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Seaman boys handle Spring Hill behind Bonner’s 16 points, balanced scoring
By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
No. 7 ranked (Class 5A) Seaman boys basketball has now won five of its last six games, moving to 13-3 on the year Wednesday night with a 62-51 home victory over Spring Hill.
Senior KaeVon Bonner led a balanced Seaman attack with 16 points in Wednesday's 62-51 home win over Spring Hill. [File photo/TSN]
“I thought defensively we were really good because they have some quality players that are capable of scoring points and we did a really good job on making everything (difficult) for them,” Seaman coach Craig Cox said. “Then in the second half I thought offensively we had a nice rhythm and flow to help us build that lead in the fourth quarter.”
“I thought it was good from everyone,” said senior Cameron Brian, who had 13 points. “Griffin (Zuniga) was really good on the boards, Landon (Wiltz) does what he always does and gets those corner 3s for us which we use on momentum, KaVeon did a great job facilitating the offense and helping find the open guys and that helped with our success.”
The Vikings built a 6-3 lead in the early going which was pushed to 8-3 after a put-back bucket from senior Matthew McConnaughey. Spring Hill hit a triple to bring it to 8-6 but senior Wiltz followed it up with one of his own, making it 11-6 and Seaman took the 13-7 lead into the second quarter.
Brian would help halt a mini-5-0 run from the Broncos with a three as the Vikings led 16-11 and eventually got their biggest lead of the game, 23-15. Spring Hill and Seaman went cold for a little bit and turned the ball over but Seaman took an eight-point lead into the break, 25-17.
The Vikes would build a 12 point lead in the third quarter after a couple of quick buckets, but Spring Hill went on a 12-4 run, cutting its deficit to just four.
But after that Seaman regained control for good. After Bonner and Wiltz scored five points combined, they led by 10, 42-32 heading into the fourth.
“I thought Matthew McConnaughey contributed on the boards, especially in the first half, and Cameron (Brian) picked up in the second half, which was big for us. He’s a linebacker. He’s got a linebacker mentality. He plays strong and we need that. We need him to be strong going to the boards… that definitely helped limit their second-chance opportunities,” Cox said.
In the fourth stanza, Seaman kept extending its lead. Brian and Wiltz hit one three apiece to put the Vikings up 49-34 and then Wiltz would convert an and-one making it 52-36 with 5:35 remaining in the game.
Seaman girls drop tight contest against Spring Hill, 34-32
By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Seaman girls basketball had a chance to beat Spring Hill or at least force overtime in the final seconds Wednesday night at home, but the Broncos held off the Vikings in a low scoring affair, 34-32.
The Vikings started off slow and couldn’t get the ball to roll in their favor and Spring Hill doubled senior Maddie Gragg any time they could. And, the Vikings had a hard time taking care of the ball early in the game.
Missed free throws were a key factor, too, but Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said basketball is a game that always has different swings.
“I told the girls against Topeka High that 95 percent of the game you don’t have the ball in your hand so what can you do during that time to make an impact, doing those little things and for this game, one possession here and there changes that game,” Tinsley said.
Audrey Meder for Spring Hill scored the first six points after knocking down two from distance. Gragg got her team its first points off a free throw, making one of two but then would score the Vikings first bucket with three minutes left in the first quarter.
Gragg scored five of the seven points in the quarter and Seaman trailed Spring Hill, 13-7.
Seaman had a hard time stopping the three from the Broncos as they made them at will. They went up 16-7, forcing Tinsley into a timeout at the 6:11 mark. The lead grew to 21-9 for Spring Hill but Seaman scored four straight which then made the Broncos call a timeout after a Brynn Spencer bucket in transition.
Meder kept up her hot shooting night with another three, making it 24-13 and that’s where the score held at halftime.
The Vikes started hot in the third quarter on a 9-0 run after Gragg and Cara Beaton both hit triples as Spring Hill would call a timeout in a 24-21 game. It got down to a one point game after a basket from freshman Baylee Ayres.
That’s something Tinsley said, they’ve been a third quarter team but can’t figure it out quite yet.
“That’s been our story this year. We don’t get a rebound here, we have a turnover here, we go on a run that puts us back a couple of points and we’re there at the end,'' Tinsley said. "Our third quarters have been great … we competed tonight more than we did on Tuesday.
"If we see a couple of more shots go in, it’s a different ball game. If we hit a couple of more free throws, it’s a different ball game. I’m just proud of their effort however.''
The Broncos would hit a three right after that to stop the bleeding a little bit and go up four. Spring Hill would head into the fourth quarter up 27-25.
It was a slow moving fourth quarter as both teams missed shots and turned the ball over.
Towards the end, Gragg hit another from downtown, making it 31-30 Spring Hill with 2:35 left in the game but Isla Herman knocked down a three to put the Broncos back up four.
Dreher would get fouled down low, made the bucket but failed to convert the and-one, leaving the Broncos still down two, 34-32.
Seaman had an opportunity to take the lead before the horn sounded but Gragg missed a triple, Beaton saved it from going out of bounds, landed in the hands of Spencer but came up just short to force overtime on a jumper from the second hash mark.
“Everyone is stepping up in their own way,'' Tinsley said. "We’re getting down to crunch time and we’re going to need everyone to be locked in. We’re in a good spot right now and we have to get back on Friday.''
SPRING HILL GIRLS 34, SEAMAN
Spring Hill 13 11 3 7 – 34
Seaman 7 6 12 7 – 32
Spring Hill (10-5) -- Meder 4 0-0 11, McConnell 1 0-0 3, Herrman 2 0-0 6, Herman 5 0-0 12, Harris 1 0-0 2.
Seaman (8-7) – Dreher 1 0-1 2, Spencer 1 0-0 2, Beaton 4 2-2 11, Ayres 2 0-0 4, Gragg 5 1-6 13.
3-point goals -- Spring Hill 8 (Meder 3, Herman 2, Herrman 2, McConnell), Seaman 3 (Gragg 2, Beaton). Total fouls -- Spring Hill 9, Seaman 9 . Fouled out -- none.
Washburn University football announces diverse 34-member 2026 recruiting class
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University football coach Zach Watkins announced a diverse 34-member high school recruiting class on Wednesday, including five city products.
Washburn football coach Zach Watkins announced a 2026 recruiting class on Wednesday that includes 34 high school players and 17 transfers who are already on campus. [File photo/TSN]
"Our staff did a tremendous job of identifying what we needed on the roster and going out and identifying the kids that fit those needs,'' said Watkins, who will be starting his second season as WU's head coach in 2026. "We've been recruiting these guys since February of '25, so to see a full year of recruiting come to fruition and the kids all signed is very satisfying.''
Watkins also confirmed that Washburn, which is coming off a 3-8 campaign, has picked up 17 transfers who are currently enrolled at WU for the spring semester.
"We got hired last year and had a month to recruit,'' Watkins said. "This year we had a year to recruit. We signed 34 high school kids and 17 transfers who are here on campus right now and they started in January. They're the most talented group of transfers we've ever brought in here at Washburn.
"Those transfers provide immediate help and immediate depth and then like I said from Day 1 when we got hired as a staff, we're going to be a high school-based recruiting program. We're going to recuit Topeka, we're going to recruit Kansas, the Midwest and branch out from there and the 34 kids we signed really filled the needs we have and the depth we needed to create, we got that done in this class.''
Washburn Rural's Jordy Heim (6-foot-1, 220 pounds) and John Hoytal (6-3, 200) signed on Wednesday along with Hayden's Kade Mitchell (5-9, 175), Shawnee Heights' Aiden Scott (6-5, 200) and Topeka West's Logan Hunninghake (6-2, 250).
Hoytal, Mitchell and Scott earned TopSports.news All-Shawnee County Top 22 honors this past fall while Heim was a Second 22 all-county honoree and Hunninghake earned all-county honorable mention.
Hoytal played quarterback for Washburn Rural but is projected as a tight end in college while Mitchell is a running back, Scott a quarterback, Heim a linebacker and Hunninghake an offensive lineman.
"The kids we got from Topeka we're really excited about,'' Watkins said.
The Washburn recruiting class includes 11 players that played at Kansas high schools along with 12 Missouri prep products, seven from Texas, three from Florida and one from Nebraska.
There's also diversity among position groups, with eight players projected as defensive backs, six defensive linemen and five offensive linemen, four wide receivers, three linebackers and running backs, two tight ends, two punter/kickers and one quarterback.
Washburn recruiting capsules:








