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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Apparently the Washburn Ichabods poked the bear, or more accurately the Bearcats, with their dramatic win in the recent MIAA Tournament championship game.
Sunday night's NCAA Central Regional semifinal at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D. was No. 4-ranked Northwest Missouri's first game since the 1-point (69-68) loss to the Ichabods and the Bearcats left no doubt in their fourth game of the year with Washburn, romping to an 85-44 win.
Washburn's men's basketball team gathers around Ichabod coach Brett Ballard during Sunday night's NCAA Regional semifinal game. [NSU Athletic Communications]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Centennial League coaches found it impossible to single out one boys player as the best in the league, with the voting for player of the year ending up a three-way tie between seniors Trevion Alexander and Marque Wilkerson of Topeka West and Joe Berry of Washburn Rural.
Topeka West senior Trevion Alexander was one of three players named Centennial League tri-players of the year. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Joe Berry was named Centennial League tri-player of the year for 2020-21. [File photo]
Topeka West senior Marque Wilkerson was named tri-Centennial League player of the year by league coaches. [File photo]
Alexander, Berry and Wilkerson share the player of the year while making up three-sixths of the All-Centennial first team along with West junior Elijah Brooks, Highland Park senior CJ Powell and Emporia senior Charles Snyder.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights senior Adysen Burghart has been named a first-team All-United Kansas Conference selection by UKC coaches, one of three T-Birds to receive all-league recognition.
Shawnee Heights senior Adysen Burghart was a first-team All-United Kansas Conference selection. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Heights senior Taylor Hawkins was a second-team All-UKC pick while senior Tatum Brown received honorable mention.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights seniors Harvey Davis and Isiah Johnson and junior Nate Pewe have received recognition on the 2020-21 All-United Kansas Conference boys basketball team, selected by UKC coaches.
Davis and Johnson were both named to the All-UKC second team while Pewe received honorable mention.
Shawnee Heights junior Nate Pewe (1) received All-United Kansas Conference honorable mention while senior Harvey Davis (23) was a second-team All-UKC pick. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN)
Isiah Johnson
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
One MIAA foe down, another coming up for the Washburn men's basketball team.
The Ichabods rode a stifling defensive effort to their second rout of MIAA rival Missouri Western in a week, taking a 72-46 win over the Griffons Saturday night to advance to Sunday's 7:45 semifinal game against conference foe Northwest Missouri in the NCAA Central Regional at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D.
Washburn had dropped both regular-season games to Western, but rolled to a 101-72 win over the Griffons in the MIAA Tournament semifinals and turned in another dominating performance Saturday, holding Missouri Western to 28 percent shooting on the night.
“I thought our defense was really, really good, probably about as good as it's been all year,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said in a post-game press conference. “I thought that we did a pretty good job neutralizing the downhill drives for them and tried to contain the ball as much as we could. I thought our rotations were good. Our rebounding was good.
"They missed some looks that we were fortunate didn’t go in, but for the most part we were able to challenge everything. It was just a complete effort.''
Washburn, which improved to 20-6, trailed only two times in the game for a total of 35 seconds (2-0 and 21-20) and overcame a first-half dry spell of more than six minutes to take a 27-21 halftime lead.
Washburn used an 11-0 run at the end of the first half and start of the second to open up a 31-21 advantage with 18:57 left and the Ichabods would go on to lead by as many as 26 points as the Ichabods notched their first NCAA Tournament win since 2012.
Washburn 6-9 junior Jonny Clausing had 14 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks in the Ichabods' 72-46 win over Missouri Western Saturday night. [NSU Athletic Communications}
