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Washburn women rally from 16 down to advance to MIAA Tournament title game
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Ichabods reach 30-win mark for second straight season in 85-69 win over Griffons
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The short-handed Washburn Ichabods registered their second consecutive 30-win season with Saturday's 85-69 win over Missouri Western, advancing into the MIAA Tournament championship game in Kansas City, Mo.'s Municipal Auditorium.
Washburn improved to 30-1 despite being without injured sophomore star Dillon Claussen, who sat out the game with a leg injury.
Sophomore Tyson Ruud scored 16 points in his second career start, helping Washburn advance to the MIAA Tournament title game with an 85-69 win over Missouri Western. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"That's a good team and a really good win for us, especially when you find out the morning of the game Dillon's not going to play,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard told KTPK Radio.
"The guy's really rallied around that and rallied around him. Obviously losing that caliber of player is not easy.''
The Ichabods, now 30-1, will face Rogers State in the championship game at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday after the Hillcats' 72-70 win over Missouri Southern.
The Ichabods jumped out to a 15-6 lead, starting the game 6 of 11 from the field as junior All-MIAA guard Jack Bachleor led with eight early points.
Bachelor, the Washburn Rural product, would go on to score 18 points in the first 20 minutes as the Ichabods carried a 10-point lead at 41-31 lead into the break.
Washburn continued its steady play in the second half, matching Missouri Western basket-for-basket before gradually stretching the advantage to a game-high 22 midway through the half.
The Griffons (21-11) did trim the lead to nine with 4:17 to play, but a 3-pointer from Bachelor sparked a 14-7 advantage for the Ichabods the rest of the contest as the Ichabods won their seventh in a row over the Griffons in the 16-point win.
Junior Jack Bachelor scored a career-high 27 points with seven treys in Saturday's 85-69 Washburn win over Missouri Western. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Bachelor led the Ichabods with a career and game-high 27 points.
Bachelor connected on seven 3-pointers while also adding six assists and three boards.
"Jack Bachelor was the best player on the court again tonight,'' Ballard said. "He just loves this gym and he's really playing at a high level.''
Senior Brady Christiansen recorded the sixth double-double of his Ichabod career with 17 points and 10 rebounds, going 7 of 8 from the field and 3 of 4 from deep.
Sophomore Tyson Ruud made his second start of the season in place of Claussen and recorded 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting while adding five rebounds and a block.
"I think starting or not it's the same mentality,'' Ruud told KTPK Radio. "We're so deep. We're one of the most talented teams in the nation, so starting or not the mentality's the same.''
Junior Jeremiah Jones scored eight points, and an MIAA Tournament game record of eight steals, recording six in the first half alone.
Senior Bryson Smith added six points, four assists and two steals.
The Ichabods were efficient as a team, shooting 49 percent from the field (33 of 68) and 44 percent from 3-point range (12 of 27).
Missouri Western was paced by former Seaman star Ty Henry, who scored 15 points to pace four Griffons in double figures.
Topeka High girls earn Class 6A state tournament berth with 65-58 win at Liberal
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
The Topeka High girls made the more than five-hour trip to Liberal to face the 3-seed Liberal Redskins Friday night with a trip to the Class 6A state tournament on the line.
Topeka High girls basketball is headed back to the Class 6A state tournament after a 65-58 sub-state win at Liberal Friday night. [Photo by Justin Burkhardt/TSN]
The Trojans entered the matchup riding a 10-game winning streak and continued their winning ways with a 65-58 win at No. 3 seed Liberal to earn a state berth.
Coming off a perfect February that saw them capture the Centennial League title for the first time since 2022 the Trojans advanced to the sub-state championship after defeating Maize in the first round, setting up the showdown with Liberal for a chance to return to the state tournament for the first time since 2022.
The Trojans reached this same stage a year ago when they traveled to Wichita Heights with a state berth on the line but came up short.
One year later, however, the story has a different ending.
In year two under legendary coach Ron Slaymaker, the Lady Trojans are going dancing.
Senior Keimara Marshall opened the scoring with the first basket of the game to give the Trojans an early lead, but Liberal quickly answered when Shamari Lewis scored to tie the game at 2–2.
Topeka High responded with a 5-0 run to take a 7–2 advantage before Liberal found the basket again.
Sophomore Hailey Caryl helped the Trojans create separation late in the first quarter, scoring six of her 16 points in the final minutes to help Topeka High take a 15-7 lead into the second quarter.
Caryl opened the second with another basket and completed the three-point play at the free-throw line to make it 18–9.
Topeka High junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, who was held to just two points in the first quarter, knocked down a 3-pointer as she began to find her rhythm offensively, pushing the lead to 23-13.
However, the Trojans became sloppy with the ball, allowing Liberal to go on a 7–0 run to cut the deficit to three at 23–20.
High senior Sasha Gotru stopped the run after drawing a foul and hitting the first free throw. On the second attempt, senior Trish Short grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back in to extend the Trojan lead to 26-20.
Rayton then knocked down two free throws late in the half to give Topeka High a 29–24 lead at the break.
Rayton had nine of her team-high 30 points by halftime.
“Shy will always show up. She could have the worst three quarters of her life, but she will show up in the fourth. She's absolutely a workhorse,” said Marshall about her teammate.
“We went into the locker room at halftime and I told myself I need to wake up and get going to help my team,” Rayton said.
The Trojans started the third quarter slowly as the Redskins opened with a 6-2 run to tie the game for the first time since it was 2-2 early in the first quarter.
But Topeka High quickly regained control.
Marshall attacked the basket for a layup, followed by another bucket from Gotru. Rayton then began to heat up, scoring on back-to-back possessions and knocking down consecutive 3-pointers to stretch the Trojan lead to 47-36.
“She was so far below what she normally plays, and I kept wondering what was going on with her,” Slaymaker said. “But I’m glad she got it going for us after halftime.”
Marshall added another basket late in the quarter as the Trojans carried a 49-40 lead into the fourth. Despite the nine-point advantage, foul trouble loomed large for Topeka High entering the f inal period, with three of the five starters carrying three or more fouls.
“We just kept saying that we need each other and that we can't play without one person,” Marshall said. “We need every single piece. So if somebody fouls out, we're in trouble.”
Rayton delivered when it mattered most. With Caryl getting six of her seven assists in the fourth quarter, the junior Rayton exploded for 11 points in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory.
With the win, Marshall will be heading to her first-ever state tournament in basketball.
“My team has a lot of heart and we definitely play for each other,” Marshall said. “As much as we might want to give up in hard games or when someone is struggling, we pick each other up and remember the bigger picture. Our turnaround is definitely something we did for each other.”
