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By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

A collection of transfers and a freshman helped lead the Shawnee Heights girls past United Kansas Conference foe Basehor-Linwood 69-49 in the T-Birds’ home opener Friday.

Junior KK Emmot led Shawnee Heights with 18 points in Friday's 69-49 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Pearmella Carter, a junior transfer from Highland Park, and Imani McGlory, a senior transfer from Topeka West, combined for 29 points in their T-Bird home debuts.

Senior Imani McGlory scored 13 points in her home debut for Shawnee Heights Friday, a 69-49 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Sami Baum, a home school student, scored four points in her first home game at Shawnee Heights and freshman Bijou Schmidt came off the bench to provide 11 points.

Freshman Bijou Schmidt came off the bench to score 11 points in Shawnee Heights' 69-49 win over Basehor-Linwood Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells has worked this fall to mold the new additions into a cohesive unit. The group had its eyes opened in a first-game loss to Shawnee Mission South and they showed Friday the collaboration is coming together.

“It was hard at first, but they’re learning,” Wells said. “Any time you’re learning a new system and learning how we do things in practice, everything is completely different for them. They have had to buy into what we’re doing. So they’ve been doing great. And the girls who have been in our program have been doing great helping them with everything.”

Shawnee Heights blasted out of the gate with 24 points in the first period with 10 from Carter and seven from junior KK Emmot, who led the T-Birds with 18 points.

The game was halted at the 4:40 mark of the third period when T-Bird sophomore Lauryn Brees fell awkwardly and lay on her back when the officials stopped the action. She remained down for more than 25 minutes before she was placed on a backboard and taken from the gym by first responders. After allowing for a brief warmup period, the game resumed after nearly 35 minutes.

“I just came back to the huddle and told (the team) what I knew,” Wells said about Brees’ injury. “I said, ‘We can all say a little prayer for her, and then the best thing we can do is go and play. Just go out there and play hard for her.’ And they did. I felt like they came out really focused. I was concerned that their minds were going to be someplace else because my mind was for a long time.”

The T-Birds outscored Basehor-Linwood 16-3 the rest of the period to expand their lead to 56-31.

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By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

The Shawnee Heights boys had to dig deep after they let a 15-point lead slip away in their season opener Friday night. They relied upon the efforts of a freshman and knocked down clutch free throws to hold off United Kansas Conference foe Basehor-Linwood, 61-55.

JaiMarion Cook led Shawnee Heights with 14 points in Friday's 61-55 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Having graduated senior leaders from last year’s squad, the T-Birds may have a few things to learn about holding a lead. They raced to a 35-20 advantage midway through the second quarter and were still holding on 42-28 early in the third. But the Bobcats began clawing their way back into it.

With 2:49 remaining, the T-Birds’ lead was down to five, 55-50, when Bobcat Isaiah Calvert was fouled attempting a 3-pointer. He knocked down all three of his foul shots. Twenty seconds later, he went back to the line when the T-Birds were whistled for a technical foul. He drained two more free throws to knot the game at 55-55.

T-Bird coach Ken Darting felt, once the tide turned, some players attempted to do too much on their own.

“Selfishness. That’s what was going on,” Darting said. “We played hard the whole game. We played well for two-thirds of the game. But we were totally selfish at the end.”

Notably, the T-Birds were playing their first game without Jaret Sanchez and Deacon Pomeroy, a couple of graduates who hit big shots and played clutch minutes throughout their careers.

“We don’t have any of those 20-point scorers,” Darting said. “So, if we’re not near perfect defensively, rebounding and on our execution on offense, we’re not going to shoot a very high percentage. I don’t get mad when (these players) miss their shots because they’re going to miss most of the time they shoot. But if you’re taking some shot that a star can’t make, now I’m mad.

“But it’s a learning process. We’re playing an offense that’s a read-oriented offense and you’ve got to read everything to play it. So that’s going to take a while.”

Freshman Quincy Dixon (22), who had 11 points in his varsity debut for Shawnee Heights, celebrates a basket with teammate Cam Ross. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Giving the T-Birds a lift in the second half was freshman Quincy Dixon. Playing in his first varsity game, Dixon led the T-Birds with nine points in the second half, when the rest of the team was in a rut. He finished with 11.

Leading the T-Birds was JaiMarion Cook with 14. Cam Ross added 12.

“It was important to get this win,” said senior Ontarius Emmot, one of the T-Birds’ returning starters from a year ago. “(A lot of us) have been playing for eight or nine years together. So, it’s the first game back, but it’s not our first time playing with each other. Our chemistry is there.

“Down the stretch we didn’t handle the ball very well, but you know, crunch time, when it got down under a minute, I think we handled that pretty well.”

Emmot said he encouraged his teammates to feel comfortable in the moment.

“I just told the guys ‘This is nothing new from what you’ve been playing all your life,” Emmot said. “I said ‘You’ve played in close games before. Yeah, there might be a couple more people here now. But the ball is still the same. The size of the rim is still the same. There’s the same amount of players on the court.’”

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 61, BASEHOR-LINWOOD 55

Basehor-Linwood                  10 16 13 16 -- 55

Shawnee Heights         19 20 10 12 -- 61

Basehor-Linwood (0-1, 0-1) – Brown 2-11 5-6 10, Morrison 5-8 1-3 13, Hofer 0-2 0-0 0, Young 2-8 2-2 6, Calvert 5-10 8-9 19 Hutchinson 0-1 2-2 2, Elliott 2-3 0-0 5, Nixon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-43 18-22 55.

Shawnee Heights (1-0, 1-0) – Alston 1-8 1-4 4, Cook 4-12 4-4 14, Ross 4-13 4-6 12, Scott 1-4 4-4 7, Emmot 3-9 0-0 7, Doby 1-2 0-0 2, Dixon 4-6 3-3 11, Lee 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 20-57 16-21 61.

3-point goals – Basehor-Linwood 5 (Morrison 2, Brown 1, Calvert 1, Elliott 1) Shawnee Heights 5 (Cook 2, Alston 1, Scott 1, Emmot 1). Total fouls – Basehor-Linwood 18, Shawnee Heights 21. Fouled out – Ross. Technical fouls – Ross. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Topeka West boys basketball doesn't necessarily have a go-to player.

Instead, Christian Ulsaker's Chargers have four or five players that can fill that role on any given night, which could make Topeka West a very dangerous team over the course of the 2025-2026 season.

opeka West senior Loc Duncan (12) led all scorers with 26 points Friday as the Chargers opened their season with an 81-54 UKC win over De Soto. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

West's balance was on full display in Friday's 81-54 United Kansas Conference home victory over De Soto, with senior Loc Duncan leading the way with a game-high 26 points while all five West starters cracked double figures.

Junior Prince Lassiter scored 18 points in Friday's 81-54 UKC Topeka West win over De Soto. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Topeka West senior JayVeon Traylor slams home a dunk in Friday's 81-54 Charger win over De Soto. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Junior Prince Lassiter backed Duncan with 18 points, while senior Jay'Veon Traylor added 12 points and seven rebounds, senior Gad Munganga 11 points and senior Keimani Paul 10.

"Thankfully our guys don't have a huge ego,'' Ulsaker said. "I've got guys like Loc standing next to me and he understands that nobody's above the team, so they get what they need to do.

"If it's Kei's night, he's OK with that. If it's Jay'Veon's night he's OK with that. Tonight it was just Loc's night.''

Duncan agreed with his coach that the Chargers have the firepower to share the wealth.

"I absolutely agree with that,'' Duncan said. "Everybody in the whole starting five can get going and it can be anybody's night any given night.

"If teams try to key on me that leaves my other teammates open, to get open easy buckets for them. They can't really key on one person because we've got five guys that can do anything.''

Both Munganga and Duncan hit three 3-pointers apiece as West, currently ranked No. 7 in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, finished with eight 3s as a team. 

The Chargers went wire to wire for the victory, opening up a 17-11 first-quarter advantage and taking a 31-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.

West boosted its lead to double-digits at 53-41 by the end of the third quarter and the Chargers turned the game into a rout with a 28-13 fourth quarter.

Senior Brayan Salas led De Soto (0-1, 0-1) with 15 points while senior Dylan Narayan added 10 for the Wildcats.  

TOPEKA WEST BOYS 81, DE SOTO 54

De Soto         11 13 17 13 -- 54

Topeka West 17 14 22 28 -- 81

De Soto (0-1, 0-1) – Patterson 3-8 1-2 9, Dickinson 4-11 1-4 9, Narayan 5-6 0-0 10, Salas 7-19 1-3 15, Krier 1-3 0-0 2, Rapp 1-2 3-3 5, Brady 0-2 0-0 0, Morton 1-1 0-0 2, Hastings 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-54 6-12 54. 

Topeka West (1-0, 1-0) – Munganga 4-9 0-0 11, Traylor 5-8 1-3 12, Duncan 9-13 5-8 26, Paul 3-6 3-3 10, Lassiter 6-8 6-6 16, Ware 1-3 0-2 2, Phillips 0-2 0-0 0, Fox 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-50 15-22 81.

3-point goals – De Soto 2 (Patterson 2), Topeka West 8 (Munganga 3, Duncan 3, Traylor, Paul). Total fouls – De Soto 14, Topeka West 13. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- De Soto (pre-game dunk), Munganga, Duncan.

Wildcat girls ride 3-point barrage past Chargers

De Soto made nine 3-pointers on the night, including seven in the first half, en route to a 68-21 UKC romp past Topeka West Friday at West.

Five different Wildcats drained 3-pointers, including four players with multiple treys, as De Soto (1-0 overall, 1-0 UKC) took control early and forced a running block throughout the fourth quarter.

Junior Clare Leis paced De Soto with a game-high 15 points while freshman Maddie Leis added 12 points and junior Katie Bush 10.

Junior Sydney VanDyke led Topeka West (1-1, 0-1) with 10 points and eight rebounds.

DE SOTO GIRLS 68, TOPEKA WEST 21

De Soto         18 27 18 5 -- 68

Topeka West   6 8 6 1 -- 21

De Soto (1-0, 1-9) – C. Leis 6-10 1-2 15, O'Brien 2-4 0-0 6, Cinotto 3-3 1-2 9, Gulley 0-0 2-2 2, Chappel 0-2 0-0 0, M. Leis 4-11 2-3 12, Bush 4-9 2-2 10, Carpenter 2-6 3-4 7, Major 1-3 0-0 3, Stapp 1-3 0-0 2, Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Green 0-1 0-0 0, Reiswig 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 24-53 11-17 68. 

Topeka West (1-1, 0-1) – Sa'Niya Brooks 0-2 0-0 0, VanDyke 3-10 4-8 10, Ogles 1-5 0-0 2, Hall 0-6 1-2 1, McGlory 1-2 0-0 3, Allen 1-3 0-0 3, Sa'Mya Brooks 0-2 0-0 0, Traylor 1-3 0-2 2, Fox 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 7-33 5-14 21.

3-point goals – De Soto 9 (C. Leis 2, O'Brien 2, Cinotto 2, M. Leis 2, Major), Topeka West 2 (McGlory, Allen). Total fouls – De Soto 16, Topeka West 18. Fouled out – Chappel. Technical fouls -- none.