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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Highland Park was within a shot here or a missed free throw there to a perfect end to a perfect season Saturday in White Auditorium.
Highland Park senior Ja'Corey Robinson (23) scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Saturday's 58-55 OT loss to Kapaun Mt. Carmel in the Class 5A state final. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
But for the second straight season, Kapaun Mt. Carmel came up with just enough plays down the stretch to end the Scots' Class 5A championship hopes, with the Crusaders rallying from a nine-point halftime deficit to outlast Highland Park 58-55 in overtime to claim their second straight state title.
"We had some chances and heart was never a question for our guys,'' Highland Park coach Mike Williams said. "I think they showed that time and time again and I think they showed that again tonight. All you really ask for a chance to win that thing late and I think we had a chance at the end of regulation and had a really good chance at the end of the overtime and that's a testament to the kids.
"They fought, they scrapped. We got down eight late in the fourth and they did not give up. Obviously we would have liked that it came out a little bit differently, but I will not knock our guys' fight and how they approached the game and how they played buzzer to buzzer all night long.''
Kapaun, which finished off a 22-3 season with its 17th straight win, had topped Hi Park 67-64 in OT in a classic 2024 semifinal en route to the championship before another thriller in Saturday's title tilt.
"My teams have played Topeka Highland Park three times -- once at Wichita South and twice here -- and every game went to overtime,'' Kapaun coach Steve Eck said. "The guys don't give up. We're down by nine at halftime and they just didn't give up. We beat a really good team.
"Highland Park is really talented and if you told me we'd be down nine at halftime and come back and win it I would have thought you were crazy, but at one time (early in the season) we were 5-3.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 5-ranked Washburn University Ichabods moved into the NCAA Central Regional semifinals with an 85-57 win over Harding in Lee Arena on Saturday night.
Freshman Dillon Claussen came off the bench to score a game-high 17 points in Washburn's 85-57 NCAA regional win over Harding. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn, now 27-3, will face Concordia St. Paul at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday night.
Washburn opened the game on an 11-2 run, holding Harding scoreless the first 5:08 of the game.
The Ichabods would go on to lead by as many as 18 in the first half with 5:16 left, using a 10-2 spurt to take
a 35-17 lead. Washburn went on to lead at the break, 41-25, after shooting 57 percent from the field.
As in the first half, the Ichabods jumped on the Bison (22-10) with a big run to start the frame as Washburn scored 17 of the first 21 points of the second half, building a lead of 58-30, and would go on to lead by as many as 35 at 85-50 before the Bison scored the final seven points of the game cutting the final margin to 28.
Freshmen Dillon Claussen scored 11 of his game-high 17 points in the first half, hitting 6 of 7 shots from the field while adding six boards, which tied for the game-high.
Senior Jacob Hanna scored 13 points in Washburn's 85-57 NCAA regional win over Harding Saturday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Sam Ungashick scored a season-high 13 points in Saturday's 85-57 NCAA regional win over Harding. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Jacob Hanna scored 13 points and junior Sam Ungahick scored a season-high 13 off the bench.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
SALINA -- The Hayden girls rebounded from a disappointing semifinal loss to Class 4A powerhouse Bishop Miege Friday, taking out their frustration on Buhler.
Hayden poses for a team picture Saturday after finishing third in the Class 4A state tournament in Salina. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
The Wildcats claimed the third-place trophy for the second year in a row – having done so in the 3A Classification a year ago – by defeating Buhler 57-23 at the Tony’s Pizza Event Center in Salina Saturday afternoon.
“The third-place game is a tough one to play in because you’re so disappointed from the night before,” Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said, noting the tears shed in the locker room after the loss to Miege.
“Today, in the stands, watching the game before ours, we seemed really loose. And sometimes that can go either way,” Reynoldson said. “I really felt we were going to play well, but you never know.”
Reynoldson’s fears were allayed instantly. Hayden started on 16-2 run and led 19-4 at the end of the first period.
“Millie (Ramsey) got fed a couple of times with easy buckets and she hit a three, and it caused them to call an early timeout, and it just snowballed from there,” the Hayden coach said.
The Wildcats led 30-12 at the half, playing nearly everyone on the team in the first half.
“We all agreed that we didn’t get where we wanted to, but this was still our last game, and we needed to come out and play as hard as we can,” Ramsey said. “We know what we’re capable of and we know what we can.
“It felt really great to end on a win, I’m really glad we didn’t have to end with (the loss to Miege) because that was not it.”
Ramsey led the Wildcats with 20 points and eight rebounds. Norma Greco scored 11.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Even though Saturday's 68-61 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas snapped the Seaman girls' 30-game winning streak and ended the Vikings' Class 5A championship reign, coach Matt Tinsley walked out of White Auditorium immensely proud of his team and the 24-1 season it put together.
Seaman senior Anna Becker capped her high school career with 28 points and five assists in Saturday's 68-61 loss to Aquinas in the Class 5A state tournament. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
"I'm just so proud of our girls,'' Tinsley said. "We may not have won this game, but they're champions in my book and in my hearts and their hearts. What we accomplished what was amazing. Obviously, we wanted to win, but I can't say enough about the character of the kids in that locker room. This hurts and it hurts for those kids because they played their hearts out all season.
"We were ranked No. 1 all year and we took everybody's best shot. This 5A tournament was loaded with teams and we had two tough games and we lost to a good team today.''
Seaman trailed Aquinas, which won its eighth title in nine seasons, by just a 12-10 count at the end of the opening quarter and the game was tied 26-all at halftime.
The No. 7-seeded Saints (18-7), who do not have a senior on their roster, opened up a six-point advantage (44-38) at the end of the third and put the Vikings away with a strong start to the fourth quarter, leading by 13 points twice, including a 63-50 advantage with 1:20 left.
Aquinas junior Alex Crouse scored a game-high 26 points, hitting 10 of 11 free throws, while sophomore Sofia Calovich added 18 points and sophomore Laila Boylan 10.
The Saints shot 51.4 percent from the field overall while hitting 4 of 7 3-pointers and connecting on 26 of 36 free throws. Seaman warmed up in the second half to shoot 41.8 percent from the floor (8 of 24 3s) and hit 7 of just 9 free throw opportunities.
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By Brad Hallier
For KSHSAA Covered
HUTCHINSON -- Silver Lake's girls trailed by as many as 11 points in the third quarter of Friday's Class 3A semifinal against Hesston and the Eagles also had to take junior point guard Kailyn Hanni off the floor for a few minutes due to injury.
Silver Lake's girls celebrate Friday's 65-58 state semifinal victory over Hesston in Hutchinson. [Photo by Andrew Carpenter/Special to KSHSAA Covered]
When Hanni came back, she was instrumental in helping the Eagles dominate the fourth quarter, as they outscored the previously-undefeated Swathers 25-10 over the final eight minutes to pull out a 65-58 win.
Hanni, who drew 14 fouls, finished with a game-high 28 points to go with six assists and four rebounds. Her 15 made free throws were one off the 3A single-game record at a state tournament, set in 1995 by Rossville’s Jennifer Perine.
Silver Lake was 4 of 5 from the field in the fourth quarter, sank all three of its 3-pointers and made all 14 free throw attempts.
Hesston raced to its 11-point lead thanks to a strong performance from senior guard Kendal Brueggen, who finished with 27 points and five rebounds. But after shooting at least 50% in each of the first three quarters, the Swathers cooled off in the fourth quarter, making just 3 of 12 shots.
