist said Wednesday night's 59-51 Class 5A state tournament loss to St. James Academy did nothing to diminish the love and respect that the veteran coach has for this year's team.
After finishing in second in the 2021 state tournament, Topeka West put itself in a position to keep its state title hopes alive Wednesday before the Thunder ended the first-round game with an 8-0 run to take the eight-point victory, ending the Chargers' 20-game winning streak.
"I love this team,'' Bloomquist said. "I've coached a lot of teams and I can't favor one over the other, but they are one of my favorite teams without question because they had a great, great season.
"You can't take that away. You can't take that 21 wins away from us, you can't take away the little goals we had -- the (Centennial) League championship, the (Topeka Invitational) championship. This was the big one we wanted and we didn't get it but we can walk out of here with our heads high. This team, regardless of what happened tonight, put a thumb print on Topeka West High School and the Topeka West community. There's no question about it.''
Topeka West senior Zander Putthoff scored a game-high 17 points with five 3-pointers in the Chargers' 59-51 state tournament loss to St. James Academy Wednesday night in Emporia. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Elijah Brooks scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Topeka West's 59-51 state tournament loss to St. James Academy Wednesday night in Emporia. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
No. 2 seed Topeka West led most of the night, including a 20-12 first-quarter lead, but the 21-2 Chargers were unable to put the Thunder away, due in part to a zero of nine performance at the free throw line.
No. 7 St. James Academy, which improved 16-7, cut its deficit to 30-29 at the half and rallied late in the third quarter to take a 42-41 lead into the fourth quarter.
An Xavier Alexander 3-pointer put Topeka West in front 44-42 and the the Chargers later took a 47-44 lead on a Zander Putthoff 3-pointer and went in front 49-47 before St. James Academy scored back to back baskets to take 51-49 advantage.
Alexander scored to tie the game at 51, but that would be Topeka West's final points of the night.
Putthoff, a senior, paced Topeka West with 17 points, including five 3-pointers, while senior Brooks added 13 points and nine rebounds and junior Sincere Auston 10 points.
St. James senior Sam Somherhalder led the Thunder with 16 points and junior Brian Hawthorne added 15 points.
Senior Garrett Lynch pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for St. James to go with eight points.
With Wednesday's win St. James Academy advanced to Friday's 6 p.m. state semifinal to face De Soto, a 50-45 first-round winner over Blue Valley Southwest.
ST. JAMES ACADEMY 59, TOPEKA WEST 51
St. James Academy 12 17 13 17 -- 59
Topeka West 20 10 11 10 -- 51
St. James Academy (16-7) -- Somherhalder 7-15 2-3 16, Niesen 1-6 2-2 4, Boydston 3-5 0-0 8, Hawthorne 6-12 3-5 15, Lynch 3-8 2-3 11, Burritt 2-2 0-0 6, Sydzyik 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 23-50 9-15 59.
Topeka West (21-2) -- Austin 4-7 0-0 10, Brooks 6-16 0-3 13, Alexander 3-5 0-1 7, Berg 0-4 0-0 0, Putthoff 6-12 0-0 17, Robinson 1-1 0-5 2, Foy 0 0-0 0, Bearman 1-1 0-0 0-0 2. Totals 21-46 0-9 51.
3-point goals -- St. James Academy 4-12 (Boydston 2-2, Burritt 2-2, Niesen 0-2, Sydzyik 0-1, Hawthorne 0-5), Topeka West 9-17 (Putthoff 5-10, Austin 2-2, Brooks 1-2, Alexander 1-3). Total fouls -- St. James Academy 11, Topeka West 14. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- It had been 81 years since Seaman's boys basketball team had advanced to a state semifinal, but the Vikings had no trouble finding the way.
Five days after taking a 17-point win at No. 1 West seed Hays, Seaman rolled to a 54-43 win over Kapaun Mt. Carmel, the No. 1 seed in the Class 5A state tournament, in Wednesday's opening first-round game at White Auditorium.
Ty Henry slams home a dunk to cap a 21-point night in Seaman's 54-43 Class 5A state quarterfinal win over No. 1 seed Kapaun Mt. Carmel Wednesday at Emporia. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"Just kind of like Hays, we came out firing,'' Seaman senior Ty Henry said. "We always like to get off to a good start. It kind of makes everything easier and we just kind of built on it from there.
"They made a little run and came back, but we built it back up and cruised out from there.''
With the win Seaman will play in the boys state semifinals for the first time since 1941. The 16-7 Vikings, who posted their ninth straight victory, will play at 2 p.m. Friday against defending 5A state champion Maize, which rallied in the second half to take a 53-47 win over Highland Park.
Kapaun Mt. Carmel, which had won 21 straight games since a five-point loss to Maize in the first game of the season, jumped out to a 4-0 lead Wednesday, but Henry started off a 21-point night with a 3-pointer and junior Aron Davis put Seaman ahead 5-4 with a hoop at the 4:22 mark of the first quarter and the Vikings never trailed again.
"I was a little worried at the beginning when they came out and scored the first two baskets,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "If they had got a third one I was going to get a time out, just to settle us down just because we didn't want for them to get too far ahead too early and get comfortable.
"Fortunately we made a basket and hit another one and took the lead and then just really settled in and did a nice job.''
Seaman ended the quarter on a 15-2 run to take a 15-6 lead into the second quarter.
The Vikings boosted their lead to 24-11 midway through the second quarter on back-to-back 3-pointers from junior Kaeden Bonner and senior Gavin Wilhelm and Seaman equaled that 13-point lead on a Henry basket with just over three minutes left in the half.
Kapaun Mt. Carmel (21-2) fought back to get as close as five before Davis scored with three seconds remaining to give the Vikings a 30-23 halftime edge.
The Crusaders rallied to within a point (32-31) with four minutes led in the third, but the Vikings quickly regained control, ending the quarter with a 7-1 run to maintain their seven-point halftime advantage entering the the fourth quarter.
"That was a key time,'' Cox said. "We took a time out and just talked about, 'Hey, we've still got the lead, let's have a couple of good possessions and make sure we get stops,' and our guys did that.''
Seaman opened the final period with back-to-back buckets from Henry and senior Mateo Henry to push the lead to 11 with 6:23 remaining and the Vikings went up by 12 (46-34) on a Wilhelm 3-pointer with 5:34 left.
Wilhelm scored again to give Seaman a 50-36 edge with 2:50 remaining.
The Viikings missed four straight free throws to give the Crusaders life, but Kapaun was unable to take advantage, getting no closer than 10, and Bonner hit a pair of charities and Henry followed with a stuff at the 56-second mark to clinch the victory.
Junior Kaeden Bonner puts up a shot in Seaman's 54-43 Class 5A state win over Kapaun Mt. Carmel Wednesday at Emporia. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Henry hit 9 of 10 shots from the floor, including all three of his 3-point attempts, to lead all scorers while Bonner added 10 points and Wilhelm eight.
"Obviously Ty Henry was great and our defense was outstanding,'' Cox said.
Davis only scored four points in the game but tied for game-high rebounding honors with nine and blocked a game-high five shots.
Kapaun's Henry Thengvall, a 6-foot-6 senior, scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds and junior William Anciaux added seven points, but no other Crusader had more than four points.
SEAMAN BOYS 54, KAPAUN MT. CARMEL 43
Seaman 15 15 9 15 -- 54
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 6 17 9 11 -- 43
Seaman(16-7) -- Hyman 3-4 0-2 6, Henry 9-10 0-1 21, Bonner 3-9 3-5 10, Wilhelm 3-8 0-0 8, Davis 2-2 0-0 4, Freeman 0-0 0-0 0, Griess 2-4 1-1 5, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Finley 0-0 0-0 0, Chapman 0-0 0-0 0, Barta 0-0 0-2. Totals 22-37 4-11 54.
Kapaun Mt. Carmel (21-2) -- Anciaux 2-6 3-3 7, W. Thengvall 1-6 2-4 4, Porter 2-9 0-0 4, Schmitz 1-3 0-0 2, H. Thengvall 6-17 6-8 19, Shibley 1-4 2-2 4, N. Thengvall 0-0 0-0 0, Dalian 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 1-1 0-0 3, Charles 0-2 0-1 0, Keller 0-2 0-0 0, Powers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-50 13-18 43.
3-point shots -- Seaman 6-14 (Henry 3-3, Wilhelm 2-5, Bonner 1-5, Griess 0-1), Kapaun Mt. Carmel 2-12 (H. Thengvall 1-6, Johnson 1-1, Keller 0-2, W. Thengvall 0-1, Porter 0-1, Shibley 0-1). Total fouls -- Seaman 16, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 14. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
