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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University men's basketball team rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to take a 64-63 MIAA win over Missouri Western on Wednesday night in Lee Arena, with Jarmell Johnson canning the second of two free throw attempts with 2.7 seconds left for the game-winning point.
Washburn junior Andrew Orr scored a game-high 25 points in the Ichabods' 64-63 win over Missouri Western Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Michael Keegan slams home a dunk in Wednesday's 64-63 MIAA win over Missouri Western Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
After Johnson's free throw the Griffons' inbounds pass was picked off by Brady Christiansen, sealing the win for the Ichabods, who improved to 10-0 in home games this season.
Johnson had missed free throws with a chance to send a game to overtime early in the season, but this time the sophomore emerged as the hero.
"I felt like I had the same free throw routine, but this time I just finished on my toes,'' Johnson said. "We've practiced a lot of free throws in practice this week, too, so I feel like we prepare right for that.''
Wednesday's dramatic win gave Washburn a much-needed bounce-back win after a disappointing 75-66 loss at Northeastern State last Saturday.
With the win the Ichabods improved to 15-7 overall and 11-5 in the MIAA, with WU surpassing its victory total from the 2022-2023 season.
Junior Andrew Orr, who scored just two points in Saturday's loss, led all scorers with 25 points, hitting 11 of 19 shots while adding six rebounds and a block with 17 of his points coming in the second half.
"I went out there (at Northeastern) and my energy going into the game was not the same that I bring to every game,'' Orr said. "I knew that and I think that's part of the reason we played so poorly because not just me but as a team we knew that Northeastern wasn't a great team and we thought we were just going to go out and beat them, but in the MIAA you can't do that.
"Everybody's good and it really motivated not just me but the entire team. We knew that we needed a bounce-back game from that because that was a bad loss for us.''
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
The Hayden boys, looking for their first win since Dec. 20th, traveled to Emporia Tuesday looking to put up a fight and a fight they did put up for two quarters.
Hayden looked like it might be in line for its first win of 2024 and its first Centennial League win when the Wildcats went went into halftime down just 18-14.
“I think we had a great first half,” Hayden coach Trey Brown said.
But Emporia came out the second half and took control, going on a 27-4 run midway through the third quarter and cruising to a 50-24 win.
“We didn’t hit a lot of shots we normally hit, but that’s a credit to them,''Brown said. "They did a great job on defense all night. We have to do a better job of sharing the ball.
"We get too selfish and take too many bad shots, which is why we struggled to score. As well as missing multiple point blank layups. Again credit to them they did a great job of guarding and making things hard for us.”
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
In a game that was built to be a heavyweight fight and a battle for the Centennial League title Tuesday night in Emporia, things started off the wrong way for Hayden's girls as Emporia opened the first quarter with a 24-0 shutout and added five more points to start the second quarter before the Wildcats would score their first points three minutes into the second quarter down 29-0.
Brylee Meier
Norma Greco
Hayden was able to fight back to make it a game over the final three quarters, but the Spartans wlked away with a 44-32 win.
Junior Norma Greco would finally get the Wildcats on the board with two free throws and the Wildcats would scratch and claw and go on their own 13-0 run to go into halftime down 29-13.
“We found ourselves in a situation that really tests our character down 29-0,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldon said. "I've never been in a situation like that, but the way that the girls fought back and turned it into a 38-30 game, with us having all the momentum, I see the positive in what happened tonight.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
If there's a player in Shawnee County or the nearby area that Washburn University football coach Craig Schurig and his staff thinks has the ability to play in the MIAA, Schurig and Co. want them playing for the Ichabods.
And in a year that was considered talent-heavy in Washburn's backyard, the Ichabods made that a priority, signing seven Shawnee County products thus far, including four from Class 6A semifinalist Washburn Rural in a 2024 recruiting class that is expected to reach about 55 signess when all the paperwork is completed.
JC Heim, Washburn Rural
Jaren Heim, Washburn Rural
"You don't want to play against them,'' Schurig said of the local talent base. "And what was neat was those kids really, I think, researched things out well. They talked to kids that are currently here and I think our school's done a good job of advertising Washburn and making it where they feel like home here.
"Then obviously our facilities are outstanding, so when they do their campus visits they're like, 'Yeah, the best place we can go to is at home.' ''
Branton DeWeese, Washburn Rural
Jamond Lane, Washburn Rural (facing)
Washburn Rural twins Jaren Heim (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) and J.C. Heim (6-3, 225), both linebackers, signed on Wednesday along with Junior Blues quarterback Branton DeWeese (6-0, 185) and Rural defensive lineman Jamond Lane (6-0, 280).
Silver Lake standout Blake Redmond (26) has signed letter of intent with Washburn after earning All-Shawnee County honors. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods also landed Shawnee Heights defensive lineman Christian Gonzales (6-1, 275), Topeka High defensive back Isaiah Kincade (6-0, 195) and Silver Lake running back Blake Redmond (5-9, 160).
The Heims, DeWeese, Lane, Gonzales and Redmond were all TopSports.news All-Shawnee County Top 22 picks as seniors while Kincade was a Second 22 selection.
"It was a good year (for local prospects) and a lot of those kids were on the verge of maybe some of the bigger schools sniffing around and that kind of thing, but they're perfect for MIAA and their work ethic and all that stuff is really good and their football's good, so we're very excited,'' Schurig said.
"Obviously, when you have local talent it really helps.''
In addition to the county signees announced Wednesday, Washburn also signed Sabetha twins Jacob Grimm (6-5, 285) and Joshua Grimm (6-5, 300).
The current 49 member 2024 recruiting class includes 21 Kansans along with players from six other states, including 12 players from Missouri, six from Georgia, four from Texas, three from Arizona, two from Colorado and one from Nebraska.
There's also diversity among position groups, with nine players projected as linebackers, eight offensive linemen and defensive backs, seven running backs, six defensive linemen, four wide receivers, three quarterbacks and tight ends and one player listed as an athlete.
It all adds up to the biggest signing class of Schurig's career.
"It is and it's because of a combination of reasons,'' Schurig said. "We had quite a few kids graduate and we're pretty much transitioning out of the Covid time and so some of the guys that may have had a year left got really good jobs so they are moving on.
"And then locally and in-state it just seemed like there was a lot of good fits for us. With the Heim boys and the Grimm boys we got a couple of twin packages which was awesome and we've got a lot of legacy kids coming, where mom and dad went to school here, which is really cool.
"We felt like we needed to fill some needs for sure and then with the group that left, and then some kids that aren't going to continue to play because they got great job opportunities, scholarship-wise we had a good amount to offer, which was great.''
Washburn, which fought through an injury-riddled season in 2023 is coming off a 2-9 campaign, but Schurig feels like the '24 signing class paired with the Ichabods' returning cast will allow WU to right its ship in a hurry.
"We're still going to be young, but very talented, and we just have to get them going in the same direction,'' Schurig said.
"It's exciting because you know the talent base that you're going to be coaching is really strong, Now we've just got to get them going. It's a very talented and very diverse group that we're bringing in.''
Washburn recruiting capsules:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University women's basketball team returns home at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday after a two week stint on the road to face Missouri Western State.
Senior Aubree Dewey averages 16.4 points and 4.8 assists for the Washburn women's basketball team. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn is coming off a 66-62 road loss to Northeastern State on Saturday afternoon.
WU is now 11-10 overall on the year and has gone 6-9 in the MIAA while Missouri Western is 17-4 overall and 12-3 in the MIAA after defeating Nebraska-Kearney 73-61 on Saturday.
The Griffons have won seven straight games and are receiving votes in the latest WBCA rankings.
As a team Washburn averages 70.6 points on 41.2 percent shooting from the floor and 32.6 percent from 3-point range.
Senior Aubree Dewey leads Washburn with a 16.4 scoring average and dishes out a team-high 4.8 assists per game and pulls down 5.5 rebounds from the point guard position, second most on the team.
