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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- The undefeated Highland Park boys basketball team exorcised the demons of semifinals past Friday in White Auditorium, holding off Piper to advance to Saturday's Class 5A state championship game with a 60-55 win over Piper.
Highland Park coach Mike Williams celebrates Friday's 60-55 Class 5A state semifinal win over Piper in White Auditorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Highland Park, which will playing in a state championship game for the first time since 2014, will face defending state champion Kapaun Mt. Carmel, a 55-43 semifinal winner over Andover, in Saturday's 6:15 p.m. title game after getting past last year's runnerup, Piper, in the semis.
"I cried on the sidelines,'' Highland Park coach Mike Williams said. "We had just been here so often and felt pain. I'm just happy for the kids. We put so much work in and I'm hard on the guys, but I just want them to win. And we aint done yet. We've still got more to do.
"We set out to win a state championship. That's what we've been focused on from Day 1. Despite the noise, despite the league talk, who we play, who we don't play, are our guys good enough? We hear it all year long and we were focused on getting to this game and getting over the hump and bringing a state championship back to not just Highland Park, but bring a state championship back to Topeka.''
Highland Park, now 24-0, had dropped semifinal heartbreakers to the eventual state champs the past two seasons -- 55-54 to Andover in 2023 and 67-64 to Kapaun in overtime last season -- before getting over that hump Saturday.
"I felt like we played great,'' said Scot senior star Ja'Corey Robinson, who scored 26 points with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocked shots and 3 steals. "I feel like we played good defensively, rebounded well and didn't allow them to get too many offensive rebounds.
"I also felt like we've got to make more free throws down the stretch. Other than that we played great.''
And now the Scots will be trying to cap their amazing 2024-2025 campaign with Highland Park's first state title since 2009 while becoming only the third team in city history to post a perfect season.
"It's our last high school game, so we've got to lay everything out there,'' Robinson said.
Piper (20-4) led 1-0, 3-2 and 5-4 early on, but senior Mikey Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Highland Park in front 10-5 at the 3:09 mark of the opening quarter and the Scots never trailed again.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Anna Becker and Maddie Gragg have been undefeated Seaman's most consistent scorers over the course of the season, but the Vikings have been quick to share the wealth with fellow starters Jaida Stallbaumer, Ava Esser and Kinley Wilhelm.
Seaman senior Kinley Wilhelm had a career night with 18 points and 14 rebounds in Friday's 55-49 state semifinal win over Andover. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
And two days after Stallbaumer came up big in the Vikings' first-round win over Piper, Friday was Wilhelm's turn, with the Seaman senior turning in a career night as the defending champions advanced to a second straight title game with a 55-49 semifinal win over Andover in White Auditorium.
Wilhelm registered a double-double with career-highs of 18 points and 14 rebounds as Seaman improved to 24-0 on the season with their 30th straight victory overall.
"Jaida stepped up (Wednesday) night big for us and Kinley stepped up tonight,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "It's always been someone else with this team, next person up, and that's a together group that we have in that locker room right there.''
Seaman senior Anna Becker had 12 points and four assists in Friday's 55-49 state semifinal win over Andover. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman junior Maddie Gragg had 11 points and six rebounds in Friday's 55-49 state semifinal win over Andover. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Wilhelm paced three double-figure scorers for the Vikings, who also got 12 points from Becker and 11 from Gragg while advancing to Saturday's 4 p.m. title game to meet St. Thomas Aquinas, a 68-54 semifinal winner over Spring Hill.
Wilhelm said she had a feeling early that Friday was going to be her night.
"I think all of us definitely have a role on this team,'' Wilhelm said. "(Wednesday) night Jaida pulled it through for us and today I thought I had an advantage with a small girl in the post so, 'Give me the ball, I'll score it for our team, I'll get that rebound,' and that just what my mentality was today.
"It was just an all-around team effort. I think our chemistry and our bond on this team is so wonderful that we know how we work. We stay together, we know what we need to do and we just execute it.''
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
SALINA -- The Hayden girls basketball team pulled away from Clay Center Thursday in the first round of the Class 4A state tournament, 56-44, to advance to a semifinal date with Bishop Miege, winners of the last five 4A championships.
Hayden girls basketball coach Carvel Reynoldson talks to his Wildcats during Thursday's 56-44 Class 4A state tournament win over Clay Center. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
The Tigers gave Hayden all they could handle for the first two periods.
Senior post Raegann McDonald accounted for 12 of Clay Center’s 24 points prior to intermission. Hayden clung to a 26-24 lead at the break, prompting some defensive changes.
“They played a great first half,” Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said of Clay Center. “They did a great job posting us up. So, we made an adjustment on how we were going to guard (McDonald). And I think it helped.
“Of course, it always helps to hit shots and we were able to find people under the basket.”
Making a big impact in the second half was Hayden freshman Hailey Schmidtlein, who scored 12 of her 16 points after halftime. She was disruptive on defense and got loose in the open court.
“She’s the heart and soul of our defense, and offensively she’s just a little bit different,” Reynoldson said of Schmidtlein. “She can break out in transition.”
“Honestly, I felt lots of nerves. But coach said, ‘Just go have fun out there.’ Our mindset is just to go out and play with everything you’ve got,” Schmidtlein said of her first exposure to state tournament basketball.
Senior Millie Ramsey (right) led Hayden with 17 points in Thursday's 56-44 Class 4A state tournament win over Clay Center. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Leading Hayden with 17 points was senior Millie Ramsey, followed by Schmidtlein’s 16. Seniors Brylee Meier and Norma Greco added 13 and 10, respectively.
Schmidtlein has been watching the Hayden Wildcats for years. Her sister, Riley, was a 2022 graduate. Hailey Schmidtlein understands the rich tradition of the Hayden program.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Schmidtlein said. “Like, it’s insane from watching my sister play and now I’m the one on the court. It’s just a crazy feeling.”
The freshman praised her older teammates, particularly the four seniors.
“They’ve not only been great leaders, but they’ve taught me how to be a leader,” Schmidtlein said. “They’ve shown me so much love and support, being a freshman starting with four seniors. They don’t treat me any different.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- The Washburn Rural boys’ run to state was ended by the tournament-tested Wichita Heights Falcons 64-44 Wednesday night at Koch Arena.
Senior Amare Jones (0) led Washburn Rural with 16 points in Wednesday's 64-44 state tournament loss to Wichita Heights. [File photo/TSN]
The veterans of the past three Class 6A championship finals had too much experience, too much length and too much athleticism for the Junior Blues in the first-round matchup.
The Junior Blues crawled out of a hole to pull to a 13-11 deficit to close the first period. But they went more than six minutes without a field goal in the second period and fell behind 29-16 at the intermission. The Falcons padded their lead by a few points in each of the next two periods.
Scoring was a challenge from start to finish for Washburn Rural. They hit 14-41 shots, 5-19 from behind the arc. They collected just six offensive rebounds off their misses.
“The power of Wichita Heights and what coach Joe Auer has created there is their defense,” said Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins. “They are so hard to keep pace with just because they make it so much work to score. And even when you do score, you’re so taxed just trying to get that bucket that it makes it even harder to defend because of how much it took out of you to score.
“When you play a team that is that athletic and that disciplined and that well-coached, you don’t get some of the shots that you’re used to getting.”
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Top seed and undefeated Highland Park got everything it wanted from No. 8 Andover Central in Thursday's Class 5A boys state tournament opener at White Auditorium, but senior Mikey Williams made sure that the Scots lived to see another day.
Senior Mikey Williams scored a game-high 33 points in Thursday's 65-56 Class 5A state tournament win over Andover Central. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Williams scored a career-high 33 points, including an amazing 7 of 7 performance from 3-point range as Highland Park advanced to Friday's 4 p.m. semifinal with a 65-56 win over Central.
"I just knew going into it I had to step up,'' Williams said. "We know we rely on Ja'Corey (Robinson) and Jamon (Wilson) and all our other guys to step up, but I know in every game I can't just rely on another guy I know I've got to step up and do it for myself and do it for my team and do whatever it takes to get us to the next round and that's what I had to do.''
The Jaguars trailed by just a 24-22 margin at the end of the first quarter and led 35-33 at halftime before the Scots rallied in the third stanza for a 61-56 advantage.
Hi Park went up by 10 (56-46) on a Williams hoop with 6:19 remaining, but the Jaguars cut their deficit to two (58-56) at the 3:20 mark before the Scots ended the game with a 7-0 run.
The Scots also got 14 points (7 of 9 shooting) and a game-high eight rebounds from senior Isaiah Kelley.
Andover Central, which stayed in the hunt with a 10 of 21 performance from 3-point range, was led by Jayden Brown with 17 points (4 of 8 3s) while Jace Jefferson added 12 points on four treys and Jason Adler also had 12 points.
Highland Park advanced to the state semifinals for the third straight season to face last year's runnerup, Piper, a 70-52 winner over Shawnee Heights.
HIGHLAND PARK BOYS 65, ANDOVER CENTRAL 56
Andover Central 22 13 11 10 -- 56
Highland Park 24 9 18 14 -- 65
Andover Central (14-9) -- Brown 5-13 3-6 17, Degarmo 1-5 0-0 3, Jefferson 4-7 0-0 12, Meschke 1-2 1-2, Adler 5-10 2-4 12, Neal 0-0 0-0 0, Archibald 0-0 0-0 0, Balke 1-5 0-0 2, Stupka 3-7 0-0 7, Inslee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 6-12 56.
Highland Park (23-0) -- Wilson 0-4 1-2 1, Hales 0-2 0-0 0, Kelley 7-9 0-1 14, Williams 12-14 2-6 33, Robinson 1-5 5-6 7, Brown 0-0 2-2 2, Jones 1-2 0-1 2, Kingcannon 3-4 0-0 6, Montgomery 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-40 10-18 65.
3-point shots -- Andover Central 10-21 (Brown 4-8, Jefferson 4-6, Degarmo 1-1, Stupka 1-3, Balke 0-3), Highland Park 7-10 (Williams 7-7, Robinson 0-2, Hales 0-1). Total fouls -- Andover Central 21, Highland Park 17. Fouled out -- Degarmo, Adler. Technical fouls -- Robinson.
Shawnee Heights senior Jaret Sanchez led the T-Birds with 16 points in Thursday's 70-52 Class 5A state tournament loss to Piper. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
PIPER BOYS 70, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 52 -- After spotting Piper a 13-point halftime advantage, Shawnee Heights gave itself a chance to win Thursday's first-round game before a disasterous start to the fourth quarter ended the T-Birds' hopes.
No. 5 seed Piper, now 20-3, opened up a 21-12 first-quarter advantage and boosted its lead to 39-26 at the halftime break.
But Shawnee Heights (19-4) came to life in the third quarter, outscoring the Pirates 22-11 to get within two points (50-48) at the beginning of the fourth period.
The T-Birds then had an opportunity to take the lead, but missed back-to-back 3-pointers and turned the ball over on its next possession as the Pirates scored the first 15 points of the quarter to put Shawnee Heights away.
"We went out and we fought and 'O' (Ontarius Emmot) was shooting a wide open three to go ahead and misses it and gets a rebound and shoots it again and gets it blocked and they go down and hit a three, so instead of being up one, we're down five,'' Heights coach Ken Darting said. "And when you've played that hard to get back in it ... we just got emotionally drained and tired, physically tired.
"But you can't spot a good team that much and come back.''
Heights went scoreless over the first five minutes of the quarter and was outscored 22-4 over the final eight minutes as Piper took its third straight win over the T-Birds this season and fourth straight dating back to last year's first-round state game.
Phillip Moore led Piper with 18 points while Isaiah Sayles added 16 points and Derrick Jackson 10 as the Pirates shot 60.9 percent from the field, including a nine of 15 performance from 3-point range.
