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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's girls and Washburn Rural's Logan Glinka earned bragging rights in Friday's Topeka Shawnee County Bowling Championships at Gage Bowl for the second straight season, with the Vikings repeating as the girls team champion and Glinka winning his second straight individual boys title.
Seaman's girls bowling team won its second straight city team title on Friday at Gage Bowl. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural's boys bowling team won the 2025 city team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman freshman Kayla Duncan and sophomore Paige Snyder went one-two in the girls individual race and Glinka's Rural boys team rounded out the city champions.
Seaman's girls won the team title by a 3,000-2,949 margin over Washburn Rural, including the four Baker format games, as Duncan won the individual championship with a 623 series while 2024 champion Snyder was second with a 607 series.
Washburn Rural, third as a team in 2024, took the boys team title by a 3,505-3,398 margin over Shawnee Heights, including the Baker games.
Glinka led the way for the Junior Blues, riding a first-game 278 to a 734 series and the individual title by a 72-pin margin over teammate Tyler Faurot, who rolled a 662 series.
Glinka's winning total on Friday was five pins better than his winning series of 729 in the 2024 city meet, following up his 278 with 232 and 224 games.
"I had a good look all day,'' Glinka said. "The third game I struggled in the end, but I'm really happy how I bowled. Obviously I wanted to go back to back.''
Glinka was also thrilled that Rural could claim the team crown.
"I was proud of our team,'' he said. "Last year I felt like I did well, but the rest of my team struggled a little bit, but I felt like this year the whole team did great.
"We were really positive, had a lot of energy. I was extremely proud of my team.''
Snyder improved her 2024 winning score of 606 by a pin on Friday, but Duncan stole the show in her first city meet, putting together scores of 203, 235 and 185 to take individual honors and lead the Vikings to the team repeat.
"I think its going pretty well,'' Duncan said about the 2025 season. "We really are good at keeping each other's spirits up, especially if one gets down, and I just think it's just a good team overall.
"We're very happy overall.''
City girls bowling medalists, right to left: Kayla Duncan, Seaman; Paige Snyder, Seaman; Addison VanMetre, Shawnee Heights; Claire LaDuke, Seaman; Claire LaDuke, Seaman; Ashley Lee, Hayden. Not pictured: Ashley Billups, Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights' Addison VanMetre finished third individually with a 570 series, followed by Seaman's Claire LaDuke (569), Rural's Ashley Billups (562) and Hayden's Ashley Lee (554) to round out the top six girls finishers.
City boys bowling medalists, right to left: Logan Glinka, Washburn Rural; Tyler Faurot, Washburn Rural; Henry Schattilly, Shawnee Heights; Donovan Davis, Shawnee Heights; Jackson Keller, Washburn Rural; Dylan Hunt, Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Boys runnerup Shawnee Heights got third and fourth-place finishes from Henry Schattilly (658) and Donovan Davis (657) while Washburn Rural's Jackson Keller finished fifth (650) and Seaman's Dylan Hunt finished sixth (649).
TOPEKA SHAWNEE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights sophomore girls basketball standout KK Emmot and Washburn Rural sophomore swimming standout Andres Morao-Jaspe have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Emmot and Morao-Jaspe over the past week:
Shawnee Heights sophomore KK Emmot has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency female Rising Star of the Week after leading the T-Birds to the championship in the Capital City Classic. [File photo/TSN]
KK EMMOT, Shawnee Heights
Emmot, a sophomore, scored a career-high 36 points last Saturday as Shawnee Heights rallied from a 16-point deficit late in the first half to take a 59-54 win over No. 5-ranked (Class 6A) Washburn Rural in the championship game of the Capital City Classic at Topeka West.
Emmot scored 75 points in the T-Birds' three games on the week, scoring 14 in a 54-47 OT win over Blue Valley and 25 points in a 65-32 win over Topeka West.
Washburn Rural sophomore Andres Morao-Jaspe has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency male Rising Star of the Week after leading the Junior Blues to their sixth straight city swimming championship. [File photo/TSN]
ANDRES MORAO-JASPE, Washburn Rural
A sophomore, Morao-Jaspe won four gold medals in last Thursday's swimming/diving championhips at the Capitol Federal Natatorium as the Junior Blues won their sixth straight city team championship with a 532-418.5 victory over Topeka High.
Morao-Jaspe won the 200-yard individual medley (2:07.6) and the 500 free (5:14.46) and swam on Rural's winning 200 medley (1:48.20) and 400 free (3:39.00) relays.
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TopSports.news
The Cair Paravel Lions boys basketball team never looked back after a 24-point first quarter on its way to a 69-50 victory over the Maranatha Christian Eagles on Tuesday night at Cair Paravel Latin School.
Lucas Marichal led Cair Paravel with 19 points in the Lions' 69-50 win over Maranatha Academy Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
The contest started as a scoring duel between Maranatha’s Daniel Dean and Cair Paravel’s Lucas Marichal, with Dean tallying the 3-11 Eagles’ first five points as the visitors took an early 5-2 lead.
Marichal answered with his first of four 3-pointers of the night, and following a free throw from Dean, the Cair Paravel junior made consecutive baskets to give the Lions (6-8) a 9-6 lead they would not relinquish.
The 3-point barrage continued for the Lions, with triples from Chase Hastert and Judah Congdon before Marichal knocked down another shot from behind the arc to give Cair Paravel a 24-17 advantage after the first quarter.
The Lions showed off their defensive prowess in the second quarter, allowing only six points off three Maranatha field goals.
Hastert and Caleb Cleverdon hit 3-pointers in the frame for Cair Paravel, while Jase Pavlik recorded his first five points of the evening in the quarter as the Lions took a 38-23 lead into halftime.
After the break Pavlik and Cleverdon found baskets in the first minute of the third quarter, extending the lead to 19 and forcing a quick timeout from the Eagles.
The Lions pushed the lead as high as 21, but a pair of baskets from Dean and a 3-pointer from Joe Allen brought the deficit back to 13 as Cair Paravel held a 46-33 lead midway through the third quarter.
Any sign of a comeback was quickly put to rest, as Marichal knocked down another 3-pointer and Blaine Durbin added a pair of baskets, with the Lions leading 55-38 after three quarters.
Cair Paravel finished the game with a balanced offensive attack, with five points from Marichal and four from Pavlik in the fourth quarter.
Senior Billy Lanich added a layup in the closing seconds to seal the 19-point victory for the Lions. Marichal led all scorers with 19 points for Cair Paravel.
Pavlik recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Hastert added 10 points off the bench.
The Lions shot just over 48 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Eagles, 34-18.
Dean led Maranatha with 18 points on 7-10 shooting while also pulling down six rebounds. Pennbrook Shaver tallied 14 points, while center Luke Shrader scored nine points with six rebounds.
Cair Paravel coach Chip Kueffer was impressed with all aspects of his team’s performance in the win.
“I think defense always leads to offense,'' Kueffer said. "We were really focused defensively on (Maranatha’s Owen Smail and Luke Shrader), both of those guys can get 25 a night,” Kueffer said. “We really just focused on making them uncomfortable, picking them up at halfcourt, and then offensively, you don’t have anything to think about.”
Despite a significant size disadvantage, Cair Paravel grabbed 16 more rebounds than Maranatha, and the effort did not go unnoticed by Kueffer.
“We’re giving up a lot of size, and they play their hearts out,” Kueffer said of his squad. “Everybody has to do their part to defend and rebound. If you’re on the floor, you’re rebounding. If you’re on the floor, you’re defending, no excuses. So I was glad to see that out of everybody today.”
Cair Paravel will be back in action on Thursday against Eskridge-Mission Valley. The Lions will look to avenge a 50-48 loss on Jan. 21.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
When Highland Park and Topkeka West hooked up in the championship game of the Topeka Invitational Tournament on Jan. 25, the top-ranked Class 5A Scots remained undefeated with a hard-earned 44-41 win over the sixth-ranked Chargers.
Senior Ja'Corey Robinson (23) led all scorers with 32 points in Wednesday's 67-50 Highland Park win over city rival Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But Mike Williams' normally high octane Scots came out of that game feeling like they received some undeserved criticism for their slower style of play, particularly in the closing minutes, against West.
Using that -- plus the fact that the Scots were playing at home for only the second time all season -- as motivation in Wednesday's rematch, Highland Park pulled away down the stretch for a decisive 67-50 win, improving to 14-0 on the season.
"We had a specific game plan going into that (first game) of how we wanted to play,'' Mike Williams said. "We didn't want to shoot over the top of those guys. We knew they were tall and long and we watched tape on teams in the past (against West) that were taking those type of shots ... and we didn't want that.
"We wanted to be in a grind it out, gritty game like we got in the TIT. A lot of people saw that score and were kind of like, 'Ah, it was close.' I don't care, that's what we wanted. We wanted it like that, we wanted to get after them on the defensive end. We wanted to man-to-man them all night long and we wanted to sit down.''
And though Williams admits that the Scots didn't have a great offensive game, he was proud of his team in the earlier West matchup, just like he was Wednesday night.
"We didn't make shots, we made zero 3s in the TIT. We missed 15-plus free throws, Da'Mykel Hales didn't play (illness), a lot of things worked against us, and we still found a way to win,'' Williams said. "Obviously, this night tonight was a little bit cleaner.
"Obviously, there were some things coming out (in social media after the TIT). Did we hold the ball, did we not? We were just trying find ways to win. That's all we're focused on. I was very, very pleased (tonight) with how we competed, how we took on a challenge and how we just didn't assume we were going to win because we won a week ago in the TIT.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Six days after suffering a disappointing seven-point overtime loss to Topeka West in the opening round of the Capital City Classic, Highland Park's girls basketball team got another shot at its district rival Wednesday night on the Scots' home court.
Highland Park senior Tahtionna Broils drives to the basket in Wednesday's 50-34 win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Rob Brown's Highland Park team improved to 10-3 with Wednesday's 50-34 win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
And despite being without three players who normally see varsity minutes, Rob Brown's Scots took advantage of their opportunity, improving to 10-3 with a 50-34 win over the Chargers.
"I feel relieved,'' Brown said. "It's been a long week and you could see we were missing some girls tonight. Obviously, we were missing a lot, but we had some girls step up and I have a young bunch.
"We're a young group and we're just going to keep growing.''
Highland Park never trailed after jumping out in front 14-1 late in the first quarter and the Scots took a 23-12 advantage to the locker room at halftime.
