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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Seaman’s offense was too much for Topeka West’s defense on Tuesday night as the Vikings posted a 69-59 home Centennial League win.
“Our guys showed a lot of heart. They had pride in their defense. We weren’t happy after the loss last Friday. We responded very well. Our defensive effort led to some great opportunities, which benefitted us,” said Seaman coach Craig Cox.
The leading scorer for the Vikings, Mateo Hyman, had an incredible night from inside the arc. Hyman didn’t miss a single bucket from inside the 3-point line going, 10-10. The consistency against the tough Chargers interior defenders had a major impact on the victory.
Seaman guard Kaeden Bonner also lit up the scoreboard his way. Bonner was responsible for every 3-point shot made on Tuesday. Bonner hit six 3-point shots, most of them coming from the corner.
“Bonner got hot in the second half for us. He can do that. He can get rolling when we need him the most,” said Cox.
Bonner and Hyman were responsible for 47 out of the team’s 69 total points on the night.
Seaman controlled the ball very well against a pesty Topeka West pressing defense, turning the ball over a minuscule nine times on the night.
The contest was close for most of Tuesday’s contest. The Chargers would not trail by double digits until the red-hot shooting Vikings took over in the fourth.
West’s Elijah Brooks had another stellar night. Brooks had 22 points and was able to hit five shots from the free throw line.
Topeka West’s Xavier Alexander had 16 points. Alexander shot 71 percent from the field and 83 percentfrom the free throw line.
Although the shooting percentage was solid for the Chargers, Seaman took more shots and prevailed as victors.
Topeka West (1-1) will host Topeka High (0-2) on Friday. The Seaman Vikings (1-1) will travel to Emporia (0-2) and take on the Spartans.
Topeka West Boys 59, Seaman 69
Topeka West (1-1, 1-1) 9 15 13 22 -- 59
Seaman (1-1) 15 16 15 23 -- 69
Seaman (1-1) -- Hyman 10-11, 5-9, 25, Bonner 8-11, 0-1, 22, Henry 5-7, 0-0, 10, Barta 3-4, 0-0, 6, Griess 2-6, 0-0, 4, Wilhelm 0-0, 2-2, 2, Selbach 0-1, 0-0, 0.
Topeka West (1-1) -- Brooks 8-14, 5-11, 22, Alexander 5-7- 5-6, 16, Berg 5-8, 2-4, 12, Austin 3-4, 1-2, 7, Robinson 1-3, 0-2, 2.
3-point goals -- Seaman 6 (Bonner), Topeka West 2 (Alexander, Brooks) Total fouls -- Seaman 18, Topeka West 11. Fouled out -- Seaman, Griess, Henry.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The No. 6-nationally ranked Washburn volleyball team knocked off No. 1 Central Missouri in four sets on the Jennies' home court Friday night to advance to the NCAA Central Region title match against No. 15 Concordia-St. Paul Saturday night.
Friday's 14-25, 25-11, 27-25, 25-18 win over Central Missouri marked the second time this season that Washburn has defeated the top-ranked team in the nation, with the Ichabods beating then-ranked No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney back on Sept. 18.
Washburn's volleyball team celebrates a point in Friday's 3-1 win over No. 1-ranked Central Missouri at Warrensburg, Mo. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Central Missouri (29-4) dominated the opening set, but the rest of the night belonged to Washburn, which improved to 28-5 on the season.
Taylor Antonowich got the second set going with a service ace and Washburn put together a 5-1 scoring run with kills from four different Ichabods to take a 7-2 advantage. The Ichabod offense continued to roll and Washburn won seven of the last eight points of the set to even up the match at one set apiece.
UCM held an early 5-2 lead in the third frame when Washburn started to chip away at the deficit and leveled the score at 6-6. The Jennies responded with several scoring runs and eventually pushed their lead out to 22-16.
The momentum changed when Allison Maxwell hammered down a kill that started a run of eight unanswered points for Washburn to make it 24-22 in favor of the Ichabods. Central Missouri knotted up the score at 24 and then a successful UCM challenge tied the score at 25-all, but back-to-back attacking errors by the Jennies gave Washburn a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The teams exchanged points to start the fourth until Jalyn Stevenson recorded a kill to ignite a 10-2 scoring run to put Washburn in front, 16-9.
The all-around team effort continued both offensively and defensively as the Ichabods remained in control of the set. Kelsey Gordon put the match away with a kill.
Washburn hit .142 in the match and limited Central Missouri to an .096 hitting percentage. The Ichabods led in kills, 53-43, and held a slight edge in digs, 82-80.
Three Ichabods finished in double-figure kills, led by Berg's 19. She also had nine digs and five blocks. Stevenson and Gordon both contributed 10 kills apiece.
Allison Sadler notched her 11th double-double of the year with 47 assists and 19 digs. Libero Faith Rottinghaus led all players with 27 digs while Antonowich landed three of Washburn's five service aces and also scooped up 10 digs.
Audrey Fisher led the Jennies with 12 kills and was a part of seven blocks.
Concordia-St. Paul knocked off Nebraska-Kearney in the first semifinal, 3-2, to earn a spot in Saturday's 7 p.m. championship match against the Ichabods.
MATCH RESULT
Washburn def. Central Missouri, 14-25, 25-11, 27-25, 25-18.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Obviously there's still a lot of work to be done if Topeka West's boys basketball team wants to make another run at a Class 5A state title.
But veteran coach Rick Bloomquist had very few complaints about the way his Chargers, second in 5A last season, started the year Friday night, with West topping Washburn Rural 69-57 in a battle between the Centennial League stalwarts at West.
"It was a great start,'' Bloomquist said. "Those Washburn Rural kids are competitive, they're winners and they're well-coached, so we knew it was going to be a test for us without a doubt. I was a little concerned about a hangover from last year, but I don't think we had too much of a hangover. I thought we played pretty well.
"We have a lot of things to work on, especially free throws and silly fouls but you don't want to be perfect now, you want to be perfect later.''
Topeka West senior Elijah Brooks slams down a dunk on the way to a 32-point performance in West's 69-57 season-opening win over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior star Elijah Brooks, a returning All-Shawnee County first-teamer, was the ringleader for the Chargers, scoring 12 points with four dunks in the first 10 minutes on the way to a monster 32-point night as West returned to the court for the first time since falling to Maize in the 5A state championship game in March.
Brooks said it was great to get back out on the court.
"I don't know if it was excitement or nerves, but I think we were all ready for this game,'' Brooks said.
Junior Sincere Austin joined Brooks in double figures with 13 points while senior Zander Putthoff had nine points on three 3-pointers as Topeka West only trailed once in the game, at 2-0.
Brooks' early dunkfest helped Topeka West build an early 24-8 lead and the Chargers went on to take a 31-18 lead at the half.
Washburn Rural battled back in the second half to get within seven points late in the third quarter and the Junior Blues got as close as seven again late in the game, but were unable to get any closer as West shot 58.5 percent from the field and hit enough free throws (14 of 29) to hold Rural at bay.
Washburn Rural senior Quincey Kidd, reacting to a play Friday night, led the Junior Blues with 18 points in a 69-57 loss at Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Rural, which shot 50 percent from the field and connected on 17 of 19 free throw attempts, got 18 points from senior Quincey Kidd, 13 from junior Jack Bachelor and 12 points from sophomore Griffin Durst.
"I thought we showed some fight in the second quarter and then we cut it to seven in the third and seven in the fourth so we had two opportunities where we kind of got it close, but Elijah was just a little bit too much,'' Washburn Rural coach Kevin Muff said.
Rural used several players Friday that were seeing their first varsity action.
"We're brand new, but they'll figure it out,'' Muff said. "It may take just a little bit of time.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
One of the best things about a season-opener is getting a starting point for the season, and the Washburn Rural girls basketball team set the bar high right out of the gate with Friday's season-opening 54-14 Centennial League romp past Topeka West at West.
"You've kind of got to see where you're at and it was getting to the point in practice where we needed a game just to see what we really can do,'' Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. "Now obviously there's a ton of things we can work on, but I thought our effort and our energy was really good.
"I thought we played with a lot of effort tonight.''
Rural, ranked No. 2 in Class 6A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, did not allow a Topeka West field goal until the 4:40 mark of the third quarter and just five on the night, putting the game away with a 30-2 first half.
The Junior Blues increased their lead to 52-8 at the end of the third quarter before a running clock was used throughout the fourth quarter.
Washburn Rural played without junior star Brooklyn DeLeye (illness), but the Junior Blues still had five players score at least six points, led by senior Emma Krueger with 13 points and sophomore Zoe Canfield with 12 points and all three of her team's 3-pointers.
Senior Emma Krueger paced Washburn Rural with 13 points in Friday's 54-14 season-opening win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural sophomore Zoe Canfield (15) scored 12 points with three 3-pointers in Friday's 54-14 win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Jada Ingram added eight points, senior Campbell Bagshaw with seven and junior MaRyah Lutz with six points.
Junior Jazmyn Ford led Topeka West with five points while sophomore Zoe Clark added four points, including a 3-pointer.
The Chargers struggled through a five of 29 shooting night from the field and also committed 29 turnovers.
WASHBURN RURAL GIRLS 54, TOPEKA WEST 14
Washburn Rural 11 19 22 2 -- 54
Topeka West 1 1 6 6 -- 14
Washburn Rural (1-0, 1-0) -- Lutz 2-7 2-2 6, Krueger 5-9 3-5 13, Canfield 3-5 3-4 12, Brogan 2-3 0-2 4, Ingram 4-8 0-1 8, Bagshaw 1-3 5-6 7, Whitmore 1-3 0-0 2, Carlgren 1-5 0-0 2, Schuler 0-3 0-0 0, Ochs 0-0 0-0 0 . Totals 19-46 13-23 54.
Topeka West (0-1, 0-1) -- Sanchez 0-2 0-0 0, Benson 0-5 0-0 0, Clark 1-2 1-2 4, Ford 2-6 1-2 5, Bearman 1-4 0-0 2, Mays 0-3 0-0 0, Duncan 1-6 1-2 3, Hopper 0-1 0-1 0, Foy 0-0 0-0 0 . Totals 5-29 3-7 14.
3-point goals -- Washburn Rural 3 (Canfield 3), Topeka West 1 (Clark) Total fouls -- Washburn Rural 13, Topeka West 19. Fouled out -- Clark.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Even though he was coming off an outstanding high school basketball career for Blue Valley North that ended with a Class 6A state championship, Andrew Orr thought he might have to bide his time to get much playing time early in his first college season after joining a veteran, nationally-ranked Washburn University team that was coming off a 20-7 season and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
But nobody could have predicted the circumstances that put three of WU's best players on the sidelines during the early portion of the season, a situation that has thrust the 6-foot-8 Orr into a major role from Day 1.
And although he didn't necessarily see that coming, Orr has continued to grow into his role with the Ichabods and has turned in a solid performance, averaging 6 points and 3.9 rebounds while earning two starts and seeing action in all seven games.
"Coming in I didn't really think I was going to be playing as much as I am right now, but I feel like the coaching staff and even the team has done a really good job of getting me ready for this and helping me prepare and be confident in my abilities and doing what I do,'' Orr said.
Washburn freshman Andrew Orr is coming off a career-high 14-point performance in Wednesday's 68-58 loss to Fort Hays State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Orr, also the 6A state high jump champion as a senior, is coming off the best performance of his young college career in Wednesday's 68-58 home MIAA loss to Fort Hays State, scoring 14 points on 7 of 7 shooting from the field while also grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots.
"We emphasized it in practice (before Wednesday's game) that we need to get the ball inside and play through our big guys because that's what works for us,'' Orr said. "That's what we've been doing in practice and that's what's been working so we just knew that's what we needed to do and we got it done for at least some of the time.''
Washburn has been stung by several close losses in a 3-4 start to the year, but Orr thinks better days are right around the corner if the Ichabods can continue to make progress, particularly on the defensive backboard.
"It is frustrating because we give up too many offensive rebounds and that's really at the end of the day what loses us the game because we can't give up those extra possessions and those extra shots and that's what really gets to us,'' Orr said. "Once we start getting that down then we'll be straight.''
Washburn, which will host Nebraska-Kearney in a 3 p.m. Saturday contest at Lee Arena, has been without All-America guard Tyler Geiman, 6-9 junior Jonny Clausing and sophomore guard Tyler Nelson and Ichabod coach Brett Ballard said he's pleased with the way Orr has stepped up for WU.
"He's playing good for a freshman,'' Ballard said. "Those are experienced guys he's going against and I thought he did well.
"He's giving us good minutes and he's been really solid for us for a true freshman. He's going to be good.''
Washburn will face a Lopers team Saturday that is 3-3 after an 81-70 loss at Emporia State on Thursday.
The men's game will follow a 1 p.m. women's game between Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney.
The 1-5 Ichabods will take on an UNK team that is 6-1 on the season with five straight wins after a 59-58 win at Emporia State on Thursday.
