- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Unversity's men's basketball team looked to be on its way to a third straight win when the Ichabods opened up an 11-point lead less than nine minutes into the first half of Monday's home MIAA contest against Northeastern State, WU's final game of 2021.
But instead of celebrating, the Ichabods were left to do some soul-searching after the RiverHawks stormed back to take an 85-82 win, snapping an eight-game losing streak against Washburn.
"I just haven't been able to reach this team yet,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said after the Ichabods fell to 6-6 overall and 2-3 in the MIAA. "This is as poor of a coaching job as I've done and I just haven't been able to reach them.
"Our consistency's just not there, our discipline's not there, our execution's not there, our toughness isn't there. We've always out-competed teams here and we're not doing that right now and I've got to get it figured out.''
Tyler Geiman
Levi Braun
Washburn appeared to be in control when it jumped out in front 7-2, 18-11 and 24-13, but the RiverHawks (7-4, 2-3) fought back to within five points at the half (37-32) and went up 49-45 with 11:44 remaining.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Elijah Brooks
ELIJAH BROOKS, Topeka West
A senior, Brooks scored 50 points on the week and reached the 1,000 point mark for his career in two Topeka West boys basketball wins as the Chargers improved to 4-1. Brooks had 18 points (11 in the fourth quarter) in West's 57-55 Tuesday win at Shawnee Heights and scored 32 points with eight rebounds and seven assists in the Chargers' 78-65 win at Manhattan on Friday.
Jaliah Johnson
JALIAH JOHNSON, Washburn Rural
Johnson, a two-time state placer, won the 155-pound championship in the LadyCat Classic at Basehor-Linwood, helping two-time state champion Washburn Rural win the team title by a 295-221 margin over Dodge City. Johnson, third at state the past two seasons, improved to 12-1 on the season.
Juan'Tario Roberts
JUAN'TARIO ROBERTS, Highland Park
Roberts, a senior, scored 45 points on the week as Highland Park's boys basketball team posted a pair of victories to improve to 5-0 on the season. Roberts scored 22 points in the Scots' 71-69 win over Seaman on Tuesday and followed that up with a 23-point game on Friday as Highland Park posted a 62-50 win at Topeka High. Roberts hit the 1,000-point mark for his career in Friday's win.
Kiki Smith
KIKI SMITH, Topeka High
A junior guard, Smith scored 44 points on the week in two Topeka High girls basketball wins as the Trojans improved to 5-0 on the season. Smith led High with 14 points in a 38-36 win over Emporia on Tuesday and had 30 points on Friday in the Trojans' 86-16 romp past USD 501 rival Highland Park.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Local wrestling powers Washburn Rural and Shawnee Heights ended the 2021 portion of their schedule with a bang over the weekend, with their varsity teams combining for three team championships to lead a strong showing by Shawnee County teams and individuals.
Washburn Rural's girls claimed the title in the LadyCat Classic at Basehor-Linwood while the Rural boys claimed top honors in the Bishop Carroll Invitational and Shawnee Heights boys captured the team championship in the Johnson County Classic.
Individually, Heights senior star Caden Walker reached a career milestone and a host of other county wrestlers notched individual titles.
Here's a look at some of the county highlights from the weekend:
WALKER REACHES 100 PINS, T-BIRD BOYS WIN TITLE
Shawnee Heights star senior 160-pounder Caden Walker went over the 100-pin mark for his career and the T-Birds took the team title in the 25-school Johnson County Classic by a 460-429 margin over Kansas Class 6A power Derby.
Caden Walker
Walker finished second in the 160 class while improving to 11-1 on the season and boosting his career win total to 123 and his career pin total to 101.
Also posting runner-up finishes for the T-Birds were senior 120-pounder Brock Ferguson (18-1 on the season), 132-pound sophomore Andrew Bonebrake (14-3) and 182-pound senior Preston Hartman (15-2) while senior 138-pounder Ty Lewis (16-3), senior 145-pounder Joey Hilton (13-5) and senior 170-pounder Cole Manrose (15-3) finished third.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Unversity men's basketball coach Brett Ballard isn't ready to say that his Ichabods have turned the corner.
But Saturday's 70-69 home MIAA win over Rogers State at Lee Arena, was certainly a step in that direction.
Surviving a last-secord shot by the Hillcats, the Ichabods won two straight games for the first time this season while climbing over the .500 mark overall (6-5) and in the MIAA (3-2).
"We're getting closer,'' Ballard said. "We've found a way to win some close games here recently, which is good, and we know we're going to be in more of these so hopefully we can learn from that experience.
"We're getting there. There's still some things that are just not quite right and I don't think we've played anywhere close to our ceiling yet. I'm glad we won, but we're still leaving a lot on the table.''
Jalen Lewis, putting up a shot against Rogers State, paced Washburn with 22 points in Saturday's 70-69 MIAA win over Rogers State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team gave itself an early Christmas present on Saturday, a 79-62 MIAA victory over Rogers State at Lee Arena.
Playing its final game before taking a 10-day holiday break, the Ichabods won back to back games for the first time all season while setting a high-water mark for points scored in a game as well as margin of victory.
"We're starting to get a little confidence, a little rhythm, a little rotation down and some kids getting their heads up to play,'' Washburn coach Ron McHenry said. "I'd love to play the next couple of days, but we're not going to be able to do that.
"It's a tough game so just to get a couple of wins and a little confidence, I can tell from practice to practice that we've got a little confidence in us, a little swagger and that mean's a huge deal. We were missing that, but you can't get it when you're losing games.''
Washburn senior Hunter Bentley (right), being congratulated by Emma Chapman, led the Ichabods with 15 points in Saturday's 79-62 MIAA win over Rogers State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
