By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's 44-38 overtime loss to Wichita South in Saturday's Capital City Classic championship game at Seaman will no doubt sting for a while, with the Junior Blues knowing they were so close from claiming the title in regulation.
But veteran Rural girls coach Kevin Bordewick said the key now is for the 8-3 No. 9-ranked (Class 6A) Junior Blues to lose that loss as motivation and a learning experience moving forward.
Washburn Rural freshman Maddie Vickery tied for game-high scoring honors with 16 points in Saturday's 44-38 overtime loss to Wichita South. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Zoe Canfield drives to the basket for two of her 16 points in Saturday's 44-38 overtime loss to Wichita South. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"Your learn from it, even if we won,'' Bordewick said. "We learned some things about ourselves last night when we won and we're going to learn some things about ourselves after today and what we need to work on.
"It's a process and we hammer that into their heads. This is not going to make or break our season. I really like how high our ceiling could be and that's what we're going to get to work on Monday.''
Washburn Rural led 5-2 after a sluggish first quarter for both teams and led 12-3 in the second quarter before taking a 19-14 advantage to the locker room at the half.
But No. 10-ranked (6A) South used a 14-3 third quarter to take a 28-22 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
This time it was Rural's turn to battle back, with senior Zoe Canfield and freshman Maddie Vickery canning back-to-back 3-pointers and Canfield hitting two free throws to put the Junior Blues back in front by a 31-28 margin with 5:47 remaining in regulation.
After three lead changes, a Canfield free throw knotted the game at 37 with 33 seconds left.
The Junior Blues got an opportunity to end things after a Wichita South turnover with 12.3 seconds remaining but Rural was unable to get a shot off on its final possession, sending the game to OT.
South (11-2) drew first blood in the extra session and never trailed, with the Titans outscoring the Junior Blues 7-1 in the OT to take the six-point win.
"We found a way,'' South coach Thsombe Phillips said. "I told the girls at halftime that we couldn't shoot it first half, but the second half the shots will start to fall if we just keep playing like we were. We were getting good shots, they just wouldn't fall the first half.
"The third quarter's been our quarter the whole year and we knew if we kept digging in and playing the way we play basketball that we could put them on their heels a little bit and that's kind of what we did. We came out with a sense of urgency. This is a huge win for this program. It propels us going forward.''
All-tournament selections Canfield and Vickery shared game-high scoring honors with 16 points apiece while South countered with three double-figure scorers.
South senior Zion Butler was named the tournament's most valuable player while senior Ramya Kennedy also earned all-tourney recognition.
"When we're down we don't let that get in our heads,'' Butler said. "We just have to think about the end of the game, not the beginning. It's about who finishes and not who starts, so we have to remember that.''
WICHITA SOUTH 44, WASHBURN RURAL 38 OT
Washburn Rural 5 14 3 15 1 -- 38
Wichita South 2 12 14 9 7 -- 44
Washburn Rural (8-3) -- Vickery 6 2-4 16, Hinck 0 0-0 0, Ochs 0 1-2 1, Canfield 4 5-6 16, Bunck 0 1-2 1, Rutherford 0 0-0 0, Walker 0 0-0 0, Carlgren 0 0-0 0, Lemke 2 0-0 4. Totals 12 9-14 38.
Wichita South (11-2) -- M. Butler 2 0-0 5, Z. Butler 3 4-5 11, R. Kennedy 5 2-3 12, Smith 1 0-0 2, A. Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Hartzer 1 0-0 3. Totals 17 6-8 44.
3-point goals -- Washburn Rural 5 (Vickery 3, Canfield 2), Wichita South 5 (Robinson 3, M. Butler, Z. Butler). Total fouls -- Washburn Rural 13, Wichita South 19. Fouled out -- HInck. Technical foul -- none.
SEAMAN 55, WICHITA HEIGHTS 52
Returning to the court about 16 hours after suffering its first loss of the season, No. 2-ranked (5A) Seaman bounced back with a 55-52 win over No. 2-ranked (6A) Wichita Heights in Saturday's third-place game of the Capital City Classic.
"We needed it,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "This game was all about passion. Our girls were upset with how (Friday's game) ended. It was like, 'Hey, we're going to show up today and they did.'
"I'm just excited that they were able to push through. We needed something like that.''
The game was tight throughout, with Wichita Heights (11-2) leading 18-16 at the end of the first quarter and 33-29 at the half before Seaman (11-1) forged a 38-all tie at the start of the fourth quarter.
The game was still tied at 49 with 1:10 remaining before junior Jaida Stallbaumer scored to put Seaman ahead to stay at 51-49.
Wichita Heights got within a point twice over the final 47.3 seconds but Seaman senior Taylin Stallbaumer hit four straight free throws to clinch the Vikings' win.
Sophomore Maddie Gragg led a balanced Seaman offensive attack with 14 points while T. Stallbaumer added 13 points, junior Anna Becker 10 points and J. Stallbaumer nine.
Becker was named to the all-tournament team.
SEAMAN 55, WICHITA HEIGHTS 52
Wichita Heights 18 15 5 14 -- 52
Seaman 16 13 9 17 -- 55
Wichita Heights (11-2) -- Jackson 4 1-2 10, Mayberry 4 1-2 10, Walker 4 3-4 11, Ellis 4 0-0 9, Gilbert 0 0-0 0, Maze 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0, Manuel 2 8-12 12. Totals 18 13-20 52.
Seaman (11-1) -- J. Stallbaumer 2 5-8 9, T. Stallbaumer 2 8-8 13, Becker 5 0-0 10, Gragg 4 4-6 14, Esser 2 0-6 4, E. Stallbaumer 0 0-0 0, Wilhelm 2 0-0 5, Moulden 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 17-28 55.
3-point goals -- Wichita Heights 3 (Jackson, Mayberry, Ellis), Seaman 4 (Gragg 2, Wilhelm, T. Stallbaumer). Total fouls -- Wichita Heights 14, Seaman 18. Fouled out -- Gragg. Technical foul -- none.
TOPEKA HIGH 53, TOPEKA WEST 47
It was only one win, but for a young, inexperienced team made up of all freshmen and sophomores, any win is a big win for Britt Redmond's Topeka High Trojans.
After dropping their first two games in the Capital City Classic, Topeka High bounced back with a 53-47 victory over Topeka West on Saturday, improving to 3-9 on the season.
"We're working on getting our basketball IQ up,'' Redmond said. "I just have such an inexperienced group and I'm kind of throwing them to the wolves so any time we can come out with a win, I'm happy.''
Despite playing in the 11 a.m. seventh-place game, Redmond said facing off against their USD 501 rival was a big motivator for the Trojans.
"I think our girls were hyped,'' Redmond said. "They know most of those girls. They've been playing with and against most of those girls their whole lives so to them that game meant everything.
"That was our championship game essentially.''
Topeka High set the tone for the game when it jumped out to a 21-11 first-quarter lead and led 33-22 at the half, but Topeka West (4-8) got back in the hunt with a 15-8 third quarter.
The Chargers continued to put the pressure on the Trojans over the final eight minutes, but Topeka High was able to keep West at bay.
Freshman Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton had a big day for Topeka High, leading all scorers with 27 points, including three 3-pointers.
Senior Zoe Clark led Topeka West with 18 points.
TOPEKA HIGH 53, TOPEKA WEST 47
Topeka High 21 12 8 12 -- 53
Topeka West 11 11 15 10 -- 47
Topeka High (3-9) -- Triplett 3 0-0 6, Clanton 0 0-0 0, Marshall 2 4-4 6, Rayton 10 4-6 27, Gotru 4 0-2 8, Conley 0 2-2 2, Mayfield 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 10-14 53.
Topeka West (4-8) -- I. McGlory 2 1-4 6, Hall 1 3-6 5, Gonzales 2 0-0 4, Clark 5 7-12 18, Bearman 3 2-4 8, B. Keeling 2 0-0 4, A. McGlory 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 13-26 47.
3-point goals -- Topeka High 3 (Rayton 3), Topeka West 2 (I. McGlory, Clark). Total fouls -- Topeka High 15, Topeka West 16. Fouled out -- Gotru. Technical foul -- none.
