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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Junior Jack Bachelor scored 25 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead the way as Washburn Rural advanced to the semifinals of the Basehor-Linwood Invitational with a 55-47 win over Piper on Tuesday.
Jack Bachelor
Washburn Rural, which improved to 5-3, opened the tournament in Tuesday's 3 p.m. game and the Junior Blues got off to a fast start, outscoring the Pirates 21-9 in the first quarter.
The Junior Blues went on to take a commanding 32-15 advantage into the locker room at the half.
Piper outscored Washburn Rural 32-23 after the break, but the Junior Blues were able to hold on for the victory.
Bachelor hit a pair of 3-pointers in the opening quarter and had 13 points in the first half.
Senior Quincey Kidd joined Bachelor in double figures for Washburn Rural with 12 points, including six in the decisive first quarter.
Jacob Hirschi added eight points for Rural.
With Tuesday's win Washburn Rural advanced to a 4:30 p.m. semifinal on Friday against the winner of Tuesday's first-round game between Centennial League rival Junction City and St. Joseph Central, Mo.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 51, WYANDOTTE 45 -- Shawnee Heights rallied in the fourth quarter to pull out a 51-45 win over Wyandotte in Tuesday's opening roud of the Viking Classic at Shawnee Mission West.
The T-Birds, now 8-1, trailed 11-9 at the end of the first quarter, 25-21 at halftime and 40-35 at the start of the fourth quarter before Heights outscored the Bulldogs by a 16-5 margin over the final eight minutes.
Carter Olson
Senior Carter Olson led Shawnee Heights with 13 points and 12 rebounds while sophomore Jayden Moore added 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers and senior Nate Pewe had nine points.
Shawnee Heights advanced to a 6:15 p.m. semifinal on Thursday to face the first-round winner between Lansing and host Shawnee Mission West in a semifinal contest.
Heights and Lansing are United Kansas Conference rivals, with the T-Birds taking a 52-37 win over the Lions on Jan. 7.
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN BOYS 71, McLOUTH 32 -- Cair Paravel's boys opened play in the McLouth Invitational with a 71-32 romp past the host team Tuesday night.
Senior Zach Clark led the way with 23 points while 10 Lions cracked the scoring column.
Cair Paravel jumped out to a 21-12 first-quarter advantage and then put the game away with a 23-5 second-quarter onslaught, taking a 44-17 halftime advantage.
The Lions outscored McLouth 27-15 in the second half en route to improving to 6-2 on the season.
LABETTE COUNTY BOYS 43, SILVER LAKE 40 -- A comeback effort by Silver Lake in its first-round game of the Burlington Invitational came up just short Tuesday night, with the Eagles dropping a 43-40 decision despite a 25-point performance from junior Kamryn Kaniper.
The Eagles spotted Labette County a 20-6 lead before battling back to tie the game at 38-38 in the fourth quarter.
Silver Lake was unable to get over the hump, however, with Labette County holding on to advance to the tournament semifinals.
Kaniper had another big night for the Eagles, including seven 3-pointers.
Silver Lake will face Rock Creek on Friday.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Five Shawnee County basketball teams remain state-ranked in the latest rankings released Tuesday by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
Highland Park remained No. 2 in the Class 5A boys rankings while Topeka West moved up to No. 4 after handing the Scots their first loss of the season last Friday.
Highland Park is 8-1 on the season and Topeka West 7-1, with both teams competing in this week's Topeka Invitational Tournament at Highland Park.
Mike Williams' Highland Park boys basketball team is No. 2-ranked in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Rick Bloomquist's Topeka West boys are ranked No. 4 in Class 5A by the KBCA. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High's girls are ranked No. 4 in 6A while Washburn Rural holds down the No. 7 spot in 6A.
Topeka High took a 7-0 record into Tuesday's Centennial League game against Manhattan while Rural took a 6-1 record into Tuesday's league game with Topeka West.
Silver Lake, 7-0 on the season, is ranked third in the 3A girls state rankings.
KANSAS BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION STATE RANKINGS
GIRLS
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Carter Olson's junior season in both football and basketball was a lost year.
Olson suffered an ACL injury in Shawnee Heights' 2020 season-opening football game, an injury that sidelined him for the remainder of football season and the entire 2020-2021 basketball season.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that the 6-foot-6 senior continues to make up for lost time and is enjoying every minute of it.
Shawnee Heights senior Carter Olson (22) battles for a rebound against Leavenworth in last Tuesday's 66-44 UKC win over the Pioneers. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Olson earned second-team All-United Kansas Conference recognition and All-Shawnee County honorable mention in football for 5-5 Shawnee Heights and has played a major role on the basketball court for the T-Birds, who will take a 7-1 record into Tuesday night's Viking Classic tournament opener against Wyandotte at Shawnee Mission West.
Olson was solid in the early going for the T-Birds, but stepped up his game last week with back-to-back double-doubles in lopsided United Kansas Conference victories over Leavenworth and Turner.
Olson's big breakthrough was a 14-point, 11-rebound performance in last Tuesday's 66-44 win over Leavenworth.
"To be honest, it really did take me to this game to get back,'' Olson said. "It took me awhile through the summer and until now just to get prepared and now the game of basketball again. I'm glad to be back.''
Olson followed that game with 14 points and 13 rebounds in Friday's 82-58 win at Turner, with the T-Birds winning their fourth straight game.
Senior Carter Olson has registered back-to-back double-doubles for Shawnee Heights, which is 7-1 on the season. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I feel more confident, more smooth with the ball and am just getting better and better every week and I'll just keep practicing,'' Olson said.
Olson said that making it through the entire football season healthy helped prep him for basketball.
"Being out for six months really got me out of shape and playing football and getting back in that sports mentality, it was fun,'' Olson said. "That was just that confidence boost I'm gaining every week from practice and getting to know that my knee's going to be OK. I'm just getting the confidence I need to be out there.''
Olson wore a knee brace during football season but discarded the brace for basketball.
"I talked to the doctor and he said it was fine to not wear it for basketball,'' Olson said. "I wore it for football because I know it's more of a contact sport, but I trust my knee and it's holding up so far.''
Hall of Fame Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting said Olson has provided a big boost for the T-Birds after missing a ton of playing time early in his career.
"He probably missed four or five games the year before -- ankles twice, knees -- so he's played very little,'' Darting said. "He's been great. Carter is a hard-nosed competitor and hard-headed as he is hard-nosed and he's absolutely interested in one thing and that's winning.
"He goes after rebounds like crazy. He goes from right wing to left block rebounding.''
Olson has helped lead the way as Shawnee Heights has already surpassed its win total from the entire 2020-2021 season.
"We're having a lot of fun,'' Olson said. "We're having fun at practice, getting along real well. The freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors are all getting along and we're just a big family.
"No one gets down on each other. We pick each other up and we're doing good.''
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Cair Paravel Latin's girls basketball opened its tournament bid in the McLouth Invitational with a 40-31 win over Maur Hill-Mt. Academy on Monday.
Jaley Barkley
The Lions, who improved to 3-5 on the season, jumped out to a 16-7 first-quarter advantage, which was huge as the two teams scored 24 points apiece the rest of the way.
Cair Paravel led 22-18 at the half and took a 30-24 lead into the fourth quarter.
Senior Jaley Barkley led the Lions with 14 points, including three 3-pointers, while sophomore Allison Schwarz added 13 points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Unversity men's basketball team played well enough Monday night to beat a lot of teams ... just not quite well enough to knock off the defending Division II national champions.
The Ichabods made run after run at No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri State, leading by as many as five points in the first half, but the Bearcats answered each and every run with one of their own, taking a 71-63 MIAA victory at Lee Arena.
Washburn, which had its four-game winning streak snapped by the Bearcats, trailed by just four points at the half (34-30), but Northwest Missouri, which improved to 16-1 overall and 9-0 in the MIAA, took control with a quick start to the second half, building a 14-point advantage at the 11:01 mark, and Ichabods were in chase mode the rest of the way.
"I thought we played really hard and competed at a high level,'' said Washburn coach Brett Ballard, whose Ichabods fell to 10-7 overall and 7-4 in the conference. "We didn't play great the first five minutes of the second half and sometimes that's all it takes against a team as elite as that.
"We played 35 minutes of really good basketball, but that five kind of dug ourselves a hole and then we could never quite get over the hump.''
Connor Deffebaugh (right) scored a team-high 17 points for Washburn in Monday's 71-63 loss to Northwest Missouri State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn senior Tyler Geiman scored 14 points in the Ichabods' 71-63 loss to Northwest Missouri Monday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But the Ichabods, who are starting to round back into form after being short-handed much of the season, showed a lot of positive signs Monday that they could be ready to mount a charge the second half of the season.
"We are so much more of a team than we were a month ago and we're coming along,'' Ballard said. "I think we're playing a lot better on both ends. I'm pleased with the progress we've made and the direction we're going.
"Obviously there's no moral victories here and that's not why you come to Washburn, but I feel like if we can come out and fight and compete like that every night ... we showed we can do that against the best team in the country. Now we've got to back it up.''
Sophomore Connor Deffebaugh led the Ichabods with 17 points while senior Tyler Geiman added 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists for WU before fouling out late in the game and Jonny Clausing had 12 points.
"We've been prepping for these guys for a long time and obviously they're the best team in the country,'' Deffebaugh said. "We just didn't have some things go our way late, but we're going to adjust.
"We've got a good team in the locker room and we all are connected, so we're going to get better. We're going to learn from this.''
Former Manhattan star Trevor Hudgins scored a game-high 26 points for the Bearcats, while Wes Dreamer added 18 points.
Washburn will return to action Saturday, hosting Emporia State at Lee Arena.
NORTHWEST MISSOURI MEN 71, WASHBURN 63
Northwest Missouri 34 37 -- 71
Washburn 30 33 -- 63
NORTHWEST MISSOURI (16-1, 9-0)
Dreamer 5-11 4-4 18, Bernard 3-7 3-4 9, Jackson 2-3 0-0 4, Hudgins 9-23 2-2 26, Waters 2-5 2-2 7, Abreu 0-2 0-0 0, Alexander 3-3 1-1 7. Totals 24-54 12-13 72.
WASHBURN (10-7, 7-4)
Harrell 1-8 2-2 5, Deffebaugh 6-8 3-4 17, Geiman 6-14 0-0 14, Lewis 1-2 2-2 5, Keegan 0-0 0-0 0, Nelson 1-9 0-0 2, Clausing 4-6 4-5 12, Ellis 3-6 0-0 8. Totals 22-53 11-13 63.
3-point goals -- Northwest Missouri 11-30 (Hudgins 6-16, Dreamer 4-8, Waters 1-3, Bernard 0-2, Abreu 0-1), Washburn 8-20 (Deffebaugh 2-3, Geiman 2-5, Ellis 2-2, Harrell 1-5, Lewis 1-2, Nelson 0-3), Rebounds -- Northwest Missouri 31 (Dreamer 9), Washburn 29 (Geiman 5). Assists -- Northwest Missouri 15 (Hudgins 5), Washburn 11 (Geiman 4, Nelson 4). Turnovers -- Northwest Missouri 9, Washburn 10. Total fouls -- Northwest Missouri 14, Washburn 18. Fouled out -- Geiman. Technical fouls -- none.
