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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior Andrew Orr hit the 1,000-point mark for his career as the No. 3-ranked Washburn University men's basketball team improved to 9-0 overall and 2-0 in MIAA play with a 71-57 win at Fort Hays State on Saturday afternoon.
Washburn senior Andrew Orr went over the 1,000-point mark for his career in Saturday's 71-57 win at Fort Hays State. [File photo/TSN]
Jack Bachelor scored four of the Ichabods' first five points with a pair of layups in the first few minutes of the contest. The teams traded baskets for the next several minutes, but Jacob Hanna's layup gave Washburn a 15-14 lead that it would not relinquish with just over 11 minutes to play in the first half.
Hanna's basket sparked an 11-0 run for the visitors, which included two 3-pointers by Brayden Shorter. After the Tigers (4-3 overall, 1-1 MIAA) answered with a 3-pointer of their own, Shorter knocked down his third triple of the half to put the Ichabods up 27-17 with seven and half minutes to play in the half.
A minute later, Shorter took the ball away from Fort Hays State and found Michael Keegan for a dunk to give Washburn a 31-19 lead and force a Tigers timeout.
Sitting at 999 points for his career, Orr stepped to the free throw line with five minutes to play in the half.
Orr knocked down the first attempt to become the 28th Ichabod to join the 1,000-point club. The senior hit the second free throw to give the Ichabods a 15-point lead, its largest advantage of the day.
The Washburn offense cooled off at the end of the half, but the visitors still held a 37-29 lead entering the locker room. Shorter led all scorers with 16 points in the half.
The Tigers opened the second half of play with a 3-pointer, cutting the Ichabod lead to five.
Washburn did not let the hosts get any closer, with Orr and Shorter each finding the basket to put the Ichabods up 41-32 a minute and a half into the half.
After the Tigers hit two free throws to cut the lead to seven, Washburn outscored Fort Hays State 13-5 over the next few minutes to extend the lead to 15.
Following a six-point swing in favor of the Tigers, Shorter cleaned up a missed shot with a rebound and put-back to give Washburn another double-digit lead.
After giving up a 3-pointer, the Ichabods responded with a six-point swing of their own, giving the visitors a 62-48 lead with just over six minutes to play.
The Tigers were unable to cut the Ichabod lead below 10 points for the remainder of the contest as the Ichabods closed out the 14-point victory and their ninth straight win to open the season.
Sophomore Brayden Shorter scored 26 points as No. 3-ranked Washburn improved to 9-0 with a 71-57 win at Fort Hays State. [File photo/TSN]
Shorter led all scorers with 26 points to lead the Ichabods, while Orr added 10 points to conclude his milestone evening. Bachelor and Keegan each scored 11 points, while Bachelor chipped in six rebounds and six assists.
Kyle Grill led the host Tigers with 16 points.
Washburn shot 27 of 57 from the field for a 47 percent mark, while Fort Hays State ended the evening shooting 20 of 50 for a 40 percent clip. The Ichabods hit 6 of 23 shots from beyond the arc and 11 of 14 from the free throw line.
The Ichabods held a 34-29 advantage on the boards, while outscoring the Tigers 20-0 in fast break points.
The Ichabods will take a short break from conference play with a trip to San Antonio, Texas, facing St. Edward's University in the River City Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
No. 7 Tigers top Washburn women, 83-53
Washburn fell behind early after a quick start from No. 7 Fort Hays State and would fall 83-53 Saturday at Hays.
The Ichabods will put conference play on hold as they travel out of the country for the Puerto Rico Clasico beginning Dec. 16 as they face University of Puerto Rico Rio-Piedras.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- The 2024 season for Washburn University volleyball came to an end in the NCAA Central Region semifinals as the Ichabods fell 3-2 to No. 6-ranked Central Oklahoma on Friday afternoon.
Washburn University volleyball ended its season 21-8 after a five-set Central Region semifinal loss to Central Oklahoma on Friday. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods end the season with a 21-8 record and the program's 18th trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Washburn took the first set from the 32-2 Bronchos 25-20 before falling in each of the next two sets 25-21 and 25-18. The Ichabods forced a fifth set with a 25-19 win in the fourth but came up short in the fifth as Central Oklahoma won 15-8.
Both teams traded points to begin the match as they split the first 16 points.
A service error for Central Oklahoma began a 4-0 Ichabod run to put them ahead 12-9.
A kill by Jalyn Stevenson made it 19-15 but the lead never grew to more than four until Taryn Pridgett ended the set with a kill at 25-20. The Ichabods hit .283 in the set with 18 kills.
The second set began the same way with both teams splitting the first 20 points of the match to leave it tied at 10.
A three-point run by the Bronchos put them ahead 16-13 and created separation.
The lead remained intact even with a 3-0 burst by Washburn beginning with a kill from Austin Broadie to leave the score 20-19. After pulling within one once again Central Oklahoma ended the set at 25-21 with three straight kills.
Kills by Stevenson and Broadie put the Ichabods in front 9-6 in the third set.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Seaman's girls basketball team opened defense of its Class 5A state championship Friday night, surviving a tough test from Piper to take a 69-67 United Kansas Conference road win.
"What a great atmosphere for the first game of the season,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "Im proud of our girls. We were tough when we needed to be and we had some kids step up and be brave.''
Junior Maddie Gragg scored 21 points to lead Seaman in Friday's 69-67 UKC win over Piper. [File photo/TSN]
Junior Maddie Gragg led four double-figure scorers for the Vikings with 21 points while junior Anna Becker added 20 points, senior Jadyn Stallbaumer 14 points and senior Ava Esser 13.
Senior Anna Becker moved into the all-time career assist lead for Seaman in Friday's 69-67 win over Piper. [File photo/TSN]
Esser grabbed 10 rebounds to give her a double-double while senior Kinley Wilhelm also had 10 rebounds and Becker had eight assists and moved into the top spot on the Seaman all-time list.
The game was tight throughout, with Seaman leading 23-19 at the end of the first quarter before the Pirates used a 13-6 second quarter to take a 32-29 halftime advantage.
Seaman still trailed by a point (53-52) at the start of the fourth quarter before the Vikings outscored the Pirates 17-14 over the final eight minutes to pull out the two-point victory, hitting 8 of 8 free throws late in the game.
"Before the game we talked about our journey and taking the first step and this is a good win,'' Tinsley said.
The Vikings will be at home Tuesday to face Lansing.
Piper boys take 69-51 win over Vikings
Piper, the Class 5A boys state runnerup last season, opened its 2024-2025 campaign with a 69-51 home United Kansas Conference victory over Seaman.
Piper led 14-9 after one quarter and took control with a 19-8 second quarter, taking a 33-17 advantage to the locker room at halftime.
The Pirates went on to open up a 51-30 advantage at the start of the fourth quarter before Seaman outscored Piper 21-18 the rest of the way.
Seaman got a team-high 12 points from junior KaeVon Bonner while newcomer Cameron Brian and Axton Brewer added nine points apiece.
Seaman will be at home Tuesday to host UKC rival Lansing.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Silver Lake boys basketball team stormed back from a third-period deficit to get by visitor Perry Lecompton Friday night, 59-52.
When Perry Lecompton’s Marius Carlsen and Eli Dean buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Kaws a 48-42 lead with a minute remaining in the third quarter, all the momentum shifted away from the Eagles.
Senior Jared Johnson (33) sparked a second-half Silver Lake rally in Friday's 59-52 win over Perry-Lecompton. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But senior Jared Johnson grabbed the momentum right back by canning a three of his own. Johnson sparked a 12-0 run that swung the game. The Eagles locked down on defense, holding Perry Lecompton to just four points over the final nine minutes of the game.
“I wasn’t really shooting the ball that well and I just felt like I wasn’t getting my shot,” Johnson said. “But one of my teammates said, ‘Just let the thing fly.’ And I thought, 'I can’t let my team down. They need me to shoot.’ So, I did, and it turned from there.”
Perry Lecompton had to adjust with their leading scorer, Ronnie Baker, relegated to the bench with foul trouble. After missing much of the first half, the junior reeled off eight points in the first 2:30 of the third period. But two more fouls ended his evening.
Carlsen, a senior exchange student from Norway, introduced himself with 22 points for the Kaws, including four 3-pointers.
“That’s a good team over there,” Silver Lake coach Shannon Kruger said. “We had a lot of respect for them coming in, and they were as advertised. They made a few plays and hit a couple of shots.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
There were plenty of questions surrounding this year’s version of the Silver Lake girls basketball team. At least some of those questions were answered Friday night when the defending Class 3A state champs steamrolled Perry Lecompton, 78-23.
Junior guard Kailyn Hanni scored 12 points as Silver Lake opened its season with a 78-23 romp past Perry-Lecompton. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Silver Lake lost five seniors – four of them starters – from the team that stormed to a title last March. A lot of experience, and a lot of offensive production, must be replaced. The early results were positive.
“I wanted us to play free, I wanted us to play aggressive, and I wanted us to play confident. We did that,” said Silver Lake coach Kyle Porter. “So now the goal is to play a little more under control. To understand time and score and how the officials are calling the game, and just grow from the experience. I always think that if you start aggressive and confident, you can always rein that in a little bit.”
The new-look Eagles exploded out of the gate, ripping off 16 points before the visiting Kaws could get on the board. They rolled on from there, holding the opponents to fewer than eight points in each period.
“We played through mistakes. I think that was the biggest thing,” Porter said. “First game, you’re always going to have things happen. I think we were getting over those mistakes pretty well.”
