Hayden High School Wildcats

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

Seaman finished a city-high third-place in Tuesday's 13-school Topeka Invitational boys swimming meet at the Capitol Federal Natatorium, while Washburn Rural's Jack Miranda won an individual title in the 100-yard freestyle.

Free State and Lawrence finished one-two in the team standings with 401.5 and 352 points while Seaman was third with 306 points.

Miranda was the city's lone individual champ, winning the 100 freestyle in 51.49 seconds, and Miranda teamed with Jalen Eilert, Sean Carr-Metzger and Nathen Trachta to finish second in the 200 free relay as the Junior Blues finished fifth as a team (197.5).

Seaman's Daniel Ramirez placed second in the 200 freestyle (1:58.02) and Adin Florence took second in the 100 backstroke (1:08.65) while Colin O'Rourke was third in the 200 individual medley (2:13.97)

Shawnee Heights' foursome of Truman Brede, Guillaume Hamblet, Luke Perkins and Tanner Zerger finished second in the 200-yard medley relay (1:47.24) while Zerger was second in the 50 free (23.64) and Perkins took second in the 100 butterfly (54.29) and the 100 backstroke (56.04).

Zerger, Evan Hoobler, Perkins and Hamblet finished third in the 200 free relay (1:36.27), helping the T-Birds finish seventh in the team standings.

TOPEKA HIGH INVITATIONAL

Tuesday at Capitol Federal Natatorium

Team scores

Free State 401.5, Lawrence 352, Seaman 306, Piper 213, Washburn Rural 197.5, Olathe South 176, Shawnee Heights 136, Junction City 104, Salina Central 100, Hayden 98, Salina South 80, Topeka High 71, Emporia 39.

Individual results

200 medley relay — 1. Piper (Huisman, Hein, White, Briggs), 1:47.03; 2. Shawnee Heights (Brede, Humblet, Perkins, Zerger), 1:47.24;3. Lawrence, 1:49.08.

200 freestyle — 1. Christian, Lawrence, 1:54.77; 2. Ramirez, Seaman, 1:58.02; 3. Rea, Free State, 2:08.49.

200 individual medley — 1. Lule-Paredes, Lawrence, 2:04.60; 2. Bonnell, Free State, 2:04.79; 3. O'Rourke, Seaman, 2:13.97.

50 freestyle — 1. Whittaker, Lawrence, 23.46; 2. Zerger, Shawnee Heights, 23.64; 3. Berland, Salina South, 23.86.

One meter diving -- 1. Higgins, Emporia, 249.50; 2. Ahlvers, Free State, 241.55; 3. Kohl, Manhattan, 223.20.

100 butterfly — 1. Bonnell, Free State, 54.27; 2. Perkins, Shawnee Heights, 54.29; 3. Smith, Olathe South, 55.07.

100 freestyle — 1. Miranda, Washburn Rural, 51.49; 2. Moore, Free State, 53.27; 3. Lamb, Junction City, 53.42.

500 freestyle — 1. Khosh, Free State, 5:17.68; 2. Cowardin, Lawrence, 5:19.53; 3. Christian, Lawrence, 5:25.68.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Lawrence (Whittaker, Tell, Christian, Oral), 1:36.25; 2. Washburn Rural (Eilert, Miranda, Carr-Metzger, Trachta), 1:36.27; 3. Shawnee Heights (Zerger, Hoobler, Perkins, Humblet), 1:36.28.

100 backstroke — 1. Smith, Olathe South, 54.68; 2. Perkins, Shawnee Heights, 56.04;3. Lule-Paredes, Lawrence, 56.86.

100 breaststroke — 1. Hein, Piper, 1:06.38; 2. Florence, Seaman, 1:08.65;3. Sanner, Junction City, 1:08.73.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Lawrence (Oral, Christian, Lule-Paredes, Whittaker), 3:31.07; 2. Free State, 3:35.52; 3. Piper, 3:39.74.

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

Washburn Rural enters Thursday's city swimming championships as the two-time team champ, but the 2022 city meet has a chance to be one of the most competitive overall in recent seasons.

The Junior Blues cruised to their second straight title last season by a decisive 402.5-292.5 margin over runner-up Hayden, but perennial city stalwart Seaman had just one entry due to COVID-related issues.

Nathen Trachta won four gold medals in last season's city swimming and diving championships, helping lead Washburn Rural to its second straight city team title. [File photo/TSN]

Senior Nathen Trachta was a four-event gold medalist a year ago, winning both of his individual events while also swimming on a pair of winning relays as the Junior Blues won nine of 12 events.

Trachta took first in the 100-yard butterfly in 54.57 seconds and the 100 backstroke in 56.16 while also swimming on the 200 free and 400 free relays and Rural also got a city title from junior Cordell Dimick in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:10.59).

Luke Perkins was able to sweep his two individual events for Shawnee Heights last season in the city meet, taking first in the 200-yard individual medley (2:04.48) and 500-yard freestyle (5:07.88), and Perkins also swam on the T-Birds' winning 200 medley relay (1:54.03).

Heights returning standout Tanner Zerger was also a city champion in the 200 medley relay in 2021.

Topeka High finished third in the team standings in last year's city meet while Shawnee Heights was fourth.

Rural's Trachta, Dimick and Jalen Eilert were first-team All-City selections last season along with Heights' Perkins and Topeka High's Perry Payne.

The city meet will get under way with diving competition at 1:30 p.m., followed by the swimming events.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Hayden's girls basketball team rode a fast start and a big night from seniors Carly Stuke and Macy Smith to a 58-38 first-round victory over Baldwin Tuesday in Wellsville's Top Gun Invitational.

Carly Stuke

Macy Smith

The Wildcats, who improved to 6-3 on the season, jumped out to a 23-8 first-quarter lead over the Bulldogs and led by a commanding 40-19 advantage at the half.

Hayden pushed its lead to 51-25 by the end of the third quarter and cruised the rest of the way.

Stuke and Smith combined for 31 points to pace the Wildcats, with Stuke scoring 19 points and Smith adding 12. Two other Hayden players scored at least six points.

With Tuesday's win Hayden advanced to a 6:45 p.m. semifinal game on Thursday to face the winner of the first-round game between Nemaha Central and Louisburg.

The tournament championship game will be played on Saturday.

SILVER LAKE BOYS 60, SANTA FE TRAIL 43 -- Silver Lake's boys snapped a four-game losing streak in decisive fashion, improving to 5-6 with a 60-43 home victory over Santa Fe Trail.

Silver Lake got the night off to a good start with a 22-12 first quarter.

Then, after the Chargers cut the Eagles' halftime lead to 30-28, Silver Lake answered with a 7-1 third quarter to take a 37-29 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles finished off the win with a 23-14 scoring edge over the final eight minutes.

"Good team win tonight,'' Silver Lake coach Johnny Roberts said in a text.

Kamryn Kaniper led a balanced Eagles offensive attack with 18 points while Luke Womack added 12 points, Troy Heiman 11 and Carson Johnson eight points.

The Eagles will try to make it two wins in a row when they travel to Sabetha on Friday for a non-league game.

By Rick Peterson

TopSports.news

The second of two midseason tournament weeks for Shawnee County prep basketball teams is on tap this week, with eight county girls teams set to compete in five tournaments.

Following is a tournament by tournament look at this week's events involving county teams:

CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC

At Topeka High

Host Topeka High will be joined by city schools Seaman and Highland Park in the Capital City Classic Thursday through Saturday, along with Blue Valley Southwest, Maize, Shawnee Mission East, Wichita Heights and Shawnee Mission North.

Highland Park will open its tournament bid at 6 p.m. Thursday against Wichita Heights in Topeka High's main gym, followed by Topeka High against Blue Valley Southwest at 7:30 p.m. in the main gym.

Seaman will take on Shawnee Mission North in a 7:30 first-round game Thursday in High's auxiliary gym, following a 6 o'clock contest between Maize and Shawnee Mission East.

Junior Kiki Smith (right), who surpassed the 1,000-point scoring milestone last week, will help lead 9-0 Topeka High into this week's Capital City Classic at High. [Submitted]

Topeka High enters the tournament with a perfect 9-0 record after a 59-33 win over Hayden while Seaman is 6-3 and Highland Park 1-10.

Seaman is coming off a 49-18 win over Topeka West while Highland Park dropped a 65-33 decision to Hayden in its most recent game.

The Topeka High-Blue Valley Southwest and Maize-Shawnee Mission East winners will square off in Friday's first semifinal at 6 p.m. while the winners of the Highland Park-Wichita Heights and Seaman-Shawnee Mission North first-round games will clash in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Both of those games will be played in the main gym.

The place games will be played on Saturday, capped by the championship game at approximately 2:30 p.m.

LADY FIREBIRDS WINTER CLASSIC

At Free State

City schools Topeka West and Washburn Rural will compete in the Lady Firebirds Winter Classic Thursday through Saturday at Lawrence Free State.

Washburn Rural sophomore Zoe Canfield is coming off a 20-point game with six 3-pointers against Emporia heading into this week's Lady Firebirds Winter Classic. [Submitted]

By Rick Peterson

TopSports.news

The question, in the wake of Topeka West's 50-point first half against St. Marys Friday night, wasn't that surprising, but neither was Charger coach Rick Bloomquist's answer

After West put on a clinic in the first half of its Topeka Invitational Tournament semifinal en route to opening up a commanding 50-25 lead, Bloomquist was asked if the Chargers' could play any better.

"I hope so,'' Bloomquist said with a big smile. "I'm planning on playing better every game, but we played very well. We moved the ball well and we guarded against the David-Goliath syndrome that a lot of people suffer from.

"We talked about playing against the game itself and not against the team that we're playing against and I thought our kids did a very good job of that.''

The pace slowed somewhat after the break, but the 9-1 Chargers were never seriously threatened, forcing a running clock late in the game en route to an 85-55 victory over the 9-2 Bears.

Topeka West senior Elijah Brooks soars in for one of his four dunks in Friday night's 85-55 Topeka Invitational semifinal win over St. Marys. Brooks scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Senior Elijah Brooks led Topeka West, ranked No. 4 in Class 5A, with 30 points, 11 rebounds and four dunks while junior Xavier Alexander had 16 points with four 3-pointers and senior Zander Putthoff and junior Malachi Berg added 11 points apiece.

Topeka West junior Xavier Alexander (right) had 16 points with four 3-pointers in Friday's 85-55 semifinal win over St. Marys in the Topeka Invitational Tournament. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

With the victory, Topeka West advanced to its third Topeka Invitational final in the last five years and will face Wichita Northwest, a 66-60 winner over Highland Park, in the 2:15 p.m. championship game at Highland Park. The Chargers will be looking for their first Topeka Invitational title since 2004.

St. Marys and Topeka West were tied at 8-8 before the Chargers ended the first quarter with a 16-8 run to build a 24-16 advantage.

Things got worse for the Bears, No. 2 in 2A, in the second quarter, with Topeka West putting St. Marys away with a 26-9 second-quarter blitz.

St. Marys cut its deficit to 19 points (64-45) by the end of the third quarter but Topeka West ended its big night with a 21-10 scoring edge over the final eight minutes.

St. Marys was led by junior Keller Hurla with 16 points and three 3-pointers while 6-foot-4 senior Fred Criqui added 14 points and seven rebounds.

St. Marys will face Highland Park in the third-place game at 12:30 p.m.

WICHITA NORTHWEST 66, HIGHLAND PARK 60 -- In the midst of an outstanding season, Wichita Northwest, No. 8-ranked in 6A, scaled a new height in Friday's Topeka Invitational Tournament semifinal, knocking off Highland Park, No. 2-ranked in 5A, 66-60 on the Scots' home floor.

"I think without question this is our biggest win to this point in the season,'' Northwest coach Andy Hill said. "We have had a nice year, but when we've played the teams that are the best of the best we've come up short, so to get this one done in this environment I was real proud of them.'' 

Northwest, which improved to 9-1, jumped out to a 20-9 lead over Highland Park (9-2) with two minutes left in the opening quarter, but Highland Park battled all the way back to knot the game at 46-46 on a 3-point play from junior Ketraleus Aldridge at the 7:51 mark of the fourth quarter and the Scots went up 48-46 on a basket by senior Juan'Tario Roberts with 7:21 remaining.

Northwest quickly regained control, however, scoring six straight points and Highland Park got no closer than two points the rest of the way while the Grizzlies led by as many as nine points twice down the stretch.

Junior Ketraleus Aldridge scored a game-high 21 points in Highland Park's 66-60 semifinal loss to Wichita Northwest in the Topeka Invitational Tournament. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Aldridge scored a game-high 21 points for Highland Park and Roberts added 15, but Northwest countered with five players scoring between eight and 17 points.

Senior Kevin Brown led Northwest with 17 points while senior Kee'on Hutton added 16 points and 11 rebounds, sophomore TaSean Williams 13 points, senior Geremiah Moore 10 points and senior Demarcus Hoover eight.

SHAWNEE MISSION NORTH 63, HAYDEN 49 --Shawnee Mission North, which improved to 2-9 on the season, led Hayden by just three points (41-38) at the end of the third quarter before taking control with a 22-11 fourth quarter.

The Bison looked to be on the verge of blowing the Wildcats out when they built a 25-8 advantage with 7:40 left in the first half but Hayden battled back to within four points and trailed 35-27 at the half.

Hayden, which fell to 1-8, never led in the game but got within three points three times in the third quarter and was still within three with less than six minutes remaining before North ended the game with a 20-9 run.

Junior Joe Otting led Hayden with a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds while junior Jake Muller added 11 points.

Senior James Shepherd led Shawnee Mission North with 21 points while senior Vincent Rolls added 14 points and 10 rebounds and senior Jaylen Gray 10 points.

Shawnee Mission North advanced to Saturday's 10:45 a.m. fifth-place game to face Lawrence, which posted a 73-62 win over Topeka High.

Hayden will play Topeka High in the seventh-place game at 9 a.m.

LAWRENCE 73, TOPEKA HIGH 62 -- Looking for its second win of the season, Topeka High led Lawrence 29-26 at halftime and was still in front 36-34 midway through the third quarter before Lawrence took control with a 15-3 run to end the third quarter.

Topeka High (1-9) battled back to get as close as four points four times in the fourth quarter, but the Lions (8-3) ended the game with an 11-4 run.

Sophomore BJ Canady had another big game for Topeka High, finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore Bryson Thrasher added 11 points and Germane Mays and Mason Gomez scored nine points apiece. All nine of Gomez's points came on 3-pointers.

Sophomore Zaxton King led Lawrence with a game-high 25 points while senior Pearse Long added 20 points and senior Truman Juelsgaard 11 points. 

TOPEKA WEST 85, ST. MARYS 55

Topeka West 24 26 14 21 -- 85

St. Marys       16 9 20 10 -- 55

Topeka West (9-1) -- Austin 2 2-3 6, Brooks 14 2-3 30, Alexander 5 2-4 16, Berg 4 3-6 11, Putthoff 4 0-0 11, Robinson 3 0-0 6, Foy 0 0-0 0, Sowell 0 0-0 0, Noonoo 0 0-0 0, Reimer 1 0-0 2, Wilkerson 0 0-0 0, Bearman 1 1-4 3. Totals 34 10-20 85.

St. Marys (9-2) -- Jacobson 2 0-1 6, J. Hurla 2 0-0 6, K. Hurla 6 1-2 16, Homan 2 0-0 6, Criqui 6 2-3 14, DeDonder 1 0-0 2, B. Hurla 0 0-0 0, Ewing 2 1-2 5. Totals 21 4-8 55.

3-point goals -- Topeka West 7 (Alexander 4, Putthoff 3), St. Marys 9 (K. Hurla 3, Jacobson 2, J. Hurla 2, Homan 2). Total fouls -- Topeka West 13, St. Marys 15. Fouled out -- J. Hurla.

WICHITA NORTHWEST 66, HIGHLAND PARK 60

Wichita Northwest 22 15 9 20 -- 66

Highland Park 14 16 13 17 -- 60

Wichita Northwest (9-1) -- Hoover 3 1-2 8, Williams 4 2-2 13, Moore 2 4-6 10, Hutton 7 1-3 16, K. Brown 5 4-6 15, James 0-0 2-2 2, T. Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23 13-20 66.

Highland Park (9-2) -- Adams 2 1-1 6, Aldridge 9 2-2 21, Richardson 4 0-1 8, Kingcannon 2 0-0 6, Roberts 5 4-6 15, Martin 0 0-0 0, Robinson 2 0-0 4. Totals 24 7-10 60.

3-point goals -- Wichita Northwest 7 (Williams 3, Moore 2, Hoover, Hutton), Highland Park 5 (Kingcannon 2, Adams, Aldridge, Roberts). Total fouls -- Wichita Northwest 11, Highland Park 15. Fouled out -- none.

SHAWNEE MISSION NORTH 63, HAYDEN 49

Hayden     8 19 11 11 -- 49

SM North 22 13 6 22 -- 63

Hayden (1-8) -- Muller 4 1-2 11, Duffey 2 2-2 7, Ham 1 0-0 2, Alfonsi 1 0-0 2, Otting 10 2-3 22, Bartlett 0 0-0 0, Gorman 1 0-0 2, Rice 0 0-0 0, Ridley 1 0-0 3. Totals 20 5-7 49.

Shawnee Mission North (2-9) --Hines 4 0-0 8, Shepherd 8 1-3 21, Gray 4 0-0 10, Rolls 5 4-4 14, Oberle 1 0-0 2, White 0 0-0 0, Schneider 1 1-2 3, Boldridge 2 1-1 5. Totals 25 7-10 63.

3-point goals -- Hayden 4 (Muller 2, Duffey, Ridley), Shawnee Mission North 6 (Shepherd 4, Gray 2). Total fouls -- Hayden 13, Shawnee Mission North 11. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- Gray.  

LAWRENCE 73, TOPEKA HIGH 62

Lawrence     14 12 23 24 -- 73

Topeka High 12 17 10 23 -- 62

Lawrence (8-3) -- Nelson 2 0-0 4, Juelsgaard 2 7-8 11, King 9 6-8 25, Watson 1 1-1 3, Long 5 9-10 20, Bowen 2 0-0 5, Herlihy 0 3-6 3, Bassett 0 0-0 0, Cleavinger 0 2-2 2. Totals 21 28-35 73.

Topeka High (1-10) -- Lyons 2 0-0 6, Mays 4 1-3 9, Cameron 2 0-0 4, Thrasher 3 5-6 11, Canady 6 9-10 21, Brown 0 0-0 0, Norman 0 0-0 0, Gomez 3 0-0 9, Morales 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 15-19 62.

3-point goals -- Lawrence 3 (Bowen, King, Long), Topeka High 5 (Gomez 3, Lyons 2). Total fouls -- Lawrence 18, Topeka High 25. Fouled out -- Bowen, Mays. Technical foul -- Mays.

RESULTS FRIDAY