- Details
By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Two teams on the boys side with high expectations in the Centennial league met Friday night as 2-0 Highland Park visited 1-1 Washburn Rural.
Michael Williams' Scots squad brought energy to the matchup to earn a 55-40 road victory, led by a star-like performance from junior Ketraleus Aldridge, who had 29 points and multiple high-flying blocks.
“It’s kind of a rivalry game because I kinda used to go to this school, so I knew there was going to be a lot of haters and a lot of supporters, but my mindset was mainly just getting the win and I happened to have a great night,” Aldridge said.
Ketraleus Aldridge led the way with a game-high 29 points as Highland Park claimed a 55-40 Centennial League road win at Highland Park. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Highland Park win moved the Scots to a perfect 3-0 on the season, while the Junior Blues dropped to 1-2.
Washburn Rural jumped out to a 6-2 lead early but Highland Park locked in defensively, holding the Junior Blues to just eight points in the quarter. On the other end Aldridge scored seven early points to help the Scots take a 9-8 lead after one.
- Details
By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Two girls teams starting the season in opposite directions were in action Friday night as 0-2 Highland Park visited 2-0 Washburn Rural.
A second-half shutdown on defense secured a third straight win for the Junior Blues.
“We were really trying to emphasize playing a little more harder, a little more intensely and being a little bit more physical and I thought we did that,” said Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick.
Brooklyn DeLeye
Jada Ingram
On the other side, the 54-12 game represented the third straight loss to open the season for the Scots.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It took Topeka High's powerhouse girls basketball team a little while to get going Friday night, but once the Trojans did get on track there was no stopping that train, with High rolling to an 85-31 Centennial League rout over Topeka West at West.
Topeka High heated up towards the end of the first quarter to take a 24-10 lead and then the Trojans hit the Chargers with a 34-8 second quarter to open up a commanding 58-18 advantage. The Trojans doubled up the Chargers 22-11 in the third quarter to take an 80-29 advantage and a running clock was used throughout the fourth quarter.
"I thought the girls did a great job working on some things,'' Topeka High coach Hannah Alexander said. "At the beginning of the game we kind of struggled to hit some of those shots that we normally hit, so I told them to let us talk through our defense and we started getting some steals in our fullcourt trap and I think that kind of loosened them up a little bit.
"We just looked a little tight in the beginning, so it was good to see them get involved and let the defense talk rather than worrying about the offense and then things started flowing once they did that.''
Junior Kiki Smith scored 32 points in Topeka High's 85-31 romp past Topeka West Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High senior Tae Thomas scored 23 points in the Trojans' 85-31 win over Topeka West Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High, No. 8-ranked in Class 6A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, improved to 3-0 overall and in the league as Trojan standouts Kiki Smith and Tae Thomas combined for 55 points.
Smith, a junior, scored a game-high 32 points with four 3-pointers while Thomas added 23 points with a pair of 3s. Both players did their damage in three quarters as neither player played in the fourth quarter.
Junior Adisyn Caryl also cracked double figures for the Trojans with 10 points.
Junior Azaryah Duncan led Topeka West (0-3, 0-3) with nine points while senior Whitley Benson and sophomore Rebecca Bearman scored seven points apiece and sophomore Zoe Clark added 6.
Topeka High will travel to Emporia on Tuesday for a Centennial League contest while West will play a non-league contest at Shawnee Heights.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Topeka West boys basketball coach Rick Bloomquist was not happy after Tuesday's loss at Seaman -- not so much because of the loss to a good Viking team, but because of how the Chargers played in that loss.
Bloomquist's smile was back Friday night, however, after West bounced back with a 68-41 Centennial League romp over rival Topeka High on the Chargers' home court.
"That's what I expected and it was a good recovery game for us,'' Bloomquist said. "I thought they reacted well to the loss. I think that was the key to this game, that they reacted to the beating they took at Seaman.
"That's what you want to see out of your kids, what kind of character they're going to have. I'm very happy about how they approached this game.''
Topeka West senior Elijah Brooks had 29 points and five dunks in Friday's 68-41 win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High, which fell to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in the league, led four times in the early going, the last time at 9-8, but Charger senior Elijah Brooks put West ahead to stay with a bucket at the 2:38 mark and added back-to-back breakaway dunks at the end of the quarter to put his team in command, 19-9.
Brooks started the second quarter with another slam and added yet another dunk later in the quarter as part of a 21-point first-half scoring burst as Topeka West (2-1, 2-1) opened up a huge 42-25 halftime advantage.
Brooks registered his fifth dunk of the night at the start of the second half and finished his night with game-high totals of 29 points and seven rebounds.
Topeka West continued to pour it on the Trojans with a 24-9 third quarter to take a 66-34 lead and a running clock was used throughout the fourth quarter.
Juniors Xavier Alexander and Sincere Austin joined Brooks in double figures for the Chargers, adding 12 and 11 points.
Topeka High senior Matt Flenoy (15) scored 10 points in the Trojans' 68-41 loss at Topeka West Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Matt Flenoy led Topeka High with 10 points, the lone Trojans with more than six points.
The Trojans struggled with West's pressure all night, committing 21 turnovers.
Topeka West will return to action next Tuesday, traveling to Shawnee Heights to face the 3-0 T-Birds in a non-league contest, while Topeka High will play at Emporia.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The mantra for Washburn University's volleyball team all season has been one at a time.
After Friday's 3-1 national semifinal win over No. 2 seed Western Washington, it's down to one more.
The third-seeded Ichabods earned their first-ever shot at a national championship with a 25-23, 25-21, 27-29, 25-11 win over the No. 2 seeded Vikings and will now face the winner of Friday's second semifinal between top seed Tampa and No. 5 Gannon Saturday at Tampa's Bob Martinez Athletics Center.
"I think what it amounts to is we stay true to ourselves,'' senior Kelsey Gordon, an Emporia native, said of Washburn's postseason run. "We stay true to our teammates, we stay true to what Washburn is and we try to play the best match possible within outselves.
"We rely on our teammates, we rely on our bench, we rely on the coaches to give us a good game plan and we just want to go out and play good, fun volleyball.''
Washburn's volleyball team celebrates during its 3-1 NCAA semifinal win Friday in Tampa, Fla. [Photo courtesy of Joy Smith/Washburn Athletics]
Washburn, now 31-5, set the stage for the semifinal when it took a tight two-point win in the first set.
The Ichabods took a 20-17 lead on an ace from senior Faith Rottinghaus and then went in front 22-19 on a kill from freshman Jalyn Stevenson.
Western Washington got within a point at 22-21, 23-22 and 24-23 before Sydney Fitzgibbons ended the set with a kill.
Washburn jumped out in front 13-5 and 22-9 in the second set but had to sweat out a Western Washington rally before holding on for the four-point win.
The Ichabods fought back from 23-20 and 24-21 deficits in the third set to put themselves in position for a sweep, but the Vikings survived three match points to force a fourth set with a 29-27 win.
Washburn left no doubt in the fourth set, however, going in front 19-8 on the way to a dominating 25-11 victory.
"They fought,'' senior Allison Maxwell said of the Vikings. "They definitely gave us a run for our money and I think that does help prepare us, especially mentally, for the match (Saturday).
"We are mentally tougher now. We know we can come back from a little setback.''
The Ichabods spread the wealth in the win, with four WU players finishing with between 11 and 15 kills on the day.
Washburn senior Kelsey Gordon delivers a kill in the Ichabods' 3-1 win over Western Washington on Friday in Tampa, Fla. [Photo courtesy of Joy Smith/Washburn Athletics]
Maxwell led the way with 15 kills, followed by Gordon with 14, senior Genna Berg with 12 kills and Stevenson with 11.
Senior Allison Sadler was rock solid as the Ichabods' setter, finishing with 50 assists, while Rottinghaus compiled 26 digs from her libero position.
Taylor Antonowich had four service aces in the match while Berg had three assists.
Now the Ichabods take aim on history after after reaching the semifinals in two previous national tournaments.
"We're going to go into it obviously with the mindset that whoever we play we're going to beat them,'' Washburn coach Chris Herron said. "Both of those teams are outstanding from what we saw yesterday and so it should be a heck of a match.''
MATCH RESULTS
Washburn def. Western Washington, 25-23, 25-21, 27-29, 25-11.
