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KK Emmot, Andres Morao-Jaspe the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Rising Stars of the Week
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights sophomore girls basketball standout KK Emmot and Washburn Rural sophomore swimming standout Andres Morao-Jaspe have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Emmot and Morao-Jaspe over the past week:
Shawnee Heights sophomore KK Emmot has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency female Rising Star of the Week after leading the T-Birds to the championship in the Capital City Classic. [File photo/TSN]
KK EMMOT, Shawnee Heights
Emmot, a sophomore, scored a career-high 36 points last Saturday as Shawnee Heights rallied from a 16-point deficit late in the first half to take a 59-54 win over No. 5-ranked (Class 6A) Washburn Rural in the championship game of the Capital City Classic at Topeka West.
Emmot scored 75 points in the T-Birds' three games on the week, scoring 14 in a 54-47 OT win over Blue Valley and 25 points in a 65-32 win over Topeka West.
Washburn Rural sophomore Andres Morao-Jaspe has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency male Rising Star of the Week after leading the Junior Blues to their sixth straight city swimming championship. [File photo/TSN]
ANDRES MORAO-JASPE, Washburn Rural
A sophomore, Morao-Jaspe won four gold medals in last Thursday's swimming/diving championhips at the Capitol Federal Natatorium as the Junior Blues won their sixth straight city team championship with a 532-418.5 victory over Topeka High.
Morao-Jaspe won the 200-yard individual medley (2:07.6) and the 500 free (5:14.46) and swam on Rural's winning 200 medley (1:48.20) and 400 free (3:39.00) relays.
Brenda Holaday on cusp of Washburn University softball career win mark
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
When Brenda Holaday accepted the job as Washburn University's softball coach in the summer of 2016 after a Hall of Fame career at Washburn Rural, she had a list of things she wanted to accomplish with the Ichabods, but Holaday had nary a thing on that list about any personal achievements.
Brenda Holaday is two wins away from becoming Washburn University softball's all-time career wins leader. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But along with team success comes individual milestones, and the veteran coach is on a verge of a biggie this weekend.
Holaday is 255-151 after opening her ninth season as the Ichabod head coach with a 3-2 mark last weekend in Youngsville, La. and needs just one win in this weekend's five games in Bentonville, Ark. to pull even with her former Rural star, Lisa Carey, as the all-time WU wins leader at 256 and can take ove the No. 1 spot outright with two wins.
"What I wanted when I came here was to make Washburn a winner and I felt that there was opportunity there, just being close enough to see it from a distance,'' Holaday said. "I felt like there would have to be a lot work done on facilities and a lot of work done on recruiting and building the program and that's been my goal from Day 1.''
After Washburn went 25-30 in Holaday's Ichabods have posted eight straight winning seasons, with four seasons of at least 37 victories and a career-best 45-15 season in 2022.
"It hasn't happened just because of me,'' Holaday said. "I mean there's so many people who have contributed to that success, but in terms of any kind of a legacy or how long I want to coach and how many wins I need to get, it just doesn't cross my mind.''
"I think when you're in a head coaching position there's a thousand other things that you have to take care of before that and I think that's all just a result of surrounding yourself with the right people and having some good things happen. I was fortunate for that to happen out at Washburn Rural after several years, but it didn't start that way, and I didn't do things by myself out there either.''
As is the case in most any profession, Holaday said a major priority for her is to continue to enjoy what she's doing.
"I love it,'' Holaday said. "And to be honest with you I have such a good staff right now that I'm probably enjoying it more than I ever have because I'm able to hand some things off to some other people so that my life is a little more manageable.
"I think I'm enjoying it more now because a lot of things have been put in place with a lot of hard work from a lot of people. I also have a staff and a group of players who buy in to what we're doing, who want to take on more, who want to learn, who want to be great and, man, if you can't enjoy that why are you in this business?''
Trojans end victory drought with 65-60 Centennial League win at Hayden
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Rewind to a year ago and the Hayden boys where in the same position as Topeka High found itself in Tuesday night as the Wildcats entered the game on a 12-game losing streak and would leave by beating the Trojans 57-42.
Junior Elisha Guest scored 15 points with three 3-pointers in Topeka High's 65-60 Centennial League win over Hayden. [File photo/TSN]
Fast forward to Tuesday as Topeka High would be the team needing a win and the Trojans would find just that, picking up their first win of the season with a 65-60 road Centennial League victory over Class 4A No. 4-ranked Hayden .
The start of the game would be in favor of the Wildcats as they would get off to the hot start with a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and take a 33-27 lead into halftime, led by junior Connor Hanika, who would have 12 of his team high 16 points at halftime.
High would come out of halftime fighting as they would be down 54-47 at the end of three with a huge momentum swing right at the buzzer when junior Elisha Guest would hit a 3 to end the third and help his team get hot going into the fourth.
The Trojans would out-score the Wildcats 18-6 in the fourth to rally for the 5-point victory.
The Trojans would get a big night from Topeka West transfer Guest, who would score 15 points.
Guest, who spent the last 2 seasons at West made the move to High over the summer and has been a huge help for coach Geo Lyons and the Trojans.
“He is a basketball junkie, he is a gym rat, he is the kid I talk to the most,'' Lyons said. "He watches a lot of film, he is a sponge and wants to absorb as much as he can. We do a lot of film sessions one on one, and he has came in and helped push the guys that where here before he got here. He has been a great spark for us coming over from West.''
“It has been crazy,'' Guest said. "The pressure, the challenge of coming in and starting, I am glad to be doing it. I love basketball.”
Junior Octavian McFadden led Topeka High with a game-high 18 points in Tuesday's 65-60 Centennial League win at Hayden. [File photo/TSN]
The Trojans also got a big night from junior Octavian McFadden, who would lead all scorers with 18 points.
“I am proud of my teammates, all my points came off of assists from my teammates,'' McFadden said. "Coach just kept telling us we were right there and remained calm and kept telling us we were right there. Every game we’ve been there and then we slipped, but this one we started slipping and big guys came in and made big plays, and defense led to offense.”
