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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After two games 2,268 miles from home, Washburn University women's basketball stays on the road Saturday, but travels just 116 miles east to Warrensburg to face Central Missouri at 1 p.m.
Junior Yibari Nwidadah leads Washburn with 17.4 points and 7.3 rebounds a game entering Saturday's MIAA contest at Central Missouri. [File photo/TSN]
Entering its final game of 2024, Washburn is 6-6 on the year and 0-2 in the MIAA after finishing out the Puerto Rico Clasico with a 100-43 win over Ana G Mendez on Tuesday.
Central Missouri moved to 8-5 after an 89-56 non-conference win over Lincoln. The Jennies are 0-2 in the MIAA.
Saturday's meeting with Central Missouri will be the 73rd all-time meeting between the two teams. Washburn leads the all-time series with Central Missouri 43-29. The Jennies have won each of the last four meetings in the series, including 69-56 and 84-71 victories last year.
Yibari Nwidadah is averaging team-highs of 17.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 72.2 percent shooting from the field for Washburn.
The junior has started all 10 games she has played in, has shot over 50.0 percent in every game this season and has two double-doubles. The Olathe North product has the best field goal percentage in the nation while ranking third in the MIAA in scoring and eighth in rebounds.
Junior Payton Sterk is averaging 16.1 points for the Ichabods while starting all 12 contests and playing a team-high 29.2 minutes per game. She is shooting 45.3 percent from the floor and a team-high 41.8 percent from 3-point range while dishing out 2.7 assists per game.
The Colorado Springs native has drilled a team-high 28 3-pointers and she has 15-plus points in seven games this year. Sterk is second in the MIAA in total points, third in 3-pointers and 4th in 3-point percentage.
Gabi Giovannetti averages 11.7 points while shooting 42.3 percent from the floor. The junior Bishop Miege product has started all 12 games and averages 2.4 assists and a team-best 1.6 steals.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Rossville junior basketball standouts Rylee Dick and Jack Donovan 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 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Dick and Donovan over the past week:
Rossville junior Rylee Dick has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency female Rising Star of the Week after averaging 25.7 points with 19 3-pointers over the Bulldawgs' first four games. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
RYLEE DICK, Rossville
Dick opened her junior season by earning all-tournament honors and helping lead Rossville's girls to the championship in last week's Chapman Fighting Irish Classic while averaging 25 points with 14 3-pointers in the Bulldawgs' three tournament games.
Dick had another big game in Tuesday's 62-53 loss to defending Class 3A state champion Silver Lake, scoring 28 points with five 3-pointers.
The 5-foot-6 guard was an All-Shawnee County Second 10 pick last season while also receiving all-county honorable mention in track and field.
Rossville junior Jack Donovan has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency male Rising Star of the Week after averaging 25.7 points with 11 3-pointers over the Bulldawgs' first four games. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
JACK DONOVAN, Rossville
A 5-foot-11 multi-sport standout for the Bulldawgs, Donovan has averaged 25.7 points while hitting 11 3-pointers as Rossville opened the 2024-2025 season with a 3-1 record.
Donovan was an all-tournament selection in last week's Chapman Fighting Irish Classic, scoring 75 points in three games with a high of 35 points, and followed that up with 28 points and four 3-pointers in Tuesday's 79-74 win over rival Silver Lake.
Donovan has received All-Shawnee County recognition in basketball, football and golf during his Rossville career.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
After waiting 13 days to get back on the court after their opening game, the Highland Park girls were ready to take it to any opponent.
Kansas City-Turner was the unfortunate team on the receiving end of that pent up energy.
Sophomore Pearmella Carter (24) led Highland Park with 30 points in Thursday's 76-18 win over KC-Turner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
In its first home game of the season, Highland Park steamrolled the visiting Lady Golden Bears 76-18 Thursday night as sophomore Pearmella Carter led the Scots with 30 points.
“We were in the lab for 13 days, beating up on each other,” Highland Park coach Rob Brown said. “You could tell the girls were getting tired of playing each other, so they’ve been hungry for this game tonight.”
Although the game got out of hand quickly, Brown said it was a helpful experience.
“This was good for keeping the girls engaged and disciplining them,” Brown said. “We have a young group, so this was good for them to keep them learning and getting good practice reps in.”
The 6-foot-2 Carter overwhelmed the visitors from the opening tip. She hit 10-15 attempts in the first half for 24 points. She even hit a 3-point shot early in the contest.
“Coming in as a freshman, she wouldn’t do that,” Brown said. “But she’s going to show that more this year.”
“I like to score and be aggressive,” Carter said. “I feel like I can use (my size) to get points in the paint.”
Everyone on the Scots’ bench got meaningful minutes against Turner. Nine different players scored.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a marquee boys wrestling matchup between Class 6A's No. 1-ranked Garden City and No. 3-ranked Washburn Rural, the Buffaloes prevailed 49-27 in Thursday night's dual at Rural.
Washburn Rural two-time state champion Easton Broxterman won a 15-0 technical fall in Thursday's home dual against Garden City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Junior Blues coach Josh Hogan knows that the experience of squaring off with one of the state's premier teams early in the season will only help his team moving forward.
"That's what I just told the boys in the circle there,'' Hogan said. "We train to beat people that are better than us so any time we get a chance to wrestle people that are quote, unquote better than us or maybe actually better than us we'll take our swings.''
Rural had three reigning or former state champs in its lineup but Hogan said Thursday's experience could be particularly valuable for the newcomers and up-and-comers for the Junior Blues.
"Some of the guys that dropped matches tonight were definitely in position to be able to win a match or capable of winning a match, but it's a big environment,'' Hogan said. "Things can get a little scrambled in the brain of a teenager when they've got everybody in the crowd watching them and hooping and hollering.
"Ultimately it will help prepare us for these type of situations that are still yet to come.''
Washburn Rural defending state champion Kristjan Marshall (top) recorded a pin in Thursday's home dual against Garden City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Thursday's dual started with the 150-pound match due to random draw, and after defending 6A champion and top-ranked Kristjan Marshall picked up a second-period pin for Rural at 157 to tie the match 6-6, Garden City won eight of the next nine matches to build a commanding 49-12 lead. The Junior Blues' lone win during that stretch was a forfeit to Rural sophomore 190-pounder Jadyn Baum.
Junior Landen Kocher-Munoz, a former Class 6A state champion and a two-time state finalist, registered a win by major decision Thursday night against Garden City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rural's No. 4-ranked 132-pounder Cooper Stivers, No. 1-ranked 138-pounder Landen Kocher-Munoz and top-ranked 144-pounder Easton Broxterman swept the last three matches of the night, but the Junior Blues were unable to make up the early deficit.
Stivers recorded a first-period pin while former state champ Landen Kocher-Munoz took a 13-5 major decision and Broxterman registered a 15-0 technical fall over Logan Avalon in a match that pitted two-time state champ and three-time state finalist Broxterman against No. 2-ranked Avalon.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The No. 2-ranked Washburn University men trailed for the first time this season at the halftime break, but turned up the defense and controlled turnovers in the second half on the way to a 76-62 win over Texas Permian Basin in its non-conference finale.
Senior Andrew Orr led five double-figure scorers for Washburn with 16 points in Wednesday's 76-62 win over . [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods improved 11-0 on the season and returns to MIAA play at Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon in Warrensburg.
Washburn trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, its largest deficit of the season, with 1:45 to go in the half before the Ichabods closed the frame on a 7-2 run to enter the locker room trailing 36-32.
The Ichabods turned the ball over eight times leading to eight points for the Falcons. Overall, there were nine lead changes in the first half.
The Ichabods outscored the Falcons 17 to 9 in the first 5:15 of the second half to take a 49-45 lead as Jack Bachelor scored eight points.
The Falcons (8-3) took their last lead of the game at 51-50 with 12:03 to play on a 3-pointer by Alex Matthews, who had a game-high 26 points, before Andrew Orr gave the Ichabods a 52-51 lead.
