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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park's boys basketball team has put together an amazing run of success over the past three seasons, advancing to the Class 5A state tournament all three years while posting a 65-8 overall record, including a 47-3 mark over the past two campaigns.
Highland Park boys basketball celebrates its Class 5A sub-state championship after Saturday's 53-35 win over Bashor-Linwood. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But there's a feeling of emptiness that remains for those closest to the Scot program after back-to-back heartbreaking semifinal losses to the eventual state champions the past two years.
Two years ago Highland Park led virtually the entire game against Andover before the Trojans pulled out a 55-54 win with a late 7-0 run. The drama continued last season when Kapaun Mt. Carmel outlasted the Scots in overtime, 67-64.
Highland Park bounced back both seasons for dominating wins in the third-place game, but that provided little consolation to the Scots.
And now the Scots' main focus -- really their only focus -- is on doing everything they can to wipe that bad taste out of their mouths with a state title run this week in Emporia's White Auditorium.
"I feel like the last three or so years we get down there and I'm not saying we were playing bad but I feel like we could have played a little better,'' Highland Park coach Mike Williams said. "So we are really, really focused on wanting to get to state and kind of show a little bit of the essence that we saw tonight.
"I like our prep, I like what we're doing going into it and we're looking forward to next week.''
Scot senior standout Ja'Corey Robinson agreed.
"We've got some fire under us,'' Robinson said. "We're trying to go out with a win. We're tired of getting third place. We're trying to finish it all out and win a state championship.''
Highland Park, which has had only three single-digit games all season, enters this year's state tournament as the top seed with a perfect 22-0 record and will face off with No. 8 Andover Central (14-8) at 2 p.m. Thursday in the opening game of the 5A boys event.
Highland Park made it back to the state tournament with a 53-35 romp past Basehor-Linwood in Saturday's sub-state final at Hi Park.
Senior Mikey Williams led the Scots with a game-high 18 points, including three 3-pointers, against the Bobcats, while Robinson added 15 points.
The Highland Park-Andover Central winner will advance to a 4 p.m. semifinal on Friday to face the first-round winner between No. 4 seed Shawnee Heights (19-3) and No. 5 Piper (19-3).
"We're just making it a point to come out every day in the state tournament with the same fire and the same juice and the same fire that we've had throughout this whole season so we can end up hoisting the state championship trophy,'' Mikey Williams said. "
The Shawnee Heights-Piper first-round contest at 4 p.m. Thursday is a rematch of last year's first-round game that saw Piper close with a 14-1 run to pull out a 72-71 win on the way to a runnerup state finish.
Heights and Piper will be playing for the third time this season, with the Pirates winning the first two games.
Shawnee Heights earned its second straight state berth under Ken Darting with a 49-42 sub-state win over St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 seed and defending champion Kapaun Mt. Carmel (19-3) will play a 6 p.m. first-round game against No. 7 Topeka West (14-8) and No. 3 Andover (19-3) will face No. 6 Bonner Springs (18-4) at 8 o'clock, with the winners playing an 8 p.m. Friday semifinal.
Topeka West is making its first state tournament appearance under coach Christian Ulsaker after making it to state with an 81-54 home win over Valley Center in Saturday's sub-state final.
Here's a team-by-team glance at the other first-round games involving Shawnee County teams:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's been an outstanding 2024-2025 high school basketball season for Shawnee County teams, with 10 of 20 making it to state tournaments in five different classifications.
Now we wait to see how many of those teams can achieve the ultimate goal of a state championship on Saturday.
For what it's worth -- and it's not much -- here's my take on what we could see in all 14 of this week's state tournaments across the state.
If I didn't pick your team don't fret because it could bode well for you.
If I did pick the team/teams you root for, good luck.
By Saturday night we'll know, and win or lose, it promises to be a fun week. Enjoy!
CLASS 6A BOYS
Finalists -- Shawnee Mission Northwest (4: 19-3) vs. Wichita Heights (3: 20-2).
Champion -- Wichita Heights. I give Heights, the 6A runnerup the past two seasons, a very slight edge in what could be a repeat of the 2024 title game, won by Northwest to cap a 25-0 season.
Other contenders -- Shawnee Mission South is the top seed at 21-1, with its lone loss coming against SM Northwest, while Derby is also 21-1 and the No. 2 seed. Washburn Rural (6: 18-4) is certainly capable of knocking off Wichita Heights while Derby could get a big test from No. 7 Olathe North (16-6).
CLASS 6A GIRLS
Finalists -- Blue Valley North (3: 18-4) vs. Olathe South (4: 18-4).
Champion -- Blue Valley North. It's worth noting that although North has lost four times, but none of those four losses came against Kansas teams. The Mustangs finished third last season after winning the championship in 2023.
Other contenders -- It's been an up and down season for Washburn Rural (6: 16-6) but never count out a Kevin Bordewick team in postseason. The Hall of Fame coach has led Washburn Rural to three straight 6A championship games (title in 2022, runnerup in 2023 and 2024) and the Junior Blues have won a pair of championships since 2019. Derby is the top seed at 19-3 and the pre-tournament team to beat.
Highland Park standout Ja'Corey Robinson and the 22-0 Scots will be looking for a Class 5A state title this week after back-to-back third-place finishes. [File photo/TSN]
CLASS 5A BOYS
Finalists -- Highland Park (1: 22-0) vs. Kapaun Mt. Carmel (2: 19-3).
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Trevor Christy
TREVOR CHRISTY, Hayden
Christy, a senior, posted a third-place individual finish in last Thursday's Class 4A state bowling championships at Wichita's Bowlero Northrock, helping lead Hayden to its first-ever state bowling team title. Christy finished third with a 698 series, bowling games of 244, 239 and 215 as the Wildcats won the team championship by 95 pins (3,666-3,571) over Mulvane.
Jalen Foy
JALEN FOY, Topeka West
A senior guard, Foy scored 40 points in two Class 5A sub-state victories on the week as Topeka West boys basketball advanced to the Class 5A state tournament. Foy scored 19 points with a pair of 3-pointers in a 69-63 overtime semifinal win over Bishop Carroll and had 21 points while hitting 8 of 10 free throws in Saturday's 81-54 home win over Valley Center in the sub-state championship game.
Emily Lee
EMILY LEE, Hayden
Lee, a senior bowler, earned her second straight Class 4A-1A state medal last Thursday at Wichita's Bowlero Northrock, bowling a 551 series to place fourth individually. A regional champion, Lee bowled games of 188, 203 and 160 as the Wildcats finished sixth as a team. Lee posted an 11th-place state finish as a junior in 2024.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park boys basketball is very proud of its Runnin' Scots nickname.
But it was the Scots' work on the other end of the court that propelled them back to the Class 5A state tournament with a 53-35 win over Basehor-Linwood in Saturday's sub-state final at Highland Park.
Senior Mikey Williams, who scored a game-high 18 points, cuts down the nets after Highland Park's 53-35 sub-state win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Highland Park senior Ja'Corey Robinson is congratulated by the Scots' coaches as he leaves the floor late in Saturday's 53-35 sub-state win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Highland Park, which improved to a perfect 22-0 on the season, allowed no more than nine points over any of the first three quarters against the United Kansas Conference-member Bobcats to build an insurmountable 23-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter before cruising the rest of the way.
"Coming into the game I kind of heard all the, 'Aw, you guys got them and they're hot and there this,' and they were,'' Highland Park coach Mike Williams said. "They were playing well to end the year, but I believed in the guys and I believed in the game plan and the prep.
"We spent a lot of time and watching them and seeing their offense and I thought our guys did an amazing job -- 9 points in the first quarter, 4 in the second and then another single-digit quarter (in the third) -- and that was our game goal, we wanted to hold them to single-digit quarters and try to keep the score in the 40s for them and our guys answered the call from a defensive standpoint.''
Scot senior star Ja'Corey Robinson agreed.
"We made sure we had to get the stops first and turn the defense into offense,'' Robinson said. "We just came at them hard and didn't let off of them.''
The Scots, who have finished third in 5A the past two seasons after a first-round loss in 2022, will open their state bid as the top seed at 2 p.m. Thursday against No. 8 Andover Central (14-8).
"I feel real confident,'' Robinson said. "Almost every state game we've played we've always been up like 10 points or more. We've just got to keep pushing and can't let up and can't stall out the time. We've got to keep pushing and go all out.''
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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Hayden’s Lady Wildcats saw themselves in familiar position Saturday night, with their third straight sub-state state tournament berth on the line againt Baldwin.
Hayden's girls pose for a team picture after clinching a third straight state tournament berth with Saturday's 52-22 win over Baldwin. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN
The Wildcats would see the Lady Bulldogs put up a early fight by taking a early 6-5 lead and then getting within three at 15-12 early in the second quarter, but that would be all she wrote for the Bulldogs as Hayden would take off and outscore the bulldogs 37-10 the rest of the way on the way to a 52-22 rout.
The Wildcats would get a early three from senior Bella Reid.
“I was excited and I was glad it went in because all my friends and family were their watching me,'' Reid said. “This season has been a highlight of my basketball career, playing beside by my best friends has meant everything to me. This season has definitely been my favorite and I will be sad when it is over.”
The Wildcats, who have featured a starting lineup that features four seniors and a standout freshman in 5-foot-11 Hailey Schmidtlein, who would score 11 points for the Cats.
“It means a lot to go to state as a freshman,'' Schmidtlein said. "The way we played that game, was one play at a time. We really came out strong each quarter, and we really came out strong in the second half. I am so proud of us and I can’t wait to see what we can do at state.”
Senior Norma Greco on making it back to state: “I think that over the recent years we have had good teams and that our program has really taken a step up in the right direction.”
Senior Millie Ramsey scored 12 points in Saturday's 52-22 Hayden sub-state win over Baldwin. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Wildcats will miss a huge senior class next season and a big part of the four-member senior class will be the tandem of Brylee Meier and Millie Ramsey, with Meier being a four-year varsity member and Ramsey being a mid-season transfer a year ago. This will be Ramsey's third trip in a row to the state tournament, with her first trip coming during her time at Highland Park when she would lead her Scots to the 5A state tournament.
Meier and Ramsey would share scoring honors on a special night for the Cats as they would both score 12 points.
“We just came out with a lot of energy and the crowd was really good tonight,'' Meier said. "Everyone came ready to play and we were able to get the win. This program has improved a lot over the years. My teammates and I have all worked really hard to get where we are today. Us going to state for a third year in a row shows all of the blood, sweat and tears we all have put into this program.”
