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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was early in 2013 and Derick Hammes was facing a crossroads in his coaching career.
Hammes had resigned after seven seasons as the head football coach at Class 6A Washburn Rural and was trying to decide what his next move was going to be.
Rossville, meanwhile, was looking for a new head coach after longtime coach Steve Buhler had accepted the job at Rural as Hammes' replacement.
Fortunately for both Hammes and the Bulldawgs, they found each other.
"It's been a great fit and I appreciate the community and their passion for this,'' Hammes said. "There's never been one thing that I've asked -- whether it's a morning practice or whatever it is -- there's just never been anything that's too much for our kids and community and I think that's what's rare and what I appreciate the most.''
Derick Hammes' Rossville Bulldawgs will be shooting for a fifth state title in Saturday's Class 2A championship game. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Hammes, who had a stint early in his career as the head coach at Center High School in Kansas City, Mo. and served as an assistant coach for Hayden's undefeated Class 4A state championship team in 2004, took over at Rossville prior to the 2013 season after former Bulldawg All-Stater Jason Broaddus, the school's initial pick to replace Buhler, stepped down shortly after accepting the job due to a health concern.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's men's basketball team will close out its non-conference schedule at 5 p.m. Saturday against Benedictine College in Lee Arena.
The Ichabods are 2-3 on the season after a 69-63 home loss to Oklahoma Baptist on Tuesday and will be facing a Benedictine team that is 6-3 after a 75-67 loss at John Brown. Saturday's game will count as an exhibition for the Ravens.
After Saturday's game Washburn will begin MIAA competition next Wednesday against Fort Hays State before hosting Nebraska-Kearney on Dec. 4.
Jalen Lewis is averaging a team-high 15.8 points for Washburn after scoring a career-high 30 points in a 69-63 loss to Oklahoma Baptist. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Ichabod junior guard Jalen Lewis is coming off a career-high 30-point performance against Olahoma Baptist and leads WU with a 15.8 scoring average.
Lewis is currently 18th on the Ichabod all-time scoring chart with 1,095 career points in 93 career games. Lewis is fourth on Washburn's career list for made 3-pointers with 208.
Freshman Michael Keegan averages 10.2 points for the Ichabods.
Matt Austin averages 15.4 points, Eric Krus 12.3 points and Jaiden Bristol 12.1 for the Ravens.
The Ichabods have won 24 straight games against Benedictine, with the Ravens' last win over Washburn a 79-63 decision on Dec. 8, 1977.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team will host the two-day Thanksgiving Classic Friday and Saturday, taking on Winona State Friday and Rockhurst on Saturday at Lee Arena.
The 1-2 Ichabods will face 2-0 Winona State at 3 p.m. Friday and will close out the Classic at 3 o'clock Saturday against 1-0 Rockhurst.
This weekend's games will be the Ichabods' final tuneups before opening MIAA play next week.
MIAA member Northwest Missouri will also take part in the tournament, playing Rockhurst on Friday and Winona State on Saturday.
Hunter Bentley leads Washburn with an 11-point scoring average entering back-to-back games Friday and Saturday in the Thanksgiving Classic. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn will be looking to bounce back from a 64-61 loss to Benedictine in its home-opener last Wednesday.
Friday's opponents, Winona State, won two preseason exhibition games and is 3-0 in the regular season after a 73-69 win over Upper Iowa on Tuesday.
Rockhurst has played just one game so far this season and defeated Upper Iowa, 78-64.
Hunter Bentley is averaging a team-high 11 points for Washburn whiile Mackenzie Gamble is averging 10 points and has connected on eight 3-pointers.
Bentley needs 66 more points to hit 1,300 in her career and is 77 away from moving up to No. 11 on Washburn's all-time scoring list.
Macy Doebele tied a career-high with 14 points against Benedictine and was 6 of 11 from the field. She averages 8.0 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Taylor Hustad received all-NSIC second-team honors last year and led Winona State in points, rebounds and minutes played as the Warriors played just 12 games in 2020-2021.
Warriors coach Scott Ballard holds a record of 287-195 at the school and has taken Winona State to the NCAA Tournament three times.
Washburn will face a Rockhurst team that went 8-12 a year ago and returns four starters.
In the Hawks' season-opener, Keegan Sullivan had a double-double with 23 points and 10 boards to go with three assists.
Washburn continues its homestand and begins MIAA action next week against Fort Hays State on Wednesday and against Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Undefeated Class 2A state champion Rossville and Centennial League tri-champion Washburn Rural combined for nine Top 22 spots on TopSports.news' inaugural All-Shawnee County football team while sweeping the individual awards.
Rossville, which wrapped up a second straight 2A state championship with Saturday's 35-12 win over Beloit, is represented on the Top 22 by seniors Corey Catron, Torrey Horak and Brody Lietz and junior Jacob Carver, with Catron and Horak being named the Shawnee County co-offensive players of the year.
Rossville senior stars Torrey Horak (left) and Corey Catron have been named TopSports.news' Shawnee County co-offensive players of the year after helping lead the Bulldawgs to a second straight undefeated Class 2A state title. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Derick Hammes has been named the TSN Shawnee County coach of the year after coaching the Bulldawgs to a second straight Class 2A state title. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Derick Hammes, who has coached Rossville to a 96-15 record (.865 percent) and five state titles over the past eight seasons, including 26 straight wins over the past two years, was named the Shawnee County coach of the year.
Washburn Rural, which posted a breakout 8-2 season, put seniors Robby Bolin, Connor Conklin and Giles Frederickson, junior Ty Weber and sophomore Branton DeWeese on the All-Shawnee County Top 22, with Weber being named the Shawnee County defensive player of the year.
Ty Weber
The Junior Blues swept the newcomer of the year awards, with DeWeese earning the offensive honor and sophomore Packson Bettis tapped for the defensive award.
Cair Paravel Latin, which posted an 11-0 record and captured the Kansas Christian Athletic Association state championship, put senior stars Carter Brian and Noah Hastert on the Top 22, while 6-4 Seaman is represented by seniors Camden Barta, Brody Gormley and Casen Stallbaumer.
Silver Lake, which advanced to the 2A state semifinals, is represented on the All-County Top 22 by seniors Daigan Kruger and Triston VandeVelde, while Shawnee Heights seniors Matthew Etzel and Jarin Sanders both earned Top 22 honors after helping lead the T-Birds to a 5-5 record.
Topeka High seniors Tylan Alejos and Danny Saili, Hayden junior Joe Otting and Highland Park junior Tre Richardson round out the Top 22 selections.
All 10 Shawnee County high schools have multiple players on either the Top 22 or Second 22 teams.
All-Shawnee County Top 22 capsules:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Robert Brown was perfectly happy serving as an assistant coach for Michael Williams with the Highland Park boys basketball program.
But when the opportunity came up early in October to take over as head coach for the Highland Park girls, it didn't take Brown long to decide that was where he needed to be.
"I kind of hesitated at first because I loved working with Coach Mike and helping the boys out, but in the end I jumped at this chance,'' Brown said.
New Highland Park girls basketball coach Robert Brown talks to his Scots at the start of Tuesday's practice. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Highland Park fought a severe numbers crunch over the past two seasons and is coming off a 2020-2021 season that saw the Scots go 0-16 while losing by an average of 37.3 points per game.
But none of those things deterred Brown, who is also the Scots' head baseball coach, from taking over the girls team.
"I want to try to help these girls be as good as possible and it's about the whole community,'' Brown said.
Highland Park barely had enough players to field a varsity team a year ago, but Brown expects the numbers situation to be much better this season.
"I went around the school and kind of said, 'Hey, come play basketball for me,' '' Brown said. "I got them on the track and saw they could do some running and just kept encouraging them and keeping them confident and they've been sticking around for the most part.
"We have about 25 locked in and we'll have three teams this year. We'll have a varsity, JV and a C team.''
