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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
If you've watched Shawnee Heights' girls basketball team this season, you might have thought No. 13 was a new player for the T-Birds.
And in a way that's true because it's been a long time since anyone had seen 5-foot-9 junior Emari Doby on the court.
Emari Doby drives to the basket in Shawnee Heights' 64-55 overtime win over Topeka West Tuesday night. Doby scored a game and career-high 20 points in the win. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Doby earned varsity playing time as a freshman for Shawnee Heights, but missed her entire sophomore campaign as well as her summer season after suffering a serious knee injury in the fall of 2020.
"I tore my ACL (left leg) last October, right before we started practice and I had surgery,'' Doby said. "I was taking a showcase event to try to get more scouts and my last game I did a move and I just fell. I don't even know how to describe it.''
Doby suffered another setback several months later when it was discovered that her injury was more serious than first thought.
"They say six months (for rehab), but at my six-month mark I found that I had tore something more because I wasn't to the point where I should be,'' Doby said. "I found out I tore my LCL (lateral collateral ligament) also.''
That pushed her recovery timetable back even more and kept her out of action in the summer, but Doby is finally back on the court and playing a key role for the 2-1 T-Birds, who ended their pre-holiday slate with a 64-55 overtime win over Topeka West on Tuesday.
"At the start of the summer they suggested I didn't play because why play and get hurt again in the summer when you can just wait?'' Doby said. "So I waited until August to scrimmage and now I'm back and good.''
Like most players who have had to come back from major injuries, Doby has had to fight through the fear of getting re-injured, but feels like she's making progress in that regard.
"I feel like I didn't miss out on 10 months to go out there with fear, so I know I'm scared, but I can push that to the side,'' Doby said. "I trust my knee and it's been over a year, I'm good.''
And a little bit of apprehension is worth a ton of enjoyment being back on the court.
"It is so much fun,'' Doby said. "The girls take so much care of me. I can trip and they're like, 'Emari, Emari, are you OK?' And the coaches care so much. I'm so grateful to have them and my family cares, so I'm just in really good hands.''
Doby scored 10 points in Heights' 38-33 season-opening loss ot Spring Hill and followed that up with eight points in the T-Birds' 49-45 road win over Ottawa before turning in a breakout performance in Tuesday's comeback win over Topeka West, scoring a career-high 20 points.
Shawnee Heights junior Emari Doby has helped the T-Birds get off to a 2-1 start this season after missing the entire 2020-2021 season with an ACL injury. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"Every day I'm doing more and more and every game I'm doing more,'' Doby said. "I'm still very critical of myself, but I think I'm getting back to my old me or better.
"I'm thankful. I made it back and I'm good.''
A look at Friday's Shawnee County games:
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Hayden track and cross country star Tanner Newkirk considered other colleges, but it's fair to say that Kansas was the frontrunner throughout the recruiting process.
Newkirk made his choice official Wednesday afternoon at Hayden, signing a letter of intent with the Jayhawks.
There were several factors that made KU the ideal choice for Newkirk, a four-time Class 4A state cross country medalist and former state champion as well as a two-time state medalist in track.
For one thing, the Newkirk family lives in Lawrence and for another, Tanner's father, Kevin, ran at Kansas after winning multiple state championships at Emporia.
But the deciding factor according to Newkirk was that the Jayhawks showed the most interest in from the get go.
"I wouldn't say it was all KU, but I feel like KU just gave me the most attention and it felt like they wanted me to go there,'' Newkirk said. "I just felt like it was just the best place for me to be. It was just a natural.''
Hayden track and cross country star Tanner Newkirk signs his official national letter of intent with Kansas Wednesday at Hayden while his parents look on. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Wildcat senior was the 4A state cross country champ as a junior and posted top-three state finishes his final three seasons after a 12th-place showing as a freshman.
Newkirk finished third at state this fall after sweeping city, Centennial League and 4A regional individual titles.
Newkirk, a four-time All-City/All-County pick, earned a pair of state medals in track as a freshman before having his sophomore season wiped out by COVID-19. Newkirk also missed the state meet his junior season due to injury.
Newkirk said he was happy to get his college choice out of the way.
"It's a lot of stress and this is just going to relieve a lot of stress that built up,'' Newkirk said. "It feels really, really good to get it over with and know where I'm going to be next fall.
"When track comes the only thing on my mind will be track and that feels really good to have that and not have to worry about college.''
Hayden senior distance ace Tanner Newkirk speaks to family and friends during Wednesday's signing ceremony at Hayden. Newkirk signed with Kansas. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Because of circumstances out of his control, Newkirk's track career hasn't gone quite as well as cross country, something he's determined to change next spring.
"I'm totally healthy and it's my second week back in training and it's going really well and I'm just building the mileage,'' Newkirk said. "I'm hopefully going to get a really good base in the winter and then have a really good track season.
"I'm so excited for the track season. I've achieved all I wanted to achieve in cross country. Now it's time to do that same thing in track.''
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural and Hayden were at a defensive stalemate most of Tuesday night's Centennial League boys basketball game, but the Junior Blues were able to breakthrough with an 11-4 run in the fourth quarter to secure a 34-27 victory over one of their biggest rivals at Hayden.
“We showed a level of competitiveness we haven’t shown all year, which was nice,'' Washburn Rural coach Kevin Muff said. "I don’t know if it was because it was a rivalry game or what it was but I thought our guys played tough.''
![Rural senior Quincey Kidd scored a game-high 15 points in the Junior Blues' 34-27 Centennial League win at Hayden Tuesday. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]](/images/aa-images/QuinceyKidd2.jpg)
Rural senior Quincey Kidd scored a game-high 15 points in the Junior Blues' 34-27 Centennial League win at Hayden Tuesday. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The game was an intense battle from the opening tip.
Rural 6-foot-8 center Brock Howard man to man with 6-5 Hayden center Joe Otting was a marquee big man matchup. Howard and Otting were playing aggressive and physical basketball all four quarters which made it tough for anyone to score from mid-range or inside the paint.
“Our guys’ tough and physical play tonight was the only way we could beat a team like Hayden,'' Muff said. "Coach (Dwayne) Paul has them playing as good as any team in our league right now, as far as playing together. My hats off to him and that team. They gave us a fight.''
In the first quarter, Hayden got two 3-point shots from Jacob Padilla and Jake Muller, which gave the Wildcats momentum early. Rural had a difficult time making shots in the first quarter against Hayden’s defense and the Wildcats would take a 12-6 lead to the second quarter.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls basketball team, ranked No. 2 in Class 6A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, remained unbeaten with a 56-28 rout over Centennial League rival Hayden Tuesday night at Hayden.
Washburn Rural’s impressive night wouldn’t have happened without pinpoint-accurate shooting, with the Junior Blues collecting eight 3-point shots on 11 attempts.
“It’s always nice when your shots go in the way they did for us tonight,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said.
The red-hot offense boosted Rural, 4-0 overall and in the league, earned the Junior Blues a 16-3 first-quarter advantage.
“I thought we were getting good looks. We were driving it well, kicking it well, and we spotted up well early,” Bordewick said.
Brooklyn DeLeye
Zoe Canfield
Washburn Rural hit four 3-point shots in the second quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 20-5 to take a commanding 36-8 advantage.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Junior Ketraleus Aldridge hit a follow shot with two seconds remaining to give undefeated Highland Park a 71-69 home Centennial League win over Seaman Tuesday night.
With the victory Highland Park improved to 4-0 on the season while Seaman fell to 2-2.
Ketraleus Aldridge scored the game-winning basket with two seconds remaining in Highland Park's 71-69 win at Seaman. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman trailed by 18 points before getting within 10 in the third quarter. Seaman cut its deficit to nine at the 5:20 mark of the fourth and pulled within two on a Ty Henry dunk with three minutes remaining.
Seaman took the lead with 2:40 left after a Dreighton Griess steal and there were ties at 67 and 69 with 31 seconds remaining.
After a Juan'Tario Roberts basket tied the game for the final time, Seaman held for the last shot and had two chances, but came up empty.
Highland Park pushed the ball downcourt and after Tre Richardson missed a contested layup, Aldridge, who had 17 points, converted the stickback for the game-winner.
Roberts led Highland Park with 22 points while Henry scored 23 points to lead Seaman.
Highland Park led 19-14 at the end of the first quarter and was in command 43-27 at the half and 60-43 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Highland Park will close out the 2021 portion of its schedule at Topeka High Friday night in a girls/boys Centennial League doubleheader while Seaman will host Washburn Rural in a twinbill.
SEAMAN GIRLS 65, HIGHLAND PARK 30 -- Freshman Anna Becker scored 17 points and Maegan Mills had 12 points off the bench as Seaman improved to 3-1 with a 65-30 romp past winless Highland Park.
