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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.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Oklahoma Baptist survived a big night from Washburn University junior guard Jalen Lewis and a late Ichabod comeback to take a 69-63 non-conference win Tuesday at Lee Arena.
But Lewis, who scored a career-high 30 points, is convinced that better days are just around the corner for the short-handed Ichabods, who fell to 2-3 on the season.
"We've just got to make sacrifices, come in every single day and work our hardest and that's all we're focused on,'' Lewis said. "We know everything else is going to come if we just come in every day and compete in practice like we've been doing.
"We're doing the right things. We've just got to amp it up a little bit and just stay the course.''
Washburn junior guard Jalen Lewis scored a career-high 30 points in the Ichabods' 69-63 loss to Oklahoma Baptist Tuesday night. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Lewis hit 13 of 20 shots overall and went 4 of 8 from 3-point range, but Washburn struggled through a tough shooting night as a team as Oklahoma Baptist opened up double-digit leads in both halves and survived numerous Ichabod rallies to hang on for the win.
Washburn shot 39.4 percent on the night (26 of 66) and was just 8 of 36 from 3-point range (22.2 percent) while Oklahoma Baptist countered with 52.1 percent shooting from the field (25 of 48) and went 6 of 12 from 3-point range (50 percent) while also canning 13 of 15 free throw attempts to help hold the Ichabods at bay.
The Ichabods cut a 12-point deficit with 5:24 left in the first half to five at halftime (35-30) and after the Bison built their lead back to 11, Washburn battled back to within 4 points on multiple occasions but could never get over the hump.
Washburn continues to play without All-America guard Tyler Geiman, standout frontlner Jonny Clausing and guard Tyler Nelson, but Washburn coach Brett Ballard said the Ichabods are making strides.
"I thought our effort was good and I thouught our compete was really good,'' Ballard said. "I don't think we're that far off from being a really, really good team.
"But like I told them, you don't come to Washburn for moral victories so I don't think we're that far off but we've still got to take some steps obviously.''
Freshman Michael Keegan joined Lewis in double figures for Washburn with 10 points, while Jeremy Harrell added eight points, including a couple of big 3-pointers in the second half.
Blake Putnam led Oklahoma Baptist with 22 points and nine rebounds while Jaquan Simms added 17 points and hit five of nine 3-point attempts.
Washburn will be back at Lee Arena Saturday to host Benedictine in a 5 p.m. non-conference contest.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Eleven city soccer standouts have received All-State recognition from the Kansas High School Soccer Coaches Association, led by Class 6A goalkeeper of the year Wyatt Arnold and 6A forward of the year Porter Schafersman of Washburn Rural.
Washburn Rural senior Wyatt Arnold has been named the Class 6A goalkeeper of the year by the Kansas High School Soccer Coaches Association. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Porter Schafersman has been named the Class 6A forward of the year by the Kansas High School Soccer Coaches Association. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Arnold and Schafersman, both seniors, were joined on the All-6A first team by senior Washburn Rural teammate Joe Morse while Junior Blues coach Brian Hensyel was named the 6A coach of the year.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural, which posted a runner-up finish in the Class 6A state tournament, put a city-high four players on the 2021 All-City boys soccer team, selected by city coaches.
Rural is represented by seniors Wyatt Arnold (goalkeeper), Mason Grogan (defense), Joe Morse (midfield) and Porter Schafersman (forward), while Junior Blues coach Brian Hensyel was named the city coach of the year.
Wyatt Arnold
Mason Grogan
Joe Morse
Porter Schafersman
Hayden, a quarterfinalist in 4A-1A, put junior Jake Muller (forward) and senior Nick Padilla (midfield) on the All-City team while Seaman is represented by seniors Kyson Evans (midfield/defense) and Gavin Wilhelm (midfield/defense) and Shawnee Heights by senior David Skinner (defense) and junior Isaac Wilson (midfield).
Jake Muller
Kyson Evans
David Skinner
Senior Ethan Everhart (forward/midfield) earned first-team honors for Cair Paravel Latin while Highland Park is represented by junior Vellamy Diaz (forward), Topeka High by senior Sergio Ramirez (midfield) and Topeka West by junior Jack Snyder (defense).
Sergio Ramirez
Arnold and Padilla are both All-City first-team repeat picks while Everhart, Muller, Evans, Skinner, Ramirez and Schafersman moved up to the first team after earning honorable mention a year ago.
Hensyel was selected as the city coach of the year after leading the Junior Blues to a 19-1 record, including a 27th straight Centennial League championship (outright or shared).
ALL-CITY SOCCER
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
The 11th-ranked Washburn University men's basketball team will host No. 17 Oklahoma Baptist Tuesday at Lee Arena (7 p.m. tipoff), with the Ichabods looking to keep their momentum going after Saturday's 90-47 non-league win over Baker.
Washburn will take a 2-2 record into Tuesday's game while Oklahoma Baptist is 2-1 on the season.
Washburn won its 32nd consecutive home-opener on Saturday against Baker, with former Hayden standout Levi Braun scoring a career-high 21 points while Jalen Lewis contributed 14 points as the Ichabods hit nine 3-pointers.
Levi Braun
Defensively, the Ichabods forced the Wildcats to turn the ball over 26 times, with Isaiah Thorne, Azeem Ross and Kevaughn Ellis recording three steals apiece. Thirty-one percent of the points scored for the Ichabods were off turnovers.
