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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Washburn Rural boys climbed above .500 for the first time on the season Friday night, holding off Manhattan, 48-46, for a Centennial League decision at Rural.
The Indians entered the game shorthanded, playing without a couple of starters due to illness. Washburn Rural held the visitors to just eight points in the first period, and just seven in the second. The Junior Blues, who improved to 10-9 overall and 7-2 in the league, led 23-15 at the half.
Manhattan began to get untracked in the third period, outscoring the Junior Blues 15-12. The rally continued with the Indians closing to within a possession midway through the fourth period.
Six missed free throws in the fourth period by the Junior Blues left the door open for the Indians down the stretch. A Manhattan 3-pointer cut the deficit to 48-46 with 18 seconds remaining. When Washburn Rural missed two free throws, the Indians had a chance. But the Junior Blues’ Kaden Ballard intercepted a pass to thwart the last-ditch effort.
“I’m glad that we got it done, but we’ve got to get stops,” said Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins. “I think a lot of people will point to the missed free throws at the end. And obviously it would be nice to have those. But if they don’t score, those don’t become an issue, and we gave up way too many looks that last minute and a half. We’ve got to seal that off to finish a game.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Washburn Rural girls held off a late rally by Centennial League foe Manhattan to win at home 55-50 Friday night.
Washburn Rural jumped on the visitors out of the gate. While the Junior Blues knocked down their first four shots at one end, they held the visitors scoreless for more than five minutes at the other end, grabbing a 12-0 lead.
“We talked about coming out strong and aggressive and being in attack mode,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. “I thought we really did that and did a good job of playing within our offensive structure. We attacked inside and they tried closing that up. We attacked from the outside and that worked and we were really in a good rhythm and a good flow.”
The Indians didn’t fold. They rallied with six straight points to close the first period. A similarly rough start to the second period put the Indians into a 22-7 hole, but they fought back. A 10-0 run brought the Indians to within a possession just before half.
In the third period, Washburn Rural dialed up several long 3-point attempts, connecting on four of them, to extend its lead to double digits once again.
“We have some people who can shoot the ball and when they’re consistent we can be deadly,” Bordewick said. “We want to try to get a paint touch and then kick it out, or start hitting from the outside and things open up on the inside.”
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Ken Darting has seen Ontarius Emmot light up the nets from 3-point range in practice day after day.
And now the 6-foot-2 sophomore is showing that form in games, including seven 3s in a 23-point performance off the bench Friday night as the No. 6-ranked (Class 5A) T-Birds rolled to an 82-45 home United Kansas Conference victory over Kansas City-Turner.
Emmot's seven treys on Friday followed four 3-pointers in Tuesday's win over Lansing.
"I watch it every day,'' Darting said. "Ja'Marion (Cook) is the same way, Alex (Delgado) is the same way, they shoot the heck out of it in practice and 'O' is now there. He believes he belongs now and is shooting it with confidence.''
Emmot led the way as Shawnee Heights (15-3 overall, 12-2 UKC) hit 15 3-pointers as a team Friday after connecting on 14 in the Lansing win.
Junior Jaret Sanchez backed Emmot with 19 points and four 3s after hitting six shots from outside the arc against Lansing, while junior Deacon Pomeroy also cracked double figures with 11 points, including a 7 of 8 performance at the free throw line.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
With two big United Kansas Conference games looming next week, Bob Wells wanted to make sure his Shawnee Heights girls basketball team took care of business Friday night in what shaped up as a mis-match.
The T-Birds accomplished that goal, riding a strong defensive performance to a 59-16 UKC romp at Shawnee Heights.
"What we talked about was coming out and executing and passng the ball sharp and playing hard on defense and doing it with defense and then just let the offense happen and let the offense come to you,'' Wells said.
"We were trying to work on a few different things tonight that we needed to spend some time with and I thought the girls did a good job overall.''
With Friday's win Shawnee Heights improved to 13-5 overall and 11-3 in the conference heading into a home matchup Tuesday night against No. 2-ranked (Class 5A) Seaman and a home game next Friday against Piper in the T-Birds' regular-season finale.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake sophomore basketball standout Kailyn Hanni and Rossville junior standout Mason Jones have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2023-2024 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Hanni and Jones over the past week:
KAILYN HANNI, Silver Lake
A 5-foot-6 point guard, Hanni scored 14 points in last Friday's 68-39 Mid-East League road victory at Rossville.
Hanni has been a spark plug on both ends of the floor for the Eagles, who are top-ranked in Class 3A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
Hanni helped Silver Lake improve to 17-0 overall and 8-0 in the Mid-East League with its second win of the season over the state-ranked Bulldawgs.
MASON JONES, Rossville
Jones, a 6-foot-4 frontliner, scored 27 points last Friday as Rossville avenged an earlier loss to rival Silver Lake with a home 87-79 Mid-East League overtime victory over the Eagles.
Jones hit 12 of 15 shots from the field and went 3 of 4 from the free throw line in the Bulldawg victory.
Jones added nine points on Tuesday in Rossville's 72-38 league romp over Wabaunsee, with the Bulldawgs improving to 12-6 overall and 6-2 in the Mid-East.