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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seventy-two year-old Hall of Fame coach Ken Darting was bouncing around like a coach half his age Wednesday night after Shawnee Heights' 62-54 non-league boys basketball road victory over Topeka High and was quick to credit his T-Birds for the hop in his step.
"I'm having more fun than I have had in 10 years,'' Darting said after Heights improved to 2-0 on the young season. "I can't wait to go to practice every day.''
Ken Darting gives instructions to his players during Shawnee Heights' 62-54 win at Topeka High Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Darting, who came out of retirement to take the Shawnee Heights job in 2018, has coached five teams to state championships in his legendary career, including four titles at Highland Park with a perfect 25-0 campaign in 2007.
And while it would be unfair to compare this year's T-Birds to any of those teams, Darting said he is thrilled with the Heights players' attitude and the way they listen and try to learn every day they are in the gym.
Shawnee Heights didn't have a great night Wednesday, particularly shooting the ball, but a host of players, including multiple underclassmen, contributed as the T-Birds rallied from behind early and then withstood rally after rally by the Trojans.
Shawnee Heights hit just two of 16 3-point attempts on the night and were out-rebounded, 30-23, but the T-Birds got at least eight points from five different players and key contributions off the bench from sophomores Jayden Holly (12 points) and Jayden Moore (a huge fourth-quarter 3-pointer) and freshman Jaret Sanchez (four points).
Sophomore Brennon Dodge scored a game-high 15 points to lead the T-Birds while senior Carter Olson had nine points and nine rebounds after missing his entire junior season with a football injury and seniors Nathan Pewe and Jarin Sanders scored eight points apiece.
"Their character is great and they're having so much fun,'' Darting said. "Some of our primary players didn't play well (Wednesday), but they're in here (in the locker room) jumping on Holly and congratulating him and things like that. That's what makes it so much fun.''
Darting led Shawnee Heights to back-to-back winning records in his first two years at the school before Heights slumped to 6-11 a year ago in a COVID-ravaged season.
Darting admits that this year's T-Birds have some limitations, particularly on the offensive end, but the T-Bird coach said his team is doing the things it needs to do to give itself a chance to win.
"We're not great shooters, it's that simple,'' Darting said. "So we've got to stop you, we've got to rebound over our size, we've got to have people come off the bench and pick us up.''
Shawnee Heights will travel to Ottawa on Friday before closing out its pre-Christmas schedule with a home game against Topeka West, last year's Class 5A runner-up, next Tuesday.
Then it will be back to the gym as Shawnee Heights tries to continue making strides before starting competition in the United Kansas Conference.
"I think it's really important to us to have a good first semester, just to get started,'' Darting said.
A look at Friday's Shawnee County games:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior Jaley Barkley scored 21 points to lead the way as Cair Paravel Latin's girls basketball team picked up its first victory of the 2021-2022 season, a 49-34 win over Maur Hill-Mt Scholastic Thursday night on the Lions' home court.
Jaley Barkley
Cair Paravel opened the season with four straight losses, including three straight single-digit defeats, before breaking through on Thursday.
Barkley scored 19 points in the first half, with three 3-pointers.
As a team Cair Paravel scored 33 points in the opening half, including 18 in the second quarter.
Barkley was the only double-figure scorer for the Lions, but eight players cracked the scoring column, with senior Lauren Drum scoring seven of her nine points in the second half.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University senior volleyball All-American Faith Rottinghaus was the recipient of the Elite 90 award for the 2021 NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship.
Rottinghaus, majoring in kinesiology, currently carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average and becomes the first Washburn student-athlete to win the prestigious award. Rottinghaus, a Shawnee Heights graduate, was presented with the award prior toWashburn's win in Thursday's national quarterfinal match in Tampa, Fla.
"I think it means a lot,'' Rottinghaus said. "I'm very proud of it just because I work really hard in the classroom and on the court.
"I would stress to everybody, don't let your lives become too much of a distraction and really focus on what you want to have.''
Washburn volleyball All-American Faith Rottinghaus, a Shawnee Heights graduate, received a prestigious academic honor Thursday during the NCAA Volleyball Championships. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The libero from Berryton has had an incredible career that includes two CoSIDA Academic All-America awards, an AVCA All-America second team selection, a D2CCA All-America first team selection, three all-MIAA first team honors, and a five-time MIAA Academic Excellence award winner. She is also the program's all-time career leader in digs with 2,607.
The Elite 90, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers.
The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships.
Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above who have participated in their sport for at least two years with their school. All ties are broken by the number of credits completed. For more information on the Elite 90 award winners, log on to https://www.ncaa.com/elite-90.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The one at a time concept has worked just fine for the Washburn University volleyball team so far, and with the Ichabods now just two wins away from a national championship, they don't plan to change that approach now.
The No. 3-seeded Ichabods dispatched No. 6 West Texas A&M 3-1 in Thursday's opening NCAA Division II tournament quarterfinal at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center in Tampa, Fla., advancing to Friday's 4 p.m. national semifinal to face the winner of Thursday's later quarterfinal match between No. 2 seed Western Washington and No. 7 Daemen.
Washburn celebrates a kill from freshman Jalyn Stevenson (10) during Thursday's 3-1 quarterfinal win over West Texas A&M in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. [Photo courtesy of Joy Smith/Washburn Athletics]
"I think we're going to prepare the exact same way that we always do,'' Washburn senior libero Faith Rottinghaus said about the semifinal match. "It is a lot about our side and that's the biggest thing is we can only control what's on our side of the net.
"We'll watch (the opponent) and we'll do some scouting, but (when) we play tomorrow all we can control is our side of the net and each play that we do.''
Senior middle hitter Allison Maxwell agreed.
"I think ultimately we just take every play one ball at a time and that's what weve been emphasizing this whole time,'' Maxwell said.
Washburn, fresh off winning the Central Region championship, took a 25-22, 25-19, 21-25, 25-21 decision over the Lady Buffs, improving to 30-5 on the season.
"I thought we played very hard and obviously stayed focused,'' Washburn coach Chris Herron said. "Our offense was diverse enough to keep them guessing in what we might do, so I'm really excited for them.''
The Ichabods got their day off to a hard-earned win in Set 1, which included seven ties before WU scored two straight points to take an 18-16 lead.
WU eventually went in front 22-17 with senior Allison Sadler serving, but West Texas rallied to within 22-21 before the Ichabods regained control on kills from seniors Kelsey Gordon and Genna Berg to put Washburn up 24-21. Then, after a point from the Buffs, Maxwell ended the set with a kill.
Washburn senior Allison Maxwell spikes the ball during Thursday's NCAA quarterfinal match in Tampa, Fla. [Photo courtesy of Joy Smith/Washburn Athletics]
Washburn never trailed in the second set after opening up early 3-0, 4-1 and 6-2 leads.
West Texas fought back to knot the set at 8-8 but Washburn answered with three straight points, including kills from Sydney Fitzgibbons and Jalyn Stevenson.
Washburn later used a 5-1 run to go up 17-11 and went in command 19-12 on a service ace Taylor Antonowich.
The Buffs got no closer than four points the rest of the set before Maxwell and Berg finished off the six-point win with kills.
West Texas A&M bounced back to extend the match with a 25-21 third-set victory, taking control of the set with four straight points to take a 22-19 lead. WU got as close as 23-21before West Texas closed out the win with two straight points.
Herron said Washburn's goal between sets was to forget about the loss and the Ichabods were able to maintain control throughout the match-clinching Set 4 win.
"I just told them that it was over,'' Herron said. "Every point is important and as soon as that point is over it's no longer important because there's nothing you can do about the last point. It's the same thing with a set, match, whatever. It's over, it's history now so we just decided, 'That one's over with, let's go to the next one.''
"I think the biggest thing is we're confident enough in each other that we know if we go out there and play our best game of volleyball we're not going to be disappointed in ourselves no matter the outsome,'' said Rottinghaus, a former state champion at Shawnee Heights.
MATCH RESULTS
Washburn def. West Texas A&M, 25-22, 25-19, 21-25, 25-21.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's basketball teams hit the road for the first time in MIAA play, facing Central Oklahoma in 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. contests Thursday.
The Ichabod men will be looking to climb above .500 in the MIAA and overall, with Washburn currently 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the MIAA.
Washburn will be facing a Centralk Oklahoma men's team that is 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
The Ichabods are coming off a 79-77 win over Nebraska-Kearney while the Bronchos are coming off a 79-60 road win over Pittsburg State.
Washburn junior Jalen Lewis drives the ball earlier this season against Fort Hays State. Lewis leads the Ichabods with a 13.3 scoring average. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Jalen Lewis leads Washburn with a 13.3 scoring average and has hit 14 3-pointers while freshman Michael Keegan averages 12.4 points and a team-high five rebounds per game.
Sophomore Connor Deffebaugh is averaging 9.8 points and a team-high 2.1 assists and hit the game-winning shot in last Saturday's win over Nebraska-Kearney.
Deffebaugh had a career-high 19 points against UNK while Keegan recorded a career-high 18 points.
Isaiah Wade leads four players in double figures for Central Oklahoma with an 18-point average and also averages seven rebounds.
Camryn Givens averages 15.3 points and 6.4 rebounds while Jaden Wells averages 12.3 points and Callen Haydon 12.1 points.
The Washburn women's basketball team is 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the MIAA on the season and will be looking to snap a five-game losing streak after falling to No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, 49-43.
Central Oklahoma is 5-3 and split the conference-opening week, falling to Missouri Southern, 81-74, before rolling to a 96-76 victory at Pittsburg State.
Senior Hunter Bentley averages a team-high 10.1 points for Washburn and averages 3.7 rebounds.
Mackenzie Gamble averages 7.4 points and has hit at least one 3-pointer in every game this season to give her a season total of 13 treys.
Central Oklahoma is led by Kelsey Johnson, who has already won the MIAA Player of the Week award twice this season and averages a double-double with 19.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game..
Alayzha Knapp averages 10.0 points and 4.1 rebounds for the Bronchos.
Washburn will continue its road trip with a women's/men's twinbill at Newman on Saturday.
