- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The final minutes of Friday's Centennial League basketball game at Hayden got a lot tighter than Washburn Rural girls coach Kevin Bordewick would have preferred.
Washburn Rural's girls celebrate Friday's 40-38 Centennial League win at Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
But after seeing Hayden rally from a 13-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to have an opportunity to send the game to overtime, Bordewick was relieved to get out of the Bueltel Activities Center with a 40-38 win.
"It was ugly and we've got to take care of the ball better, we have to understand situations,'' Bordewick said. "We got a couple of five-second counts, but we fought through a lot of adversity and I told them if we can persevere and be that resilient than that's really a good sign to come in here and get a win like that.''
Rural's win avenged an earlier 38-35 home league loss to the Wildcats as the Junior Blues improved to 15-6 overall and 5-3 in the league with their second one-possession win in as many nights.
After trailing 6-5 at the end of the first quarter, Washburn Rural took a slim 18-16 halftime advantage over the Wildcats before opening up a 29-21 cushion at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Junior Blues extended their lead to a game's biggest 36-23 midway through the final stanza on a basket from freshman Brynn Anderson, but Hayden (15-6, 6-3) stepped up the defensive pressure and went on a 14-3 run to cut its deficit to just two points (39-37) with 14.7 seconds remaining.
Anderson hit one of two free throws to push Rural's lead back to three, but the officials ruled that Hayden senior Lauren Borjon was fouled on a desperation 3-point attempt as time ran out. Three-10ths of a second were put back on the court and Borjon went to the free throw line for three shots with a chance to force OT.
After missing the first charity Borjon hit the second free throw before being called for a line violation as she purposely missed the third shot to try to give the Wildcats a chance at a game-tying bucket.
Washburn Rural freshman Brynn Anderson led all scorers with 19 points in Friday's 40-38 Centennial League win at Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural junior Maddie Vickery had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's 40-38 win at Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Anderson led Washburn Rural with a game-high 19 points with three 3-pointers while junior Maddie Vickery had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in her second game back from ACL surgery.
I feel like our whole team was doing a good job of moving the ball and getting each other open,'' Anderson said. "We gave up a couple (baskets) towards the end but I feel like we did a pretty good job of getting stops on defense and staying physical.
"It's good to have (Maddie) back as another option on offense and she moves the ball well, so our offense is moving a little bit better.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's boys faced long odds of posting a Senior Night win Friday night after spotting Washburn Rural a 17-point advantage midway through the second quarter and falling behind by 16 points early in the second half.
Hayden senior Connor Hanika (3) had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's 53-49 overtime win over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
But eventually the Wildcats began to flash the form that has now produced eight wins over their last nine games, forcing overtime before doubling up the Junior Blues in the extra session to take a 53-49 Centennial League win at the Bueltel Activities Center.
"We regrouped and got back to the things that we wrote up -- start executing, start looking for each other and don't be so panicked when you don't get that first option,'' Hayden coach Dwayne Anthony said. "They did a good job of just staying the course.''
Now 12-8 overall and 5-4 in the league, the Wildcats were able to avenge a 17-point loss (79-62) at Rural earlier in the season.
After trailing 3-2 and 5-4 early, Washburn Rural (11-9, 4-4) took a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and hit the Wildcats with an 18-7 second quarter, leading 26-9 midway through the period, to take a 28-14 advantage into halftime.
The Junior Blues, who played without injured senior guard Simon Rowley, scored the first basket of the second half to go up 30-14 and still led by double-digits midway through the third quarter before the Wildcats began to peck away at the Rural advantage.
Hayden cut its deficit to 37-34 by the end of the third quarter and took its first lead since the opening three minutes on a Mason Becker 3-pointer with 6:28 left in regulation.
Three ties and a couple of lead changes followed and both teams had opportunities to end things in regulation over the final minute before the game went to OT.
Hayden drew first blood in overtime on a 3-pointer from junior Carter Compton and never trailed in the extra session while leading by five points twice as the Wildcat seniors were able to celebrate their first career wins over Washburn Rural.
Senior Connor Hanika scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the second half to lead four double-figure scorers for the Wildcats while grabbing 10 rebounds for a double-double.
"We struggled in the first half, everybody,'' Hanika said. "We couldn't get anything to fall but the main thing at halftime was our shots are going to fall and we've just got to wait for the opportunity and then attack it.''
Becker added 13 points with three 3-pointers while senior Kade Mitchell scored 11 points and Compton 10 for the Wildcats.
"That's what we've been stressing,'' Anthony said of the Wildcats' balance. "This is a team game and so easily it can feel like it's not at times, but it is and they've embraced the 'We over me' philosophy and that's been blessing us in these last games.''
Senior John Hoytal (10) scored a game-high 17 points in Friday's 53-49 Washburn Rural overtime loss at Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Senior John Hoytal led Washburn Rural with a game-high 17 points and also grabbed nine rebounds while senior Kieffer O'Connor came off the bench to add 10 points with a pair of treys.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Junior individual champion Megan Glinka led the way Thursday as Washburn Rural's girls captured the team title in the Centennial League bowling tournament at Manhattan's Little Apple Lanes.
The Junior Blues also got a 499 series from Kenzie Lawson, a 471 from Ellen Austin, a 463 from Camrynn Ahrens and a 359 from Peyton Lawson.
Washburn Rural's boys finished second as a team to Junction City, with the Blue Jays winning by a 3,276-3,236 margin over the Junior Blues.
Rural was led by Andrew Faurot's 598 series, followed by Zachary Hancock (592), Cody Spangler (565), Jackson Keller (564), Parker Dixson (540) and Brecken Garrett (529).
Hayden's Reece Renyer led the city boys contingent with a 624 series, placing third individually.
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE BOWLING
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After spending their whole lives growing up in one town, a lot of high school athletes have their hearts set on getting away and seeing somewhere new when it comes time to pick a college.
Taylor Brees
Former Shawnee Heights multi-sport standout Taylor Brees was one of those student-athletes, but after a lot of thinking, Brees decided she wasn't going anywhere, a decision that has paid immediate dividends for both Brees and Brenda Holaday's 13-2 Washburn University softball team.
"I didn't want to stay here and Washburn actually never even crossed my mind,'' Brees said. "I was looking at St. Louis University and I was pretty heavily leaning on that. And then I just got a random text one day from Holaday and she wanted me to come on a visit.
"I was like, 'Oh yeah, I'll go but I'm not really thinking that's where I'll end up,' because I was so heavy on SLU (an NCAA Division I school) at that point. Then I came and I was like, 'Oh, this is not what I thought it was.' I was pleasantly surprised and I ended up deciding that this was probably my best fit.''
Brees was told that she would have an opportunity to play this spring as a freshman for the Ichabods, which helped cement her decision.
"That was a big thing that went into my decision was that (coach Holaday) basically told me that I could have an almost immediate impact whereas SLU, they were kind of a little bit more wishy washy about that,'' Brees said. "And Washburn also has such great facilities, so it was kind of a combination of those things.''
The 5-foot-3 Brees knew she had to earn her way into the Washburn lineup and went about doing that over the fall and winter while also making the position switch from second base to right field.
"I was really nervous that first game and, honestly, all fall and winter I wasn't really sure that I would be starting,'' she said. "I was kind of like on the bubble there, like that 10th man in softball terms. But the day before we were leaving for Texas, they put me in lineup. So I kind of only had a day before I knew.
"That first game I was really nervous and when I heard my name in the lineup I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is really happening.' But I went up there and I got a hit my first at bat and after that hit I was like, 'OK, you're fine, you can do this.' ''
Holaday, a former state-champion coach at Washburn Rural and the winningest coach in Washburn softball history, said Brees has taken advantage of every opportunity she's been given.
"She absolutely has,'' Holaday said. "To be a freshman and come into a program with a lot of established kids that should be tabbed for certain starting positions and all the transition that goes into playing at the college level and being a college student and moving away from home, the transition and the changes that she's made are a credit to her.
"She's extremely, extremely coachable, so when we saw what her bat was giving us in the fall and we had Dalaney Anderson at second we decided we would try to convert her to an outfielder. She loves second base and if she had her way she'd be at second base, but she loves playing more, so she started working at the outfield.''
- Details
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Cair Paravel girls’ three-game winning streak was snapped in a 35-30 home loss to Jefferson County North in the final regular season game Thursday. The Lions finished the schedule with an 11-11 record and now await their postseason assignment.
Becca Gateley led CPLS with 11 points, including three 3-pointers, in Thursday's 35-30 loss to Jefferson County North. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Lions stayed in lockstep with the visiting Chargers right to the end. Neither team led by more than four points until the final seconds, and Cair Paravel led by one point, 30-29, with 3:40 left.
It was at that point that the foul disparity became too much for the Lions to overcome. Cair Paravel committed 20 fouls to the Chargers’ 10. The Chargers hit 14-20 free throws to the Lions’ 2-4. Cair Paravel’s two seniors – Karsyn Hastert and KellyAnn Chada – both fouled out in the final minutes.
“Obviously, fouls were a big part of the game, and it was hard because three of my girls were playing with four fouls,” said Cair Paravel coach Jaley Barkley.
The Lions got just three points from their leading scorer, London Backman, and none from Chada.
“You could definitely tell Jefferson County North had scouted us. They were all over Karsyn and they really shut down KellyAnn and London,” said Barkley. “I’m proud of the girls that stepped up. They hit some shots.”
Karsyn Hastert had 10 points in Thursday's 35-30 Cair Paravel loss to Jefferson County North. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Becca Gateley got hot in the second half, hitting three consecutive 3-pointers to keep the Lions in it. She finished with 11 points, followed by Hastert with 10.
Though the loss dropped the Lions to .500, Barkley said the three-game win streak injected a sense of pride in the team.
“The girls have really enjoyed having that winning record,” Barkley said. “It’s kind of brought a different fuel and energy to the team that wasn’t there last year. Being .500 puts us kind of in the middle of the pack (for sub-state) as opposed to some of the years before.”
The Lions are 5-2 in February and hope to be peaking at the right time.
“From our first game of the season ‘til now, we’ve improved in all areas,” Barkley said. “I’m just proud of the girls for everything they’ve learned throughout this season in every individual game. They’ve been very coachable and have grown so much.”
JEFFERSON COUNTY NORTH GIRLS 35, CAIR PARAVEL 30
Jefferson County North 10 4 11 10 -- 35
Cair Paravel 7 8 8 7 -- 30
Jefferson County North (13-9) – Blattner 2-7 3-4 8, Johnson 1-9 2-2 4, Thompson 2-7 4-8 8, Porter 2-6 0-0 4, L. Noll 0-6 2-2 2, Schrick 1-4 0-0 2, R. Noll 1-6 1-2 3, Hernandez 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 10-47 14-20 35.
Cair Paravel (11-11) – Hastert 5-8 0-0 10, Donaldson 0-5 0-0 0, Gateley 4-11 0-0 11, K. Chada 0-7 2-2 2, Backman 1-9 0-2 3, Rosenow 2-5 0-0 4, M. Chada 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-45 2-4 30.
3-point goals – Jefferson County North 1 (Blattner), Cair Paravel 4 (Gateley 3, Backman). Total fouls – Jefferson County North 10, Cair Paravel 20. Fouled out – Hastert, Chada. Technical fouls – none.
