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TopSports.news
WICHITA -- Topeka High junior standout NiJaree Canady is a team player and happy to do whatever her team needs.
What the Trojans needed in Friday’s Class 6A state girls semifinal at Koch Arena was a big performance out of their 6-foot post player and Canady delivered, scoring 29 points and grabbing 14 rebounds as High advanced to Saturday’s 6 p.m. state title game with a 54-37 victory over Dodge City.
The 23-1 Trojans will face 22-0 Shawnee Mission Northwest for the state championship, with the Cougars advancing with a 59-45 win over Olathe West.
NiJaree Canady
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The immediate benefit for Washburn University's men's basketball team from Tyler Geiman's highly-publicized nearly three-quarters-court 3-pointer last Saturday night in Marysville, Mo. was an MIAA Tournament championship and the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Championships.
But the buzzer-beater that gave the Ichabods a dramatic 69-68 win over Northwest Missouri could be the gift that keeps on giving in terms of recruiting and exposure.
"Without question,'' said Washburn coach Brett Ballard, whose team will face Missouri Western Saturday night in the NCAA Central Region Tournament. "I think that for us that positive publicity can certainly help us in recruiting. You know a lot of people are aware of Washburn because we've got a great basketball tradition here, but certainly outside of this region it helps us, and even within the region.
"I think that notoriety and just the attention that has brought to our program, and even to Tyler Geiman and how much better he's gotten and what a season he's having, I think that whether its high school coaches or AAU programs or kids we're trying to recruit or their parents, they get Washburn in their head a little bit and that can be a positive, for sure.''
![Tyler Geiman's game-winning 3-pointer that gave Washburn the MIAA Tournament title last Saturday night could provide long-term benefits for his school and the Ichabod basketball program. [File photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]](/images/aa-images/TylerGeimantriple-double.jpg)
Tyler Geiman's game-winning 3-pointer that gave Washburn the MIAA Tournament title last Saturday night could provide long-term benefits for his school and the Ichabod basketball program. [File photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
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Topeka West's Elijah Brooks makes a dunk against De Soto during the 5A State semi-finals in Emporia. (Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN)
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- It wasn't easy, and very little has been in Rick Bloomquist's nine-year rebuilding project with Topeka West basketball.
But what the Chargers lacked in artistic flair in Friday's Class 5A state boys semifinal against De Soto they made up for with pure grittiness, pulling out a 61-57 victory at White Auditorium to advance to the boys state championship game for the third time in school history.
"It was gut ball,'' Bloomquist said after the Chargers improved to 21-2 with their 15th straight victory. "It wasn't a basketball game, it was a gut ball game. It's one of those deals where they may question what we do in practice, but they figure it out after awhile and appreciate a little gut ball every once in a while.
"It's a situation where we think we have them prepared, we really do. I've got a great coaching staff, I've got great support, I've got kids that believe in what we're doing and it was just flat gut ball tonight.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's boys basketball team is coming off the program's biggest win in more than a decade.
Now the goal for the Chargers is to finish off their amazing 2020-21 ride with the school's first boys state title.
Topeka West coach Rick Bloomquist (left) talks with Hays coach Alex Hutchins after West's 52-49 Class 5A quarterfinal win Tuesday night. [Submitted]
"The whole thing right now is to do what we did to get here, but work a little harder today in practice,'' West coach Rick Bloomquist said before Thursday's practice. "We want to stay focused, keep our nose down, don't get our heads inflated. It's not a party, it's still a basketball game and we just have to control our emotions right now.
"Like I've been telling them all year, their biggest weakness was their emotional IQ. Now our IQ's getting tested, so that's big key for us right now.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
This time it really will be the last game of the season between No. 17-ranked Washburn and Missouri Western, who will meet for fourth time in Saturday night's NCAA Division II Central Regional men's tournament in Aberdeen, S.D.
The 19-6 Ichabods, who are making their 15th NCAA postseason appearance, are the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 seed Missouri Western (14-10) in an 8:45 game Saturday, with the winner advancing to a tournament semifinal to face No. 2 Northwest Missouri.
Washburn is 1-2 against the Griffons this season, but is coming off a 101-72 semifinal romp past Western last Friday in the MIAA Tournament semifinals in Maryville, Mo.
"They're a good team,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said of the Griffons. "They played us really, really well the first two times. They were a little beat up this past week and they didn't play as well.
"We played pretty good against them the last game, but they're a very good team and they've played really well against us the last two years, so it will be a big-time battle.''
Tyler Geiman will lead Washburn into the NCAA Central regional tournament after sinking a nearly three-quarters-court 3-pointer last Saturday to give the Ichabods the MIAA Tournament title. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
After the win over Western the Ichabods went on to claim their sixth MIAA Postseason Tournament title and first since 2012 with a 69-68 win over Northwest.
"We played really well against them, which I hope will give our guys confidence that if you can play well against those guys it should give you some confidence that you can play well against anybody in the country,'' Ballard said.
The three MIAA rivals are on the same side of the six-school regional bracket while three Northern Sun Conference members are on the other side.
The host Northern State Wolves are the No. 1 seed and will take on the winner between No. 4 Wayne State and No. 5 Minnesota State Moorhead.
Missouri Western swept the two regular-season meetings with the Ichabods, winning 74-67 in St. Joseph on Jan. 9 and 81-77 in Topeka on Feb. 18 before the Ichabods bounced back with last week's 29-point rout.
The Ichabods have never faced Missouri Western in the NCAA Tournament and are 14-14 overall in tournament appearances.
Senior Tyler Geiman, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer against Northwest in the MIAA final, leads Washburn in scoring (21.2 points per game), assists (6.4 average) and rebounds (6.6 average).
Geiman recorded the first triple double in Washburn history with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against Northeastern State on Feb. 23.
Washburn junior Jalen Lewis was the MVP in last week's MIAA Tournament, including a career-high 29 points against Missouri Western. [File photo]
Junior Jalen Lewis, the MIAA Tournament MVP, averages 13.8 points and has hit 68 of 134 3-point attempts.
He scored a career-high 29 points against Missouri Western in the MIAA Tournament semifinals and enters Saturday's game with 999 career points.
Sophomore Tyler Nelson averages 11.1 points while junior Jonny Clausing averages 9.8 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Tyrell Carroll leads Missouri Wester with a 17-point average and he also dishes out 4.2 assist per game. Will Eames averages 12.3 points and 8.6 rebounds while Caleb Bennett (11.7), Reese Glover (11.2) and Q Mays (11.3) also average in double figures.
