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Created: 06 January 2026

By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

The Shawnee Heights girls relied on some new contributors to lead them past De Soto 64-46 at home Tuesday to improve to 4-1 in the United Kansas Conference.

Junior Pearmella Carter scored a game-high 19 points in Tuesday's 64-46 Shawnee Heights UKC win over De Soto. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

With one minute remaining in the first period, the sluggish T-Birds found themselves in a 9-4 hole. But Reianna Vega dropped a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, which sparked a 22-point run over the next seven minutes. By halftime, the T-Birds had built a commanding 32-14 lead.

Shawnee Heights made that run with its usual scoring leader on the bench. KK Emmot, who averages 18 points per game, tallied just one bucket in the first half before being sidelined with two personal fouls. She returned in the second half, but did not score again.

Senior Imani McGlory and juniors Pearmela Carter and Sami Baum, none of whom played at Shawnee Heights last year, picked up the slack. Carter led the T-Birds with 19 points while Baum and McGlory added 15 and 14 apiece.

“We needed them to step up, and they did it within the execution of the team,” Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. “That’s what I was most impressed with. They were getting the shots we want them to get. It was really fun seeing them all step up and hit shots and rebound and play solid on defense.”

One of the team’s three senior returners, Vega chipped in 13 points. She said the team responded when Emmot left early in the second period.

“I think all of us, with KK being out, we made sure we were spreading the floor and then each of us was able to drive the lane and do what we’re good at,” Vega said. “In practice, we’ve really worked on spreading out of offense because we tend to get really tight.”

The T-Bird offense had a very efficient night, hitting 23-51 field goal attempts and 12-15 free throws. Baum contributed three of the team’s six three-pointers.

“It helped that our girls were mentally prepared that (De Soto) was going to come out and try to be physical and try to hang on to us when we were cutting and doing things like that,” Wells said. “It didn’t get to us. We played through it and kept playing hard.”

After dropping three tough games in the first two weeks of the season, the T-Birds have won four straight.

“I feel like the season is getting better,” Vega said. “I feel like we’re on the rise and we’re going to keep going from there.”

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 64, DE SOTO 46

De Soto                 9 5  13 19 -- 46

Shawnee Heights 7 25 18 14 -- 64

De Soto (2-4, 1-2) – C. Leis 1-5 0-4 2, O’Brien 4-7 1-3 10, Cinotto 0-0 2-2 2, M. Leis 3-10 7-7 14, Chappel 3-6 1-1 8, Bush 1-3 0-0 3, Gulley 1-2 0-0 2, Stapp 1-1 0-0 2, Green 1-1 0-0 3, Major 0-2 0-0 0, Reiswig 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-37 11-17 46.

Shawnee Heights (5-3, 4-1) – Emmot 1-9 0-0 2, McGlory 5-8 2-2 14, Carter 6-12 7-9 19, Baum 5-9 2-2 15, Vega 6-12 0-0 13, Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0, Schmidt 0-0 1-2 1, Brees 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-51 12-15 64.

3-point goals – De Soto 5 (O’Brien 1, M. Leis 1, Chappel 1, Bush 1, Green 1), Shawnee Heights 6 (McGlory 2, Baun 3, Vega 1). Total fouls – De Soto 16, Shawnee Heights 15. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None. 

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Created: 06 January 2026

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

For nearly three and a half quarters of Tuesday's Centennial League game at Hayden, Emporia boys basketball didn't always look like an undefeated team.

Hayden senior Connor Hanika scored a game-high 22 points in the Wildcats' 59-56 loss to Emporia Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

But the Spartans were in top form when it counted the most, storming back from a 15-point deficit to shock the Wildcats 59-56 and improve to a perfect 9-0 overall and 1-0 in the league.

"I just told them, 'Just stay steady. You're going to get through this storm and you can't get down when it's not going your way,'' Emporia first-year coach Evan Burns said. "We were just trying to get a spark going.'' 

After a 10-10 tie at the end of the opening quarter, Hayden (3-6, 0-1) opened up 29-22 lead at halftime and stretched its advantage to 43-30 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Hayden looked like the rout was on when junior Carter Compton scored to put the Wildcats in front 53-38 with 4:47 remaining, but the rest of the game was all Spartans, who outscored the hosts 21-3 the rest of the way, including the final 13 points.

"We couldn't get anything going, we were missing easy layups and couldn't make anything and Hayden was making everything they threw up and their crowd was into it,'' Burns said. "But that's why we play this game, to just have opportunities like this to have memories forever.'' 

Emporia, who did not lead in the second or third quarters, tied the game at 56 with 1:30 remaining on a 3-pointer from junior Harrison Trelc and took the lead with 48.4 seconds remaining on a free throw from senior Rylan Crowell, who hit another charity with 28.7 seconds left to give the Spartans a 58-56 advantage before senior Maddox Shivley canned a free throw with 10.1 seconds remaining to account for the final margin.

"Honestly, I'm so happy for this type of game because it gives us that much more momentum to carry over and carry on,'' Burns said.

The Spartans outscored the Wildcats 29-13 in the fourth quarter.

Junior Terrick Franklin paced Emporia with 21 points while Crowell finished with 17 points and Trelc added 12.

Senior Connor Hanika scored a game-high 22 points for Hayden while Compton added 12 points.

Hayden will be on the road Friday at Washburn Rural for a Centennial League contest. 

EMPORIA BOYS 59, HAYDEN 56 

Emporia 10 12 8 29 -- 59

Hayden 10 19 14 13  -- 56

Emporia (9-0, 1-0) – Trelc 5-12 0-1 12, Seidl 0-5 0-0 0, C. Bloomquist 3-4 0-0 6, Crowell 4-13 8-11 17, Franklin 9-16 3-6 21, Shivley 0-2 1-2 1, Harrington 1-1 0-0 2, K. Bloomquist 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 12-20 59. 

Hayden (3-6, 0-1) – Mitchell 2-3 0-4 4, Hanika 9-14 4-5 22, Becker 2-7 1-2 6, Kidd 2-3 2-2 6, Compton 4-8 3-4 12, Tourtillott 2-6 0-0 4, Wolff 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 22-46 10-17 56.

3-point goals – Emporia 3 (Trelc 2, Crowell), Hayden 2 (Becker, Compton). Total fouls – Emporia 17, Hayden 20. Fouled out – Mitchell. Technical foul -- Emporia bench.

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Created: 06 January 2026

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Things got a little sloppy at times for Hayden girls basketball Tuesday night, but the Wildcats achieved their most important objective, snapping a brief two-game losing streak with a 53-37 home win over Emporia.

Sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein scored a game-high 14 points in Tuesday's 53-37 Hayden win over Emporia. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Now 7-2 on the season, Hayden begin defense of its Centennial League championship with Tuesday's win, going wire to wire for the Wildcats' second win of the season over the 4-5 Spartans.

"We played with good effort tonight,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said. "We defnitely need to clean some stuff up and become a better team, but the effort was there.'' 

The Wildcats didn't have a great shooting night -- 37.9 percent from the field and 4 of 13 from the free throw line -- and turned the ball over 19 times.

But Hayden pestered the Spartans into 31.7 percent shooting and 24 turnovers.

Hayden, which was coming off a 38-36 heartbreaker at Shawnee Heights last Friday, scored the first four points and went up 8-2 and 10-3 before ending the opening quarter with a 10-5 lead.

The Wildcats outscored the Spartans 13-6 in the second quarter and led by as many as 14 before taking a 23-11 advantage to the locker room at halftime.

Hayden continued to pull away in the third quarter, opening up a 39-21 cushion, and cruised over the final eight minutes.

Sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein scored a game-high 14 points to lead the Wildcats while sophomore Blakely Walter came off the bench to add 10 points as nine Hayden players cracked the scoring column.

Junior Kaylee DeWitt led Emporia with 13 points while sophomore Maycee Davis added 9 points.

Hayden will continue Centennial League play on Friday, going on the road to face Washburn Rural.

HAYDEN GIRLS 53, EMPORIA 37

Emporia  5 6  10 16  -- 37

Hayden 10 13 16 14  -- 53

Emporia (4-5, 0-1) – Aguirre 2-9 0-2 4, Hines 1-2 0-0 3, Wiltz 2-11 2-7 6, DeWitt 5-12 2-2 13, Davis 2-6 5-10 9, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Hess 1-1 0-0 2, B'Hymer 0-0 0-0 0, Scobee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-41 9-19 37. 

Hayden (7-2, 1-0) – Schmidtlein 6-20 1-2 14, Foster 1-1 1-2 4, Huscher 0-1 1-2 1, Borjon 2-8 0-0 5, Watts 3-5 0-0 6, Walter 4-10 0-2 10, Wichman 1-4 0-0 2, Mitchell 3-6 0-3 6, Wrench 0-0 0-0 0, Connell 2-3 1-2 5, Slyter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 4-13 53.

3-point goals – Emporia 2 (Hines, DeWitt), Hayden 5 (Walter 2, Schmidtlein, Foster, Borjon). Total fouls – Emporia 15, Hayden 16. Fouled out – none. Technical foul -- none.

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Created: 07 January 2026

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Top-ranked Washburn University men's basketball, one of just five remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division II, will begin a four-game MIAA road trip on Wednesday at Missouri Western (7:30 p.m. start).

 

Washburn junior Jeremiah Jones scored 20 points with four 3-pointers, 4 assists and 4 steals in last Saturday's 91-66 win over Emporia State. [File photo/TSN]

 

The Ichabods will continue their road trip at Northwest Missouri on Saturday. Washburn will then face Emporia State for the second time in 12 days and then travel to Wichita to take on Newman before returning to Lee Arena on Jan. 21, facing Northwest Missouri.

 

 

And while Washburn coach Brett Ballard knows the upcoming road stretch will be tough, he thinks the Ichabods are ready to embrace the challenge.

 

"I think the silver lining is we've played really well on the road so far this year for whatever reason,'' Ballard said. "I don't have all the answers for that other than we've got good players, but we've played really well on the road, so I think our guys can take some confidence from that, hopefully.''

 

Ichabod sophomore Marcus Glock, who has been a key contributor off the bench after transferring from Northwest Missouri, said he feels like WU will approach the upcoming stretch as business as usual.

 

"I think a big thing for us is we just go out there and play,'' said Glock, who had 10 points in Saturday's win over ESU. "We don't talk about our No. 1 ranking that much. It's a long season and we know things happen, so we just go out there and play as hard as we can every time out.''

 

Washburn moved to 14-0 overall and 4-0 in the MIAA after opening 2026 with a 91-66 win over Emporia State on Saturday in Lee Arena.

 

Junior Jeremiah Jones paced Washburn with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc against Emporia State. He added four assists and four steals.

 

Sophomore Dillon Claussen scored 16 points with 4 steals and 3 blocks in Saturday's 91-66 win over Emporia State. [File photo/TSN]

Junior Jack Bachelor scored 16 points with four 3-pointers and nine assists in last Saturday's 91-66 win over Emporia State. [File photo/TSN] 

 

Sophomore Dillon Claussen finished with 16 points, four steals and three blocks and junior Jack Bachelor also scored 16 points, hitting four 3-pointers, while dishing out nine assists with just one turnover. Senior Brady Christiansen led the Ichabods with eight rebounds.

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